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This article was produced in partnership with the Arizona Daily Star, which is a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network.
On New Year’s Eve 2018, an Arizona long-term care facility became a crime scene.
A 29-year-old resident with disabilities so profound she could not talk, walk or care for herself shocked staff when she gave birth to a boy. No one had even noticed she was pregnant. Immediately it was clear she had been raped.
In the national outrage that followed the incident at Hacienda HealthCare in Phoenix, Arizona promised to do better. The state, which prized itself on its reputation for providing top-notch services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, took action immediately.
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And more.
DDD can make changes when they get reports. They can tell workers to get more training. They can ask businesses to fire workers. They can take away money. Sometimes the reports are serious. DDD can work with Adult Protective Services to see if it is a crime.Â
The Independent Oversight Committees ask DDD questions about the reports. They do not work for DDD and get to choose their own members. That is what independent means.
Reading the reports can take a long time. A committee member can spend 10 hours a month reading hundreds of reports. It is their job to point out Arizona could be fixing the problems in the reports. Doing their job is getting harder.