LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A new state law now in effect will help to protect some of the most vulnerable Nevadans.
Starting October 1, 2025, families can put cameras in the rooms of their loved ones in assisted living facilities. It comes after one Henderson woman’s fight to make it legal.
FOX5 first spoke to Peggy Stephenson several years ago after her mom endured abuse in multiple assisted living facilities. Stephenson was determined to change Nevada law to protect her mom and anyone else who could not protect themselves.
“This has been such a hard road and horrible experience… My mother has suffered… She’s not the only one,” Stephenson contended.
Stephenson’s mom was in six different care facilities within six years after a series of abuses by the people paid to care for her.
“It’s kind of tough to talk about… We have to live with the guilt of having subjected her to these types of treatments,” Stephenson shared.
Not knowing exactly what happened was one of the hardest parts. When Stephenson wanted to put cameras in her mom’s room to monitor what was going on, she says facilities retaliated.
“Last year on Veterans Day, Governor Lombardo was speaking at the Boulder City VA Home, where I went up to him and talked to him,” Stephenson recounted.
Stephenson expressed her frustration with a law passed in 2023, which mandated that cameras be allowed in skilled nursing facilities.
“It left out everything that most of us were thinking of, such as dementia cases, memory care facilities, any type of physical rehab facilities, disabled communities,” explained Assemblyman Max Carter, who represents the area of east Henderson where Stephenson lives.
Lombardo told Stephenson to work with Carter to draft legislation to fix the law. Carter championed her cause, sponsoring AB368.
“Her story is heartbreaking and makes your heart just cry out and go, this should not happen in our country,” Carter asserted.
“You can log in and see your kid at nursery school? Why don’t we require those same types of systems in the common areas in assisted living facilities?,” Carter questioned.
AB368 does not apply to the common areas of assisted living facilities, only private rooms. Since Stephenson’s mom currently has a roommate, they cannot add a camera to the room without permission from that other family, something they have not given, but Stephenson says she knows the facility her mom is in now is providing excellent care.
Currently, only 14 states have assisted living facility camera laws. Both Stephenson and Carter hope to help draft federal legislation to make it legal in all 50 states.
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