washingtonpost.com: A Dangerous Place

Alzheimer's patient Cornelia Sink, 79, was able to get only a short distance from this bedroom before dying in a fire at a Care Givers home in Henry County. (Michael Williamson - The Washington Post)

• How This Series Was Reported

Multimedia

• Video: Help at the Other End of the Line
Video: Caregivers Speak Out
• Video: A Combustible Mix
• Video: Choosing an Assisted Living Home
• Audio: 911 Call From Cary Avenue Adult Home

Live Discussion

• 11 a.m. Wednesday: Reporter David S. Fallis discusses this series
• Transcript: Maurice Jones, Va. Department of Social Services Commissioner

Search For
Adverse Enforcements

When facilities are found by the Virginia Department of Social Services to be in violation of state law, the department issues a notice outlining the violations. The agency also may impose fines, threaten not to renew a home's license or revoke it.

The conditions that prompted the actions listed in this database were found between January 1998 and February 2004. The Virginia Department of Social Services can be contacted at (804) 726-7154 for current or additional information.

Home Name:
Address:
City:
Zip

Day 1: Assisted Living in Virginia
The Dangers of Va. Assisted Living

An 18-month investigation by The Washington Post found a troubled and worsening record of care at Virginia's assisted living facilities, including avoidable injuries and deaths, and a system of state oversight that often failed to identify or correct problems.
• Story:Owner's Homes Troubled, Yet Aid Continued
• Graphic: Home Residents and Locations
• Graphic: The Victims
• Graphic: Troubled Homes

Day 2: The Volatile Mix of Residents
Residents Prey on the Vulnerable
In assisted living homes, residents attacking their housemates represents another layer of danger.
• Story: Sites Woo Patients They Can't Protect
• Graphic: Less Than Full Disclosure
• Graphic: Admitting a Violent Offender

Day 3: Lost in Life and Death
Assisted Living Facility's Chaos Bred Neglect
Kensington Gardens in Richmond racked up care violations, but Virginia still kept it open.
• Graphic: Kensington Gardens

Day 4: Failure to Regulate
Weak Laws Let Deficient Facilities Stay Open
As the assisted living demand booms Virginia regulators are struggling to keep pace, especially when compared with other states.
• Virginia Rarely Prosecutes Cases of Neglect, Abuse

In the News

Upgrades in Va.'s Assisted Living Sought: Social Services Chief, Warner Call for Changes in Oversight, Conditions of Homes (Post, May 27, 2004)