Proper eyes on adult-family homes

When a death occurs at an adult-family home, a police investigation to rule out abuse or neglect is an appropriate move since these facilities tend to be isolated and hidden from public scrutiny.

Adult-family homes in Seattle have little to fear from a collaboration between the King County medical examiner and law enforcement. In the best of circumstances, the extra pairs of trained eyes will confirm a facility is following proper health-care procedures. In a worst-case scenario, the proper spotlight is shined on a facility in need of attention. Either way, vulnerable residents are served.

These homes are not being singled out unfairly; they are finally getting the attention they deserve. A rash of cases involving untrained staff and horrifying accidents led to calls for sharper scrutiny.

These facilities, which can house up to six residents, have long flown beneath the radar with relatively little scrutiny from regulators and the public. They operate within private homes and, from the outside, look like any other house in the neighborhood.

They are licensed by the Department of Social and Health Services and inspected every 18 months.

Contrast this with larger facilities such as nursing homes, which are inspected more frequently. Nursing homes have more traffic flowing through, from visitors to physicians to delivery people, all of whom can provide a watchful eye.

In addition, trained volunteers provide on-site checks of 80 percent of the state's nursing homes, but can access only 24 percent of adult-family homes.

Lawmakers ought to consider duplicating Seattle's efforts to include all adult-family homes in the state. The estimated 11,000 residents living in these facilities would likely welcome an extra inspection on their behalf.

And a request by the state's long-term-care ombudsman for $500,000 to recruit and train 100 additional adult-home volunteers ought to be strongly considered. This ounce of prevention could help forestall incidents that require the attention of medical examiners and the police.