Capital Tonight: Sen. John Mannion discusses COVID-19 in group homes
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NYSTATEOFPOLITICS.COM: Sen. John Mannion discusses COVID-19 in group homes
In March, after a seven-month investigation, Disability Rights New York (DRNY), along with the American Civil Liberties Union and Lawyers for the Public Interest, released a report stating that New York state had been withholding information from the public about how COVID-19 had affected individuals with developmental disabilities.
The report further alleged that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) who live in group homes were three times more likely to contract COVID-19 and three times more likely to die from COVID-19 than the general public.
State Sen. John Mannion is chairman of the Senate Committee on Disabilities and he discussed his view of the report on Capital Tonight.
“Of course, the pandemic had a tremendous impact on many people, and of course it had an impact on the disabilities community,” Sen. Mannion said. “I applaud [DRNY] and the other two they partnered with that they spent the time and energy to search into this.”
“I read the report several times," Mannion added. "Then, myself and my office followed up with different providers and advocates out there to get their perspective on this as well. Additionally, beyond that, we communicated with OPWDD (Office of People with Developmental Disabilities) and others. So, we do want to make sure that there is a public accounting of exactly the procedures put into place and were followed and to what extent they were followed.”
Sen. Mannion had scheduled a meeting this past Thursday to discuss these issues with OPWDD, DRNY and other organizations, but it was canceled, the office said, for technical reasons.
DRNY is also asking lawmakers to look into the Justice Center for People with Special Needs, the office authorized to look into claims of abuse and neglect in the I/DD community. Since 2016, DRNY has claimed that the Justice Center lacks the independence needed to remedy abuse.
Mannion told Capital Tonight that any investigation into the Justice Center is still up in the air.