NY State OPWDD Placing Sex Offenders into Group Homes for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Recent media reports have indicated that NYS’s Office of People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) has been placing Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders into residential group homes for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. NYS classifies Level 2 offenders as having a moderate risk of repeat offense. Level 3 offenders are classified as having a high risk of repeat offense and pose a threat to public safety.
If you live in NY State and wish to take action on this issue, please go to:
http://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/50829/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=25589
OPWDD is knowingly endangering the welfare of vulnerable residents of group homes that they oversee, acting in violation of the penal code:
The rights of individuals with intellectual disabilities are protected under 42 U.S. Code § 15009 - Rights of Individuals with Developmental Disabilities. New York State Penal Law 260.25 states, “A person is guilty of endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person in the first degree when he knowingly acts in a manner likely to be injurious to the physical, mental or moral welfare of a person who is unable to care for himself or herself because of physical disability, mental disease or defect. Endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person in the first degree is a class E felony.” https://codes.findlaw.com/ny/penal-law/pen-sect-260-25.html
We demand that:
- OPWDD immediately cease placing Level 2 and 3 sex offenders in group homes that house individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
- OPWDD immediately remove sex offenders currently living in group homes that house people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
- OPWDD provide proper housing and treatment services for sex offenders with intellectual disabilities in order to protect them, those who work with them, and the surrounding community.
To ask your NY State Legislators and Senators, Governor Cuomo, Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, and your representative in Congress to formally investigate this matter, please go to:
http://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/50829/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=25589
* These stories have been featured in:
- CBS-6 News, Albany, October 29, 2018 https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/cbs-6-investigates-sex-offenders-placed-in-homes-for-seniors-and-the-disabled
- The Post Star, September 20, 2018: https://poststar.com/news/local/group-finds-sex-offenders-in-local-homes-for-developmentally-disabled/article_c1a2da7f-6e48-5cfd-b8e1-9e26ad72ed4d.html
- The Adirondack Daily Enterprise, September 27, 2018: http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2018/09/sex-offenders-in-group-homes-for-disabled-isnt-new-in-tupper-lake
- WHEC -TV News, September 26, 2018: https://www.whec.com/news/advocate-fights-to-remove-sex-offenders-from-group-homes-for-the-disabled/5086313
- Rockland/Westchester Journal News, September 27, 2018: https://www.lohud.com/story/opinion/perspective/2018/09/27/new-york-must-safely-house-developmentally-disabled-sex-offenders/1430061002
