Advocates for people over the age of 50 are saying that New York State is failing to protect our most vulnerable in long-term care facilities.

In a recently released letter, AARP says under the Federal Older Americans Act, every state is required to operate what's called the "Long Term Care Ombudsman Program."

The program is supposed to addresses complaints and advocate for improvements in the long-term care system.

But, AARP says many nursing homes throughout the state were never visited the first quarter of this year.

And the Hudson Valley was among the most neglected by the program. They say that 78.57% of the 127 facilities in Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester counties did not receive an ombudsman visit at all from January 2022 to March 2022

AARP is now calling on state officials to invest more in the program in next year's budget.

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