Advocate urges group homes to balance disabled residents' intimacy needs with safety concerns
In an effort to protect adult residents of Minnesota group homes who have intellectual or cognitive disabilities, emotional issues and/or mental illness, those in charge routinely restrict activities that could lead to or include unsupervised sex.
But those restrictions may also limit residents’ legitimate need for intimacy. A number of advocates are urging that care plans be individually tailored to allow for more dating and intimacy while also recognizing legitimate safety concerns, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The lengthy article is the fifth in a series about the rights of people with disabilities.
Striking this balance, however, may be easier said than done: A common concern is whether an individual with a disability has the capacity to consent to sexual activity, and legal standards may be unclear or controversial.
Disagreement about applicable consent standards can result in a civil litigation or criminal charges, as previous ABAJournal.com posts have discussed. Even in a situation with a happy ending, in which everyone agrees that a couple can be married, obtaining housing can be difficult at best.
Nonetheless, there are ways to strike a balance between freedom and safety, said Roberta Opheim, who serves as Minnesota’s mental health and developmental disabilities ombudsman,.
She says the best practice is to individually assess a person’s sexual health and vulnerability when they first arrive at a group home. Then a care plan should be developed specifically for that resident that addresses any consent or abuse issues but still allows loving relationships with others, Opheim recommends.
“There are very good reasons to be cautious, but we shouldn’t allow blanket restrictions that exist solely for the protection of the group home provider,” she said. “All too often, we err on the side of overprotection.”
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