She said the Justice Center's refusal to turn over the necessary information for a complete audit raises even more questions about the effectiveness of the protections that are in place, both from the perspective of people with special needs and their care providers.
"It is clear transparency is missing from the process making it impossible to determine if this program is working. I share Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's concern that we need a complete audit so we know if the program is working effectively or if changes need to be made," she said.
The Justice Center's charge is to protect people with special needs from abuse, neglect and mistreatment by assuring that the state maintains the nation’s highest standards of health, safety and dignity.
A report issued by the Comptroller's Office this week said the Justice Center limited auditors' access to records and only permitted review of closed cases for abuse and neglect allegations in which charges had been substantiated.
The Comptroller's Office said the records they were allowed to review encompassed less than 8 percent of unique reported incidents between July 1, 2013 and Sept. 2, 2015.
The comptroller said auditors were unable to reach a conclusion about whether allegations of abuse and neglect against vulnerable individuals were investigated and referred to external law enforcement when appropriate.
The limited testing auditors did complete raised serious questions about whether safeguards are working to track individuals accused of and found guilty of abuse and neglect, according to the audit.
Assemblywoman Jenne said she would support Comptroller DiNapoli's request for the state legislature to amend the law and give his office explicit authority to give his office full access to review the Justice Center's records.
"It is clear the centralized approach taken by the Justice Center has had negative implications, and further, it appears a substantial number of cases may be unsubstantiated and that the system may be being abused by a small number of patients driving a high number of cases," she said.
"We clearly need a system to protect people with special needs from abuse, but we also need to be able to protect care givers from unfair allegations that have no basis in fact," according to the assemblywoman.
Local providers said they have many concerns with the current system and supported Assemblywoman Jenne's call for a full review of the Justice Center for the Protection of People With Special Needs' operation.
"The old system worked very well and was run by professionals who met time frames, respected people and understood the context of such allegations. We have cases that have been open for years," United Helpers Chief Executive Officer Stephen E. Knight said.
It was a sentiment shared by Howard W. Ganter, executive director of the Jefferson Rehabilitation Center.
"The Justice Center was formed to provide protections and safeguards for special populations served in New York State, but I believe most providers report, safeguard, investigate and react accordingly," Mr. Ganter said.
"The process costs organizations tremendous human resources to investigate and provide reports that meet the requirements of the Justice Center," he added.
"I support all records being accessible to clearly demonstrate that the majority of investigations are unsubstantiated and changes are indicated to the system to allow resources to be put back where they belong and that is ensuring providing quality programs and services to the people we support as well as prove that agencies do their due diligence in providing the necessary protections. Having an outside organization audit their processes is necessary to accomplish this," Mr. Ganter stressed.