EDITORIAL: Report on state housing program for the mentally ill reveals a swamp of malfeasance

Revelations about a state housing program for the mentally ill have highlighted a number of major problems, not the least of which is the stunning lack of accountability that pervades the public sector.

On Monday, the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services released an internal report compiled after a legislative audit released two weeks ago revealed deplorable conditions at many of the 142 “community homes” that house mentally ill adults across the state. The private operators of the homes, which are intended to provide independence for the occupants, receive $1,450 per month in state and federal tax dollars for each resident.

In the wake of the audit, the department conducted its own follow-up analysis, which found that mandated state inspections often did not occur, and inspectors sometimes never verified that operators enacted appropriate fixes.

“Environmental reviews and inspections were supposed to be incorporated into the monthly home visits,” the department probe concluded. “However, there is no evidence to support such inspections consistently occurred.”

In addition, state employees in Southern Nevada apparently turned a blind eye to “unsanitary and public health hazard issues” that reflected a “consistent pattern of under-reporting issues.” One anonymous caseworker told Review-Journal reporter Ramona Giwargis that some inspectors filled out reports while sitting in their vehicles without even entering the home.

“The providers, state clinical staff and their supervisors had a responsibility to these individuals and they failed to live up to those responsibilities,” said Richard Whitley, director of the Health and Human Services Department. “There is no defense for their actions.”

Candid and welcome words, for sure, but who will be deemed to account for such dereliction of duty? State officials found a scapegoat last week when they fired Amy Roukie, the administrator of the Division of Public and Behavioral Health, which runs the program. But Ms. Roukie had been in her position for only a matter of months; the problems predate her tenure.

If state inspectors aren’t inspecting and supervisors aren’t supervising, why haven’t any of them been held responsible and lost their taxpayer-funded jobs? If the operators of these community homes are so indifferent to the plight of those they’re supposed to be helping, why hasn’t the state severed its relationship with them? At the very least, state officials must review the screening process for operators.

The state has taken a handful of steps to address various issues, in particular putting 122 of the homes on “corrective action plans.” Fine. But this is a massive institutional failure that has victimized the helpless and defenseless and demands a thorough housecleaning — even an evaluation of how the program has been implemented. And that should include a closer examination of the relationship between the inspectors, supervisors and community home operators. Because right now, the noxious stench wafting from this festering swamp of malfeasance is overwhelming.