Tag: smart-home

Community Blog

Welcome to the first community vlog entry of fall! I hope you all had a great summer. Today, I want to talk about group homes—specifically, how many of them have gradually turned into smaller, satellite institutions rather than true community homes.

The fundamental problem with most group homes is that they rarely feel like an actual home to the people living in them. For individuals in their mid-to-late 30s or 40s—the average age of most residents—a constant stream of shift staff comes through the door every day, working eight hours at a time. You constantly adjust to new people entering your personal space. Having conducted state program investigations in group home facilities years ago, I’ve seen this reality firsthand. I’ve watched how hard it is for residents who don’t just want to reside in a neighborhood, but actually want to be an active part of their community.

Recently, in New Jersey, there has been a major legislative push driven by concerned parent groups to mandate cameras in all major group home facilities. (S1172 / A2705)

While safety, abuse prevention, and neglect prevention are the primary arguments for this bill, mandating cameras is a dangerous idea and a slippery slope.

Here is why this approach misses the mark:

• In a typical household, you do not have cameras capturing your every move in the living room 24/7. Proponents argue that schools and buses have surveillance, but you don’t live at a school or on a bus. In your own home, you should have the right to privacy in your most personal moments without constant surveillance.
• Surveillance footage does not stop abuse or neglect as it happens; proper staff training and accountability do. Cameras only offer distressing images after a tragic event or death has already occurred. In New Jersey alone, there are roughly 150 unexplained deaths in facilities a year. A camera recording after the fact does not save a life; it only leaves families with unsettling images and more questions.
• The current bill in the New Jersey legislature does not mandate audio recording. Key context becomes completely lost without audio. Furthermore, under the proposed language, the group home provider retains control of the footage before any family member can access it, leaving room for footage manipulation.

In its current form, this legislation is a dangerous precedent that fails to protect residents while stripping away their fundamental right to privacy in their own homes. What are your thoughts on this bill and the distinction between safety and privacy in community settings? Let’s keep the conversation going in the comments below, and I’ll see you next week!

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