Lawsuit triggered following the concealing of information & lack of investigations of wide-scale abuse, neglect and deaths of people with disabilities and mental illness in New York State

ALBANY, N.Y., Dec. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Jonathan Carey Foundation has filed a lawsuit against NYS through the law firm of Sadowski Fischer PLLC http://online.wsj.com/article/AP6b4efb1791d14614b93fb82e426f21e4.html?mod=WSJ_NY_LEFTAPHeadlines following the recent AP News story titled "Cuomo's Office Tightly Controls Public Records" http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f2bfd34828e94e9b9cc8825eb6c82500/cuomos-office-tightly-controls-public-records.  

"There is a culture of secrecy and corruption says Michael Carey the Founder of the Jonathan Carey Foundation whom has sought the critical information through FOIL regarding systemic abuse and neglect of people with disabilities and/or mental illness, the lack of 911 emergency reporting and the lack of investigations occurring. Most information requested eight months ago has been concealed and withheld which is the reason for our lawsuit. The small amount of information finally released just following the election reveals staggering numbers of calls to the abuse hotline, but only a tiny percentage, less than 2%, investigated or substantiated by the State. Only 28 of the 3,688 deaths were investigated revealing serious improprieties and wrongdoing. Due to the known extreme negligence of care and services provided our disabled in NYS it is believed a large percentage of these deaths are due to negligence, but are never properly independently or criminally investigated, says Carey."

Cuomo's newly renamed Commission on Quality of Care (CQC) to the Justice Center was the direct result of the NY Times "Abused & Used" investigative reporting series http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/nyregion/abused-and-used-series-page.html?_r=0. The CQC/Justice Center has been previously reported to be operating fraudulently http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/secret-tape-shames-queens-assemblyman-article-1.1814814 but nothing has been done yet to stop the cover ups alleged. As massive numbers of deaths and the rampant physical and sexual abuse continue, the Cuomo administration has chosen to conceal and withhold most information surrounding these alleged criminal cases. Abuse and neglect are crimes according to NYS law, but most cases regarding the disabled are never reported to the police in NYS. The CQC/Justice Center which has decades of history of keeping calls from 911, local police and County elected District Attorney's is  directing people that witness Abuse or Neglect on their posters to report directly to them - NOT to 911 http://www.justicecenter.ny.gov/resources/hotline/report-it-poster . Thousands of reported criminal cases are bypassed from ever going to the emergency 911 call centers throughout NYS set up to protect everyone, violating the civil rights of the disabled, keeping local police and emergency first responders from being able to further protect the injured victims, speak to the witnesses, investigate, collect evidence or generate independent reports.  Over 7,000 calls are reported every month and 11 deaths on average every single day. AP News first reported in February of this year on how this State agency is operating under a veil of secrecy and little is known about what is happening with thousands of reported cases every month http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/9/ny-mum-on-thousands-of-reports-of-disabled-abuse/#!

Instead of moving to protect 1,000,000 of New York State's most vulnerable residents Governor Cuomo and other top State officials have chosen to continue to conceal what is happening behind closed doors.                 

For information call Michael Carey: (518) 852-9377

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lawsuit-triggered-following-the-concealing-of-information--lack-of-investigations-of-wide-scale-abuse-neglect-and-deaths-of-people-with-disabilities-and-mental-illness-in-new-york-state-300003293.html

SOURCE The Jonathan Carey Foundation