CLEVELAND — A Cuyahoga County councilman is pushing for answers as administrators propose a new million-dollar contract for a group home with a history of problems.
Quality Care Residential Homes Inc. is one of 75 facilities the county’s Department of Health and Human Services wants to extend agreements with to provide out-of-home placement and foster care services.
Under the extension, which would run through the end of March 2026, Quality Care Residential Homes could make as much as $1.43 million.
It’s the same group home the county stopped doing business with in 2018 after a 13-year-old boy in Cuyahoga County’s Division of Children and Family Services placed in the home drowned.
RELATED: Aunt of teen who drowned concerned after new problems surface at Cleveland group home
Investigators found a group home worker took Shaud Howell and two other teens to Edgewater Beach and left the group unsupervised the night Howell drowned.
RELATED: Body found in Lake Erie Sunday afternoon identified as 13-year-old boy
News 5 Investigators discovered Cuyahoga County began sending foster kids back to the group home in 2022 and paid the facility more than $1.9 million by last fall.
State records show problems inside Quality Care Residential Homes continued, including an incident last June where inspectors said a group home worker pulled a baton on a teen, threatened and pushed him.
RELATED: Group home of teen who drowned is target of several investigations
In November, Howell’s great aunt called it a slap in the face and called on the county to stop sending kids to the facility.
“When do you go back and realize, ‘hey I can see that y’all still can’t get it together and we pull these kids and there’s no coming back,” said Renise Burtz
Wednesday, County Councilman Martin J. Sweeney questioned the county’s head of Health and Human Services about our report.
“When it’s reported in the public and people call me and say ‘Sweeney, it looks like they’re getting a contract again,’ can you give us reassurance that the children that are in our custody, our care are being taken care of?” said Sweeney.
Administrator David Merriman said the agency is aware of the concerns and said the county talked with the state about what happened.
Merriman also said the worker with the baton no longer works at the group home.
“We take these matters very seriously,” said Merriman. “We investigated. The state investigated. We’re going to continue to monitor every home including this home.”
“And we have full faith and confidence they’re going to continue to provide good service for the children?” asked Sweeney.
“That’s our expectation,” said Merriman.
Council’s Health and Human Services Committee did not make a decision about extending the contract Wednesday.
Members are expected to take the issue up again in two weeks.
