Morning Read: Developmentally disabled at risk in NY

The New York Times published a major investigative report over the weekend, suggesting that New Yorkers with developmental disabilities are at substantial risk of violence or early death while in the care of state officials.

The report focuses, in part, on the 2009 fire in the Adirondack town of Wells that left four developmentally disabled patients dead at a home run by New York state.

In New York, it is unusually common for developmentally disabled people in state care to die for reasons other than natural causes.

One in six of all deaths in state and privately run homes, or more than 1,200 in the past decade, have been attributed to either unnatural or unknown causes, according to data obtained by The New York Times that has never been released.

The figure is more like one in 25 in Connecticut and Massachusetts, which are among the few states that release such data.

The report, by the Times’ Danny Hakim, suggests that the Wells fire wasn’t a unique, tragic event, but part of a worrisome pattern:

The [Wells, NY] Riverview case also underscores widespread problems in how fire drills at group homes have been conducted. The Times reported in March that a whistle-blower warned a senior state official in 2008 that drill records were being routinely faked or implausibly speedy evacuation times were being claimed. State investigators found that was the case at the Riverview house.

The staff also seemed unprepared; time was spent battling the fire with an extinguisher instead of evacuating residents. The grand jury convened by the district attorney of Hamilton County noted that fires were common in group homes, adding, “It would be a grave mistake to view Riverview’s tragedy as an isolated incident.”

Read the full article here.