State report: Dementia patient left in freezer '20 to 30' minutes after employee found him there alive

By: Adam Walser

TRINITY, Fla. — A new state inspection report reveals that the Waverly Assisted Living Facility in Trinity "failed to provide adequate personal supervision and oversight" on the night a dementia patient wandered into a walk-in freezer and later died of hypothermia.

William Eugene Ray, who had dementia, got out of bed and left his room just after 12:30 a.m. on September 26.

Watch report from Adam Walser 

His family had installed a Ring camera in his room due to staffing concerns at the facility.

Ray's daughter Kristen Spencer woke up to discover her father was missing from his room.

“I couldn’t even believe the words I was hearing”

She called the facility to notify staff, then drove there with her mother.

They were placed in a conference room while staff searched for Ray.

"The director came in and said they found him. And then she said he was in the freezer," Spencer said. "I couldn't even believe the words that I was hearing."

The 54-page report from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) offers explanations of what happened that night.

Attorney Stephen Barnes, who represents Ray's family, said the state conducted a thorough investigation.

"The state did its due diligence. They not only talked to the administration. They talked to employees, they talked to staff, they talked to residents and got the complete picture," Barnes said.

Report says one employee was scheduled to care for 48 residents

The report reveals that only one staff member was scheduled to work that night in the assisted living side, which had 48 residents.

The report says two people were assigned to the memory care section of the facility. 

According to the report, an employee told investigators they had complained to the administrator days before the incident, saying, "We are always short-staffed. We don't take breaks and there are no breaks at night."

The report indicates video from the facility showed Ray wandered around unnoticed for hours, "entering and exiting the kitchen area and the kitchen's cooler multiple times”.

"How could this happen? Basic safety measures were not in place to secure the kitchen," Spencer said.

The report says a cook told investigators, "There was no way to lock the double doors leading to the kitchen, and the key to the fridge was missing, so the door could not be locked."

The Cook said a previous complaint was made to the administrator.

"I was concerned someone would come in and turn the stove on and start a fire,” the cook told investigators, according to the report.

"The kitchen staff told the facility. We can't lock the kitchen doors. We can't lock the freezer. And sounded like it happened more than once that they were asking for this to be taken care of. That simple remedy stops this from ever happening," Barnes said.

Report: Ray was left in freezer for “20 to 30 minutes” after he was found by employee

Ray was last seen on video at 4:30 a.m.

He was found inside the freezer at 8:10 a.m., lying on his side and shivering.

The report says he responded to commands by nodding, even though he could not speak.

The staff member who found Ray didn't move him, claiming it was against facility policy, and instead waited "20 to 30 minutes" for rescue workers to arrive.

"The family's devastated to learn that the patriarch of that family was left in a freezer after he was discovered still alive until the emergency personnel got there, and the excuse was that's the way we were trained," Barnes said.

Ray was taken to Trinity Medical Center, which is just a few hundred yards from the facility, but by the time he arrived, it was too late.

Spencer said she was told by medical staff that Ray’s core body temperature was 66 degrees when he arrived.

According to a report from the Pasco County Medical Examiner, the preliminary cause of death was hypothermia.

Barnes says he hopes the facility will learn from the tragedy, so others’ safety is not put at risk.

"Do your job. You know, if you're gonna take these residents in and you're gonna tell a family that you're gonna take care of them, do your job," Barnes said.

The Waverly did not respond by our deadline to requests for comment about the state report.

To check out nursing home inspection records:

https://quality.healthfinder.fl.gov/report-guides/nursing-homesfl

To check out assisted living facilities in Florida:

https://ahca.myflorida.com/health-quality-assurance/inspection-reports-for-health-care-providers

Full Article & Source:
State report: Dementia patient left in freezer '20 to 30' minutes after employee found him there alive 

Assisted living homes in Massachusetts charging families for rent after residents die, leave, I-Team finds

by Cheryl Fiandaca

A troubling clause in assisted living home leases is costing Massachusetts families thousands. The facilities use landlord-tenant contracts, which require a 30-day notice in writing to end the lease, even after their loved one passes away.

The I-Team has been investigating those contracts for years. 

In 2024, Bruce Travalik's mother passed away, and her family was billed more than $15,000 for her rent at the assisted living facility. After the I-Team began asking questions, the home settled with her family. And in 2022, Jim Lloyd's wife passed away, and he was charged more than $3,000 for an additional month's rent after he passing. The I-Team was able to get involved, and the home agreed to refund the family 25 days of rent.

Charged after leaving the facility

Gloria Loureiro's mother, who moved into the Giving Tree Senior Living facility in Dracut. Loureiro said that the facility was helping her mother with her medications and personal care.

Her mother was doing well until last year, when she got sick and ended up in the hospital. Loureiro said that she never went back to Giving Tree. At the time, the facility was charging $5,300 a month. 

In January, Loureiro moved her mom out, telling Giving Tree they could donate her furniture. Weeks later, she got a bill for February's rent. The facility told her the contract she signed required a 30-day notice in writing to terminate the lease, and she had given her notice verbally.

"I think it's a disgrace. It's an absolute disgrace. I've been getting the runaround. They just keep saying 'No you're lucky we didn't charge you two months instead of one,'" Loureiro said.

The I-Team went to Giving Tree, but the person who came out refused to speak on the matter. Maurice Mason, an attorney representing the facility, refused our request for an on-camera interview and told WBZ-TV, "This is basically a contract matter which my client is more than willing to submit to a court of competent jurisdiction for a resolution."

Loureiro said the home wants her to pay $5,300 for February and for seven days in March.  

"It doesn't make sense," she told the I-Team.

