New York Assembly Members Criticize Governor for Problems with Adult Homes

New York Assembly Democrats last week criticized officials in Gov. George Pataki's (R) administration for problems with the state's adult homes, which house about 15,000 mentally ill residents, despite reforms that the administration announced last month to increase oversight of the facilities, the New York Times reports. At a June 6 hearing, Democratic leaders in the state Assembly questioned "why the administration was increasing enforcement and calling for reforms only now" -- nearly eight years after Pataki took office -- and accused administration officials of "acting only to contain the damage" after the New York Times published a series in April chronicling problems in the state's adult home system. Administration officials told Assembly Democrats that "they were looking closely at the homes" and hope to issue "far-reaching reforms" at the end of the summer (Levy, New York Times, 6/7). Last month, the administration announced new regulations that would require adult homes for the first time to adhere to some standards set for hospitals and psychiatric institutions, with some oversight from the state Public Health Council, which approves new hospitals and nursing homes. In addition, adult homes would have to hire nurses, rather than minimum wage employees, to dispense medication to residents. The administration also announced plans to expand teams of investigators to conduct unannounced examinations of adult homes, focusing on resident deaths and Medicaid violations (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/8). At the hearing, state Health Commissioner Antonia Novello said, "The system needs fixing. There's no doubt about it." She asked Assembly Democrats to approve legislation proposed by Pataki that would "stiffen penalties" for violations. Administration officials also said that teams from the state Department of Health, Office of Mental Health and the Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled had inspected 21 adult homes in New York City in the past few weeks and found a number of violations. Officials said they would release additional findings soon (New York Times, 6/7).