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BOISE — Police records and internal communications obtained by the Idaho Statesman shed new light on what prompted complaints of abuse and neglect last summer at the Southwest Idaho Treatment Center in Nampa.

Internal emails between SWITC officials suggest they were aware of a pervasive problem with staff behavior at SWITC, the state-run facility for Idahoans with severe developmental, behavioral and psychiatric disorders.

In one email, a manager raised alarm about employees “getting close to the line of abuse.” Some workers were “doing well” with residents, the manager said, but it appeared they were forced to wait until other employees weren’t looking to treat their patients “kindly.”

And with new tort claims filed in recent months, the state faces more possible lawsuits from former SWITC employees and families of dead or injured SWITC residents. The former employees include a past administrator, who says she was fired after trying to fix problems at the facility.

The new claims are in addition to a lawsuit that was filed in August by the mother of Moses Rodriguez, a 24-year-old man who died in 2015 while living at SWITC.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, which operates the center, said Tuesday that it does not comment on tort claims.

State law requires people to file a notice of a tort claim before they can sue the government. That gives the government a chance to settle the claims before they go to court.

SWITC is a large campus in Nampa with about 25 residents. The center provides assessment, training and treatment to people with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses. The goal is to help them transition into living in their communities.

Some of the residents have a long and complex list of disorders. Some are non-verbal. They can be aggressive against employees and each other.

A deputy administrator told lawmakers last winter that up to 40 percent of the center’s staff members file injury claims every year, and turnover at SWITC is double the rate across other Health and Welfare job sites.