Staff writer Kristin Longley contributed to this report.
October 25, 2009
GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan
They are our most fragile and most vulnerable -- and they are not being treated right.
They are being tied down with sheets, being left unsupervised as their caretaker takes a nap, and occasionally being verbally and physically abused, state records show.
In the last two years, Genesee County’s 285 adult foster care facilities have racked up 323 reported violations of state rules, according to a Flint Journal investigation of Michigan Department of Human Services records.
One facility, Sister Love Adult Care in Flint, racked up 27 violations in one year before the state shut it down on July 11. Investigators found residents were suffering from bed sores and not getting their medicines.
And, just this month the state recommended revoking the license of another facility, Carol’s AFC in Flint’s college and cultural neighborhood, after repeated violations.
It is a nightmare come true for many who struggle to find a place where loved ones with mental illness or incapacitated by old age can get the care that family simply can no longer provide.
Diane Nims, the director of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Elder Abuse and Financial Exploitation Task Force, believes that most adult foster care homes provide a great service to the community.
A few don’t.
“It’s difficult when you have elderly people with physical and mental problems,” Nims said. “They can be very difficult to work with. And that’s why it’s important to have staff who know how to work with these people.”
The Journal review of state records also showed:
• A patient was confined in a room with duct tape over the door frame in an effort to separate the resident from a neighbor.
• Staff told a patient at one facility to “eat glass.” The individual had a history of self-injury with glass such as swallowing broken light bulbs.
• One patient’s broken leg was not reported for a week, another’s broken arm was not reported for two to three weeks.
• A worker was terminated after admitting to stealing money on several occasions from one resident. She said she needed money for gas.
“I think the problems have always been underreported,” said Nims, who encourages family members to make unannounced visits to facilities.
Abridged
SOURCE: MLIVE.COM
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