ST. PAUL, MN – Based on the recommendations of an independent work group convened by AARP Minnesota and a recent report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA), Governor Mark Dayton was joined by legislators and advocates today to announce a broad set of reforms and investments to hold providers guilty of abuse accountable and protect the health, safety, and dignity of seniors and vulnerable adults. The proposal, co-authored by Republicans and Democrats in the House (HF3468) and Senate (SF3088), would invest $14.9 million to protect the health and safety of Minnesotans in privately-owned residential care facilities. In recent years, allegations of abuse at privately-owned residential care facilities for older and vulnerable adults have increased more than 50 percent, reaching 24,100 total complaints last year alone.
“Our senior citizens deserve safe, dignified, high-quality care at every facility in Minnesota,” said Governor Dayton. “Over the last several months, I have listened closely to the perspectives of seniors and their families, along with advocates and providers, whose stories must be at the center of our work. While the responsibility for these abuses rests first and foremost with the private facilities who have violated the trust of families and their loved ones, my Administration is taking concrete steps to investigate every allegation of abuse in a timely and thorough manner. I will work with the Legislature this session to better ensure our parents and grandparents, their families, and all vulnerable adults are safe and well-cared for in Minnesota.”
The bipartisan proposal would hold providers guilty of abuse accountable and protect the health, safety, and well-being of older and vulnerable adults through more robust licensing requirements for residential care facilities, enhanced inspections and investigative processes, better communication with seniors and their families, and strengthened rights for seniors and their families. The proposal would also strengthen criminal and civil penalties for perpetrators of abuse and the companies that employ them.
“The health and safety of Minnesota seniors is first and foremost the responsibility of the facilities where they are cared for,” said Sen. Lourey. “At the same time, state government has an important role to play in ensuring strong standards and protections for our vulnerable adults. These new proposals will strengthen the rights of seniors and their families, provide resources to protect against abuse, and make penalties harsher for bad actors.”
“Across our state, more and more Minnesota families are entrusting assisted living facilities with the care of their loved ones. They deserve to know that those facilities will be a safe and supportive home for their parents and grandparents,” said Rep. Olson. “These new proposals will provide greater safety, dignity, and peace of mind to Minnesota seniors and their loved ones.”
Following reports of neglect and abuse in nursing homes and assisted living facilities across the state, Governor Dayton called on AARP Minnesota in November to establish an independent work group to study the problem and make recommendations that could be acted upon this legislative session. In assembling the work group, AARP Minnesota drew on the experiences of Minnesota seniors and their families, as well as the expertise of other consumer-focused senior organizations, including Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, the Alzheimer’s Association of Minnesota, the Elder Justice Center, and Elder Voice Family Advocates. At the end of January, the work group released their final recommendations, which, along with the recently released report from the OLA, have informed these proposals and the work of Governor Dayton’s Administration.
“We commend Governor Dayton for addressing the epidemic of elder abuse that we know exists in our state. Elder abuse is not inevitable. We must get to the root cause of the problem and we must do it as soon as possible,” said AARP Minnesota Director Will Phillips. “Governor Dayton has listened to victims and consumers and put forth a comprehensive proposal that deals with all aspects of this problem. We are confident that there is bipartisan support for these reforms in the legislature and we stand ready to work together to better protect Minnesota seniors.”
Last December, Governor Dayton directed the Department of Health (MDH) and the Department of Human Services (DHS) to begin working together to improve the Office of Health Facility Complaints’ (OHFC) operations and reduce the backlog of pending reports and allegations. Under the leadership of new Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm, and in partnership with DHS, OHFC has now eliminated the backlog of 2,321 previously unreviewed complaints, and has completed 448 investigations into privately-owned residential care facilities since the beginning of the year.
“While significant progress has been made to eliminate the backlog of complaints and investigate allegations of abuse, more must be done to protect Minnesota seniors and vulnerable adults to ensure abuse is not occurring in the first place,” said Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm. “We are committed to working with legislators, seniors, and their families to ensure action is taken to protect their health, dignity, and rights. Governor Dayton’s proposal would make significant investments towards this goal. Our Department will not rest until action is taken on every case, and every Minnesota family gets the highest level of service and care. We can and must do better.”
Together, the reductions in unreviewed complaints and pending investigations mark an 88 percent reduction in the overall backlog of abuse complaints for older and vulnerable adults at private care facilities in Minnesota. Thanks to aggressive action taken by MDH and DHS, an interim system to electronically process complaints was implemented in February 2018, helping OHFC to more efficiently review the over 400 new complaints of elder abuse it receives each week.
“Minnesotans expect and deserve state government to be responsive to their needs, especially when the wellbeing of our state’s most vulnerable citizens is on the line,” said Acting Human Services Commissioner Johnson. “I am proud of the progress we have already made to review allegations of abuse against Minnesota seniors. We strongly support Governor Dayton’s proposals to better ensure the safety and dignity of all vulnerable Minnesotans, and remain absolutely committed to making further improvements to deliver the strong oversight and service Minnesotans expect and deserve.”
Improving Licensing Regulation, Enforcement, Reporting and Investigations in Response to the Office of the Legislative Auditor
While significant progress has been made to better protect older Minnesotans, more actions must be taken to enhance the health, safety, and quality-of-life of older and vulnerable adults in private assisted living settings. The recent report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) on protections for older and vulnerable adults in Minnesota called for specific actions to be taken to improve licensing requirements for residential care facilities, enhance the inspections and investigation processes, and facilitate better reporting and communication with victims and their families.
