Demuth, Klobuchar call for tighter oversight after report on group home investigation
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Minnesota’s group home industry is facing scrutiny following an investigation from MPR News and APM Reports. It found a government official in Liberia has been moonlighting as a group home director in the state.
Group homes are funded by Medicaid to provide care and supervision to adults with mental or physical disabilities. The investigation is centered on a Liberian government official, Sekou Dukuly, who’s been the managing director of the National Port Authority in Liberia and also had a hand in two dozen Minnesota group homes over the past decade.
Dukuly-linked group homes have been the subject of state maltreatment investigations on at least 22 occasions. Four of those cases involved the death of a resident.
MPR News has asked a number of state officials for interviews, including Gov. Tim Walz — all have declined so far. But two major party candidates running for governor have commented: U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
Sen. Klobuchar, the DFL nominee, said the part of the blame falls on laxed regulations, as well as group home directors overseeing the day-to-day operations living abroad.
“They need some kind of regular on-site presence,” said Sen. Klobuchar. “We can require that you shouldn't be having two agencies in charge of one provider, and this is part of my idea to streamline things. In the end, it's the state that took on this responsibility and the state that should be regulating this and making sure it's working for this vulnerable population, but also for the people of Minnesota, and use taxpayers' money as they should be used.”
Speaker Demuth, the GOP nominee, directed blame at the governor and officials at the state Department of Human Services.
“There were concerns over years that should have been flagged by DHS, and the legislature can improve and put in more accountability to make sure that things, when they are flagged, that they are caught, and regular inspections, on-site inspections, are taken care of,” said Speaker Demuth. “But a governor needs to hold his commissioners accountable. We haven't seen that under Gov. Walz, and I will fully make sure that we have new commissioners in place, and I will hold them accountable.”
Both candidates were critical of the Walz administration, and expressed they would work to close exposed loopholes within government agencies.
Listen to the full conversation by clicking the player above.
