CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn issued an executive order Friday to increase state oversight of investigations into the deaths of adults with disabilities following a newspaper report that uncovered problems.
Last week, a Belleville News-Democrat investigation revealed that, since 2003, the inspector general of the Department of Human Services did not investigate 53 cases called into the agency's hotline about disabled adults living at home who were allegedly abused or neglected and later died.
Quinn's office said that William M. Davis, who was named inspector general in 2006, offered his resignation Friday. It'll be effective Aug. 1.
The newspaper found Davis' office was interpreting state law as barring it from investigating deaths because "the dead are ineligible for services." Davis, a state contract employee, collects a pension from his 25 years with the Illinois State Police, where he was a regional commander.
Quinn's executive order stated that "immediate improvements must be made" in referring, documenting and following up on the deaths of adults with disabilities when abuse, neglect or exploitation is suspected.
Advocates for the disabled applauded the governor's action.
"We urge DHS to act immediately in compliance with the governor's order," said Amber Smock of the Chicago-based group Access Living. "People with disabilities, just like all human beings, deserve peace of mind in knowing that they are safe at home. Fear that they may not be safe can lead to unnecessary and unwanted institutionalization."
Quinn ordered the inspector general's office "regardless of the circumstances" to report deaths that are the subject of pending complaint investigations to both the appropriate law enforcement agency and the coroner or medical examiner. The order also includes requirements for documentation and follow-up on deaths.
Quinn also ordered a review of all deaths of disabled adults since 2003 that were the subject of hotline calls but were not investigated.
"My action today will strengthen the protection of adults with disabilities and ensure the necessary steps are taken if abuse or neglect takes place," Quinn said in a statement.
The Belleville newspaper also found that coroners and medical examiners in 10 of the state's largest counties hadn't received calls from the Office of the Inspector General for the department after a disabled adult who lived at home died.
The newspaper reported that the agency determined a large number of calls to its abuse hotline weren't accepted by hotline operators for investigation. A total of 534 calls, 41 percent of the 1,289 calls received, were listed as non-reportable in 2011.
The calls included cases like Bonnie Matyasik, 51, who was suffering from end-stage cirrhosis and arrived at an emergency room Jan. 26, 2009, near Chicago with dried feces in her hair and under her fingernails. Matyasik was bruised and scraped along one entire side of her body from being dragged across a concrete floor by her mentally impaired caregiver. She died two days later.
"We recognize the deficiencies within the program and are committed to improving it," DHS Secretary Michelle Saddler said Friday in a statement from the governor's office.
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