Loureiro said that the Giving Tree is now suing her. An attorney representing the facility tells the dispute is a contract matter that will be resolved in court.

Regulating assisted living in Massachusetts

The recent fatal fire at Gabriel House in Fall River has put assisted living facilities under the microscope. 

"I look at it as our opportunity to open up the whole can of worms, what's going on," said State Senator Mark Montigny. "Assisted living, they're so unregulated."

Montigny sits on the state commission looking into assisted living facilities. Days after the I-Team told him homes were billing families thousands for failing to give a thirty-day notice, he filed legislation to stop the practice and limit the number of days a facility can charge to 10.

Montigny called the practice outrageous.

"I filed a bill when someone passes, immediately the clock stops," said Montigny, who credited the I-Team. "If people like you aren't following it and seriously digging down. It doesn't get done. It was directly because you folks were going after it, but I was outraged."

Montigny is also filing legislation to close the loophole in cases like Loureiro's to prevent assisted living facilities from charging families when their loved ones get transferred to hospitals or nursing homes.  

While the legislation is pending, the Attorney General's office is drafting new regulations for assisted living homes. 

Full Article & Source:
Assisted living homes in Massachusetts charging families for rent after residents die, leave, I-Team finds 

'Appalling findings': Audit of Florida's guardianship watchdog agency exposes guardianship failures

OPPG received 174 complaints against professional guardians in two years but rarely took action

An audit of the Office of Public and Professional Guardians shows systematic failures, including failure to develop and implement monitoring tools to make sure guardians comply with the law.

By: Adam Walser

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Auditor has released a scathing report involving the Office of Public and Professional Guardians or OPPG.

Under guardianship, a judge takes away a person’s rights and appoints someone to manage their finances and other aspects of their lives.

State lawmakers created OPPG to police guardians and protect wards under their care, like Willi Berchau, whose story prompted the creation of the watchdog agency in 2015.

Since OPPG opened, millions of tax dollars have been spent on funding the agency, even though auditors say it is failing some of Florida’s most vulnerable seniors.

“They can do whatever they want with you”

The I-Team's investigation into Florida's broken guardianship system started in 2013.

“My court-appointed guardian doesn’t allow me to leave the premises,” Willi Berchau told us when we secretly interviewed him at a church.

The 99-year-old German immigrant had been placed by his court-appointed guardian in a locked-down dementia unit where he didn’t belong.

“You see nobody. You have no contact with anybody,” Berchau said. “If you stayed there any longer, you would mentally go down. Mentally.”

Three months after our first story, a judge restored Berchau’s rights.

“The trouble is, if you have nobody behind your back, they can do whatever they want with you,” Berchau's said at a pizza party his friends threw for him on the day he was released.

In 2015, Florida lawmakers created the Office of Public and Professional Guardians, or OPPG, to protect people in guardianship from isolation, exploitation and abuse.

Former Florida Senator Jeff Brandes was one of the sponsors of the law.

“Willi’s story is what prompted it. We heard the story, and it was so compelling, and we knew that we needed to do something,” Brandes said at the time.

But a recent audit shows OPPG is failing those it is supposed to protect.

Professional guardians received 174 complaints in two years

“This is actually a follow-up audit we did. And to be honest, in some respects, it was worse the second time around,” Deputy Auditor Matthew Tracy told a State Senate committee last month, sharing results from a 33-page audit report.

The audit shows the state’s 566 professional guardians received 174 complaints.

It said OPPG “had not developed and implemented an effective monitoring tool” to make sure guardians complied with state law.

“The extent of the department's oversight of this was a self-asked questionnaire that asked basically did you comply with our requirements and how many wards did you monitor? Basically it was like grading your own test in school,” Tracy said.

The report also said OPPG didn’t promptly address serious complaints.

“People are being kept from their families. They take their money. They sell the house from underneath them,” Tracy testified.

The I-Team previously reported how OPPG often took years to investigate complaints.

“They go to a black hole,” Black said.

Gov. DeSantis acknowledged problems in 2019

Our reporting got Gov. Ron DeSantis’ attention in 2019.

“What troubled me about some of the issues you guys raised was obviously bad things are happening but there doesn’t seem to be anyone held accountable,” he said.

At that time, the I-Team reported OPPG had 132 open investigations.

“I think that over 130 cases and nothing has happened to anybody, that just doesn’t strike me as being acceptable,” DeSantis said.

The entire OPPG administrative staff resigned, but a year later, little had changed.

In 2020, the I-Team obtained internal documents showing a huge backlog of cases, many dating back to before the resignations.

“Every month I’m calling"

Among the cases ... complaints from Terri Kennedy about her Aunt Lille White’s guardianship.

“I never thought anything like this could have happened,” White said in a cell phone video Kennedy recorded the last time she saw her aunt.

Lillie was isolated from family after a dispute over who would inherit her fortune.

“Every month I’m calling and saying another year, another week, another month. Where’s the report?” Kennedy said.

Three years after filing a complaint, OPPG finally sent Kennedy a letter saying her allegations were substantiated, finding her Aunt Lillie’s guardian wasn’t registered and improperly billed her.

But OPPG didn’t discipline the guardian and closed the case.

“I was so angry when I got the OPPG letter,” Kennedy said.

Lillie died the next year.

“She died alone without her family knowing, and two weeks later we find out,” Kennedy said.

We uncovered that OPPG found that at least 8 other guardians broke the law but were allowed to continue serving as guardians.

“They got maybe a requirement to take a couple of continuing education classes, but you can keep the money that mysteriously disappeared,” Black said, describing how OPPG handled cases of guardians who were found to violate the Florida Guardianship statute.

Lawmakers at the hearing where the audit was presented were shocked by the auditors’ recent findings.

