Ask the Expert

What to do when a resident is missing from an Assisted Living Facility?

By: Lewam on Jun 21, 2011

Question:

What is the “protocol” when a resident is “missing” from an ALF? My mother-in-law was reported “missing” to us at 9:45pm…and the ALF did nothing about it…we went driving around Miami/Aventura area for hours, contacting hospitals and panicking the entire time…we were “fortunate” to have found her sitting on the front porch of her old house which has been vacant for over a year..locked outside…dehydrated, being eaten alive by mosquitoes…at 2AM in the morning! What if we did not find her? Why was this not reported to the police? The ALF had a missing 85year old resident on a walker, is a dialysis and cancer patient, has had a stroke in the past year…and all they did was tell us that she did not “come” back from dialysis! We are extremely upset about all the “what ifs” and we want to know our rights and what we can do…to us, it is obviously neglect and we want to report them so the anguish we went through that night does not happen to anyone else! Please guide us to whom we can speak to…we want to be better informed about the rules/protocols that ALFs need to abide by…Thank you.

Answers:

I would tell this family to report it to the state as abuse/neglect or they can contact the ombudsman in their area as well. There is an abuse hotline for each state. For the State of Florida, the hotline number is  1-800-96-ABUSE. 

Also, another great program through the Alzheimer’s Association is the Safe Return program. Seniors who are at risk are registered and wear some type of identification.

Tami G., Care Advisor DC Metro Area

At least, the large Assisted Living facilities have elopement protocol in place and all staff are trained in procedures. First, the situation MUST be reported to the Executive Director and Corporate Regional staff immediately. Then area searches are made by available staff members (Room by room facility search), local hospitals are called, Police are notified and are given resident’s photo and description and family are informed of the situation. Communication with the family as to what is being done is very important.

 If the family feels the facility or the  Corporation are lacking in protocol for a missing resident, the family should file a complaint to the Office of Licensing  (In California, it is called CCLD).

The case below is a bit tricky as most people are transported back and forth to dialysis by some means. It sounds like some memory impairment too. Perhaps the facility was not even appropriate for the resident in question. If the resident has cognitive issues, facility & family should have arrangements in place for residents leaving the facility.

Diane S., Care Advisor for CA

Here are some Florida resources:

Abuse hotline: http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/programs/abuse/report.shtml
Ombudsman: http://ombudsman.myflorida.com/
Alzheimer’s Association has a couple of national programs: http://www.alz.org/safetycenter/we_can_help_safety_medicalert_safereturn.asp

Tami G., Care Advisor DC Metro Area

I would suggest reporting the missing person first to the community and then to the police and then register a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or Chamber of Commerce letting them know what happened with the missing resident and the community that was responsible for her.

Molly D., Care Advisor Trainer & Coach