There were 20 founded cases of abuse at special care facilities licensed by Nova Scotia's Department of Community Services in 2017-18.

The information is outlined in new data recently released through the provincial government's open data portal.

It covers the 332 facilities for adults in the province, including small option homes, group homes, adult residential centres and residential care facilities, all of which are geared toward people in disability support programs.

117 reports made

According to the data set, founded cases represent files where an "investigation determined there were probable grounds abuse occurred." That could include verbal, physical or sexual abuse.

There were 117 referrals, or reported allegations, examined to determine whether an investigation should take place. Of those, 41 investigations were launched after it was found there were "reasonable grounds to believe a resident has been abused or is likely to be abused."

The data portal does not include any details about the allegations or the investigations.

'A system that's working effectively'

Joe Rudderham, executive director of the disability support program with the Department of Community Services, said making the information public is part of a desire to be more transparent.

The numbers, which are relatively consistent with previous years, show "a system that's working effectively," he said.

"What's happening is that the system is working in that we have the opportunity to understand what may have happened and initiate an investigation, and determine whether or not what has been referred is founded in terms of abuse."

Getting government's attention

Rudderham said the number of referrals in particular suggests people — whether staff or family members of someone in care — know they can report their concerns and the department will follow up.

"That's exactly how the system is supposed to work," he said.

The executive director of People First Nova Scotia, an advocacy group for people with intellectual disabilities, said regular public reporting of the information is a positive step.

"When things are documented, the government tends to pay more attention to them," said Cindy Carruthers.

Carruthers said ensuring people are comfortable reporting incidents is an important step to curbing abuse. She stressed the importance of residents having clear avenues to speak for themselves and discuss their concerns with outside advocates.

The total licensed capacity for residents in Nova Scotia is 2,278. As of last week, there were about 2,100 people in care.

Read more articles from CBC Nova Scotia.