Bill seeks to address abuse and neglect in New Hampshire’s disability care system

Following high-profile reports of abuse, neglect, and untimely deaths, a bipartisan group of New Hampshire state senators have proposed legislation aimed at protecting people with disabilities in state care from future abuse and neglect.

“This is a very vulnerable community, some of the most vulnerable people that are living amongst us,” Sen. David Rochefort, a Littleton Republican and sponsor of the bill, said at a legislative hearing last week. “And it’s the state’s responsibility and duty to ensure that not only they’re getting care, but if that care is lacking, there’s accountability for that.”

In New Hampshire, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are legally entitled to state-funded and -directed care services. To provide this care, the state contracts with a network of private agencies across the state. This is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Bureau of Developmental Services and is funded by Medicaid and other public funding sources. 

In November, the Bulletin published a series of articles that uncovered rampant and systemic abuse and neglect committed by caretakers against people with disabilities within this system. State records obtained by the Bulletin revealed that there were 467 credible reports of abuse, neglect, and exploitation in the system investigated by the state, and 119 deaths across the system from January 2023 through the first six months of 2025.

If enacted, Senate Bill 670, would create a Developmental Services Oversight Commission made up of lawmakers, state officials, representatives of private providers, advocates, parents of people with disabilities, and people with disabilities themselves. The commission would be responsible for reviewing performance measures, satisfaction surveys, licensing and certification data, caretaker training guidelines and best practices, and suggesting ways to improve the system. The commission would provide feedback on proposed rule changes and laws related to the system, and release a quarterly report of its findings and recommendations.

As part of a series titled “A System of Harm,” the Bulletin reported on the December 2022 death of Stephen Weidlich Jr., a young man with physical and developmental disabilities who was found dead behind the care home where he lived, and the July 2019 death of Christine Marie Bill, a woman with disabilities who was found dead after overheating in a hot, sealed car in Andover. In its reporting, the Bulletin discovered that the state’s Vulnerable Adult Review Fatality Committee — a committee formed in 2008 to review concerning deaths of people with disabilities or otherwise vulnerable adults and provide recommendations to prevent future similar tragedies — wasn’t notified of either death.

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SB 670 also seeks to revamp this committee. The bill, if enacted, would redefine “preventable death” under state law as “one in which a reasonable intervention, based on the conditions, circumstances, or resources available at the time, might have prevented the death.” Lawmakers, in consultation with the Attorney General’s Office, have discussed amending this definition to be more targeted. The legislation would compel the state’s chief medical examiner and other pertinent state agencies to report preventable deaths to the committee. The bill would also specify who serves on the committee: the attorney general, the chief medical examiner, state officials overseeing the system, representatives of advocacy organizations, law enforcement officials, and others. Previously, the attorney general chose members at his or her discretion.

Finally, SB 670 would also streamline data sharing so that officials can spot issues within the system more easily and respond to them with policy changes or other means. If enacted, the bill would require private providers to notify the Health and Human Services commissioner, the Bureau of Licensing and Certification, the attorney general, and the Disability Rights Center-NH of any deaths or serious injuries.

“The systems and policies that have been in place up until this point are evidently not enough to support people in the community and ensure their well being and their safety,” Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre, executive director of the New Hampshire Council on Developmental Disabilities, said during the legislative hearing on the bill. She said it’s important to create a commission “with more teeth” and “where legislators can serve and in real time talk about improving the laws and the system in place to make sure that vulnerable people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are protected.”

Louis Esposito, executive director of the disability rights group ABLE NH, said it was important to rebuild trust between the state and the disability community.

“People died,” Esposito said. “When I’m meeting with families, one of their biggest fears consistently is, ‘What’s gonna happen to my son or daughter when I pass away?’”

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee will vote on the bill in the coming weeks before it advances to a floor vote of the full Senate.

SB 670 is one of several measures being taken in response to the Bulletin’s reporting. The Disability Rights Center-NH, a federally funded watchdog and advocacy organization, launched its own investigation into the system in late 2025. The Attorney General’s Office told the Bulletin in an email it is “assisting DHHS in reviewing and improving oversight processes, and at the Governor’s direction, we are working to ensure that any potential criminal conduct is identified and addressed appropriately.” And the state’s Systems Review Committee has launched a formal review of the system, which includes a series of public meetings across eight months.