NJ lawmakers ask for checks on group homes statewide after developmentally disabled woman dies

From The AP:

CAMDEN, N.J. - The state is investigating the death of a 28-year-old woman who had dwindled to 48 pounds in a state-licensed home for developmentally disabled adults, officials said Nov. 25.

The Division of Developmental Disabilities caseworker responsible for keeping tabs on the woman has been suspended, the home's license has been revoked and state workers are checking on the well-being of all 1,255 residents of similar homes, the officials said.

"This death is unacceptable on many levels, and we're doing all we can to scrutinize every aspect and prevent tragedies such as this from occurring again," said Jennifer Velez, the state Human Services commissioner. The Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office is also conducting a criminal investigation.

Three lawmakers have asked for an even broader state probe.

"There's something wrong in this one instance," said Rep. Declan O'Scanlon, a Republican from Little Silver. "There also could be a systemic problem."

Relatives say a state caseworker failed to protect O'Leary.

"I do believe she was starved," said Eileen Devlin, a cousin. Tara O'Leary was born in 1980 with brain deformities, scoliosis and a number of other medical problems so severe that she was in the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for two years, Devlin said. She could speak, but not carry on a conversation, and could get around with the help of a walker.

As a girl, she loved children's music, Devlin said. By the time she was 18, she was living in a state-licensed community care residence in Hunterdon County. Eventually, three women with developmental disabilities lived in the home, which was one of about 600 licensed in the state.

Until he died of cancer in 2005, Tara's father, Kevin O'Leary, was her legal guardian. Her family later learned that after her father's death, Tara did not have a legal guardian _ though they believed his widow was legally responsible for her. After her father's death, relatives said, they were able to visit Tara only sporadically. They said they were never allowed to see her in the home where she was living -- or even to know exactly where it was. That may have been in violation of state policy.

Pam Ronan, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services, said the rules are clear.

"The family should be allowed to visit at any time," she said. "It should be allowed to visit in the home where she's living."

Devlin said her cousin's medical records showed she weighed 95 pounds at a doctor's visit in September 2007 -- a bit thin, but not alarming for a woman only 4 foot 10. When an aunt, Patricia O'Leary, saw Tara in August 2008, however, she was gaunt, with unwashed hair and shoes on the wrong feet. The aunt was alarmed enough that she asked to be made Tara's legal guardian.

By early September, Tara and the two other women living in the home were removed. At least one other had also lost a dangerous amount of weight and was
hospitalized for a time, O'Scanlon said. The other two are alive and healthy now, Ronan said. Ronan said the home's license has been revoked.

DHS would not identify the caseworker or operator of the home, saying that they are the subject of an ongoing investigation.

Tara O'Leary lived in an institution for a little over a week before she was taken to Hunterdon Medical Center suffering from dehydration, malnutrition and bedsores and septic shock. She weighed just 48 pounds at check-in.

Devlin said that with a feeding tube, her cousin's weight rose to more than 70 pounds by November, but her overall medical condition did not improve.

With intervention from lawmakers and the state Attorney General's Office, Patricia O'Leary, Devlin and another cousin, Maureen Faletti, became her legal guardians on Nov. 6. A day later, they decided to take her off life support.

She died Nov. 10.

Family members said they learned that Tara had attended day programs at the ARC of Hunterdon County -- where she was supposed to go three times a week -- a total of only 45 times in 2005 and 2006 and not at all since then.

Jeff Mattison, executive director of the ARC of Hunterdon County, said it was his agency that notified prosecutors. "This is a horrific tragedy, one that points to some of the frailties within the system for foster or sponsor-type programs for people with developmental disabilities."

The case is similar to one in 2003, when four children weighing less than 45 pounds each were removed from a state-run foster home in Collingswood. The boys all survived, but the case brought deep disgrace to the state Department of Human Services and its Division of Children and Family Services.

Major reforms for the child-welfare system were put in place in the months after the boys were found.