“The things that we're hearing in this committee are really appalling,” said Sen. Tom Wright (R-Port Orange).

“Accountability is something we owe our population,” Sen. Jay Collins (R-Tampa) said.

Advocates say unless OPPG begins to hold guardians accountable, more people like Willi Berchau will be isolated, exploited and abused.

“These are our most vulnerable members of our population. And they have almost no protections when they are in the adult guardianship system in the state of Florida,” Black said.

“I think it should be shut down and something else put in place,” Hogue said.

The Department of Elder Affairs Secretary didn’t agree to an interview

We requested an on-camera interview with the Florida Department of Elder Affairs Secretary Michelle Branham.

Her agency oversees OPPG.

We sent multiple emails and a list of topics we wanted to ask her about, but she didn’t agree to an interview.

Branham has an open invitation to sit down with us and discuss the ongoing and recurring problems at OPPG.

The previous OPPG director resigned before the audit was released.

He was the agency’s third director since it opened.

You can find out more about Florida’s broken guardianship system by checking out our years’ long series “The Price of Protection.”

Full Article & Source:
'Appalling findings': Audit of Florida's guardianship watchdog agency exposes guardianship failures

Star high school athlete placed in guardianship after head injury faces possible deportation

$614,000 accident settlement has run out, family seeks resources for 24-hour care

A star high school athlete who moved to Florida from Haiti suffered a major head injury in an accident more than a decade ago. He ended up in guardianship and received a substantial financial settlement. But now his money has now run out, his guardian was removed from his case, and he faces an uncertain future.

by: Adam Walser

NAPLES, Fla. — Our ongoing series “The Price of Protection” usually focuses on how professional guardianship impacts vulnerable seniors, but the I-Team has learned how guardianship can affect people of all ages.

A star high school athlete who moved to Florida from Haiti suffered a major head injury in an accident more than a decade ago.

He ended up in guardianship and received a substantial financial settlement.

But now his money has now run out, his guardian was removed from his case, and he faces an uncertain future.

From star athlete to brain injury patient

34-year-old Wilkins Vilcin is the youngest resident of his assisted living facility in the Golden Gate community.

He wears diapers and needs help dressing, bathing, and completing daily tasks.

“He needs 24-hour care... an eye on him,” said his sister Fabiola Vilcin Borgelin.

Photo collages on his wall show better days, when Wilkins was a stand-out athlete at St. John Neumann Catholic High School in Naples.

“Run track, play football, run cross country,” Wilkins said, struggling to find words to describe his participation in high school sports.

Wilkins, his father, his brother, and three sisters moved from Haiti in the early 2000s and were granted temporary protected status, which provided a pathway for citizenship.

“He went to states for the track 4x4. He was on the football team. He was on the soccer team,” said Brian Ullrich.

Brian, now a nurse in California, is Wilkins’ former teammate who has kept in touch with him over the years.

Brian is the only classmate Wilkins remembers since suffering a traumatic brain injury.

Brian Ullrich

“It was our homecoming dance, 2010. He was a senior,” Brian said. “There was a flip at the dance that he had done and got over-rotated and landed on the back of his head.”

“He was just having a fun night, and out of nowhere, it changed his life,” Fabiola said.

Wilkins was rushed to the hospital, where he spent weeks in intensive care and months in recovery.

“Eventually, he's starting rehab in the hospital. He can walk again. He can sit up in the chair. We threw a birthday party for him,” Brian said.

He said it was one of the most tragic things he remembers as a teenager.

“It was just unbelievable. You don't know, you know, until you have someone you know go through something like that,” Brian said.

Guardian appointed to manage funds and care

Wilkins was declared incapacitated in 2011, and Kathy Johnson was appointed as his professional guardian, overseeing his care and managing his money.

That included $614,000 from legal settlements related to the accident.

Fabiola says Johnson rarely communicated and didn’t call when he had COVID or was hospitalized for a seizure.

Under the state’s guardianship law, the guardian is not required to provide that type of information to wards’ family members.

“I’ve never met her. I've never seen her. Every time when I ask to see her, there’s always an excuse,” Fabiola said.

Johnson also moved Wilkins between facilities without telling them.

That is also allowed in Florida, although guardians are required to notify the court when they move a ward under state law.

“We just go see Wilkins, and he’s not there,” Fabiola said.

WFTS

Brian had the same experience last Thanksgiving.

“Wilkins was moved. We can’t tell you where he’s at because you’re not the legal guardian,” Brian said.

Brian tracked down the guardian, and she told him Wilkins only had $4,000 left.

“He’s going to end up on the street”

“That’s kind of barely going to get us through December. We really need to figure something out, you know, because he can't see stay in the house anymore. We're going to get evicted,” Brian said Johnson told him.

“She told me his money runs out. That if he has nowhere to go, he’s going to end up on the street,” Fabiola said.

“Are we looking at going back to Haiti and in a time where we've got massive issues going on with gang warfare and all this stuff?” Brian said.

In August 2022, more than a decade into the guardianship, Johnson asked the court to move Wilkins’ remaining $158,900 into a pooled trust, telling the judge that would enable her to try to qualify him for government benefits.

But Johnson never managed to get Wilkins a Green Card, which would allow him to qualify for certain benefits.

16 months later, Johnson petitioned the court to resign, saying Wilkins no longer had any money and she feared she would be held liable for his expenses.

Guardian removed from cases

In late February, Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Krier, who appointed Johnson, removed her from all her Collier County cases.

That followed a scathing audit alleging missing money, lost records, and hacked bank accounts.

“At best, this is mismanagement. At worst, it’s something more,” Krier said at the time.

We questioned Johnson about those cases at the hearing, but she declined to comment.

