Nursing Home Abuse Center Launches Interactive "Know Your State's Nursing Home Rights" Tool

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New 51-jurisdiction resource gives families instant access to state safety grades, resident rights, regulators, and reporting contacts in one place

CHESTNUT HILL, MA / ACCESS Newswire / September 10, 2026 / The Nursing Home Abuse Center has launched a new interactive feature that helps families across the country understand how nursing home safety, oversight, and resident rights vary from state to state. The tool, called " Know Your State's Nursing Home Rights," covers all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., giving users a single destination to look up the protections and reporting resources available where their loved ones live.

The feature works through a simple, state-by-state lookup. After selecting a state, users can see which agency regulates nursing homes there, what rights residents are legally entitled to, and the exact steps and deadlines for reporting suspected abuse or neglect. Because rules and enforcement can differ significantly depending on where someone lives, the organization built the tool to translate often-complex state regulations into information families can act on quickly.

"Families shouldn't need a law degree to find out who regulates their parent's nursing home or how long they have to act," said Julie Rivers, Eldercare Advocate and Certified Senior Advisor at the Nursing Home Abuse Center. "This puts every state's rules, deadlines, and watchdogs in one place."

A central part of the feature is a composite safety grading system that scores every state from A to F based on nursing home staffing levels, abuse citations, staff turnover, and enforcement activity. According to the current rankings, New Hampshire, Alaska, and Alabama post the strongest composite safety scores in the country, while Louisiana, Texas, and Missouri currently rank among the states facing the greatest safety concerns.

The organization notes that the data is pulled from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Care Compare records covering more than 14,700 facilities nationwide. Each state's guide also cites its health department, state statutes, federal resident-rights rules, and Long-Term Care Ombudsman program.

By combining regulatory detail with an easy-to-navigate map and rankings, the new feature is intended to empower families to ask better questions when choosing a facility, recognize warning signs sooner, and know exactly who to contact if they suspect abuse or neglect. For those who believe a loved one has already been harmed, the organization also connects users with legal partners who can review potential cases at no cost.

"Know Your State's Nursing Home Rights" is now live on the Nursing Home Abuse Center's website, and the organization plans to keep the underlying data updated as new CMS and state reporting becomes available.

Nursing Home Abuse Center

Julie Rivers

(877) 941-2736

[email protected]

1330 Boylston Street, Suite 400

Chestnut Hill, MA 02467

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse Center