The Executive Committee of NYC FAIR has taken some time to think about what can be done to address the situation and the concerns. We have shared our response with OPWDD and others.

Each time a potential issue of alleged abuse or neglect in OPWDD services and supports surfaces in the media, there is anxiety and concern from families.  To diminish these occasions, we propose a collaboration between OPWDD, the Justice Center, families, and providers to shift our focus from just reacting to developing  data  to identify risk factors and effective preventive measures.  While physical injuries, neglect and deaths are the highest priority, we cannot overlook potential psychological abuse as well.

We know that all agencies must report data about incidents to  OPWDD and in some cases to the Justice Center. These agencies are required to prepare an annual report to leadership identifying trends.  We believe it is essential to collate and analyze this data on a statewide basis with the goal of identifying the following:

• Is it possible to identify which individuals’ characteristics appear to increase the risk of abuse or neglect. (e.g., nonverbal, history of aggressive behaviors to others, or self-harm.)
• What was the staff to resident ratio at the time of the incident?
• What time of day did these incidents occur?
• Were there technological deterrents in use such as door alarms or other measures to prevent elopement?
• How extensive was the abuse and neglect prevention training the staff received prior to the incident? 
• Are there any noticeable trends by geographic region?
• Is the individual a risk to others requiring a higher level of training and supervision?
• Have agencies with minimal incidents of abuse and neglect identified best practices that can be shared with all?

We are confident that there are many other issues that may emerge creating an opportunity to lower the incidents of abuse and neglect.   Most importantly, we hope that we can bring together all interested parties to address this critical issue with the attention that it deserves.

As Federal regulations lay out:

“We encourage States to consider implementing quality improvement processes as part of their incident management systems, as quality improvement processes can help states to promote the health and welfare of beneficiaries by addressing systemic issues in their HCBS programs. We also note that the purpose of tracking and trending critical incidents is to assist States in understanding patterns that require interventions to promote improvement and prevent the recurrence of harm to beneficiaries.”