Records show Johnson billed Wilkins $48,000 for her services during Wilkins’ guardianship.

That included a bill for $500 the month before she told his sister he was running out of money.

Currently, there is no money to pay for Wilkins’ care.

“It’s almost $4,000 just to stay here,” Fabiola said.

A new emergency temporary guardian appointed in February is contacting state and federal authorities, trying to get Wilkins a Green Card so he can qualify for health insurance and other benefits.

The family says Johnson took his birth certificate and other documents and never gave them back.

“We're trying to take him back. So that’s the plan... for us to take him back,” Fabiola said.

Brian, his family and Wilkins’ classmates are also helping out.

Emergency fund established

They have worked with a volunteer attorney to set up the Wilkins Vilcin Special Needs Trust.

Donations are being coordinated by Wilkins’ former school... they can be mailed to St. John Neumann High School, 3500 53rd ST SW, Naples, FL 34116.

For more information about the trust, you can email the organizers at vilcintrust@gmail.com

Wilkins doesn’t understand what’s going on, but his friends and family see a broken system that failed to protect one of the most vulnerable people in its care.

“I can certainly work. I can certainly come up with some money to help him a little bit along. But this is this is the tiniest of Band-Aids on such a massive problem,” Brian said.

We contacted Kathy Johnson and her attorney for this story, but we have not heard back.

The most recent court filing in Wilkins’ case indicates the Florida Department of Children and Families is investigating.

Full Article & Source:
Star high school athlete placed in guardianship after head injury faces possible deportation

I-Team: The guardianship home grab

by Danielle DaRos

Jan Garwood is just one ward in Florida's guardianship system who lost her home while incapacitated (WPEC).

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — Three years ago, the CBS12 News I-Team reported on Jan Garwood's guardianship nightmare: a Florida senior was declared "incapacitated" by a judge, and put under the control of a professional guardian, who quickly moved her into a memory care facility. Garwood was there for three years, until she finally fought her way out of the restrictive guardianship.

But while she won her rights and freedom back, she lost almost everything else.

"I said I wanted to go home, and they said, 'You don't have a home anymore,'" Garwood said.

Her home was sold not long after she was institutionalized.

The guardian did not have her property appraised, and didn't list it in a public database to find a buyer. Instead, Garwood's home was sold to an employee at the very assisted living facility where the guardian had placed her. 

Florida Deputy Inspector General Anthony Palmieri investigates misconduct in the state guardianship system, and he calls Garwood's case one of the worst in an increasingly common trend: questionable real estate transactions in the guardianship system.

"Real estate is definitely something that has ticked up for our investigations," Palmieri said.

When a guardian is suspected of a crime, his Palm Beach County team is able to investigate and refer a case for criminal prosecution. In some cases, he has uncovered real estate sales that seem to enrich a whole network of other people -- leaving the ward without their most valuable asset -- and the security of their home.

Often, guardians petition the court to sell a ward's home, claiming that extra money is needed to pay for their ward's care. But when the sale price falls short of the home's estimated value -- and if the buyer goes on to quickly flip that home for a profit -- then the ward is the one getting ripped off.

"In my book, that's a problem," he said. "The guardianship is to serve the person that needs this intervention and this protection. So anything that's not giving them the fair value [of their asset] is problematic. I want to look at it."

Recently, Palmieri's team looked at a case involving a former real estate agent, turned professional guardian in Seminole County named Dina Carlson. An investigative report mentioned three real estate sales she initiated on behalf of her wards.

For one ward's property in Lake Mary, Carlson hired real estate agents Mark and Kimberly Adams: Mark was the listing agent, and Kimberly completed a "competitive market analysis" instead of getting the property appraised. Investigators wrote that they considered the CMA to be "fraudulent" because it undervalued the home. The Lake Mary property was never offered to the public, but was sold to a buyer for $215,000. Three months later, the new owner flipped it for $347,000.

"Is it a red flag if you see a home is sold and flipped for a much higher price?" The I-Team asked Palmieri.

"Definitely something that I would take notice of," he said. "I would want to understand the relationship, if any, between the guardian, the real estate agent, and subsequent buyers. I would look at those and connect the dots, to see if there are relationships that are improper and should have been reported to the court."

His report highlighted two other real estate sales that seem to include conflicts of interest.

For a ward's home in Apopka, Carlson used real estate agents Mark and Kimberly Adams to sell a home for $120,000. It was sold the very day it was listed. Five months later, that buyer transferred the title of the home to Mark and Kimberly Adams, who then, one month later, sold the house for $298,000.

In a third case, Carlson sold a ward's home in the desirable Orlando suburb of Winter Springs. She again used Mark and Kimberly Adams to sell the three-bed, three-bath property. It went for just $195,000. The buyer who got such a good deal? Realtor Kimberly Adams' brother.

The I-Team reached out to Dina Carlson, Mark Adams and Kimberly Adams multiple times to ask them about these real estate sales, but they never responded to our messages.

Palmieri's report concluded that there was probable cause to suspect the trio had committed multiple crimes, including exploitation of the elderly, grand theft and scheme to defraud, and she sent a referral to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Without explanation, the FDLE declined to pursue those charges, writing in a memo that "no evidence was developed to substantiate a criminal predicate."

In a settlement agreement with the Office of Public and Professional Guardians, Carlson accepted a "reprimand" from the state, and agreed to take eight hours of continuing education courses, including a "Guardian Refresher" class.

"No one is holding anyone accountable," victim-advocate Hillary Hogue said.

After serving on Florida's Guardianship Improvement Task Force, Hogue believes more regulation and oversight must be required before a guardian is allowed to sell a ward's home. She believes requiring a certified appraisal is a start.

