Fox 4 KC recently aired its three-month investigative piece into the number of sex offenders in local nursing homes. Our nursing home practice group attorneys, Rachel and Jill, were interviewed for the piece.
The more than six-minute piece goes in-depth about how long-term care facilities are not required to do background checks of their patients or tell other residents that a sex offender lives among them. In fact, many places and their staffs likely don’t know a sex offender is in their midst.
According to Fox 4’s research, there are around 200 registered sex offenders currently living in homes in Missouri alone. Rachel points out this number is likely lower than reality.
She was quoted as saying, “We know from the state auditor’s recent report there’s quite a few offenders that have gotten lost in the system. We don’t know where they are. They could be in a nursing home.”
While there is no doubt sex offenders will need long-term care as well, there is no excuse for there not being background checks as well as transparent communication to residents about who is living next door to them.
Sadly, sexual offenders have a high chance of repeating their crimes making it is imperative staff and other residents are aware of that person’s past.
Here is the link to the investigative piece.
In addition, here are the Missouri, Kansas and the national sex offenders’ registers. Please consult these as part of your research when looking for a long-term nursing home for your aging loved one.