When the welfare reform bill became law in 1997, Carlton Palms was nearly ten years old. It had opened under the premise it would serve 20 to 30 students, as reported at the time by the Lake Sentinel. By 1990, Carlton Palms was serving 48 clients from 28 states. In 1997, the company, rechristened Advoserv, cared for 120 children and adults in Delaware, New Jersey, and Florida. At its height in 2015, Advoserv would house more than 700 severely disabled children and adults.
It's important to note that the remainder of this post will rely heavily on the excellent reporting of Heather Vogell of Propublica.
Advoserv rolled out their lobby firing off emails to state officials promising attractive changes. However, Vicky Kelly, director of the agency's family services division in 2012 found no evidence of the claimed improvements.
The issue of restraints was a tough one. The state psychiatric center for adults was reducing use of restraints per federal insistence. Yet, Advoserv was deeply committed to the practice. Sending the state's own children to Advoserv placed Delaware officials in a precarious position - prohibiting restraint for adults while permitting the practice for youth with serious disabilities.
Delaware's legislators were struck by the dichotomy. The legislature introduced a bill to end the use of mechanical restraints on public school children and limit holds to bare hands.
It was a stunning blow to Adovserv as Delaware public schools sent more children to them than any other state child welfare agency. Each student, 30 receiving services of which 20 were residential, resulted in six-figure bills. Vogell found that in one instance Advoserv was receiving a combined payment of $383,000 per year for just one student.
Advoserv reacted to the legislation in the form former state Rep. Bob Byrd who lobbied his former colleagues for a loophole in the restraint legislation. Byrd's firm reps him as "a Jedi Master of government arts with a long practice as the legislator he once was and the lobbyist he is. When the confusion, the divide and the intricacies are at their worst, if anyone can be counted upon to pick his way through, it is Bob." (No, I can't make this stuff up.) Surpisingly, Advoserv does not make the firm's list for prized clients.
Advoserv wanted a provisional waiver permitting mechanical restraint if the facility deemed there was a need for "particularly challenging resident." The company relied on Byrd to make that happen. According to Vogell, Byrd told state school officials and the director of the state's Developmental Disability Council "that the because of Advoserv's intervention, the bill would go nowhere without the waiver provision."
Byrd was correct. In June 2013, the bill passed with the waiver provision included.
Buoyed by Byrd's success, Advoserv pivoted to another front that threatened their bottom line - a decrease in Delaware students being referred by the Delaware Department of Education and the state's ICT - Interagency Collaborative Team - a panel of representatives of several administrative agencies that determines if a student meets eligibility guidelines for private education at the state's expense.
It was a full court press:
"One of my clients represents Advoserv," former Delaware Controller General Russell Larson wrote in an email to top education leaders in August 2013. "I would love to meet with you to find out if there's anything I can tell my client to help them improve their service." - Vogell
Vogell would access additional emails that revealed how Advoserv pressured then-Gov. Jack Markell to intercede on their behalf. They threatened to leave the state if school referrals did not pick up. However, education officials countered that Advoserv was receiving referrals.
Amidst the email volley and despite Advoserv's lobby, it soon became apparent that all was not well in Camelot. In the course of one year, seven abuse complaints were lodged against Advoserv. While Delaware continued to refuse to send foster children to the company, they put Advoserv on probation and threatened to revoke their license. The move compelled officials at the facility to make improvements that would shore up their standing in Delaware.
In August 2014, Advoserv was approved by the Department of Education to receive students via ICT (not foster) for an additional three years. In May 2015, foster care licensing officials removed Advoserv from probation although they continued to refuse to refer children to the facility.
Bellweather would continue to advertise from 2016 through 2017 that it offered an education program approved by the Delaware Department of Education. The department responded to an email from this writer that the advertisement was untrue. Bellweather had lost its approval with Janaia's mysterious death. However, the following promo piece was still posted on Bellweather's website, https://www.bellbh.com/ as of Jan. 1, 2018. It has only recently been removed.
Yes, Nina Bernstein had been correct when she opined that:
- A push for profit could compromise the care of the children within the facility
- Chronic weakness in state regulations could be manipulated by profit-seeking entities lobbying for loopholes and influence
- Revelation that one person essentially and "quietly engineered...without scrutiny" a massive shift of national policy
What's next? How the same scenario played out in Mount Dora, Florida.
