A state comptroller audit found that people in group homes during the pandemic were put “at risk” in New York City and throughout the state.
The state comptroller audit, which was released Thursday, found that during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the emergency management coordination from the state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) was inadequate. OPWDD is responsible for overseeing all certified group homes in New York, which are either run by the state or by non-profit organizations.
“Group homes are supposed to offer people with developmental disabilities safe places to live as independently as possible,” state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said. “Our audit found the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities did not issue timely, consistent guidance to the vast majority of their certified group homes. Inconsistent emergency management coordination and oversight put residents, families and staff in harm’s way.”
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities, which OPWDD serves, are more susceptible to infectious diseases like COVID-19 and are at a higher risk for more severe outcomes, according to the comptroller’s report.
The audit timeframe spans from January 2019 to April 2022.
The comptroller’s office found that OPWDD had considered the risk of pandemics in its internal emergency planning documents prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but did not require group homes to do so. Even though the state agency required that group homes had emergency response plans in order to be certified, facilities across the state didn’t consider the spread of infectious disease in their plans, according to the comptroller’s office. Rather, plans focused on extreme weather, fire and missing persons.
DiNapoli’s audit focused on two main types of group homes in the state: Individualized Residential Alternatives (IRAs), which are homes with no more than 10 residents, and Intermediate Care…
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