Where can a complaint be filed in New York City when the home care agency bans visitors of an elderly Veteran?

Mimosa; Have you contacted the local Area Agency on Aging about this situation? Some of the AAA's in NYC are wonderful, some not so much. But they may be able to shed some light, give some assistance in this situation.

One more thing to consider after reading about the political connection. The media, abusive HC agencies and politicians hate the media. However, this situation should be a priority and not to be taken lightly. Pls do the right thing.

Addendum: If there is no food in the house, and it is clear to the police the veteran is dirty, uncared for or any other reason, it is the police duty to call an ambulance, get the vet to be seen at a hospital and from there, you can ensure a quality home care agency is hired. Please call the cops and dont allow this to continue, a veteran...awful!

Call the cops. It is quite reasonable to call the police if you suspect someone of abusing or isolating an elderly person who lives at home. Also, it is the police duty to go to house and do a 'wellness check'. You may be present during this wellness visit, or you may do it anonymously. Please call 911 asap!

Thank you, Countrymouse!

Mimosa, are you one of the neighbours? Are you in touch with the veteran's family? Speak to them, perhaps. A home care agency simply does not have the power to prevent a person's being visited by those he or appropriate family members authorise.

Somebody hired them. That person can fire them. It is not that difficult to dispense with a professional service that proves unsatisfactory. I'm afraid I'm left wondering if the political connection is a clue.

Dear Countrymouse: We did try talking to the agency and that's what prompted them to ban all visitors. The agency did not like the direct and constructive approach.

I would be interested to know on what authority and by what means a home care agency could ban a relative from calling a person they look after.

In terms of friends and neighbours, the agency has a duty to ensure that no one enters the apartment who is not supposed to be there. How are they to know who is a genuine caller and who isn't? I'm assuming that the looked-after person is not able to act for himself, or how are they preventing him from letting in any visitors he wants to see, or from calling family members if he's wondering where they've all got to?

Have you tried talking to this agency yourself to get to the bottom of what has been going on? Wouldn't that be a more direct and constructive approach than dragging in some poor benighted politician who's had the temerity to accept campaign donations? What's it got to do with her?

By the way. Who hired the agency?

Oh, another thing I did: I typed out an informative, detailed description of how lousy this agency was, what they had done, and I posted it on every Yelp and Yellow Pages online reviews place I could find for the agency. I actually think that may have helped other people, at least? The agency went out of business in the next year... and I like to believe I had a little something to do with that. :-)

Same exact thing with my grandmother when I first came here -- there was one can of spinach and one small can of Vienna sausages and no other food in the house, even though there were people that were given money every month to buy groceries! That's a big part of why I came to "clean her house" and never left. I realized that some paid caregivers are not trustworthy and I couldn't leave her in that situation.

Good luck. Sounds like you're on the right track in doing what you can.

We have reached out to the City's DA's office, but haven't received a reply yet. This home care agency had a stipend for groceries, but there was NO food in the house.

I went through a similar situation with a caregiving agency that was hired by my cousin for my grandmother. File a complaint with the Dept of Aging for your state against the agency. Also might be good to contact your county's or city's DA's office and file a complaint (for fraud... I believe that's what paperwork I filled out for DA in my county) against the business that way.

I can tell you for certain that none of the friends or neighbors or relatives were taking things from the house. What does that tell you?

Ok, let's be honest, who was taking things from his house? Vultures are everywhere. Even relatives.

Thank you, all, for your input. In answer to your questions, the supervisor of the home care agency wrote an email to one of this Veteran's neighbors stating that the home care aides have been instructed not to let anyone enter the apartment. This was due to the fact that friends and neighbors were looking after this Veteran to make sure the home care agency did right by the Veteran. When the supervisor of the home care agency was questioned about this directive, she denied it. The home care agency even banned a family member from calling this Veteran. Friends and neighbors have reached out to a Politician for assistance, but because this particular politician is on the home care agency's website and apparently receives campaign donations and votes, their answer to our concern was "we are trying to figure out how to handle your concern." What does that tell you? This Politician is NOT going to do anything for fear of losing campaign donations and votes for her re-election.

Mimosa; who told you this story? the Veteran himself? A relative? Are you sure of the facts?

Yes. Or call the police to the house, indeed. Unless of course there was some good reason to suppose that the police would be uninterested in investigating the suspected false imprisonment of an elderly veteran.

I notice also that your profile hasn't completed. It would help to know your relationship and/or role in this dilemma. Are you one of the friends who was denied contact? One of the family members?

If I was a family member and this ever happened to me I'd be on my way to the police department to file a complaint based on some type of custodial interference or even sequestration.

I don't understand how a home care agency could assume, and/or usurp, the right of a veteran or anyone for whom the agency is being paid to care for to see his/her friends.

This doesn't make sense to me. I'm with CM; more details are needed.

How, was this done? Kept in 'solitary confinement' where? What reason did the agency give for denying access to these particular family members? Have all visitors been denied access, or only those ones? On how many occasions?

The scenario sounds so improbable. Could you explain the context, please?

Start with your state's Dept of Aging.