Amid ongoing controversy over an elderly woman allegedly abused at a care home in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico's Secretary of Public Affairs, Jean Peña Payano, denied claims that the Department of the Family removed oversight powers from the Office of the Ombudsman for the Elderly (Oppea). Speaking during the biweekly "En Récord" session at La Fortaleza, Peña Payano said only the Legislative Assembly can amend Oppea's organic law, not the Family Department.
This followed remarks by Oppea head Yolanda Varela Rosa, who told Magic FM radio that Family had stripped Oppea's fiscalization powers by allegedly modifying a regulation on long-term care homes. The dispute follows Sunday's discovery of an 86-year-old woman allegedly mistreated at Hogar Casa Dorada in Las Piedras, leading to her caregiver's arrest and the facility's license cancellation.
The Family Department stated no complaint against Casa Dorada resulted in fines during Secretary Suzanne Roig Fuertes's tenure, with the only related complaint filed in 2024 over an administrative matter; an administrative order was issued September 22, 2025, and Oppea submitted a case-closing report in December 2025. Roig Fuertes told WKAQ-580 there were no grounds to take the home to court, and that elders under agency guardianship were removed, though two privately-funded residents remained, with families guided toward relocation.