Tuesday, December 12, 2006

AP; State had planned to strip River of Life Ministries of its group homes

David Lieb of the Associated Press has been turning up one scoop after another with his coverage of the aftermath of the Anderson Guest House fire.
In an article posted today Lieb reveals that state officials had planned to strip Joplin River of Life Ministries of its licenses to operate four Guest Houses, including the one in Anderson, due to concern's about the organization's financial solvency:

Several months before a fatal fire destroyed a southwest Missouri group home, some state regulators sought to strip its license because of concerns the operator had failed to pay taxes and faced potential financial insolvency, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. Instead of denying licenses to Joplin River of Life Ministries Inc., the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services chose to grant a series of temporary operating permits that allowed its homes for the mentally ill and disabled to remain open.


Even worse, according to the article, state officials had planned to strip the Carl Junction Guest House of its license, but instead renewed it for two years.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Doesn't make me feel safe that they aren't seeming to pay attention to our seniors and mentally ill. Blunt and Wilson where are you?? DO SOMETHING!

Anonymous said...

Do you think Governor Blunder might have felt like he had blood on his hands after this fiasco. Perhaps those who sue the owner for damage should also include the State of Missouri in their lawsuit, due to their negligence in allowing this to happen. Wonder how they will try to blame this one on Claire?
Drust