Full Article & Source:
I-Team: The guardianship home grab

Lifetime movie "The Bad Guardian" based on real accounts of guardianship abuse

Executive producer tells I-Team she wants to educate viewers

For more than a decade, ABC Action News investigative reporter Adam Walser and photojournalist Randy Wright have exposed problems with court-ordered guardianship in our ongoing series “The Price of Protection”. Guardianship is supposed to protect vulnerable seniors, but the I-Team has uncovered it often leads to isolation, exploitation, and abuse. The topic is at the center of a movie premiering on Lifetime Network Saturday.

 

By: Adam Walser

HOLLYWOOD, CA — For more than a decade, ABC Action News investigative reporter Adam Walser and photojournalist Randy Wright have exposed problems with court-ordered guardianship in our ongoing series “The Price of Protection”.

Guardianship is supposed to protect vulnerable seniors, but the I-Team has uncovered it often leads to isolation, exploitation, and abuse.

The topic is at the center of a movie premiering on Lifetime Network Saturday.

Adam spoke with the movie’s producer about how she hopes the fictional story will educate viewers about the real-life dangers of guardianship.

The movie is called “The Bad Guardian” and stars Melissa Joan Hart and La La Anthony.

“The one way that I saw there was somewhat of a pattern of people getting their loved ones out was through the press, people like you who were shining a light on this story,” said the movie’s executive producer Elizabeth Stephen.

She said she spent years researching guardianship abuse.

“Every single turn of events is true. It's all real. And, you know, it's shocking. I mean, I was looking at some of your pieces this morning, and it reminded me that this is the stuff that really happens,” Stephen said. “What happens is they get into the system, and then, as you know, it's almost impossible to get out.”

She said the fictional story comes from real-life accounts of abusive guardianship she learned about in press accounts or from people who work in organizations to protect vulnerable seniors from abuse.

“It's just shocking. Anybody that I watched the film with, they all talk back to the screen, and they look at me and say, No, this couldn't happen. No,” Stephen said.

The movie airs on Lifetime Saturday at 8 p.m.

If you or your family is a victim of a predatory guardianship, contact the I-Team at adam@abcactionnews.com

Full Article & Source:
Lifetime movie "The Bad Guardian" based on real accounts of guardianship abuse

I-Team: A family's plea to read the fine print when signing up for Medicaid

by Mary Kielar

Ellen McCauley says Medicaid has a $220,000 lien on her mother's home. (Photos provided by Ellen McCauley)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Memories of love and laughter at home are becoming a nightmare for one Syracuse family.

Ellen McCauley's mother's home on West Onondaga Street is now in the hands of Medicaid after she passed away in January of 2023.

"I think about how the Christmas tree was always over there and how the little kids grew up and now they have children of their own. I think about playing games around the table and how much laughter we had," said McCauley. "We knew that her greatest wish was that this house was our inheritance, my sister Mae and I."

How It Started

In 2019 Ellen's mother's health declined, and they were looking into options for her care. The solution came from her great-niece, who agreed to move into the house with her two small children to take care of her.

"We saw those commercials, hey ... for free you can get help in the home. Pay your loved ones. So we said let's do that! So we signed her up with a local company, my niece made minimum wage, never more than $10,000 a year, and we didn't even realize that this local company was getting $4,000 to $5,000 a month."

The company is Syracuse-based Nascentia Health. A spokesperson deferred comment to New York Medicaid when the I-Team reached out for this story. Ellen says they would call and check in periodically on her mother's care-but her niece handled the day-to-day tasks she needed help with.

A Harsh Realization

Now, McCauley says Medicaid has taken over her later mother's home. "It wasn't until my mother died that we got a letter from Medicaid saying they put a $202,000 lien on this house on West Onondaga."

A lien is a right to keep property belonging to another person until a debt owed by that person is paid. In this case, that property is Ellen's mother's house and Medicaid is legally working to recoup the money spent on her care.

She is literally in heaven, in G-d's ear going, 'They can't take my house, I worked too hard for it, G-d.'

Federal Medicaid rules say state Medicaid programs must recover certain Medicaid benefits on behalf of the person enrolled, which could mean taking property.

A spokesperson for the New York State Health Department says applicants are informed of this possibility when they apply for Medicaid, but Ellen says she can't remember ever hearing about it, which is why she reached out to the I-Team.

Legal Advice

"It's emotional ... it's their parent or their spouse, and it's extremely difficult. If you plan ahead, kind of take away some of that stress," explained Anthony Copani of Mannion Copani in Syracuse. He focuses on elder law and Medicaid.

The I-Team reached out for his take on the McCauley family's situation. "They won't file a lien against the home while the person's living there. But, when she died they were able to go back the ten years, add up all the monies that they paid out and then filed the lien against the home at that time. But yes, if that person was in a nursing home and she was not likely to return home, then Medicaid's right to lien the property would've been more immediate."

Copani's legal advice is to consider creating a family trust. That way, a property like a family home will never be attached to a Medicaid lien. Planning should start five years before applying for long-term care assistance. He adds that failure to plan ahead means after someone dies, their estate is created. If the property is included and they were receiving some type of assistance, the lien can be attached.

How To Protect Yourself and Your Property

The NYS Health Department says Medicaid applicants are given the information with the warning that property could be taken by Medicaid.

When you do that at your local Department of Social Services you can get a copy of documents on the NYS Office of Temporary Disability Assistance website or request a paper copy by mail.

It's a step McCauley wishes she knew to take, but she hopes sharing her family's story will help one family avoid this outcome. 

"My mother would be so happy if she thought that one person would be safe from this same situation by listening to what I have to say today, and not going on managed Medicaid because they don't want their loved one to lose their home."

