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Committee advances bill to continue group-home oversight following COMMIT pilot findings
Summary
SB 11-79 would remove a delayed repeal and appropriation condition from the Developmental Disabilities Group Home Monitoring Program. Disability Rights Arizona and COMMIT managers described systemic issues discovered during the pilot, including medication errors and 71 substantiated violations across 10 cities.
Senators gave SB 11-79 a due-pass recommendation after proponents summarized results from the COMMIT pilot monitoring program and urged that the monitoring program be made permanent.
J. Rico, chief executive officer of Disability Rights Arizona, told the committee the program grew from a task force created after a high-profile sexual assault at a licensed intermediate-care facility and that COMMIT’s work focused on group homes because they are the second-largest living environment for people with disabilities. "We came up with a solution to monitor, enhance monitoring and oversight for group homes," he said.
COMMIT managers Leah Hunter and Jessica Lopez described program results: 491 monitoring visits completed over a three-year pilot, 25 comprehensive investigations and 71 substantiated violations in 10 Arizona cities. They cited recurring problems—medication errors, delayed reporting and insufficient supervision—and presented a detailed case example involving an infant who suffered cardiac arrest after a feeding incident. Hunters said the program’s pattern-driven methodology uncovered systemic deficiencies that single-incident reviews missed.
Sponsor and committee members expressed support for continuing oversight and improving interagency access to records; the committee moved SB 11-79 with a due-pass recommendation.
