Murphy administration demands action from major group home operator after safety problems revealed
Gov. Phil Murphy's administration has halted new admissions at New Jersey's largest group home operator for people with developmental disabilities and demanded "immediate correction of all concerns" involving safety and staffing shortages uncovered in 18 months of inspections.
The state Department of Human Services intends to appoint an independent monitor and to continue random unannounced inspections at all 62 properties operated by for-profit Bellwether Behavioral Health, state Department of Human Services spokesman Tom Hester said.
The state stopped referring people to Bellwether on July 12, Hester confirmed, a decision revealed after an Aug. 3 report aired on public radio station WNYC about ongoing problems at a group home in Branchburg.
"The New Jersey Department of Human Services demands the best services for the individuals it serves. To that end, the Department -- aware of concerns regarding Bellwether -- conducted surprise inspections at Bellwether facilities last year, followed by additional re-inspections this year," Hester said in a statement.
According to the report, Bellwether homes in Branchburg in Somerset County drew 156 rescue squad calls over two years, including seven involving employees accused of assaulting residents. Police are routinely called several times a day to intervene when staffing is low, the report said.
In addition to having the largest capacity of any group home provider in New Jersey, at 494 beds, Bellwether has also recorded the largest number of allegations of abuse and neglect. According to state data from March 2017 to March 2018, the state investigated 71 complaints, and substantiated 33. Six residents were repeatedly victimized, the data said.
A spokesman for Bellwether, formerly Advoserv, said Tuesday the company is working closely with the state to rectify any problems.
"Our primary concern is to ensure the health and safety to all of the individuals entrusted to us and to provide quality care to these individuals, which is why we are working closely with state officials to address all of their concerns," Bellwether spokesman Brian Burgess said.
"The State has imposed a temporary moratorium on new admissions. We have been in constant communication with the State and we have already submitted a detailed quality improvement plan, which the State is in the process of reviewing."
Since the private equity fund Wellspring Capital Management of New York bought the group home provider in 2015, Burgess said the company has made meaningful improvements. They include spending $1.9 million for additional staffing, supervision and oversight when Bellwether phased-out the use of mechanical restraints in every home in New Jersey.
"We have also invested heavily in new training programs to improve the quality and expertise of staff and have made several new hires in the areas of compliance, quality, recruiting and retention to deliver the best possible care to our residents," he added.
Thomas Papa, formerly the deputy chief financial officer for the department's Division of Developmental Disabilities, is Bellwether's senior vice president for governmental affairs, according to state records and his social media profile.
Hundreds of pages of inspection reports from January 2017 to May 2018 reviewed by NJ Advance Media reveal a wide range of problems, from deficiencies in the physical environment such as rotting food, broken furniture and missing pillows, shower curtains and toilet paper. But there were ample instances of mistakes by management and staff: mismanaging medication, misusing physical restraints and failing to document injuries.
Bellwether's issues will be among the first tests of the new Stephen Komninos Law, fought for by families whose loved ones suffered abuse and neglect in group homes. The law, named for a man who died in the care of Bancroft in Haddonfield 11 years ago, doubles annual unannounced inspections, requires employees to undergo drug tests and mandate group home operators more quickly disclose information to families after a loved one is hurt.
In the WYNC report, one former resident of the Branchburg group home, Abdulaye Saccoh, had lost 100 pounds and suffered a broken bones and multiple cuts and bruises. He stopped attending vocational training. The family said its complaints went unheeded.
Fatou Saccoh of Trenton told NJ Advance Media her brother, who once lived at North Jersey Developmental Center in Totowa before the state closed it in 2014, moved to a group home operated by Willowglen Academy in Sussex County about eight months ago and is doing much better.
She said without the help of Disability Rights New Jersey, a legal advocacy group, it would have taken much longer to convince the state that her brother was in danger in Bellwether homes, which demonstrated it was unable to manage his behavior. The Saccoh family started raising concerns about his apparent injuries and increasing anxiety in 2013.
"We said he needed to be out of that home. The state said he was too aggressive," Fatou Saccoh said. "Finally he is back to the person he was before."
Was she satisfied that the state halted admissions, after more than a year of her and her family questioning her brother's care? Fatou Saccoh, a former special education teacher, said no.
"I will not be satisified until they shut down," she said. "Or, they bring in a new team of professionals."
Bellwether operates in New Jersey, Virginia and Delaware, supervising the care of 600 clients, according to its website. Under the name Advoserv, the provider lost contracts to manage housing for disabled residents in states such as Florida, New York and Maryland after several deaths and a barrage of complaints, according to series of articles by ProPublica.
In March, the family of Susan Osborne, 58, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Superior Court in Essex County after she choked to death on a hamburger while under the care of Bellwether home last year.
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