20-004473FL Agency For Persons With Disabilities vs. Burke Street Group Home, Owned And Operated By Santa Maria Home Care, Inc.
 Status: Closed
Settled and/or Dismissed prior to entry of RO/FO on Thursday, December 17, 2020.


View Dockets  

1NOTICE OF RIGHT TO APPEAL

6A party who is adversely affected by this final order is entitled to judicial

20review. To initiate judicial review, the party seeking it must file one copy of a

"35Notice of Appeal" with the Agency Clerk. The party seeking judicial review must also file another copy of the "Notice of Appeal," accompa nied by the filing fee

63required by law, with the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee, Florida, or

77with the District Court of Appeal in the district where the party resides. The Notices

92must be filed within thirty (30) days of the rendition of thi s final order.

1071

108Copies furnished to:

111Trevor Suter, Esq. Rory B. Weiner, Esq.

118Agency for Persons with Disabilities Rory B. Weiner, P.A.

1274030 Esplanade Way, Suite 3 80 Lumsden Executive Park

136Tallahassee, FL 32399 - 0950 635 West Lumsden Road

145Trevor.Suter@apdcares.org Brandon, Florida 33511 - 5911

151rweiner@roryweiner.com

152jwallace@roryweiner.com

153DOAH Michael Taylor

1561230 Apalachee Parkway Regional Operations Manager

162Tallahassee, FL 32399 - 3060 APD Suncoast Region

170Filed via e - ALJ

175I HEREBY CERTIFY that a copy of this Final Order was provided by regular

189US or electronic mail to the above individuals at the addresses listed on

202____ _____________________ ________, 202 2 .

208______________________________

209Nathan Koch , Esq.

212Agency Clerk

214Agency for Persons with Disabilities

2194030 Esplanade Way, Suite 3 35

225Tallahassee, FL 32399 - 0950

230apd.agencyclerk@apdcares.org

2311 “rendition” of this Final Order is the date that the Agency Clerk The date of

247certified it was sent to the named individuals.

255APD – Santa Maria Home Care , Inc. FO Page 3 of 3

267STATE OF FLORIDA

270AGENCY FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

275IN THE MATTER OF:

279SANTA MARIA HOME CARE, INC., LICENSE NUMBER: 5654-6-GA

287______________________/

288SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

290This Settlement Agreement is made by and between the State of Florida, Agency for Persons

305with Disabilities, 4030 Esplanade Way, Suite 380, Tallahassee, Florida, 32399-0950 (“Agency”

316or “APD”) and Santa Maria Home Care, Inc. (“Santa Maria”, or “Respondent”), 3808 North Lincoln

331Avenue, Tampa, Florida 33607 (collectively, “parties”).

337WHEREAS this matter originated from verified findings of neglect and abuse committed

349against vulnerable minor residents of the Burke Street Group Home, owned and operated by

363Santa Maria Home Care, Inc.

368WHEREAS, on September 3, 2020, the Agency filed an administrative complaint against Burke

381Street Group Home in Case No. 20-4473FL, owned and operated by Santa Maria Home Care,

396Inc.

397WHEREAS, the Agency and Santa Maria Home Care, Inc. have determined that it is in the best

414interest of the parties to enter into this Agreement to avoid the uncertainty of litigation and

430related costs.

432THEREFORE, the parties agree as follows:

4381. Unless otherwise indicated, Santa Maria Home Care, Inc. shall initiate and fully implement

452the following actions within 45 days of execution of this Settlement Agreement and shall

466continue such actions for two years following execution of this Settlement Agreement:

478a.) Santa Maria Home Care, Inc. agrees to terminate the employment of any employee

492verified by the Department of Children and Families to have committed abuse,

504neglect, or exploitation that occurs on or after the date of execution of this Settlement

519Agreement. Termination of employment shall occur immediately upon notification of

529the verified findings of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

537b.) Santa Maria will ensure that all ownership and management of Santa Maria Home

551Care, Inc. and all staff assigned to work at Burke Street Group Home are retrained

566on Zero Tolerance. Certificates of completion for all staff must be provided to APD,

580along with the current Clearinghouse employee roster for Burke Street Group Home.

