Nursing Homes Should Warn Residents about Sex Offenders In Their Facilities
Unites States lawmakers are now taking a hard look at sex offenders in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, which has becoming a significant problem and an important component of the issue of nursing home abuse in this country. According to a recent article in USA Today, federal lawmakers are becoming more and more convinced that nursing homes must be required by law to tell people if there is a sex offender present in the nursing home.
Between 2005 and 2006, several states, including California, Illinois, Minnesota and Oklahoma, passed laws requiring that long-term care homes receive notice about sex offenders who are admitted to their facilities. Sex offenders make their way to nursing homes in many ways. Some are sent there from prisons if they need long-term care. Others are admitted to nursing homes by social service agencies.
A U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report in 2006 found that at least 700 registered sex offenders live in nursing homes and care facilities across the country. The problem here is that the law is not very clear in requiring that nursing homes inform residents and their families about these sex offenders.
Some states require that schools, churches or neighborhoods be notified when sex offenders move in to an area, but few specify that nursing homes be informed when a sex offender is admitted. The same GAO report looked at laws in eight states and found that 50 percent did not mandate that nursing home operators or residents be notified about sex offenders who move in.
This is unacceptable. People who live in nursing homes (and their families) should have the same right to protect themselves as people living in residential neighborhoods. If my mother lives in a nursing home or assisted living facility and there is a sex offender in the next room, I’d want her to know about it and I’d want to be informed about it as well.
Safety advocates say they have documented more than 50 crimes committed by 44 sex offenders and other convicted criminals living in long term care facilities between 2002 and 2006. These nursing home abuse crimes reportedly included sexual assaults, rapes and four murders.
It is one thing if a nursing home does not know they are housing a convicted sex offender. Even so, they should start conducting background checks into some residents especially if their residents are being sent from prisons or other social service agencies. If nursing homes have knowledge of sex offenders being admitted into their homes and withhold that information from other residents, they should be held accountable for any consequent nursing home abuse or crime that occurs in their facility.
Comments
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Posted by: Chest Rockwell, Esq. | August 20, 2008 1:39 PM
more sex offender laws is just more ignorance.The laws now are over board. what people should do is get informed and not allow any more stupid laws be imposed that dont do any good and causes your taxpayer dollars to be wasted.
dept of justice website shows true statistics
not just hype from uneducated ignorants on a witch hunt. what is the next witch hunt you or your family when you molest a kid or pee on a wall and have to register for life? the ignorant people dont realize rediculous knee jerk reaction laws for politicians to gain office only does harm to america. its dirty and vile to protray such ignorance. anyone can be a sex offender with laws the way they are. and what about the people who are supposed to be protecting you like judges and district attourneys who molest children or any law they break and get away with it because they are above the law. look at these men who worked for dept of homeland security being charged with luering children for sex. this has been a social problem for ever and if it wasnt illegal as it isnt in some places it wouldnt be thought as sick. most men we all know look at young girls sexually even at boys. even the people criticizing others because they feel guilty about what they think about. common sence is needed here because until the next ignorant person gets caught for doing it himself and he or his family member to be ostracized as today this whole witch hunt will get stupider by the day. what then when you get caught. The way the laws are now it is worse for someone to do a sex crime than it is to kill a kid and not molest them, they dont have to even register, how does that look? so the hype and sensationalism train everyone flocks to when one more kid killing happens need to be proportionate and focused on that person. the witch hunt has to stop. more and more people are agreeing every day that the witchunt and scarlet letter has to stop and registration put to a halt with offenders addresses bieng put on websites as it does no good and harms the PEOPLE that dont deserve it anymore. or where innocent all together. some offenders where minors themselves or barely adults. i do agree with high risk offenders get the shaft but not all of the people who ever did a sex crime. after all people are people and make mistakes. doesnt god forgive everyone? even sex offenders, yes he does. People need to stop mutating the label pedophile as a pedophile is a offender who preys on little kids. not every one who does a sex offence. when you or a family member is entrapped into a plea bargain for peeing outside lets say then you will be labeled a pedophile.
Posted by: joe | August 27, 2008 10:00 PM
Who commits most sex crimes? Well, 95% of all new sex crimes are committed by those NOT on the registry. Family members and those known to the family commit 98% of all sex crimes. So much for stranger danger.
2nd question. Who is MORE LIKELY to commit a sex crime upon release from prison? Sex Offenders or NON-sex offenders?
For the answer, go here. www.cfcoklahoma.org and see the article, "Revisiting Department of Justice Recidivism Statistics and More Shocking Truths."
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www.cfcoklahoma.org
Posted by: MSLGW | September 9, 2008 8:26 AM
Education is the best way to prevention. 60 MILLION Americans have been sexually abused as children and 50% will go on to abuse. Read the article, "The Crux of the Problem..." at my web site
www.cfcoklahoma.org
Posted by: MSLGW-CEO | September 13, 2008 11:17 AM