To Governor Glenn Youngkin, Attorney General Jason Miyares, and Members of the Virginia General Assembly,

It is now weeks—weeks—since I and others began contacting you about the systemic elder abuse, neglect, and unethical admissions practices rampant across Virginia’s long-term care facilities.
You have not responded.
You have not taken action.
And your silence is damning.

How many more lives will be destroyed before you acknowledge the crisis you’re complicit in?

Right now, your constituents—disabled, elderly, vulnerable Virginians—are suffering. And while they suffer, you continue to accept campaign checks from the very industry responsible for their pain. We’ve seen the donation records. We’ve named the names. Still, you do nothing.

Let me remind you of what happens when government officials treat cries for help as political inconveniences.

In 2014, Senator Creigh Deeds was stabbed multiple times by his own son, who then died by suicide—just hours after being denied a psychiatric bed because Virginia’s broken mental health system failed them both.

https://www.cnn.com/2014/01/26/politics/creigh-deeds-attack/index.html

That tragedy became a national symbol of what happens when leaders ignore warning signs.

It took bloodshed to prompt legislative reform in that case.
Is that what it will take now?

Do one of your parents, children, or loved ones need to be brutalized in a nursing home, denied care, or sent to die in silence before you act?

This is not a rhetorical question. Because the longer you choose to protect the long-term care industry instead of the people it was meant to serve, the more likely that day becomes. No one is immune to a broken system—not even you.

We are still waiting for:
 • Minimum mandatory staffing standards in long-term care
 • Transparent, ethical admissions practices
 • Real oversight and enforcement power
 • Immediate license revocation for abusive facilities like Harrisonburg Health & Rehabilitation Center

You were elected to lead, not to hide behind donors and delay.

Do your job. Because if your loyalty remains with lobbyists and corporations, then you should prepare for the voters to make a different choice at the ballot box—and sooner than you think.

We are not going away. And neither is this crisis.

Sincerely,
Victoria Jackson
Constituent | CNA | Long-Term Care Advocate
Author of Dale’s Law: The Virginia Long-Term Care Quality and Nursing Admissions Reform Act of 2025