The number of inspections of Assisted Living Facilities (ALF) by Florida’s volunteer elder watchdog group has declined to 86 percent, in contrast to many homes being visited more than twice in 2009. That’s because an increasing number of elder advocates and staff have either resigned or been sacked, and the introduction of a new inspection form, making it more difficult to detect abuse, neglect or sub-standard conditions.
According to miamiherald.com:
“In the past, volunteers had free rein to nose around facilities, looking for such things as rodent and insect infestations, unsanitary bathrooms and kitchens, irregularities with medications, and unsafe conditions. Under the new form implemented by Crochet, volunteers have authority only to interview residents.
Many volunteers say the new approach is critically flawed: Many ALF and nursing-home residents lack the intellectual capacity to communicate with advocates. And some who are capable of speaking refuse to, because they are afraid of retaliation from facility staff. The Miami-Dade Grand Jury, which issued a blistering report on assisted living facilities last week, recommended that Jim Crochet (the groups’s Ombudsman) trash the new form and stick with the old policy that allowed volunteers greater freedom.”
