The second installment of the AJC’s “Unprotected” investigative series will publish on Sunday, Sept. 29, exposing what goes on behind the doors of Georgia’s senior care industry. The AJC also unveils a searchable database for assisted living and personal care homes.
Here’s more about what to expect:
Suffering behind the façade: Many of the roughly 400 large facilities across Georgia offer quality service with dedicated caregivers. But the AJC investigation identified more than 600 allegations involving neglect and 90 of abuse by caregivers in the past four years, pointing to pervasive problems across a booming industry that operates with inadequate state oversight.
A searchable listing of homes: Placing a loved one in an assisted living or personal care home can be a wrenching decision. Many homes are safe and treat residents well, but The Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found too many that have significant patterns of problems. To assist families in their decision making, our investigative and data journalism teams have spent months building a searchable website available to the public.
The searchable database at ajc.com/unprotected includes details for every assisted living home in Georgia and every personal care home with 25 or more residents. The detailed information includes results of regular inspections by the state of Georgia, inspections that are the result of self-reported incidents and inspections that occur after a resident, family member, staffer or other person makes a complaint to the Department of Community Health.
The website flags serious violations of care standards or deficiencies since 2015 so that family members can know a home’s inspection history. In some cases, the listing includes inspections of food service areas and police reports on incidents that weren’t in public state inspection records.
Also on this website is consumer information, including a guide to choosing a senior care facility, hotline numbers for reporting elder abuse, and information on the common risks that older adults face.
Also coming next week:
Families in the dark about risk: It's difficult to find out what is really going on behind the doors of assisted living and senior care homes in Georgia. The state's haphazard system of accountability gives low priority to transparency and informing the public.
» READ INSTALLMENT 1: A beloved father, a night of betrayal
