Arizona Group Home Provider at Center of Pay-to-Play Scandal Escapes Penalties for Boy’s Death
State records show no penalties were imposed after the 9-year-old missed insulin doses and died of diabetes complications.
- The death of 9-year-old Jakob Blodgett at an Arizona group home in 2022 has sparked political controversy as Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs seeks reelection, with Sunshine Residential Homes, the state's largest provider, facing scrutiny over the fatality and subsequent political donations.
- Following $550,000 in contributions to funds benefiting Hobbs between December 2022 and May 2024, Sunshine Residential received a 30% rate increase in May 2023. Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes concluded the company leveraged its "outsized leverage" as the state's largest group home provider, not politics, to secure the increase.
- Two weeks before the rate increase, the Arizona Department of Child Safety issued a licensing violation against the facility over Blodgett's case. Attorney Robert Pastor, representing the family in a wrongful death lawsuit, alleges staff missed ketoacidosis symptoms and failed to administer prescribed insulin.
- The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is conducting a criminal investigation into Blodgett's death. Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs has made the controversy a centerpiece of his reelection campaign challenging Hobbs over the department's handling of the provider.
- Sunshine spokesperson Tommy McKone stated the provider followed all policies, though lawyers noted the state indicated Blodgett's medical needs were minimal. The controversy raises broader questions regarding oversight of large group home contractors who hold significant leverage over state placement capacity.
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Arizona group home provider at center of pay-to-play scandal escapes penalties for boy’s death
PHOENIX (AP) — The staff caring for Jakob Blodgett said he already had been sneaking candy and refused to take his insulin. An employee at the Arizona group home where the 9-year-old boy was being cared for texted a supervisor about the boy’s elevated blood-glucose reading. The response? Give him water. After two missed doses...
Dem Gov. Katie Hobbs sucked into deadly pay-to-play scandal – The...
The staff caring for Jakob Blodgett said he already had been sneaking candy and refused to take his insulin. An employee at the Arizona group home where the 9-year-old boy was being cared for texted a supervisor about the boy’s elevated blood-glucose reading. The response? Give him water. After two... Read More The post Dem Gov. Katie Hobbs sucked into deadly pay-to-play scandal appeared first on The Horn News - Proudly American, Fiercely Indep…
Associated Press News
Arizona group home provider at center of pay-to-play scandal escapes penalties for boy's death
A 9-year-old boy died in 2022 after missing insulin doses at an Arizona group home. There were no penalties for Jakob Blodgett's death, and the provider now stands at the center of a political controversy involving Gov.
Pay-to-Play Arizona Group Home Avoids Penalty in Boy’s Death
NewsFinale NewsFinale Journal PHOENIX – Caregivers responsible for 9-year-old Jakob Blodgett had already raised concerns that he was slipping candy and refusing his insulin, records show. At the Arizona group home where he was placed, a staff member texted a supervisor after seeing that the boy’s blood sugar level was dangerously high. The instruction that came back was […]
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