Vineland Developmental Center Faces Investigation After Death, Staff Assault

The confrontation started over a dirty table. On January 20, 2025, a cottage training technician at the Vineland Developmental Center ordered a resident to clean up the dining area before leaving. The resident refused. The technician followed. According to a state inspection report, "approximately ten seconds" later, the technician and the client were on the floor, "with the technician on top of the client." Other staff pulled them apart. The resident was assessed with no injuries.

The technician was Sheryl Green, 40, of Vineland. She was placed off duty that same day. Two days after the incident, state inspectors declared the facility to be in "immediate jeopardy," the most serious federal violation designation, indicating direct harm or risk of serious harm to residents. The designation was lifted January 27 after corrective action. On February 2, Human Services Police, who operate inside New Jersey's state institutions, arrested Green and charged her with aggravated assault, neglect of a disabled person, and endangerment. The state intends to fire her following a disciplinary hearing. Green could not be reached for comment.

The assault was not the only crisis at the 257-acre facility at 1676 E. Landis Avenue. In August 2024, a VDC resident who had returned from a hospital procedure missed five consecutive doses of a prescribed blood thinner. The patient died. The error triggered mandatory retraining for all staff nurses, according to the Department of Human Services. A heavily redacted state inspection report dated January 29 documented the incident.

These two incidents are part of a longer pattern inspectors have flagged repeatedly at VDC. In February 2025, staff left Nicholas Aquilino, a 37-year-old nonverbal man with severe autism who had been assigned two supervisors, unsupervised, allowing him to walk away from his residence. That incident also drew an immediate jeopardy designation. As far back as January 2024, parents of VDC residents reported broken fingers, painful tooth decay, and mysterious bruises on their family members. One parent described the facility as a "militaristic" and "secretive" compound with "dungeon-like rooms."

DHS spokesman Tom Hester said the department "remains unwavering in its commitment to the safety, dignity, and rights of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities" and "enforces zero tolerance." Christine Bakter, Deputy Director of the NJ Office of the Ombudsman for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, said she "remains concerned about all allegations of abuse and neglect" and urged DHS to "conduct thorough investigations, take corrective action, and uphold accountability."

The DHS Office of Investigations, which handles civil complaints of abuse, neglect, and exploitation at state facilities, employs 60 staffers. Governor Phil Murphy signed new IDD oversight legislation on January 20, 2026, and Commissioner Sarah Adelman said the laws give the department "additional tools to promote high-quality care, strengthen oversight, and ensure that our systems continue to evolve." A separate Senate bill introduced in October 2025 would rename and expand the Ombudsman's Office, the watchdog agency created by the Legislature in December 2017.

VDC, founded in 1888 as an alternative school for women and girls with disabilities, is the oldest of New Jersey's seven state-run developmental centers and currently houses 132 people. It survived a proposed closure in 2012 only after Cumberland County officials and roughly 1,300 employees fought to keep it open. A decade later, the institution those advocates saved now faces accountability for the people it was built to protect.