Full Article & Source:
I-Team: A family's plea to read the fine print when signing up for Medicaid

I-TEAM: Caregiver arrested after man with special needs found wandering the street

A mother from Metairie is furious after she says her adult son, who has special needs, was abandoned by those she trusted to take care of him. 

Source:
I-TEAM: Caregiver arrested after man with special needs found wandering the street

I-TEAM: Caregiver arrested after man with special needs found wandering the street - 2

Pictures obtained by the WAFB I-TEAM speak for themselves, showing the conditions inside an apartment where a woman’s special needs son was allegedly neglected. 

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I-TEAM: Caregiver arrested after man with special needs found wandering the street - 2

Florida guardian suspended amid reports of 'hacker activity,' missing Mercedes, and excessive spending

Judge demands records in 34 cases after scathing audit

For more than a decade, the ABC Action News I-Team exposed problems with Florida’s professional guardianship system in our award-winning series “The Price of Protection." Last week, we were there when Collier County professional guardian Kathy Johnson was suspended from more than 30 cases amid allegations of missing money, lost records, and hacked bank accounts. “At best this is mismanagement. At worst it’s something more,” said Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Krier.

By: Adam Walser

NAPLES, Fla. — For more than a decade, the ABC Action News I-Team exposed problems with Florida’s professional guardianship system in our award-winning series “The Price of Protection”.

Last week, we were there when Collier County professional guardian Kathy Johnson was suspended from more than 30 cases amid allegations of missing money, lost records, and hacked bank accounts.

“At best, this is mismanagement. At worst, it’s something more,” said Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Krier.

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She addressed Johnson and her team of more than half a dozen lawyers at a hearing about how Johnson cared for 34 court-appointed wards and their money.

“I also am not going to allow these wards’ money to be flushed down the toilet for another minute,” Krier said.

“Hacker activity,” missing Mercedes, and excessive spending questioned

Johnson has been a professional guardian for more than two decades, even though she was convicted of driving under the influence twice and declared bankruptcy.

“Numerous complaints were made about Kathy Johnson. And again, they were all unsubstantiated and nothing was done until today. Too little and God knows too late,” said guardianship reform advocate Hillary Hogue, who lives in Collier County.

The Collier County Clerk of Courts, which monitors guardianships, found several irregularities in Johnson's cases.

Those included claims, which the auditor disputed, that three wards lost more than $85,000 as a result of "hacker activity,” which Johnson reported to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.

There were also concerns that a ward’s Mercedes Benz didn’t appear in an inventory of her assets.

Accounts showed that a ward's bank account shrank by nearly $609,000 in two years while the woman was in Johnson’s care.

Johnson previously told auditors she couldn’t produce invoices and other records because they were in storage.

“All the records need to be turned over to the auditors’ office. Every single piece of paper,” Krier said

Judge Krier also questioned whether some wards should be in guardianship at all, based on shoddy capacity exams she observed in court records.

“I want a real capacity evaluation,” Krier said. “I'm not convinced that anybody’s seeing anybody in terms of these capacity evaluations.”

Ward wrote seven letters complaining about Johnson

85-year-old Bridget Manning was declared incapacitated after she fell, injured her leg, and wound up in a rehab center while visiting a friend.

Manning wrote seven letters to judges complaining about Johnson, begging to get her rights back and hoping to return to her native Ireland.

“My intention was to get Johnson out. She did a lot of things to a lot of people,” Manning said.

Johnson moved manning to a small home care facility in rural Lehigh Acres, in another county more than 50 miles from the Collier County Courthouse.

That facility was recently cited by the state for its “staff not having proper medical training and certification”.

When asked to describe her living situation, Manning replied, “Bad. Very Bad.”

“I have to share a room. Kathy Johnson got both of us in there,” Manning said.

Collier County Court Records

Johnson’s two wards share a tiny room in the 1,400 square foot home.

The women also share a single bathroom with two disabled men who live there.

56-year-old registered nurse placed in guardianship

“I was employed as a registered nurse. I was working two jobs,” Karen Federighi said, describing her situation when she was placed in guardianship in 2016 at age 56.

Federighi inherited money after the death of her stepfather and her estranged sisters from Illinois hired an attorney to petition to have her placed in guardianship and stripped of all her rights.

She says a court-appointed committee conducted brief mental exams.

“It was a retired Hospice nurse evaluating me at a McDonalds,” Federighi said. “And then the other two individuals to evaluate me were a retired 80-year-old OBGYN and an activities director at a skilled nursing facility.”

“When I needed food, oh I wasn’t allowed to go to the store myself and buy it. She had to drive me,” Federighi said.

We found bills in Federighi’s court file in which Johnson was paid $90 an hour to take her to Publix, Walmart, and the pharmacy.

Ward lived on the lam using burner phones and cash

With the help of guardianship reform advocates she met on Facebook, Karen escaped guardianship in Southwest Florida and fled to California.

“I literally lived on the lam for nearly a year using burner phones and cash,” Federighi said.

An “angel donor” regularly wired Federighi money at Western Union sites to help her stay hidden.

A California lawyer hired by a supporter was able to get Federighi’s guardianship transferred to Los Angeles County where it was later overturned.

But not before she lost everything she had before the process started.

“I was living in a condo, and I had a car,” Federighi said.

She said that wasn’t all she lost. “All gone. All my photographs, my Bibles, furniture, my pets. Everything gone,” she said.

“They treat them like they’re non-people”

Johnson was also the guardian of Rosalie Ziegler.

“There was no caring for my mother,” said her daughter Carmon Kaouk.

The guardianship was initiated as a voluntary guardianship as a result of a dispute between Kaouk and her siblings.

But Kaouk says she wasn’t allowed to talk to her 98-year-old mother in the months before she died.

