Agency seeks funds to watch over elderly

Timely monitoring of nursing homes now often lacking.

Months after the General Assembly passed sweeping legislation to improve staffing, training and accountability in Georgia’s senior care homes, agencies are seeking to beef up the ranks of those tasked with making sure the state’s elderly are safe.

The state Department of Community Health has asked the state to allocate nearly $4.9 million more in its annual budget to pay contractors who inspect the state’s nursing homes.

Georgia often lags in completing standard inspections of nursing homes on time, The Atlanta Journal-constitution found last year, an issue that arose as COVID-19 has ripped through the facilities and killed thousands. DCH officials said then that they would hire contractors to help with the backlog of inspections.

The Department of Human Services is requesting almost $1 million to hire 13 additional Adult Protective Services caseworkers. There are currently 173 caseworkers on staff, DHS officials said.

Last year, lawmakers passed legislation to address problems exposed in a 2019 investigative series published by the AJC. The series found nearly 700 cases where residents suffered from neglect or abuse in assisted living communities and large personal care homes across the state.

And a 2020 state audit found that Adult Protective Services investigators were taking too long to respond to urgent cases, such as when the elderly were going hungry or were sexually abused.

“These Adult Protective Services positions are critical to keep caseloads manageable for our staff who are going out to see clients in their homes to investigate increasingly difficult and complex cases of abuse, neglect and exploitation,” said Abby Cox, assistant deputy commissioner of aging services with the DHS. “Georgia’s population of older adults is growing, and as we continue our efforts to educate the public, law enforcement and other first responders on signs of abuse, more cases are being reported.”

Lisa Walker, the chief financial officer of the Department of Community Health, said the money for contractors would help alleviate the agency’s backlog of nursing home inspections.

FILE The state Department of Community Health has asked for nearly $4.9 million more in its annual budget to pay contractors who inspect the state’s nursing homes, vital monitoring that often lags behind due to staffing.