Today, Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1) was joined by Reps. Peter King (R, NY-2), Elise Stefanik (R, NY-21) and Tom Reed (R, NY-23) requesting that the Department of Justice investigate the New York State Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs’ failure to protect individuals with disabilities and Medicaid recipients who have died under state care, including nine who died while in state care in Suffolk County since 2013. 

Dozens of allegations related to staff abuses, patient neglect, sexual assaults and even patient deaths have been reported over the last few years, yet the New York State Justice Center, which is authorized to investigate all reports of abuse and neglect, pursue administrative sanctions against staff found responsible for misconduct, and prosecute criminal offenses through its Special Prosecutor/Inspector General sharing jurisdiction with local district attorneys, has consistently failed to perform these responsibilities and continues to operate without any added oversight or scrutiny. Since its inception in 2013, the Center has failed to take meaningful steps to address systematic failures, and as such, it is critical the Department of Justice investigate.   

 

“Individuals with disabilities deserve full and equal protection under the law. However, in the State of New York, abuses have been ignored and swept under the rug due to the lack of action taken by the New York State Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs,” said Congressman Lee Zeldin. “It is unacceptable that the State of New York continues to pocket billions of federal tax dollars to care for these patients while

The head of the state's Office for People with Developmental Disabilities is leaving to run a health care provider that the agency oversaw, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Kerry Delaney, acting-commissioner of the department since 2014, is accepting the CEO position with Partners Health Plan, a not-for-profit managed care organization.

Officials with PHP did not respond to requests for comment.

Delaney previously served as general counsel before being appointed executive deputy commissioner of the agency. As head of OPWDD, she has headed a workforce of more than 22,000 direct-support professionals at an agency that provides services to more than 130,000 New Yorkers.

Delaney's acting commissioner title was never removed and she had therefore been able to receive a higher salary — $169,903 — than the statutory salary for the commissioner that is capped at $136,000.

As she waited for her meal during a routine trip to a fast-food restaurant in Northern California’s Bay Area in July of last year, a woman with a developmental disability was lured away from her adult day care group. The staffer overseeing the group ordered food, but it wasn’t until after he ordered that he realized the woman was missing. C1, as she is identified in state investigation records, was found 30 minutes later in the back seat of a car with a registered sex offender who was later charged with sexual battery, according to the investigation report.

Patricia remembers that day. Her daughter, Jackie, attended the same program. When a staff member dropped off Jackie and told Patricia what had happened, Patricia called in a complaint to the agency that referred her to the day program. A few months later, Patricia made another complaint, this time for her own daughter, fearing that she too had experienced sexual abuse at the day care.

At Patricia’s request, FiveThirtyEight agreed not to use her and her daughter’s real names, both to protect Jackie’s privacy and because Patricia is afraid that coming forward might dissuade other programs from admitting Jackie.

Though they are anonymous, they are not alone.

A joint investigation by The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute and FiveThirtyEight has found that from 2013 to 2017, there were at least 2,400 reported allegations of abuse and neglect in the more than 4,500 day programs like Jackie’s in California.

C1 and Jackie, who has Down syndrome, are among the people most vulnerable to sexual, physical and emotional abuse. People with intellectual disabilities are seven times more likely

A small group of former students, advocates and parents gathered in front of the California Department of Education Monday to demand the closure of a school where a teen with autism stopped breathing and later died after being restrained by staff.

Nearly a dozen protestors said they were demanding the immediate closure of Guiding Hands School in El Dorado Hills. Those gathered also said they believed state regulators didn’t do enough to prevent the death of Max Benson, 13, who died Nov. 29, a day after school staff put him in a face-down restraint for an extended period of time.

The California Department of Education found “sufficient evidence” in a preliminary inspection of Guiding Hands that the facility had violated multiple state rules governing how and when

For years, the Holly Center, a facility for the developmentally disabled, has faced financial struggles that have made it hard for them to keep certain services available.At one point, the Center was at risk of closing, but thanks to the State’s plan to “re-imagine” the Holly Center, it’s been able to stay open, and on Wednesday, one very important resource was reintroduced, the therapy pool.

Years ago, the therapy pool at the Holly Center encountered serious mechanical issues and was forced to close down as a result.

Dr. Katherine L. R. Jones, the Executive Director for Bay Area Center for Independent Living said, “It’s my understanding that it was due to financial constraints.”

The closure left the community devastated.

Dr. Jones said, “The pool was the heartbeat of the

A Tacoma, Wash. woman has caused a social media firestorm after telling the mother of a child with a disability to put her girl “out of her misery.”

The controversy has drawn the attention of a celebrity, exposed women who share the same name to harassment and gotten the poster fired from one job.

The events unfolded Wednesday last week when Natalie Weaver of Cornelius, N.C., posted a Christmas photo of her family on Facebook. It included her 10-year-old daughter Sophia, who has facial, hand and feet deformities.

“We are grateful for another beautiful holiday season with Sophia,” Weaver wrote. “She continues to overcome & fight every daily challenge & difficulty she faces. She does it with so much sweetness, laughter and positivity. She is the definition of strength. I’m so proud of my girl.”

Weaver is a well-known advocate for children with disabilities. CNN profiled her in February. She is the founder of Sophia’s Voice, a nonprofit that helps people with chronic illnesses and disabilities get their medical needs met.

Sophia has Rett syndrome, a neurological disorder that affects one in 10,000 female births. It can affect brain function and other systems.

A federal judge didn’t equivocate Wednesday, declaring Lawrence Collins, a 40-year-old accused of federal tax fraud, unable to assist in his own defense because of his intellectual disability.

The next questions proved more difficult: What does the court do with Collins now?

Should he be committed to the federal Bureau of Prisons? Or should he be allowed to remain in the community to continue to receive local treatment, counseling and other support services?

The case is rare because of a combination of factors: Collins faces charges in a nonviolent crime. He’s already been out of custody for more than two years on pre-trial supervision. And, perhaps most unusual, Collins suffers from a cognitive disability that may not be treatable.

His case, as well as one involving a defendant in Arizona who has gone to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge his commitment, highlight how the federal system deals with people who have intellectual disabilities.

What the courts decide in these cases could have implications for others with similar disabilities.

Collins can’t read or exercise independent decisions, an evaluator found. In the Arizona case, the defendant was found to have a very low IQ and unable to assist in his own defense.

It was not easy for Irma Canfield to get her son everything he needs.

Steven Canfield was born with Down syndrome, and by middle school he had also been diagnosed with severe autism. With great effort, Irma Canfield secured critical services for her son through Medicaid.

When Steven’s health deteriorated several years later, she was able to leave her job to take care of him while her husband, Jim, continued to work. Today, Canfield remains her son’s caregiver and his biggest advocate.

Despite the family’s challenges, in many ways Steven, now 30, is one of the lucky ones.

Thousands of other adults in Bexar County with autism spectrum disorder or intellectual and developmental disabilities likely lack access to services, according to a report released Wednesday.

The study is the first known attempt to quantify the number of adults in the San Antonio area who have autism or an intellectual or developmental