Sensitive information of some of the District's must vulnerable residents, including abused and neglected elderly and disabled citizens, was left in a haphazard and unsecured mess at a city office, the D.C. inspector general has found.The District's Adult Protective Services division is tasked with "investigating reports of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of frail, elderly and disabled adults," according to the inspector general's report.
But the APS's case files -- which include clients' statements, Social Security numbers, health records, and the names of those who reported abuse -- were left "unorganized lying on unattended desks, in open boxes, and in carts waiting to filed" in a storage room," the IG found.
And the storage room was often left open and unlocked because it was used by city employees "as a thoroughfare" to reach exits and restrooms. City employees from a different department and who weren't authorized to look at the records had easy access to the files, according to the IG.
The report is the third the inspector general has issued in little more than a year that details how a city agency has failed to safeguard city records.
Full Article and Source:
Records of D.C.'s Abused,Elderly and Disabled Found at Risk
6 comments:
APS is not serving the public interest properly. It needs a shakeup, and maybe a whole new set of laws to tie in with the probate-type "protective" statutes.
The "agency has failed to safeguard city records"......
What about the poor people? All over the country the people are cared for just as haphazardly! Why doesn't the AG do something about that???
Shows how much they care, doesn't it?
A shakeup is in order indeed.
no excuse whatsoever for this sloppy dangerous situation which shows you those who are supposed to be protecting the vulnerable are worse than the offenders this is just a job with people's names at risk turned into a product that gets the state workers their salaries
The problem is that the government watchdogs many times look the other way.
Very sad. Where there is money to be made there is abuse. The medical community runs people into financial ruins so the legal groups and protective services want their share.
The ill disabled and elderly are being systematically segregated.
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