Purpose

To determine whether the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (Office) was in compliance with applicable fire prevention, safety and control requirements that help ensure the safety of vulnerable populations it serves.

Background

The Office provides services in both institutional and residential settings across the State for more than 126,000 New Yorkers with developmental disabilities. On March 21, 2009, a fire in one of the residences resulted in the death of four individuals. Since that fire, the Office has taken several steps to improve its fire safety practices, spurred on by recommendations from a grand jury investigation and recommendations from reviews conducted by the Fire Safety Panel of State and National Experts and by the New York State Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities. Among the improvements are annual fire safety inspections of all facilities by fire safety experts and the development of standards for fire drill frequency, sprinkler and fire alarm maintenance contracts, and the use of heat detectors.

Key Finding

The Office is in compliance with applicable fire prevention, safety and control requirements that help ensure the safety of the vulnerable populations it serves and has significantly improved its fire safety procedures and practices since the 2009 fire.

Other Related Audit/Report of Interest

State University of New York: Fire Safety at Dormitories (2005-S-61)