Did Illinois Cut Back on Nursing Home Safety to Save Costs?
The Chicago Tribune recently published an article questionning whether a popular program that rid Illinois nursing homes of sex offenders was cut to save costs. In 2001, the Illinois State Police began staging raids on nursing home facilities to sweep out unregistered sex offenders and ex-convicts with outstanding arrest warrants for a variety of crimes, including armed robbery and murder.
From January 2005 through June 2006, twenty northern Illinois nursing homes were raided and police removed approximately 80 fugitives and sex offenders. Nursing home abuse and neglect complaints in that area decreased 67%, according to a department citation issued to the unit conducting the raids.
In 2006, the raids were suddenly stopped. Could the abandoned "sweeps program" be an example of how Illinois cut costs? Reportedly, these raids were stopped as facilities were still admitting felons and sex offenders, exposing our vulnerable elderly to assaults, rapes, and other types of abuse.
