Death of disabled boy in state care signals a need for change.

With a whooping $1.4 million annual per person budget, care of residents at Oswald D. Heck Developmental Center should be better than average. Unfortunately that is not the case; in fact allegations of resident abuse and neglect have gone unchecked for several years. When the state and federal government provide funding for the care of physically and mentally disabled residents, higher standards are certainly expected.

Sadly, the failure to properly investigate claims of abuse as well as management procedures which allowed unqualified individuals to be in charge of vulnerable residents resulted in the death of a 13 year old boy. As reported by the New York Times, "on a February afternoon in 2007, Jonathan, a skinny, autistic 13-year-old, was asphyxiated, slowly crushed to death in the back seat of a van by a state employee who had worked nearly 200 hours without a day off over 15 days."

The death of Jonathan Carey was preventable. O.D. Heck and 8 other institutions in New York which provide care for developmentally disabled residents has access to more funding than thousands of other homes providing the same service to thousands more residents. Since money was not the issue in Jonathan's death, what was?

Failure to investigate allegations of abuse and neglect and ignoring the complaints of whistle-blowers are just part of the problem as stated in the NY Times report. In addition, the people in charge hired workers with criminal backgrounds and knowingly tolerated physical and psychological abuse of patients. The state health department shut down one of the state run institutions while six others failed inspections of resident living conditions.

Abuse and neglect can occur at any facility providing care for dependent residents. Families are urged to investigate any indication their family member is not being cared for properly and report concerns of abuse or neglect immediately.