abuse

Published on: March 2, 2017

NYC state-run group home sued for abuse and neglect of its disabled residents

Disabled residents at a NYC group home have been physically abused and neglected for years. A lawsuit file against Union Ave. IRA, a group home in the Bronx alleged that disableD residents were physically abused and neglected dozens of time over the last ten years. The lawsuit was filed by the residents’ guardians in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. One of them claimed in the lawsuit that his sister was raped while living at the group home. The guardians are not only suing the staffers from from the group home but also officials from the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities who are supposed to make sure disabled residents are safe. Read more in the NY Daily News

Union Ave Group Home

Picture: courtesy of Google Map

Published on: June 1, 2016

Negligence and abuse in a group home

By GGCRBHS&M

Group homes are mostly sued when an employee neglects a resident or when one of them is abused.

Negligence often results from unintentional wrongdoing by employees in the group home or from denial of care or delayed care. A group home can also be sued when employees fail to protect a resident from injuring himself or from being injured by other residents.

Abuse is unfortunately also common in group homes and is mostly related to sexual misconduct especially toward minors.

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Published on: December 23, 2014

Should child protective services use cohersion to protect children from abuse and neglect in some cases

By GGCRBHS&M

When child protective services investigators are facing an obvious case of child abuse or child neglect and the child is facing immediate danger, they will immediately take the child into protective supervision. However in many cases evidence is not always obvious but the investigator believes that for the child security it would be prudent to have him temporarily removed or for certain changes in the household to take place. Toward that end, the investigator may try to influence, encourage, or persuade the caregiver to take certain actions for the child’s betterment. If that influence, encouragement, and persuasion crosses the line into coercion has the investigator behaved unethically or illegally?

In a recent article, Daniel Pollack, a professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social Work in New York City looks at specific cases for which cohersion by child services inspectors may be acceptable and sometimes necessary to protect a child from neglect and abuse.

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Published on: December 10, 2014

Individuals with Profound Development Disabilities are at risk of abuse and neglect and need to be protected

By GGCRBHS&M

Daniel%2BPollack-1.jpg There are no uniform data at the national level that provide us with a global picture of the prevalence and incidence of abuse and maltreatment of people who are severely disabled. We know these numbers are high. We also know that perpetrators are often the people closest to the disabled person such as guardians, caregivers, neighbors or acquaintances, family members, healthcare providers or other residents.
In a recent article, Daniel Pollack, MSSA (MSW), JD and professor at the School of Social Work of Yeshiva University, examines the reasons why it is so difficult to quantify these abuses at a national level and what can be done to better protect people with profound disability.
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