States Rarely Inspect Institutions For Mentally Retarded, Gao Says

Cutbacks in federal supervision have increased the chances for abuse and neglect of the mentally retarded in large state-run institutions, congressional investigators say.

The states, which are responsible for inspecting the institutions, sometimes miss serious violations and, when they find violations, don’t always prevent their recurrence, according to the General Accounting Office.

The Health Care Financing Administration, an arm of the Department of Health and Human Services, is responsible for overseeing state inspection programs.

But its own inspections have “declined dramatically in recent years,” from 31 in 1990 to five in 1995, said the GAO report, released Monday by Sens. David Pryor, D-Ark., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

Furthermore, federal officials “have no plans to increase resources for these efforts,” the report said.

Federal inspections of large institutions for the mentally retarded began in the mid-1980s after abuse and poor care was detailed at congressional hearings. “The recent decline in federal oversight, however, has increased the potential for abusive and dangerous conditions in these institutions,” the GAO said.

In a memo responding to the GAO, the Health Care Financing Administration said it “is pursuing an ongoing, long-term effort to continuously improve” its program for monitoring the institutions.

However, it said, “we do not anticipate implementation of … (a new) system of oversight before fiscal year 2000.”

Wyden and Pryor, in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, wrote: “This may be too late to safeguard lives which are at risk, now.”