CLEVELAND — The great aunt of a teen who drowned in the custody of a Cleveland group home said she’s worried about the safety of teens living there after state investigators found a worker at the facility waived a baton, threatened and pushed a child during an argument inside the group home in June.
That incident was caught on cell phone camera video, according to a complaint filed with the Ohio Department of Children and Youth. The agency cited Quality Care Residential Homes Inc. for noncompliance with state rules concerning discipline.
The findings outraged Renise Burtz.
“You had a child that died because you were negligent,” said Burtz. “So that meant that you should have been following a fine line.”
Burtz’s great nephew, Shaud Howell, was placed in Quality Care Residential Homes for foster care in July 2018.
Four days later, the 13-year-old died.
A state investigation found a group home worker dropped off Howell and two other teens at Edgewater Beach and left them unsupervised for hours.
Howell’s body was recovered from Lake Erie two days later.
RELATED: Body found in Lake Erie Sunday afternoon identified as 13-year-old boy
An autopsy found the teen, who was not a strong swimmer and suffered from severe asthma, drowned.
“I had to identify his body,” said Burtz. “How do you get past that? Nobody talks about the nightmares.”
The group home worker who dropped the teens off was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and endangering children and sentenced to prison.
An investigation found the group home violated several state regulations, including that staff took residents to the beach to swim on numerous occasions without permission, sometimes without staff monitoring and supervising them.
RELATED: Group home of teen who drowned is target of several investigations
The state allowed Quality Care Residential Homes to remain open after administrators submitted plans to correct its violations.
But following Howell’s death, Cuyahoga County’s Department of Children and Family Services stopped sending foster children to Quality Care Residential Homes.
RELATED: County puts hold on sending kids to group home
But, News 5 Investigators found that changed less than four years later.
“It feels like a slap in the face to Shaud all over again,” said Burtz. “It feels like a slap in the face.”
A county spokesperson said Quality Care Residential Homes “submitted a proposal along with dozens of other vendors,” and is now “among more than 80 providers of out-of-home care for youth in Cuyahoga County.”
Records show the county has paid the group home more than $1.9 million since March 2022.
Burtz said the county should be ashamed.
“How dare you pay somebody $1.9 million?” she said. “That disgusts me. I just don’t get it. Shaud’s death has got to mean something.”
A Cuyahoga County spokesperson refused a request for an on-camera interview, hoping to learn more about why the county resumed sending foster kids to the group home.
In a statement, the county said, in part, that Quality Care Residential Homes is licensed by the state and that the county’s Division of Children and Family Services conducts regular visits to monitor the safety of the facility.
But Burtz believes pages of recent violations cited by the state tell the real story of what’s happening inside the home.
She questions why, despite what’s happened, the group home is still open.
“I don’t want another child to die like my nephew did,” said Burtz, “because there was no reason for Shaud to die.”
Through their attorney, administrators for Quality Care Residential Homes declined a request for an interview or a statement for this story.
RELATED COVERAGE
- Damning new details in drowning of teen in group home's care
- Trip to beach that resulted in 13-year-old's death may have broken state rule for group homes
- Group home worker fired after 13-year-old drowned at Edgewater
- Boat patrols continue to search for missing 13-year-old boy at Edgewater Beach
