Silver: Tinkers Ahead for Bill
Speaker Says Legislation to Protect Vulnerable from Abuse Will Need Changes
By Rick Karlin Albany Times Union May 22, 2012
ALBANY – There will likely be “some version” of the sweeping legislation that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed to protect vulnerable and disabled people from abuse and neglect, but not without some changes, said Assembly Democratic Majority SpeakerSheldon Silver.
Specifically, Silver suggested that the package needs a provision in which an entity other than the state would have a role in fielding allegations of abuse and neglect.
“I think there has to be some way in which somebody can be heard other than an employee of the state of New York,” Silver said to reporters on Monday during a gathering of advocates for the disabled.
The Cuomo administration, though, says they are already enlisting outside help, noting that they are planning to bring in a yet-unnamed nonprofit group to serve as a watchdog. They currently are seeking proposals by those who want that job.
Additionally, the governor’s plan includes provisions for outside review committees for individual human service providers. Such providers could be group homes, nonprofit disability centers or state facilities.
“The administration has already begun the process to create the independent watchdog the Speaker is referring to by establishing a first-ever outside not-for-profit organization to monitor the system,” Cuomo’s Deputy Secretary for Health James Introne said in a statement following Silver’s remarks.
Cuomo has said creation of a new system for protecting New York’s approximately 1 million vulnerable people – such as those who live in homes for the disabled or in state-run institutions – is his priority for the rest of this legislative session, set to end on June 21.
Earlier in the month, he introduced a bill that he said would achieve that goal by expanding disclosure requirements and creating a new state agency dubbed the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs.
The initiative also would create a special prosecutor and inspector general to respond to allegations that people under the care of state agencies or nonprofits are being abused or neglected.
The measure passed in the Senate last week without debate, but needs approval in the Assembly.
Additionally, public employee unions, which are historically close to the Democratic-led Assembly, may be worried that the new rules could target front-line workers.
The state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, for example, has been struggling with unions for months to devise a new disciplinary regime for situations, albeit rare, in which workers are abusive toward the people for whom they are supposed to care.
The governor’s plan has been criticized, mostly by Michael Carey, who said he fears that the state may not be able to police itself.
When told of Silver’s concern about outside oversight, Carey said “Excellent. That’s what I’ve been fighting for.”
Carey’s autistic teenage son, Jonathan, died under state care in 2007. Following their child’s death, Carey and his wife pushed for better disclosure of complaints and problems within the state’s vast system of care for the disabled.
Still, the bulk of those who work in the disability care field, as well as advocates for the disabled, have approved of Cuomo’s plan. “I think it’s a very strong proposal,” said Harvey Rosenthal, executive director of the state association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services.
The new nonprofit would likely take over many functions of the Commission on Quality of Care, which Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto said would be phased out under this plan.
Silver spokesman Michael Whyland said Assembly members would have to examine the specifics of the nonprofit proposal before saying whether that satisfied the need for outside review of the system.
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