No evidence Fairview Developmental Center personal data was exposed by Sacramento break-in, state says

The state agency that manages the Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa says there’s no evidence that personal information of the center’s residents or employees was breached by a February break-in at a state building in Sacramento.

Unidentified intruders forced their way into legal and audit offices of the Department of Developmental Services and ransacked the offices, damaged and stole property and started a fire, setting off sprinklers that drenched documents and workstations, the department said this month.

The agency, through which the state provides services and support to people with developmental disabilities, said the burglary may have exposed confidential information of about 582,000 people who receive DDS services, as well as roughly 15,000 other people, including service providers, employees of regional centers, job seekers and parents of minors enrolled in department programs.

Though the department “has no evidence that personal and health information was compromised due to the incident,” spokeswoman Nancy Lungren wrote in an email Monday, “out of an abundance of caution, it notified clients and the public about the break-in and followed federal requirements regarding potential breaches.”

“Records of a current Fairview resident may have been in the offices only if the resident was involved in a legal matter, such as placement proceedings or conservatorship matters,” she wrote. “Fairview employee records generally are not present at this location, and we have no evidence that employee records were compromised.”

The break-in remains under investigation, she added.

Fairview opened in 1959 and currently provides services and housing to 128 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, according to the state.

It and similar facilities around California are scheduled to close in coming years as part of an effort to transition people out of institutional-style centers and into smaller accommodations that are more integrated into communities.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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