After the Hacienda Healthcare rape, Arizona built a group home watchdog. Now it’s being defunded.

An independent oversight program, COMIT, created after a 2018 rape at Hacienda Healthcare in Phoenix, is being defunded despite being made permanent in 2023. The program, operated by Disability Rights Arizona, provides oversight for group homes caring for people with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses. Arizona lawmakers and officials have agreed to cut its $1.2 million annual budget as part of broader fiscal decisions.