Police and emergency workers at the Twin Spruce personal-care home near Sunbury in 2004 after a fire killed 3 residents. At that time, more stringent rules for fire safety had been beaten back by the personal-care industry.
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Part 3: Writing their own rules
Drive for change left Pa.'s personal-care industry at the wheel.
"They couldn't enforce the old regulations," said David Zellis, the Bucks County prosecutor who handled the Neff case. "So how are they going to enforce the new ones?"
Inquirer staff writers Nancy Phillips and Mario F. Cattabiani contributed to this report.
Richman and Kroh acknowledge the need. Three years ago, worried about killing the new rules entirely, Richman made a political calculation not to ask for more inspectors.
"I told the legislature these regs would be revenue-neutral" - meaning they would not require additional money, Richman said.
In truth, she said, fixing the personal-care-home problem "is anything but revenue-neutral."
Now, Richman says she'll press for more inspectors. But she cautioned that there was a limit to how much Pennsylvanians want to spend on personal-care homes.
"These folks should not have to die," she said. "They should be able to have a respectful way to live. However, you as a taxpayer, how much of your salary are you willing to pay to be able to support these folks?"
Inquirer staff writers Nancy Phillips and Mario F. Cattabiani contributed to this report.
Contact staff writer Nancy Phillips at 215-854-2254 or at nphillips@phillynews.com.
