In February, a judge approved a $1.5 million settlement from New York state to M.F., a developmentally disabled resident of a state-run group home who experienced serial abuse by caretakers.
While in residence from 2004 to 2019 at the Union Avenue IRA in the Bronx, run by the state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), M.F. was subjected to constant abuse by staff members. In a recent lawsuit, Union Avenue staff testified that M.F. was constantly covered in bruises throughout their stay, and staff also witnessed colleagues subjecting M.F. to physical abuse, inhumane confinement and forced feedings. In spite of the heinous abuse they witnessed, not one staff member or supervisor reported it to law enforcement, the state’s abuse hotline or M.F.’s family.
