State Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Ambridge, introduced legislation intended to compel the state health department to bolster inspections and transparency at long-term care facilities. (Sean Stipp | Tribune-Review)
Story by DEB ERDLEY
Tribune-Review
Dec. 30, 2021
Pennsylvania lawmakers have vowed action to protect some of the state’s most vulnerable residents by changing the system that has sent convicted sex offenders to nursing, personal care and assisted-living homes where some have found their next victims.
Their promises come after learning the results of a Tribune-Review investigation showing gaps in a system that provides no requirements for notifying anyone when sex offenders are admitted to a facility or how patients and staff should be protected from them.
The investigation showed many states have moved beyond Pennsylvania by passing laws aimed at preventing the types of assaults that have occurred throughout the nation, including one at Beaver County’s Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center where a convicted sex offender assaulted a 57-year-old dementia patient late last year.
It’s an issue that gained no attention until 1994, when Congress mandated all states develop sex offender registries.
In the ensuing years, those registries have seen enormous growth. From 2006 to 2018, the number of registered sex offenders across the U.S has grown from 600,000 to more than 900,000, according to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service.
Pennsylvania lawmakers say it’s time for the General Assembly to act.
“I was totally shocked that there was really nothing in statute that dictates what should or shouldn’t happen,” said state Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Beaver County, whose late father was a patient at Brighton Rehab several years ago.
Matzie was stunned to learn that at one point this year, there were seven sex offenders housed at Brighton, which is located in his district.
Related stories
• Hidden Danger: Registered sex offenders often go undetected in care homes
• Brighton Rehab no stranger to federal, state scrutiny for resident care
• No central registry in Pennsylvania tracks convicted sex offenders placed in nursing care facilities
Making information available about offenders admitted to these homes should be a top priority, he said.
“You will have advocates who say people have done their time and are being punished again. But I think it is incumbent on us as government to step up,” he said. “I think our most vulnerable population should have some level of protection. It is definitely conversation I will have when we return to Harrisburg (after the first of the year).”
State Rep. Leslie Rossi, R-Unity, echoed Matzie’s concerns, issuing a call for action.
“It’s very troubling to know this is occurring, and I don’t think this is a new issue,” she said. “It’s likely an issue that facilities have been faced with and have needed to deal with for years. Privacy is important to residents, but so is the safety for all patients within these types of facilities.”
National elder care expert Wes Bledsoe said this is not a new problem.
He was surprised how few people knew anything about it more than a decade ago when he began studying it, even though assaults in nursing homes were occurring throughout the nation.
State Rep. Eric Nelson, R-Hempfield, said it is an area ripe for legislative review.
“It’s an appropriate use of the (House) Aging Committee’s time and effort to hold a hearing and look into appropriate notification for residents and facilities,” Nelson said.
State Sen. Maria Collett, D-Montgomery County, said the Judiciary Committee has been exploring the task of handling all criminals requiring nursing home care.
Those convicted of sex crimes face unique obstacles, said Collett, a registered nurse and lawyer who studies long-term care issues and serves as the minority chair of the Senate Youth and Aging Committee.
“They need a fixed address to be released. Because of the nature of their crimes, the length of their sentences and their current health status, they cannot be placed with family or friends, and at the end of the day they must be released,” she said. “As such, the facilities that take in these folks after their release play a vital role in the system. Nonetheless, those facilities’ staff and other residents have a right to be concerned.”
Some experts advocate building care facilities especially for sex offenders, a measure that has been introduced in other states but failed to gain traction, often because of the enormous costs.
“Do we need segregated nursing home care for these people? If so, who should pay for it?” Collett said. “These are just some of the questions my Judiciary Committee colleagues and I are considering as we try to find better solutions that keep our most vulnerable Pennsylvanians and those who care for them safe.”
While there are no federal laws requiring any kind of notification when a registered sex offender is admitted to a care facility, the Trib investigation showed there are many states where lawmakers have been much more aggressive than Pennsylvania in tightening rules for admitting offenders.
Those states include:
• California requires the state to provide written notification to nursing homes when a registered sex offender is released from a prison or a state hospital to a nursing home. Individuals on a registry who are not coming from a state facility must self-identify and facilities must notify residents and employees that the offender is being admitted.
• Idaho requires written notification to nursing home residents anytime an individual on a sex offender registry is admitted to a facility.
• Illinois requires that nursing homes perform background checks on all admissions and provide all residents, prospective residents and guardians with a written notice informing them of their rights to know whether any residents are sex offenders.
• Louisiana requires facilities to notify new nursing home residents and their families about any sex offenders residing in the homes.
• Massachusetts bars certain serious sex offenders from living in nursing homes or convalescent facilities.
• Minnesota requires that those on sex offender registries notify nursing homes about their status prior to admission, that the homes notify residents and next of kin that the offenders have been admitted and provide them with written notice about the individual’s background.
• North Dakota requires nursing homes, personal care and assisted living facilities to notify residents if a convicted sex offender is admitted.
• Ohio requires nursing homes to notify residents if a convicted sex offender is admitted to a facility.
• Oklahoma requires facilities to work with law enforcement agencies to determine whether newly admitted patients, existing residents or employees are on a sex offender’s registry. Facilities must provide residents with copies of notifications from law enforcement that an individual on a registry has been admitted to a facility.
• Virginia requires facilities to inform residents and prospective residents about how to check sex offender registries and assist them in doing so to obtain information about sex offenders housed there.
Experts say that statistics about how often convicted sex offenders later commit other sex crimes are underestimated because these types of assaults are often not reported.
For instance, a study published by the federal Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking indicates only 1 of 4 rapes or other sexual assaults were reported during a 15-year period.
The center also reported that only 19% of women and 13% of men raped since their 18th birthdays reported those incidents to authorities.
Nonetheless, the center published statistics estimating that:
• After three years, about 5% of all sex offenders commit another sex crime
• After 15 years, about 24% of sex offenders commit another sex crime
Related stories
• Hidden Danger: Registered sex offenders often go undetected in care homes
• State lawmakers vow to better protect care home residents from convicted sex offenders
• Brighton Rehab no stranger to federal, state scrutiny for resident care
• No central registry in Pennsylvania tracks convicted sex offenders placed in nursing care facilities