Description

Following a series of stories in the New York Times about abuse and neglect of residents of state-run group homes for persons with developmental disabilities, in March 2011, Governor Andrew Cuomo asked Mr. Sundram to serve as Special Advisor to the Governor for Vulnerable Persons. Mr. Sundram was tasked with developing recommendations to address the problem of abuse and neglect of persons in residential care. This report he made to the Governor in April 2012 recommended sweeping reforms in the system for prevention, reporting, investigating and responding to such incidents in residential facilities operated or authorized by six State agencies in New York. Governor Cuomo proposed and the legislature unanimously adopted The Protection of People with Special Needs Act, implementing the key recommendations of the report, on June 20, 2012.