October 6, 2017
New Jersey
Gov. Christie: This Law Will Prevent Abuse, Neglect & Exploitation Of People With Disabilities
Transcript:
Governor Christie: Stephen Komninos was a young man with a developmental disability who transitioned into a group home in New Jersey more than a decade ago. Tragically, he passed away there at the age of only 22. His family, naturally, is devastated. Today, I’m signing the bill named after him, taking action to ensure that other families do not have to endure the pain that his family continues to endure today. The law will further strengthen protections for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities and their families by requiring more state oversight and consistent supervision of community based residential programs. This new law will, we hope, prevent abuse, neglect, and exploitation of people with disabilities, establishing, appropriately, serious criminal penalties and mandating drug testing of each and every staff member. This bipartisan effort balances the most effective, efficient protections with the interest of confidentiality and flexibility in a unbiased process of investigating potential abuses. I’m proud to be a part of strengthening our commitment to protecting people with developmental disabilities while giving their families a greater say, and I hope along with that, a greater peace of mind for the wellbeing of their loved ones. This is never easy, the care of folks with developmental disabilities is a challenge and we honor those people who commit their lives to providing that care and so I don’t want anybody in the community that provides this care to believe that what this bill represents is an indictment of them, it doesn’t. They are folks who care deeply about the people that they care for and have made part of their career each and every day. This is to make sure that only the good ones get to do it. This is the way government is supposed to work at its best. It is always awful to experience the loss of any life and so this does not remedy that, but hopefully what it does is what I said earlier, which is to prevent any other parents from having to go through the pain of that loss in the way that this family did. And if we do that that won’t ever justify the loss of Stephen’s life, but what it will do, I think, is to give all of us a sense of pride that we were involved in the effort to make sure that another family didn’t suffer the same way.
http://nj.gov/governor/news/news/552017/approved/20171006e.html
August 18, 2017
New York
Not good enough. That’s how Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi summed up the state’s lame response to inquiries about an investigation into the horrendous case in a Rome group home where a man was found with an infestation of maggots. Brindisi has demanded more answers in the Rome case and called for a widespread federal investigation into long-term care facilities because “when it comes to investigating the conditions of these state-run long-term care facilities for the disabled or very sick, New York State simply cannot police itself. Secrets are brushed under the rug, information is withheld from elected officials demanding answers and patients who can’t speak up for themselves continue to suffer.” We second that demand. In this case, the patient who has suffered is Steven Wenger, a 41-year-old man from Canastota who has been in a coma since March 8, 1991, after he and two friends suffered critical injuries in a car accident. Wenger is unable to walk, speak, or breathe without a ventilator. Wenger’s case should be a catalyst for sweeping changes in a system that is rife with negligence. It should prompt laws that mandate reports of abuse and neglect that are currently swept under the public carpet. And there must be more accountability when it comes to care. Brindisi’s call for a federal probe came following an Aug. 10 Associated Press report saying the nurses at the group home discovered that maggots — fly larvae — had infested the tracheostomy in Wenger’s throat that allows him to breathe. A confidential report on the case, obtained by the AP, found that it was the first of two infestations of the larval flies in his throat over successive days last summer, resulting in repeated trips to an emergency room and a state investigation that found days of neglect by caretakers. If not for the AP obtaining the report, it’s unlikely anyone in the outside world would have ever known of it. Getting details on such cases, even by Freedom of Information request, is difficult. Even a bare-bones listing of the numbers of deaths and sexual assaults by facility over a 2½-year period took advocates eight months to obtain, the AP reported. Finding out the punishments imposed is even harder. That’s because in New York and most other states, details of abuse and neglect investigations in state-regulated institutions are almost never made public, even with redacted names. That’s morally unconscionable. Much of the secrecy points to the Justice Center for the Protection of People With Special Needs, which oversees the disabled-care system. Some say it keeps too much information hidden, although in a guest column below, Justice Center executive director Denise M. Miranda states there are legal reasons for that and claims the AP report was inaccurate. In a letter sent last week to officials at the Justice Center and the state Office for People with Development Disabilities, state Sen. Joseph Griffo also sought answers in the Rome case and said both agencies must do better to prevent such situations from happening again. Griffo said that the Justice Center “has a propensity for punishing employees who are merely accused of wrongdoing, yet when there is a case of actual neglect to investigate, the Center’s evaluation would seem to be an anemic response to something so seriously offensive.” Justice Center spokesman William Reynolds said that in many cases, details are not available because of state and federal rules involving medical and personnel privacy, and law enforcement investigations. Something here must change. Given the current “system,” people considering a particular state institution or group home for their loved ones’ around-the-clock care have no way of knowing its track record of abuse. Nor does the public know what’s going on in places being financed by their tax dollars. Earlier this year, Brindisi sought details on the conditions and treatment of Wenger, but all he received back from the state was information that his inquiry prompted an investigation that concluded the “case was closed” and that steps were being taken to address things. Not good enough. We join the assemblyman and strongly encourage our federal representatives — U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Claudia Tenney and her New York congressional colleagues — to demand that U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price begin an investigation immediately. There must be more accountability here at all levels. The health and well-being – and dignity – of people in the state’s care cannot be compromised. http://www.uticaod.com/opinion/20170816/our-view-state-facilities-need-scrutiny