Federal audit: DHHS failed to investigate deaths, suspected abuse of disabled adults

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services failed to investigate the deaths of all 133 people with developmental disabilities who died between January 2013 and June 2015 while under the care of community-based providers across the state, and, as a result, failed to report suspicious deaths to law enforcement agencies to determine if crimes had been committed, according to a federal audit released Thursday.

In addition, when community providers who care for adults with disabilities told the department about suspected cases of people being physically or verbally abused, neglected, exploited, sexually abused or subject to medication errors — to the point where they required emergency hospitalization — the state accepted only 5 percent of cases, or 767 out of a total of 15,897, for an adult protective investigation. It did not refer all of the cases to a district attorney or police department for an additional, potential criminal investigation.

By not investigating all of these allegations of harm, the state failed to live up to the terms of an agreement with the federal government to provide home and community-based services to Medicaid beneficiaries, according to the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which performed the audit. In addition, Maine DHHS didn’t follow state law, which requires the department to “immediately” inform the appropriate district attorney’s office of suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation.

“We the providers, frankly, have been expecting a scathing report,” said Bonnie-Jean Brooks, president and CEO of OHI, a Hermon-based organization that serves people with intellectual disabilities and mental illness. “I’m hoping, we are hoping, that this is going to cause the state of Maine to wake up and do the sort of quality assurance and protection of health and safety of these people they’re getting federal money for.”

Read more: http://bangordailynews.com/2017/08/10/mainefocus/federal-audit-dhhs-failed-to-investigate-deaths-suspected-abuse-of-disabled-adults/