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http://www.omaha.com/article/20130918/NEWS/130918681/1707Related%20news • Senate panel to discuss Iowa Juvenile Home problems • Iowa Juvenile Home cited for violations in its drug-abuse treatment program • Gov. Terry Branstad orders changes at Iowa Juvenile Home • Branstad orders changes at Iowa Juvenile Home • Psychologists flagged treatment at Iowa Juvenile Home DES MOINES (AP) — Improvements are underway at the Iowa Juvenile Home in Toledo, but there is still work to be done, the executive director of Disability Rights Iowa said Tuesday. Jane Hudson told the Iowa Senate Government Oversight Committee that the home has stopped using long-term isolation rooms and has reduced the use of restraints and seclusion. “Never again should we have young Iowans confined in isolation cells, and that’s not happening any more,” Hudson said. “We’re on a really good trajectory to improving things at the home.” The facility houses, treats and educates youths who have serious behavioral problems. The federally funded group Disability Rights Iowa has been investigating the home’s treatment of children, including allegations that some children have been held for weeks or months in small isolation rooms. Hudson said the home still needs to improve the quality of care and should be subject to greater oversight. Department of Human Services Director Chuck Palmer said the state is addressing the problems at the home and is committed to a higher standard of care. “I believe the staff at the juvenile home is working very hard to make the changes,” Palmer said. State Sen. Janet Peterson of Des Moines, a Democrat and the committee chairwoman, said she was concerned about ensuring sufficient oversight at the home. She said she was encouraged to hear from Palmer that officials would be open to outside oversight. “I don’t think we have the appropriate checks and balances in place,” said Peterson, who said the committee was in an information gathering stage and it was too soon to say what action it might take. The home’s interim director, Mark Day, said substantial staff training has been a priority in recent months. “Staff training at the Iowa Juvenile Home is a feature length film,” he said. Gov. Terry Branstad has signed an executive order designed to improve the care of children at the home. Branstad’s order also established a five-member task force to recommend more improvements and to help implement them.