She says she found out about her mother’s death from a text message.

“They would not tell me where she was, and they said there was not going to be any funeral. They told me she was already cremated,” Kaouk said.

Kaouk and Hillary Hogue called around to funeral homes and were able to locate Ziegler’s body before it was cremated.

Kaouk flew from North Carolina to say her final goodbye, finding her mother in a cardboard box.

“It's heartbreaking because they treat them like they’re non-people. Like they’re not important. Money is what’s important,” Kaouk said.

Collier County Court Records

Johnson remains silent

After the hearing, we tried to ask Johnson about the allegations surrounding her suspension and the concerns of her wards and their families.

One of her attorneys repeatedly responded “no comment” as Johnson covered her face with a large envelope without responding to our questions.

Johnson’s wards’ bank accounts have all been frozen and her wards have been assigned emergency temporary guardians.

The clerk’s office has requested that the judge refer cases in which crimes may have occurred to law enforcement.

 If you have a story you’d like the I-Team to investigate, email at adam@abcactionnews.com

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Florida guardian suspended amid reports of 'hacker activity,' missing Mercedes, and excessive spending

2 years after patient dies with high levels of drugs, family still unable to get answers

Jimmy Johnston spent a year in the hospital under Baker Act and guardianship

In January of 2022, the ABC Action News I-Team reported how Jimmy Johnston was involuntarily committed, placed in guardianship and spent more than a year in Morton Plant Hospital as his family fought to get him out. He died in the hospital, and a toxicology report showed high levels of drugs were in his system when he passed. Since then, I-Team investigator Adam Walser has been following his family’s ongoing search for answers and accountability.

By: Adam Walser

CLEARWATER, Fla. — In January of 2022, the ABC Action News I-Team reported how Jimmy Johnston was involuntarily committed, placed in guardianship and spent more than a year in Morton Plant Hospital as his family fought to get him out.

He died in the hospital, and a toxicology report showed high levels of drugs were in his system when he passed.

Since then, I-Team investigator Adam Walser has been following his family’s ongoing search for answers and accountability.

“You can imagine the sadness here”

“The first thing I did was call Clearwater police,” said Kathleen Johnston, writing with a marker on a poster board.

She documented the many twists and turns in her family’s search for answers about her brother Jimmy Johnston’s death.

“This is just a small sample of the papers and the hoops we’ve been going through to get some justice for Jimmy,” Kathleen said, pointing to files of documents related to contacts she had with local and state governments.

Jimmy, a U.S. Navy veteran who struggled with schizophrenia, died alone after spending a year in Morton Plant Hospital while his family fought in court for his release.

“You can imagine the sadness here of us having to do this,” Kathleen said.

Kathleen’s sister Patty and brother Tommy share in the sadness.

The siblings all live in Indiana and can’t sue the hospital because Jimmy didn’t have a wife or any children.

“That’s not the issue. The issue is, why did they do this to him?” said Tommy.

Kathleen has used her professional skills to try to come up with answers.

She is the founding director of an investigative journalism center at Indiana University.

“I was a senior investigative producer for CNN, I worked at CBS News, I worked in newspapers. I’ve had a long career in this business,” she said. “The system is not working.”

A year in the hospital under a Baker Act and guardianship

 Jimmy and his sisters signed a form at Morton Plant Hospital in January 2020 designating Kathleen and Patty, his healthcare surrogates, to make decisions if he couldn’t.

“They insisted that we sign it,” Patty Johnston said.

But when Jimmy returned to Morton Plant for a mental health episode three months later, the hospital went to court without contacting his family and had him involuntarily committed for six months under Florida’s Baker Act, saying “the patient requires a highly structured setting for safety and cannot be maintained safely outside of a hospital setting."

A lawyer working for the hospital then obtained guardianship without informing the judge that Jimmy’s sisters were his surrogates.

A guardian paid by the hospital was put in complete control of his care.

Kathleen hired a lawyer, went to court and was eventually appointed his guardian, but Jimmy's doctors refused to release him.

“I’ve helped people all my life in my career, and I couldn’t save my own little brother’s life. It’s gut-wrenching, it’s gut-wrenching,” Kathleen said.
 
Toxicology report shows high levels of drugs

Jimmy died on March 21, 2021, three days before a hearing to determine if his family could move him out. His death certificate listed natural causes.

But a toxicology report from a private autopsy his family paid for raised concerns about the level of drugs in his body.

“The cause of death of this gentleman is most probably a result of overdoses of medicine as obtained in the toxicology report,” Kathleen read from the private autopsy report.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Craig Beach reviewed the findings for the I-Team.

“The Clozapine level was around 20 times higher than the upper limit of that usual blood level range for Clozapine. And the Haloperidol level was around 50 times higher,” Beach said.

A hospital spokesperson said in an email, “While we cannot comment directly on any patient’s toxicology results, we do know that blood levels for some pharmaceuticals are significantly higher when drawn postmortem.”

“Those levels aren’t normal. There’s no way to pretend that they are,” Beach said.

“The only place he was getting the drugs was the hospital. They were administering it to him,” Tommy Johnston said.

Kathleen sent the autopsy and toxicology reports to multiple local and state agencies, but none followed up with the pathologist.
 
“Not the health department, not the prosecutor, not the police,” Kathleen said.

State agencies don’t provide answers

The Agency for Healthcare Administration, which oversees hospital safety in Florida, investigated 16 months after receiving the complaint and closed the case after a single visit.

“At the time of the inspection, they did not find the facility was violating any laws,” Kathleen read from a letter in which AHCA closed the case.

Kathleen filed complaints with the Florida Board of Medicine.

“They lost one of the complaints against one of the doctors,” Kathleen said.

