A 9 year-old boy at a residential facility died
because the staff were poorly trained, incompetent, the facility lacked appropriate medical care (such as 24/7 onsite nursing staff) … or a combination of these…. Below is a link to their founders at Sunshine Residential Homes. There are links on their website with information about their founders. I assume that they are a non-profit and accept donations. Many social service non-profits depend on funding from United Way and government grants. I don’t know about this institution in Arizona, but this was true when I worked at Catholic Charities in New York, United Cerebral Palsy in Massachusetts. I do know that there are over 48,000 non-profits vying for grants in Massachusetts since its much cheaper to use non-profits rather than unionized state workers who have good salaries and excellent benefits (this was true when I worked at Hogan Regional Center.
Shown below – Mother Theresa and the institution’s founders
How can a facility servicing medically fragile
children NOT have a nurse on staff to at least answer questions. I’m assuming that the supervisor in this story who told her employee to give the child water- was not a nurse. I believe that somebody involved should lose their job and the state should oversee the safety protocols…
The other issue is that Sunshine Residential Homes
donated a large sum to the governor’s campaign. Soon after that donation, the state increased their reimbursement rate. ( I guess this institution is dependent on the taxes paid by residents in Arizona.
I view the tragedy of a child dying due to negligence
and the institution donating a large sum of money and receiving an increase in state funding- two different issues. I think that this quid pro quo between legislators and non-profits is common. In my town the state senator was very generous with donating our money to organizations that do good work- for low pay – work that the state is responsible for administering. When this candidate was up for re-election she had hundreds of volunteers who worked at these non-profits.
These are my observations and I have no idea how
these things work in Arizona. However, I think that regardless of what political party mud is slung…. it’s essential to investigate why this child died and how to improve the system so that it never happens again….
I lived and worked in a residence for individuals who formerly lived in the New York State Willowbrook, famous for neglect and abuse. I experienced first hand my own poor training and very low pay . I moved the career ladder, earning a M.S. in Occupational Therapy, but millions of human service employees are so poorly paid, that they work 2 or 3 jobs. I have no idea what the service providing employees were paid at the Arizona institution, but I betcha that the administrator’s were doing pretty OK !!!
- Let’s ban political donation quid pro quos…..
- Investigate the death of Jakob Blodgett and hold someone accountable….
- Make the state administer services or at least hold the non-profit accountable with regular visits and regulations.