PORTLAND (WGME) – A study published eight years ago found that each year, on average, one mental health worker is a victim of homicide in residential treatment facilities in the U.S.
The study, published in Psychiatric Annals, also found women were the most common victims, and men with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were the most common perpetrators.
Stephanie Moulton was a caseworker at a group home in Massachusetts when she was stabbed to death 15 years ago by a person with a mental health diagnosis.
Her sister-in-law says no one should ever work alone, or be alone, in a group home setting with patients who may become violent.
“There should definitely always be one other person with someone working in a mental health facility, a group home,” Moulton’s sister-in-law Brittany St. John said. “That way, maybe somehow, something like this could be prevented.”
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A Boston man diagnosed with schizophrenia was convicted for Moulton’s murder.