Decades ago, the Older Americans Act was approved to establish important ombudsman programs, allowing professionals and volunteers to act as ombudsmen for residents living in nursing homes and long-term care centers nationwide. The newly proposed Strengthening Advocacy for Long-Term Care Residents Act hopes to improve those programs to combat the worsening issue of nursing home abuse and neglect, which has spiked in many states since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. At Brown & Barron, LLC, our Maryland trial lawyers frequently handle claims and lawsuits for people who were harmed through nursing home negligence, so we are showing our support for this proposed legislation and hope that it can bring about meaningful change that better protects the rights of nursing home residents across the country.

What is an Ombudsman?

An ombudsman is an advocate for nursing home residents. The position is either assigned to employees of (usually) state-level health departments or people can volunteer to be an ombudsman. When a nursing home resident has a complaint or worry about their care or the facility they live in, an ombudsman can be tasked to investigate the situation, look for an amicable solution, and handle any steps or tasks needed to reach that solution. Many nursing home residents struggle with physical and mental health conditions that would make it all but impossible to advocate for themselves, attend meetings, follow up on complaints, etc., so the services of official and volunteer ombudsmen are essential for the adequate care of countless nursing home residents nationwide.

Last year, ombudsmen programs nationwide relied on the services of nearly 5,500 staff members and volunteers. Together, those ombudsmen completed more than 340,000 visits to long-term care facilities to investigate and resolve complaints. Overall, it is believed that more than 500,000 residents benefitted from the work of ombudsmen in 2023.

What Would the New Ombudsman Act Do?

If the Strengthening Advocacy for Long-Term Care Residents Act is passed, it would:

• Require the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to study the staffing ratio of ombudsmen to nursing home residents and recommend what ratio would be best suited to ensure all nursing home residents have access to the services of an ombudsman.
• Direct the Administration for Community Living to establish a list of expected duties for volunteer ombudsmen, as well as to approve the training requirements for volunteers based on their duties.
• Reappoint a full-time National Director for the ombudsman program after the position was eliminated during a 2019 reorganization of the Administration for Community Living.

If this act passes Congress and is signed into law, it could vastly improve the living conditions for nursing home residents everywhere. Specifically, updating the ratio of ombudsmen to nursing home residents could make a monumental difference. Currently, a report from 1995 is used by the ombudsman programs, which suggests a ratio of just one ombudsman per 2,000 nursing home residents/beds.

Our nursing home abuse attorneys from Brown & Barron, LLC are hopeful that this act will pass without delay or difficulty. In our home state of Maryland alone, thousands of complaints are filed each year by nursing home residents and their family members who have been hurt due to neglect and abuse in nursing homes and assisted living centers, so it is clear to us that improvements to ombudsman programs need to be made. In the meantime, we will continue to offer our award-winning legal counsel to nursing home residents across Maryland, so they can stand up for their rights by filing a claim or lawsuit against the parties that hurt them.

Need our legal counsel or representation for a nursing home abuse case in Maryland? Call (410) 698-1717 now and ask for an initial consultation with our attorneys.