The Arizona-focused bill increases oversight and transparency for intermediate care facilities (ICFs) that care for adults with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities
WASHINGTON – Arizona Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly introduced the Preventing Abuse and Neglect of Vulnerable Americans Act – legislation providing greater oversight and transparency over intermediate care facilities (ICFs) which care for medically complex adults with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities, Medicaid’s most vulnerable beneficiaries.
Sinema and Kelly first introduced the legislation in 2020, in response to multiple crimes discovered in 2019 at an ICF in Arizona, including the sexual assault and subsequent pregnancy of an intellectually disabled woman by a former employee, and maggots being found on a patient’s wound. Employees at the facility were later charged by the Arizona Attorney General in 2020 for multiple white-collar crimes, defrauding the state and Medicaid.
“We’re protecting vulnerable Arizonans with intellectual and developmental disabilities from abuse and neglect by increasing accountability and transparency of intermediate care facilities, so their family members can make better-informed decisions about the care of their loved ones,” said Sinema.
“Every individual, regardless of their abilities, deserves to be treated with dignity and receive the highest standard of care,” said Kelly. “This legislation takes critical steps to ensure transparency and accountability in facilities that serve some of the most vulnerable members of our community. By making vital quality-of-care information publicly accessible and strengthening background checks, we’re helping protect residents and prevent tragic incidents like those we’ve seen in Arizona. This is about ensuring families can trust their loved ones are safe and cared for with the respect they deserve.”
“No person with a disability should face abuse and neglect at the hands of those who were meant to protect and care for them,” says Kandi Pickard, President and CEO of the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS). “NDSS is proud to support the Preventing Abuse and Neglect of Vulnerable Americans Act to increase accountability and quality of care at residential care facilities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including Down syndrome. We thank Senators Kelly and Sinema for their leadership on this critical issue and urge Congress to take swift action to ensure its passage.”
“As an organization committed to increasing the employment of people with disabilities, SourceAmerica is proud to support the Preventing Abuse and Neglect of Vulnerable Americans Act,” said Richard Belden, President and CEO of SourceAmerica. “This legislation protects the people we serve and their families by increasing both accountability and access to information among facilities providing care.”
“Supporting the Preventing Abuse and Neglect of Vulnerable Americans Act isn’t just a legislative action—it’s a commitment to protecting the dignity and safety of those who need it most,” said Armando Contreras, United Cerebral Palsy.
The Preventing Abuse and Neglect of Vulnerable Americans Act requires greater oversight over ICFs and ensures the public has access to state inspections, complaint records, and documentation on how deficiencies were addressed. The bill requires that quality-of-care information resulting from surveys at ICF for individuals with intellectual disabilities, including non-compliance that endangers individuals receiving care, must be publicly available on a website, similar to how these are currently displayed for nursing home facilities. It also allows ICFs serving this vulnerable population and other health care providers to run employee background checks through the National Practitioner Data Bank.
Sinema and Kelly’s bill also creates an advisory council to develop recommendations that ICFs, states, and the federal government can take to prevent the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of individuals with disabilities in ICFs. The council will include individuals with disabilities, families of individuals with disabilities residing in an ICF, state agencies, representatives of ICFs, direct care staff of ICFs, CMS, and other advocates for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Supporters of this bill include United Cerebral Palsy, ANCOR, AZ Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, and the National Down Syndrome Society.