Abuse of the Developmentally Delayed

A sad story came out of California in 2012 regarding developmentally delayed adults living in residential centers. Over a four-year period, 36 patients at California’s “board-and-care centers” for the developmentally disabled had claimed they had been raped by caretakers.  And yet, their reports were ignored by the Office of Protective Services--the state police force tasked with protecting residents of group homes--and were never referred to the local police for investigation. Officers failed to order even a single rape examination, which is critical for successful prosecution of alleged offenders.  At least one alleged offender was accused of later raping yet another patient.  Additionally, hundreds of cases of abuse and unexplained injuries among the state’s 1500 patients who live at the five developmental centers have been reported, but few arrests have been made. This report highlighted a particularly ugly truth:  individuals with disabilities, both children and adults, are at a far greater risk of physical or sexual abuse and neglect than are non-disabled persons.