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Sex Offenders in Nursing Homes—No Pros but Tons of Convicts
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Do the meals taste like hospital food? Does the staff-to-patient ratio allow for enough individualized attention? Is your loved one’s roommate a known sex offender? Most likely, that last question wouldn’t cross your mind when considering a nursing home for your loved one—but if you don’t ask it, you may regret it.
In 2005, A Perfect Cause—an agency that advocates for the rights of disabled and elderly individuals—went before Congress to address the issue of sex offenders in long-term care facilities. Based on their research, the number of registered sex offenders living in nursing homes and intermediate care facilities for people with mental retardation doubled—from 380 to 800—between 2004 and 2005. Congress responded by mandating the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to lead an investigation focused on three components: the prevalence of sex offenders in long-term care facilities, the legal requirements for informing families of resident convicts, and the measures facilities take to separate potentially dangerous residents from others who could be victimized.
The GAO analyzed the FBI’s National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR) and found approximately 700 registered sex offenders living in nursing homes or intermediate care facilities throughout the United States! Of the eight states the study examined closely, only four—California, Illinois, Oklahoma and Minnesota—have laws indicating a facility must be notified when a registered sex offender becomes a resident. The study found that although facility administrators worry residents may become victims of violent crimes, they do not impose any supervision or separation requirements on known offenders.
In the introduction to the report, GAO officials wrote, “Because of the large amount of federal funding these long-term care facilities receive, there is a strong interest in ensuring the safety and well-being of their vulnerable residents.” Reading this, I can’t help but wonder: if the facilities weren’t federally funded, would the GAO have less of an interest? Whether or not the federal government is committed to the cause, individual states are lobbying to improve the state of affairs. The Virginia State Crime Commission is currently lobbying for legislation requiring facilities to check new admits against the NSOR—before admitting anyone whose stay is expected be longer than three days. The facilities would also be legally responsible for informing families of the potential for sex offenders in residence and directing them to the NSOR Web site to learn more about them. While this is a step in the right direction, this still leaves the research in family’s hands instead of forcing the facilities to take responsibility.
What are the alternatives? Should nursing home administrators give new residents a detailed report on any known offenders as part of a welcome packet? Perhaps these residents’ doors should be branded with a scarlet “O” to remove all possible doubt. Or maybe this is all a bunch of fuss about nothing. In an earlier post in which a colleague of mine addressed long-term care for the elderly in prison, she noted that elderly inmates have the lowest recidivism rate of all demographics. Would you be comfortable knowing that your loved one probably won’t be the victim of an ex-offender? If not, perhaps you should check out the NSOR site and start writing to Congress. Who better to speak on her behalf than her family—whose interest has nothing to do with federal funding?
On the offensive—
Lori Deschene
Posted in: Elder Abuse, Nursing Care, Nursing Homes, Senior Care News, Skilled Nursing
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This is even more appalling than the blog about exhuming dead bodies. You’re right. Who would think to look on a website to see if nursing home patients have committed sex crimes? These people don’t belong with the regular public. They belond in jail.