Elderly in care facility removed
DHS cites many home violations
Three elderly, underfed Little Rock residents were removed from a caretaker’s home after she refused to open the door for state inspectors.
Arkansas Department of Human Services employees paid an unannounced visit to Wilson’s Adult Foster Care Home at 5 Sunny Circle on April 7 to check on the three senior citizens living there, according to a letter obtained by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Shavita Wilson, 45, of Little Rock, who runs the home, peered out the window but wouldn’t open the door for department employees, according to a Little Rock police report.
Inspectors waited outside for two hours until one of the residents arrived and opened the garage door, the report stated. Inside, they found “many” infractions, causing the agency to revoke the home’s certification Monday.
DHS employees told police that they found “numerous double-locked doors and that the patients were not getting the amount of food they were supposed to be getting,” the report said, noting that officers observed Vienna sausages and protein shakes on the counter.
The home was part of the state’s “adult family home” program, which provides families an alternative to traditional nursing homes for functionally impaired individuals over the age of 65.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs beneficiaries can also enroll in adult family homes. The Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System had a contract with Wilson’s Adult Foster Care Homes, but it terminated
the contract in December 2012 “because the facility was no longer meeting our high standards for our veterans,” central Arkansas VA spokesman Chris Durney said in an email.
Two men — ages 83 and 71 — and one woman — age 87 — lived at Wilson’s home.
An adult family home is eligible to receive daily reimbursements from Medicaid ranging from $48.22 to $56.25 per resident, depending on the level of required care. Medicaid reimbursements only cover the costs of “daily living care” and don’t include other costs such as room and board, which residents pay for separately.
DHS staff members told police “Wilson receives a check for the care of the victims and that a portion of it was suppose to go to the victims and they were not getting it,” the report stated.
The three residents were taken to the hospital by ambulance, and a DHS spokesman said all three were later placed in a different facility.
DHS and Little Rock police are both investigating the home, spokesmen for both agencies confirmed.
Wilson did not return a voice mail left on her phone Thursday afternoon.
DHS introduced the adult family home program in Arkansas in 2012, but it remains uncommon. After Wilson’s Adult Foster Care Home lost its accreditation, the state is left with only one other adult family home, located in Earle.
The facilities go through an extensive approval process, which includes drug tests, home inspections, interviews and criminal background checks.
Providers are required to help senior citizens in their care with medication reminders, supervision, bathing, cooking, toileting, transportation and other tasks.
The homes have a maximum capacity of three residents, attempting to offer a family-like living environment.
Lisa Sanders of Little Rock toured Wilson’s Adult Foster Care Home in 2014 when she was looking for a place for her now-85-year-old mother. She said the facility’s operators sounded nice over the phone, but she ruled the home out when the provider told her that she must give them an hour’s notice before visiting her mom.
“That’s a red flag,” Sanders said. “I don’t need you to spick-and-span my momma up. I want to see her and how she’s being taken care of.”
Sanders added that the residents looked frail when she toured.
“When you walk in somewhere you can tell the vibe right away,” she said. “The atmosphere wasn’t right at all.”