- Improvements to Reporting and Communication at the Office of Health Facility Complaints – With increasing allegations of abuse in private assisted living settings, the bipartisan proposal would improve complaint filing and communication with families at the Office of Health Facility Complaints and the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center. The bipartisan plan also would support efforts to use complaint data to identify trends and inform prevention efforts undertaken in partnership with providers. These efforts would help ensure that victims and their families receive justice, while violating facilities are held accountable in a timely manner.
- Ongoing Improvements and Collaboration Between the Legislative and Executive Branches – To ensure Minnesota continues to improve on the serious issue of safety for seniors and vulnerable adults, the bipartisan proposal would establish a new legislative task force to make further recommendations in the years ahead, and would provide funding for the Department of Health to make continued upgrades to processes and technology to strengthen protections for older and vulnerable adults. The proposal would also continue to review and assess the current criminal code, to look for ways it might be further strengthened to protect vulnerable adults.
- Supporting Local Efforts to Investigate Abuse Complaints – The bipartisan proposal would provide grants to counties across the state to facilitate local investigations of abuse complaints. These county governments are often best-positioned to respond quickly to local concerns, but lack the resources they need to complete investigations efficiently and thoroughly.
- Stronger Licensing Requirements for Assisted Living Settings – Right now, home care services provided in assistant living settings are the only part of care required to be licensed. Based on the recommendations of the AARP, the bipartisan proposal announced today would update and strengthen licensing requirements for all assisted living and dementia care settings to improve management practices and patient care.
To learn more about how the bipartisan proposal announced today would enhance the health and safety of older and vulnerable adults, click here.
Strengthening and Expanding Rights for Seniors and Families, and Enhancing Penalties and Protections Against Abuse
Every day, Minnesota families entrust privately-owned assisted living settings to care for their parents, grandparents, and loved ones. When elderly and vulnerable Minnesotans experience abuse in those facilities, that trust is violated, and there must be consequences for perpetrators. Below, read more about how the bipartisan proposal would enhance criminal and civil penalties for perpetrators of abuse, create new protections against housing discrimination, and strengthen the rights of seniors and their families.
- Stronger Enforcement of Civil and Criminal Rights – The proposal would strengthen the civil rights of older or vulnerable adults, to allow them to go to court to defend their rights. It would clarify the right of victims to challenge maltreatment findings, and would strengthen criminal penalties, allowing local prosecutors to charge perpetrators with a gross misdemeanor for assault of a vulnerable adult for threats and non-physical abuse against a vulnerable adult.
- Empowering Families to Act as Advocates for Loved Ones – The bipartisan proposals would allow family members to sue on behalf of their loved ones. In the tragic case of an older or vulnerable adult passing away due to an alleged abuse, the Governor’s proposal would ensure family members could continue any existing lawsuits regarding the alleged abuse.
- Ability to Appeal Housing or Home Care Service Terminations – The proposal would allow residents to appeal housing or home care decisions made by providers to the Office of Administrative Hearings, similar to the rights of nursing home residents to challenge involuntary discharge decisions. In addition, the proposal would ensure that providers receive additional education about the Elderly Waiver program and eligibility process.
- Increasing Transparency for Older and Vulnerable Adults, their Families, and the Public – One of the major challenges facing families with an older or vulnerable adult is selecting a private care facility that they know they can count on for quality care. All Minnesotans deserve assurances that their parents, grandparents, and other loved ones are in good hands. The bipartisan proposal would crack down on deceptive marketing and bad business practices, to ensure families know up front the kind of care their loved ones will receive.
Governor Dayton’s proposals would also clarify the right of family members to place a camera in the room of their loved ones to monitor care. The Governor’s proposals would also strengthen the right to know about allegations of abuse for both families and the public, to ensure allegations are being investigated fully and so that other families can make informed decisions about where to place their loved ones into care.
- Strengthen the Rights of Older and Vulnerable Adults and their Families – The proposal would expand the rights of older and vulnerable adults living in assisted living settings and their families, and increase the capacity of the Office of the Ombudsman for Long-Term Care to protect these rights. These changes will help improve communications between facilities and families, especially in situations where known abuse has occurred.
To learn more about how the bipartisan proposal would impose stricter penalties for the abuse of older and vulnerable adults, click here.
Efforts Already Underway to Protect Seniors and Improve Care
Last November, following reports of neglect and abuse in nursing homes and assisted living facilities across the state, Governor Dayton called on AARP Minnesota to establish an independent work group to study the problem and make recommendations that could be acted upon this legislative session. In assembling the work group, AARP Minnesota drew on the experiences of Minnesota seniors and their families, as well as the expertise of other consumer-focused senior organizations, including Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, the Alzheimer’s Association of Minnesota, the Elder Justice Center, and Elder Voice Family Advocates. At the end of January, the work group released its final recommendations, which have informed the bipartisan proposal announced today, and the work of his Administration.
In December, Governor Dayton also directed the Department of Health (MDH) and the Department of Human Services (DHS) to begin working together to improve the Office of Health Facility Complaints’ (OHFC) operations and reduce the backlog of pending reports and allegations. Under the leadership of new Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm, in partnership with DHS, OHFC has now eliminated the backlog of 2,321 previously unreviewed complaints and has completed 448 investigations into privately-owned residential care facilities since the beginning of the year.
Last session, Governor Dayton worked with the Legislature to secure new funding to increase staffing and resources at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to more quickly respond to and investigate alleged abuse of vulnerable adults. The legislation also called for MDH to engage stakeholders in these improvements. The new work group will build off of the feedback gathered from MDH’s request for information from stakeholders, and the three listening sessions the agency held this fall, which engaged hundreds of seniors, families, and providers across Minnesota about senior care issues.
To learn more about actions already underway to protect the health, safety, and dignity of Minnesotans, click here.