U.S. Report Criticizes New York on Monitoring Care of Developmentally Disabled

The report from the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, which The New York Times obtained on Tuesday, raised questions about whether the Cuomo administration has gone far enough in its efforts to reform the Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons With Disabilities.

The commission, which is supposed to be a watchdog over much larger state agencies that care for the developmentally disabled and the mentally ill, has been sharply criticized as not fulfilling its mission.

According to the report, the commission’s very structure worked against its oversight role. Among other things, both the commission and the agencies it is supposed to oversee, including the State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities, report to the governor’s office. In most other states, similar watchdog groups are set up as independent nonprofit organizations.

The report noted that the commission’s chief cannot even make independent hiring decisions. The report also cites the commission for inadequate policies regarding the handling of confidential records and for not seeking sufficient information from families of the disabled. It says the commission failed to turn over documents detailing how federal money was being spent in the agency, as required by law. And it found that there was “no evidence of data-driven strategic planning to establish goals” in the agency.