What's next for residents caught in the middle of Minnesota group home scandals
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Thomas Vasquez had been living in his Brooklyn Park group home for over a year until last Thursday, when the Minnesota Department of Health shut it down.
“I’ve been trying to get out of here,” Vasquez said. “This place should have been condemned a long time ago.”
The group home is owned and managed by Sekou Dukuly. An investigation by MPR News and APM Reports found that Dukuly was serving as the licensed assisted living director — the person responsible for ensuring residents are well cared for — at three group homes, despite working as the executive director of the National Port Authority of Liberia some 5,000 miles away.
Dukuly has had a hand in 24 group homes over the past decade. Facilities linked to him have racked up multiple complaints of neglect. Some residents have died. Meanwhile, the state has paid group home companies linked to Dukuly at least $36 million.
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On Thursday, the Health Department revoked the licenses for the group homes where Dukuly had identified himself as the licensed assisted living director. The move followed one from the Minnesota Department of Human Services, which suspended payments to the facilities in response to what it described as “credible allegations of Medicaid fraud.”
Dukuly did not respond to an interview request. In a press release sent Friday through Minneapolis law firm Goetz and Eckland, Golden Touch Health Care said some of the reporting in the MPR News/APM Reports investigation was “wholly inaccurate.”
“There is nothing improper, unlawful or fraudulent about Mr. Dukuly’s involvement with Golden Touch,” the press release, signed Golden Touch Management, said.
The Health Department also revoked the licenses of two group homes unrelated to Dukuly following allegations from prosecutors that Homefelt Assisted Living facilities were connected to a sex trafficking operation in the Twin Cities.
The agency said that, due to ongoing investigations, it could not say how many residents were currently living in the five facilities it shut down last week. According to each facility’s last site visit, 17 people could need relocating.
“We’ve asked all of the case managers to make this their No. 1 priority,” said Debbie Ackerman, human services area manager for Hennepin County, where the group homes are located.
Ackerman said the timeline for finding new housing for group home residents varies by licensing action and the needs of residents. The suspension imposed on the three group homes owned and managed by Dukuly went into effect immediately, though the homes are required to ensure that residents “receive necessary care until they can be safely transferred to other facilities.”
Hennepin County case managers are working to find intermediary facilities for residents to live, but Ackerman said residents will be able to move again if they find a facility that is better suited for a resident’s long-term needs.
“Whenever there’s an emergent need, it’s finding the the best option to meet their immediate needs, and then we’re asking all the case managers to have a follow-up with people,” Ackerman said. “The most difficult thing is finding ongoing supports that really meet the holistic needs of a person.”
The Health Department said in a statement it was working with partners to “help residents find new homes that meet their care needs” but did not provide a timeframe for upcoming transfers.
“We know people who are living with mental illnesses need as much stability as possible and this is another example of disruption in their lives,” said Marcus Schmit, the executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. "We have a system of human services in Minnesota that is too complicated. It's time for us to rebuild the system."
The Health Department has only revoked 10 group home licenses since it started licensing them as assisted living facilities in 2021. Last week’s licensing actions against five marked a rare and significant step.
Speaking with MPR News outside his group home last week, Vasquez was uncertain of his next steps. He said he hoped to move into another one across the street.
“I think it’s about time that Minnesota Department of Health starts stepping up for people, what they call vulnerable adults,” he said.
