Dozens were employed by Texas institutions despite arrest records for offenses as egregious as child rape and murder, state officials say.

The findings come a year after caregivers at one facility for those with disabilities were discovered forcing residents to participate in a fight club.

Arrest records for 36 employees went unnoticed in the hiring process because Texas only checks for in-state offenses in pre-employment screenings. Of those convicted of crimes, most are no longer working at the state’s 13 institutions for people with disabilities and the remainder are in “process,” according to state officials.

Last year, employees at a facility in Corpus Christi, Texas were discovered forcing residents to fight each other against their will. Since then, four former employees were convicted.

Advocates say the arrest records show that little has changed at the facilities since then. So far, state officials have implemented fingerprinting — which snared the 36 workers with criminal pasts — and random drug testing.

Nonetheless, documentation at the Corpus Christi facility remains disorganized and there is still no full-time psychiatrist there, according to a recent court-mandated monitoring report. What’s more, reports indicate that staff have yet to identify residents who are vulnerable and the facility has not implemented a zero-tolerance policy that was called for, reports the Houston Chronicle. To read more click here.

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