NCSA Letter to the Kentucky General Assembly: Support SB 30 — Video Monitoring in Group Homes for People with Severe Disabilities (January 2025)
Letter | January 7, 2025
To: Members of the Kentucky General Assembly
Re: Support for 2025 SB 30 — Electronic Monitoring in Group Homes for Individuals with Severe Disabilities
January 7, 2025
Members of the Kentucky General Assembly:
The intersection of privacy rights and protection measures for individuals with severe disabilities presents a complex challenge in disability advocacy. The National Council on Severe Autism (NCSA) urges Kentucky legislators to SUPPORT 2025 SB 30.
The scope of this issue has become increasingly pressing as recent CDC data reveals that 26.7% of individuals with autism spectrum disorder have profound autism, requiring intensive, lifelong support. Individuals with profound autism are more likely to have intersectional disparities that enhance their risk of abuse, neglect, and harm.
The vulnerability of individuals with severe intellectual disabilities in care settings is well-documented. The Disability and Abuse Project found that over 70% of individuals with developmental disabilities in group homes have experienced neglect, assault, or abuse. This statistic becomes even more concerning alongside the 2018 NPR investigation revealing a risk of sexual assault seven times greater than individuals without intellectual disabilities.
Further, NCSA contends the overreach of state agencies acting as a superseding entity to a guardian's decision-making provides an urgent need for the Commonwealth of Kentucky to establish clear presumptions favoring guardian decisions absent specific evidence of harm. Per KRS 387.065(1), guardians possess constitutionally protected liberty interests in directing the care of their wards — interests that cannot be arbitrarily overridden by state agencies without due process.
2025 SB 30's optional approach represents a reasonable solution. It does not mandate universal surveillance but provides guardians with an additional tool for protection. This nuanced approach respects the autonomy of those who can self-advocate while protecting those who cannot self-advocate and cannot report details of harm if abused.
The Office of Inspector General recently found that 99% of critical incidents of people with developmental disabilities living in group homes were not reported to law enforcement or state agencies, as required. Regulation alone has proven insufficient.
A study in the Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities found that cases involving victims with disabilities were more likely to result in prosecution when video evidence was available. Video monitoring not only serves as a preventive measure but aids in achieving justice when incidents occur.
Opposition to this bill cloaked as disability advocacy, thereby allowing the status quo of repeated unexplained injuries to individuals who cannot self-advocate, is disingenuous at best.
Jackie Kancir
Executive Director
National Council on Severe Autism
policy@ncsautism.org
