Abused and Used

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Abused and Used

published by advocatefordoug

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New York STate

Treatment of

People with Developmental Disabilities

Created by: Alena S. Yang

“The state has retained workers who committed physical or sexual abuse, rehired many workers it had fired, shunned whistle-blowers and rarely reported allegations of abuse to law enforcement.” -Danny Hakim

D. Hakim & R. Buettner are New York Times reporters who collaborated on the 2012 Pulitzer-prize winning "Abused and Used" article series.

New York Times published a series of articles on the "abuse, neglect and deadly mistakes in New York’s system of' care for people with developmental disabilities. Horror stories of unexplained deaths and misuse of public funds began to surface.

2011

Maioriello, a former O.D. Heck employee and whistle-blower, reported the abuses she witnessed to the New York Times which sparked reform measures and public outcry.

He was beaten with two notched and broken blue sticks, which the staff called “the magic wand.” -Mary Maioriello

The six O.D. Heck staff members responsible for the violent abuse, however, walked off unscathed. As of 2014, "five of six workers in the K. C. lawsuit were on the state payroll" and their current whereabouts are unknown.

22 year old, K.C., was beaten with a stick, gagged with towels, and starved by staff at the New York state facility, O.D. Heck. Eight months later, he was hospitalized. Malnourished and unconscious, K.C. was placed on life support before shortly passing away.

2010-2011

2014-2015

Deaths in State & Privately Run Facilities are caused by Unnatural or Unknown Causes.

1 in 6

That is more than 1,200 Unknown & Unnatural deaths reported in the past decade.

10%

Michael Carey is an advocate whose13-year old son, Jonathan Carey. died in State care in 2007. One state employee crushed him to death while another employee watched.

"This agency has been an absolute failure. The agency is not independent, it is not a strong watchdog agency, it is not investigating abuse and neglect or deaths properly." -Michael Carey

In the analysis of 7,118 cases of resident deaths the New York Times discovered alarming patterns:

"Residents who were not supposed to be left alone with food choked in bathrooms and kitchens."

"Others who needed help on stairs tumbled alone to their deaths."

Residents who ran "away again and again until they were found dead."

References:

1. Hartocollis, A. (2015, April 15). Mother Settles for $2.25 Million in Lawsuit Claiming Abuse of Disabled Man at O. D. Heck. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com. 2. Hakim, D. (2011, June 5). A Disabled Boy’s Death, and a System in Disarray. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com. 3. Hakim, D. (2011, June 13). Progress Claimed in Reporting Abuse at Group Homes. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com. 4. Hakim, D. (2011, August 17). New York Moves to Crack Down on Abuse of Disabled. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com. 5. Hakim, D. (2012, January 10). U.S. Report Criticizes New York on Monitoring Care of Developmentally Disabled. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com. 6. Hakim, D., & Buettner, R. (2011, November 5). In State Care, 1,200 Deaths and Few Answers. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com.