05/21/2026
Kim McCafferty has spent years advocating for the autism community, fighting for improvements in safety protections, training for caregivers, employment opportunities and Medicaid coverage. The longtime Brick resident traveled to Washington, D.C., last year to lobby Congress on these issues and met with U.S. Rep. Chris Smith for an hour.
On April 16, her worst fears came to pass when her 22-year-old autistic son Justin died after falling out of a third-story window at the Fort Monmouth Day Program in Oceanport, where he attended five days a week.
“I’ve been an advocate for 15 years for the autism community, and to have this happen to my own child is horrifying,” Kim McCafferty told the Asbury Park Press. “He needed to be protected. There needed to be regulations in place. There couldn’t be a better example of why cameras need to be in group homes and day programs.”
McCafferty wants to see the state Legislature pass a law mandating cameras in day programs and residential group homes — places that care for adults with autism after they age out of the educational system at 21.
“There are active bills in Trenton that hopefully will be made into law in terms of cameras,” McCafferty said. “At the moment they’re focused on group homes, but I would love to see that extended to day programs for obvious reasons. This needs to be addressed.”
Kim’s lawyer, Daryl Zaslow added: “If you maintain direct-line supervision, this never happens. But one thing Kim is advocating for and needs to be implemented is having cameras in these facilities to hold people accountable, so they don’t allow this to happen. We have cameras protecting our mail and FedEx deliveries; why can’t we have cameras protecting the most vulnerable of our society?”
Kim put it this way: “There are cameras in doggie day care,” she said.
Justin’s death sent shock waves through the special-needs community in New Jersey.
“I’ve been horrified by the whole thing,” said Marlboro resident Deb Fisher, whose 22-year-old son Jay has autism. “These are the places where we think our kids will be the safest, but in reality they are still vulnerable.”
“A lot of these places are understaffed and they don’t have the correct staff,” Deb said. “All it takes is one bad person, or one unqualified person, for a problem to happen.”
Fisher supports the idea of mandated cameras in day programs.
“As parents, you cannot take these programs at their word,” she said. “If your child is not verbal, or if their word is not taken above the staff’s — I’ve been in that situation before, where they’re like, ‘No, he’s fine,’ — you need to have eyes on them. If our kids don’t have the voice, an adult there is going to tell you everything is fine, and if there is a problem, they’ll put it on your kid.”
As if the situation wasn’t hard enough, Justin McCafferty’s father Jeff is suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
“Since my son’s death, the decline has been precipitous,” Kim McCafferty said. “He’s only 59. It’s been horrifying.”
Support for the family is pouring in. A GoFundMe campaign has raised $79,000 and counting.
“I had the opportunity to go through it, and there’s donations from people I’ve never met or heard of, and some from people who knew Justin when he was 5,” Kim said. “I can’t begin to tell you about the outpouring of support and love. It’s definitely helped us.”
“Justin was a wonderful son,” Kim said. “He was affectionate and loving and funny.”
He loved horseback riding, the beach, and trips to Walt Disney World.
“He was my buddy,” Kim McCafferty said. “We had wonderful times together. Everybody who met him, loved him.”
https://www.app.com/story/news/local/how-we-live/2026/05/21/brick-autistic-mans-fatal-fall-prompts-potential-35m-lawsuit/90160843007/
