State Gets Blame for Abuse of Elderly in Care Homes

A “death house” where seven bodies were unearthed is only a sample of widespread abuse of the elderly that goes unchecked by state government, a watchdog agency said Thursday.

The Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy, better known as the Little Hoover Commission, said in a new report that the state is failing to adequately monitor board-and-care facilities that house more than 78,000 elderly Californians.

“Sacramento’s board-and-care death house is, of course, a sensational case that we can all hope is unique,” the panel said. “But our commission’s fear is that many other such tragedies await discovery because the Sacramento house reflects so many of the statewide problems with residential care facilities.”

Police believe that a Sacramento landlady, Dorothea Montalvo Puente, killed elderly residents for their Social Security checks, then buried their bodies in her yard. Puente, 59, has been charged with only one murder, and prosecutors have said that they will decide next week whether to file additional charges.

Seven bodies were unearthed in November in the yard of her Victorian house. Police said they have also linked Puente to the death of a man whose body was discovered in a box along the Sacramento River on New Year’s Day, 1986.

Nathan Shapell, commission chairman, said at a Capitol news conference that the state Department of Social Services has failed to aggressively apply laws passed in 1984 giving it more power to regulate care homes.

Volunteer ombudsmen have been appointed to monitor the homes. But they are overworked, visit only 40% of the facilities, and are frustrated by “uninterested and unresponsive” state regulators, Shapell said.

The commission called for increased prosecution and fines for homes that are unlicensed or provide inadequate care. Other recommendations include requiring training of home administrators, authorizing counties to license homes, increasing funding for elder care and relaxing too-tough fire codes that may put good homes out of business.