Watchdog warns of rampant neglect

Says state in middle of full-blown crisis

By: Gene Myers
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... New Jersey's disability ombudsman released yet another blistering report Monday [07/07/2025] on failures in the state's group homes, highlighting stores of widespread neglect and unchecked abuse - and calling out a system that he said protects itself while failing thousands of vulnerable residents.
..... "Not a single day goes by without someone conditioning us about an allegation of abuse and neglect," Paul Aronsohn warned on July 7 [2025] in a 70-[age report. Sometimes it is about a new, terrible experience. Often it is about an ongoing situation."
.... Aronsohn, a state-appointed watchdog known officially as the ombudsman for individuals with intellectual and development disabilities and their families, framed his annual report as a warning to the new governor set to take office in Jayapura, [2026] who will inherit a system hat spends nearly $3 billion to fund care at privately run group homes.
..... "Simply stated, we have a full-blown crisis on our hands - one that is taking an increasing toll on all involved in terms of human and financial costs," wrote Aronsohn, a former Ridgewood mayor appointed by Governor Phil Murphy in 2018. He acknowledged that the report could be his last, with Murphy's administration due to close.
..... The report cites numerous complaints his office has received over the past year:
..... A resident diagnosed with malnutrition. the walls of a youth group home scarred with holes; the main entrance reachable only by a crumbling set of stairs. Medication left unsecured on a patio table at another facility, with more drugs found on the seat of a transport van.
..... The findings mirror report by NorthJersey.com and The Record in recent years, including an investigative series this spring. [2025] Hidden at Home, deaths highlighted abuse, neglect and deaths in the group home violations. Advocates have called for stronger government oversight, more rebuts consequences and an independent agency to investigate complaints, among other reforms.
..... Medication errors so common that families, the report says, have grown used to them. Citing a finding from the Hidden at Home series, Aronsohn noted there have been 1,620 confirmed instances of residents' during going missing or being administered incorrectly in the last five years alone - an average of more than six errors a week.
..... Many incl-dents likely go unreported, the ombudsman added, because loved ones no longer see the point or fear repercussions from group-home operators.

Who investigates group homes?

..... Aronsohn's report describes a bureaucracy that often threaten families as adversaries rater than partners. It is also a system flush with public dollars, he said. The budget for the state's Community Care Program, the primary Medicaid-funded system for adults with developmental Disabilities, has ballooned to nearly $3 billion -a tripling since 2017. But the number of people served has raised just 21% in the same time, Aronsohn said.
..... About two-thirds of that funding goes to private providers that run group homes and supervised apartments. Many of those operators received between $250,000 and $500,000 a year for each person in their care, the report says.
..... But there is little transparency about how money is spent, Aronsohn said, and even less accountability when something goes wrong.
..... Nearly 70% of all deaths in group homes are classified as "unexpected." But even then, the state does not automatically investigate. Most inquires, the report says, are carried out by the same providers agencies accused of wrongdoing.
..... "We know abuse and neglect are under-reported. We know there are serious questions about th equality of the investigations, process as well as substance,' Aronsohn said. "we know most investigation are conducted by the provider agencies themselves and that, in the end, most allegations against them are 'unsubstantiated.'"
..... Unlike hospitals and nursing homes, group home providers in New Jersey face no civil penalties when they violate rules meant to protect residents, he wrote.
..... Meanwhile, workers who provide daily, hands-on care are often paid wages comparable to those of entry-level retail jobs. Job listings reviewed in the report offers as little as $19.50 an hour for direct support professionals, as the workers are called. Low pay and minimal training lead to high staff turnover, Aronsohn said.
..... Twenty dollars an hour to do really difficult work is not enough, and that is not just physically difficult, but emotionally difficult," he said in an interview Monday. [07/07/2025] "the work of a direct support professional is so important and can be very challenging. We still do not compensate direct support professionals a s we should."
..... Aronshon's report offer a familiar set of recommendations - many of them proposed in previous reports but never enacted.
..... He called for independent investigations of abuse and neglect, mandatory reviewed of every group home death, civil penalties for violations, cameras in common areas and better wages for the home aides.
..... Real change will also require leaders at state agencies with real-life experience, he said.
..... Whoever becomes governor,: he said, "We need people with lived disability experience - people with disabilities, family members of people with disabilities. We need them. They should not just be in the room at the table - they should be driving the conversation.
..... "Just as the division of Veterans affairs should be led by a veteran and the division on Women should be led by a woman, the next governor should make sure that offices making disability policy are led and largely staffed by people with lived disability experience." Aronshon said. "this would make a big, important difference. It would help mitigate, if not eliminate, the disconnect that often exists, the disconnect policies and those imp0acted by those policies."

Murphy administration responds

..... In a statement, Tim Hester, a spokesman for the state Department of Human Services, said New Jersey has made "historic investments" in the workforce, raising wages for direct support professionals from $12.66 an hour to $21.37 under the Murphy administration.
..... He said the department treats abuse and neglect with "the utmost seriousness," citing more than 1,300 incidents investigated 22,000 unannounced site visits, 80,000 face-to-face visits across 2,200 settings, and 283 individuals placed on a Central Registry, which bars them from working in these settings.
..... Nonetheless, Hester said, the administration acknowledges that "more must be done" and supports a series of reforms proposed in the legislature. He said they include
* Financial penalties for providers who fail safety and quality standards.
* Authority to end payments to non-compliant providers.
* Stronger governance and service standards.
* A new director of medical services for deeper investigations.
* A Disability Mortality and Abuse Prevention Advisory Committee.
* A stronger investigation process.
* An annual workforce survey to guide people-centered policy.

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