To prevent squalid assisted living facilities like the Fillmore Place, council adopts resolution
PETERSBURG—Last year, a P-I investigation exposed deplorable conditions of a Petersburg assisted living facility plagued with bedbugs, mismanagement, and where the owner reportedly stole some resident's stimulus money. The Fillmore Place residents complained of poor treatment inside the assisted living facility.
In order to better prevent a situation like the Fillmore Place from happening in the future, council adopted a resolution to define what constitutes a group home or assisted living facility in Petersburg, based upon the Code of Virginia. There was no previously no definitions for these places or regulations, and group homes and assisted living facilities often got lumped together in the same category.
Petersburg currently has seven assisted living facilities and 41 group homes. Their functions, however, are different.
Group homes would be limited to eight residents, and would be for either for people with developmental disabilities, or infirmed seniors and other adults. The state Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services would be responsible for licensing the location for residents with developmental issues, and the Department of Social Services would handle licensing the other classification.
The developmental disabilities would not include substance abuse.
An assisted living facility would house more than eight residents "not related by blood or marriage" whose daily needs would have to be tended to by a full-time staff. They are licensed and inspected by the Department of Social Services. It could only be set up with a special use permit from City Council.
Citizens came up to testify.
"I very much support group homes for the elderly people who need medical treatment. And I just like to say that we were dismayed with the situation at Fillmore Place," said one who used to work for the State Department of Mental Health. "We think that this ordinance might help prevent tragedies like that."
Others who lived near the Fillmore or other group homes testified of how some of the residents would be a nuisance, how employees were smoking and talking loudly outside, and how horns sounding from the vans that picked up the residents in the early morning would wake them up.
"Through these definitions, the city is going to do as much as they can to try to prevent the Fillmore house from occurring again," said city attorney Anthony Williams.
Councilman Marlow Jones talked about other ways places like the Fillmore could've been held accountable and shut down, including performing fire inspections and making sure the building was up to safety and health codes. "So we can fix this," Jones said.
Councilman Charlie Cuthbert referenced a Progress-Index article on how the state licensing department overlooked Fillmore Place owner's history of medical malpractice and granted him a license to operate. "If we are going to protect the residents of these facilities, city council has to have some control," Cuthbert said. "We cannot rely on the state of Virginia as the Fillmore Place illustrates because that level of oversight is clearly not sufficient."
With the passing of this ordinance, council will now get a say in whether or not to grant a special use permit to assisted living facilities to operate.
More:How a doctor with a history of malpractice got away with running multiple group homes
More:Bedbugs, urine, disrepair: Elderly, disabled people live in squalid Petersburg group home
More:Fillmore Place: P-I report triggers state investigation into residents' missing stimulus checks
More:The Fillmore Place financially exploited its resident's stimulus money, a state investigation finds
Joyce Chu, an award-winning investigative journalist, is the Social Justice Watchdog Reporter for The Progress Index. Contact her with comments, concerns, or story-tips at Jchu1@gannett.com or on Twitter @joyce_speaks.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Petersburg can now regulate assisted living facilities and group homes