Then there was another issue.

“They said the expert is unable to read the records because the hospital sent them over jumbled,” Kathleen said.

Jimmy had more than 24,000 medical records at the time of his death.

A hospital spokesperson denies that there was a problem with how they were turned over to the board, saying in a statement, “The hospital turned over a single digital file with records in chronological order.”

In a closed meeting, a committee heard the case and found the doctors did not violate standards of care.

“It’s closed door. I can’t be in there,” Kathleen said.

“Somebody needs to be accountable”

A Clearwater Police spokesperson told us the investigator Kathleen spoke with had died, and they couldn’t locate records on the case.

Kathleen sent all the records she had to Assistant State’s Attorney Rene Bauer, including autopsy report, the toxicology report and a 1,500 page abstract she obtained from the hospital after a legal battle.

“She said I’ve decided with the evidence I have, there’s not a crime here,” Kathleen said.

Bauer told the I-Team she thoroughly reviewed the documents, but there was not enough evidence to prove to a jury that a crime had been committed and who was responsible.

Jimmy’s siblings said they’re not giving up.

“Somebody needs to be accountable,” Tommy said.

We contacted the Florida Board of Medicine and AHCA about their investigations but did not receive any additional information.

The family has also contacted federal agencies, who they say are looking into different aspects of the case.

They contacted Indiana Sen. Mike Braun's office and he brought Jimmy's story to the floor of a U.S. Senate committee hearing about problems with court-ordered guardianship earlier this year.

"I heard from the sister of Navy veteran Jimmy Johnston who said that a court ordered guardianship ultimately led to her brother’s death," Braun said.

"After Jimmy’s death, his family received a hospital bill of nearly $1.2 million. Nearly all of it was billed to Medicare. That’s unacceptable," he said.

If you have a story you think the I-Team should investigate, email  adam@abcactionnews.com

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2 years after patient dies with high levels of drugs, family still unable to get answers

Professional guardian Traci Hudson's trial on 2019 charges delayed again

Delays are continuing in the trial of a former professional guardian who is accused of exploiting elderly people under her care. Traci Hudson was back in a Pinellas County courtroom Tuesday, which was originally supposed to be the start date for what was supposed to be the start of her criminal trial. Hudson was originally arrested in November 2019 on charges of exploitation of an elderly adult. But her trial was delayed because Hudson ended up in the hospital after what police described as a possible suicide attempt. Investigators alleged Hudson took more than a half-million dollars from an elderly man under her care…using the money to buy a nearly 5,000-square-foot home, jewelry, and Bucs tickets. In the 1,265 days since her arrest, she’s had 29 court hearings, including a court date she missed last month when Hudson was supposed to turn herself in on additional felony charges. The day of that hearing, Hudson was found unresponsive in a hotel room and spent the next two weeks in the hospital. According to a police report, her daughter told officers Hudson was upset over the prospect of spending 15 years in prison.

By: Adam Walser

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Delays are continuing in the trial of a former professional guardian who is accused of exploiting elderly people under her care.

Traci Hudson was back in a Pinellas County courtroom Tuesday, which was originally supposed to be the start date for what was supposed to be the start of her criminal trial.

Hudson was originally arrested in November 2019 on charges of exploitation of an elderly adult. But her trial was delayed because Hudson ended up in the hospital after what police described as a possible suicide attempt.

Investigators alleged Hudson took more than a half-million dollars from an elderly man under her care…using the money to buy a nearly 5,000-square-foot home, jewelry, and Bucs tickets.

In the 1,265 days since her arrest, she’s had 29 court hearings, including a court date she missed last month when Hudson was supposed to turn herself in on additional felony charges.

The day of that hearing, Hudson was found unresponsive in a hotel room and spent the next two weeks in the hospital. According to a police report, her daughter told officers Hudson was upset over the prospect of spending 15 years in prison.

Hudson has been charged with a total of 20 felony counts, including exploitation, grand theft, and perjury.

The Pinellas County Inspector General released a scathing 77-page report outlining problems with dozens of Hudson’s guardianship cases late last year. Hudson’s charges could land her a 135-year prison sentence. Her attorney is hoping to resolve the case before trial.

“We are still engaging in some negotiations. We are hoping the court’s ok with it,” said attorney Richard McKyton. “It will push us off about two months. That will be our last attempt to try to resolve this matter."

Last week, following her release from the hospital, Hudson turned herself in on two new charges involving the alleged exploitation of two other elderly people under her care. At the time she was booked, new conditions were placed on her bond.

“She’s also under house arrest and she’s got a GPS monitor,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Renee Bauer.

Until her case goes to trial, Hudson will only be allowed to leave her home to meet with her attorney, attend court dates or seek medical care. Her next pretrial hearing is scheduled for July 11^th.

Full Article & Source:
Professional guardian Traci Hudson's trial on 2019 charges delayed again

See Also:
Embattled former professional guardian Traci Hudson found ’unresponsive’ at hotel

Former professional guardian abandoned wards' mail, committed crimes: Inspector General report

Former guardian allegedly stole guns, forged appraisal

Former guardian charged with pillaging elderly man's estate refuses to sign final accounting

Price of Protection: Woman loses Seffner home after father's guardian sues her for libel

Guardianship ends in isolation from family, alleged neglect and death from COVID-19

77-page guardianship investigation exposes lack of oversight in Florida's system

New charges, new investigation involving embattled former professional guardians

Hotel owner placed in guardianship by St. Pete Beach realtor dies from COVID-19

Realtor seeks court-ordered guardianship to take away rights of elderly beach hotel owner

AARP Florida makes guardianship reform a top priority

Broken window results in more than $45K fine under former professional guardian's care