Ohio bill allowing care facility cameras now ‘worthless,’ advocates say

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) – A bill named after a woman with developmental disabilities who had her throat slit at an Ohio care facility has been amended by legislators, with disability advocates calling the new version “worthless.”

House Bill 465, known as Lauren’s Law , was introduced in the Ohio House in March. If passed, Lauren’s Law would have forced facilities for the developmentally disabled to allow cameras in resident’s rooms at their request or the request of their guardian or attorney. Through the Medicaid Waiver Program, it would have also paid family members who want to care for their loved ones at home nearly the same as those who work in intermediate care facilities.

Lauren’s Law was named after a 36-year-old woman with developmental disabilities. During the three decades she has lived at intermediate care facilities, her father Greg Carter said she has been repeatedly abused and neglected – including having her throat slashed, resulting in a 4×1 1/2-inch cut that required 12 sutures to close. No one was held legally responsible.

Legislators in the House Families and Aging Committee amended the bill at the end of June, with the current version stating families may place cameras in their loved one’s room “if the facility permits electronic monitoring.” Lindsey Sodano is an advocate for parent caregivers in Ohio and the mother of a child with developmental disabilities. She stated she was disappointed to see the bill weakened to the point of being “useless.”

“They changed it where it’s not the family’s choice anymore, it’s the facilities choice,” Sodano said. “If you were the facility, wouldn’t you just say no? So it doesn’t really do anything.”

Carter said he has concerns not only that the amended bill is “worthless,” but that it would actually codify that camera permissions are at the whim of facility companies. He stated he does not want his daughter’s name “anywhere near” the amended bill and that he will actively oppose it.

Carter’s daughter suffered 16 Major Unusual Incidents (MUIs) over the course of 30 years in care facilities; MUIs are defined as reported incidents adversely affecting the health and safety of individuals with developmental disabilities.

“In my testimony, I outlined MUIs that were completed by the county and submitted to the state,” Carter said. “It was not my opinion, the MUIs were investigated and substantiated, meaning they were adjudicated by the county to be true. I presented on that to the committee about how my daughter has been abused over 30 years and that’s the substitute bill that came out of that.”

The part of the bill that would require family members who want to care for their loved ones at home to be paid nearly the same as those who work in intermediate care facilities was removed.

“There’s a lot of money that’s directed toward facilities and group homes that just isn’t available to families,” Carter said. “There’s a tremendous disparity between facility care and home care.”

Carter gave a personal example – he completed the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Profile: a process which determines the state funding available to an individual with disabilities, whether through a facility or home care.

“At the end of that process, if we had her at home, her budget would have been $51,000 for her care at home, the day program and transportation to and from the day program,” Carter said. “Changing nothing other than where she would reside, that amount changed to $111,000 for the group home.”

Sodano said she believes biases and stereotypes influence Ohio’s policy. At a recent Ohio Association of County Boards of Developmental Disabilities conference, video footage shows a training exercise in which  presenters from the organization incited the audience to describe the families they serve – “greedy,” “lazy,” and “entitled” were among the descriptions.

“These biases really do make their way into policy,” Sodano said. “It starts with the bias and then that makes its way right into the Ohio Administrative Code.”

Carter said he is hoping find legislators who will reintroduce Lauren’s Law, and that he is unwilling to change what he is asking for.

“I will not change it,” Carter said. “I have 30 years telling me what we need to do to fix this.”

Chair of the Families and Aging Committee, Rep. Jean Schmitt (R-Loveland), did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Vice Chair Rep. Melanie Miller (R-Ashland) said she had no comment at this time.

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