Florida Continues to Fund Dangerous Assisted Living Facilities

When Florida regulators found that a 71-year-old man with mental illness died from burns after he was left in a tub of scalding water at a Hialeah assisted living facility, they could have cut off thousands in state dollars sent to the home each year.

Instead, they imposed a fine.

The next year, when inspectors discovered a caretaker at the facility punched a severely mentally ill man in the mouth, they could have stopped the public dollars to the home. But instead, they issued a warning.

At least four more times in the past four years, regulators turned up neglect cases at All-America ACLF - including failing to provide crucial medication to sick elders - but continued giving $1 million to the home even as caregivers were breaking the law.

Though Florida law gives regulators the power to stop giving Medicaid money to homes caught abusing and neglecting residents, McClatchy Newspapers found that regulators routinely funnel millions every year to some of the state's most dangerous facilities.

Since 2007, the Agency for Healthcare Administration has doled out more than $23 million to nearly 90 homes that could have been cut off from public dollars - including facilities where caretakers were caught beating and sexually abusing frail elders.

The failure of the agency to turn to one of its toughest enforcement tools more often comes after years of neglect and abuse cases rising in ALFs across the state - with nearly one resident dying a month at the hands of caretakers.

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Florida Continues to Fund Dangerous Assisted Living Facilities