Failures across the network of New Jersey’s group homes for adults with disabilities – that have led to the abuse, neglect and death of residents – have gone unaddressed by officials for years, leaving the state’s most vulnerable residents at risk for their lives.
The multi-part series uncovered dozens of preventable group home deaths, showed how the state fails to investigate most cases and how poor the data is on these deaths. The most common cause of death listed in state documents is “other.”
And it showcased the real people behind the data – grieving families seeking answers and vulnerable residents who choked to death or wandered perilously into traffic unsupervised. People who suffered bedsores, dehydration and malnutrition. People who were left alone to die, with nobody to provide first aid, or medication, or simply notice they had stopped breathing. The cell phone belonging to one resident showed he had tried to dial 911 fourteen times on the night he died.
The series revealed how basic needs such as cleanliness and proper diets are ignored, leading to devastating health problems. It found that the state investigates just 2% of the abuse and neglect and other cases that come its way, leaving the rest to providers – which raises credibility issues. The state also failed to use its powers to keep troubled companies in check, even allowing some of the worst to continue to grow.
It uncovered the prevalence of medication errors by group home staff and the absence of medical personnel to administer medications properly, even for residents with a complex mix of prescriptions. That included 21-year-old Katie Moronski, who died just two days after going to live in a New Jersey group home, overdosing on her own medications.
And the series showed the dangers of a system rife with overburdened and underpaid staff who often work without proper training and support. It used powerful stories to illustrate this, such as a worker left alone to care for four women with disabilities – only one who could walk unattended – when fire broke out and destroyed the group home.