592c.) Santa Maria will ensure that all staff assigned to work at Burke Street Group Home

608are re-certified in Professional Crisis Management (“PCM”), which is an approved

619emergency procedure curriculum. Certificates of completion for all staff re-certified

629must be provided to APD, along with the current Clearinghouse employee roster for

642Burke Street Group Home.

646d.) Santa Maria will ensure that all staff assigned to work at Burke Street Group Home

662are retrained by a behavior analyst on each resident’s behavior analysis support

674plan, to include the individual supervision needs of each resident. Written verification

686of the training from the BCBA shall be provided to APD and include the date, staff

702names, the type of training, who conducted the training and the credentials of the

716person conducting the training, along with the current Clearinghouse employee

726roster for Burke Street Group Home.

732e.) Santa Maria will ensure that all ownership and management of Santa Maria Home

746Care, Inc. and all staff assigned to work at Burke Street Group Home are retrained

761on incident reporting requirements and procedures. Such training shall include

771descriptions of critical and reportable incident types, time frames for reporting, and

783how reports shall be documented and submitted to the Agency. Documentation of

795the training shall be provided to APD, along with the current Clearinghouse

807employee roster for Burke Street Group Home. Written verification of the training

819shall include the date, staff names, the type of training, and the trainer name and

834credentials.

8352. Santa Maria agrees to review staffing patterns in the Burke Street Group Home and

850revise as needed, but no less frequently than monthly and prior to admission of any new

866client, to ensure sufficient staff are present for effective implementation of behavior

878plans, meet resident-specific supervision needs, and to allow staff passing medications

889during scheduled medication administration times to do so with undivided attention.

9003. Santa Maria will notify the Agency in the event a referral for placement is accepted.

916Upon accepting the placement referral, within 15 days, Santa Maria will provide the

929Agency with an updated employee schedule and staffing calculations sheet for the Burke

942Street Group Home to ensure adequate staff are present in the facility.

9544. Santa Maria will submit to the Agency a table of organization identifying the management

969structure for the Burke Street Group Home and will develop a system of unannounced

983visits at least twice weekly by either the management or Santa Maria Home Care, Inc.

998president Marie Chery.

10015. Santa Maria will develop a Quality Assurance Checklist to use during unannounced visits.

1015The checklist will include basic health and safety items to be reviewed, document the staff

1030and residents present at the time of the visit, the date, time, and duration of the visit, and

1048include other items such as the level of staff engagement with consumers and whether

1062the residents are engaged in meaningful activities during the visit.

10726. A log of such visits, including observations and any actions taken by Santa Maria in

1088response, will be maintained and made available to the Agency upon request.

11007. For two years, Santa Maria agrees that all staff assigned to work at Burke Street Group

1117Home must be certified in Professional Crisis Management, complete 20 hours of

1129behavior analysis training, and be trained on the individual behavior plans for each

1142resident prior to providing any direct care services to residents. Any staff with an

1156expired certification in Professional Crisis Management shall be removed from providing

1167any direct care services to residents until they have renewed their PCM certification.

1180Staff who fail to successfully complete PCM certification or re-certification shall not be

1193permitted to provide any direct care services to residents. Certification and training will

1206be documented, with such documentation made available to the Agency upon request.

12188. For two years, Santa Maria agrees to have the behavior analyst providing clinical

1232oversight of the Burke Street Group Home provide behavioral training for staff monthly.

1245Written verification of the training shall be provided to APD monthly and include the date,

1260staff names, the training topics, who conducted the training and the credentials of the

1274person conducting the training. A copy of the current Clearinghouse employee roster for

1287Burke Street Group Home will be submitted each month with the training documentation.

13009. For two years, Santa Maria agrees to have the behavior analyst providing clinical

1314oversight of the Burke Street Group Home conduct monthly reviews of monitoring

1326completed by the client-specific behavior analyst, and schedule retraining as indicated

1337by the proficiency scores. Documentation of the monthly reviews and retraining, as

1349needed, shall be maintained and made available to the Agency upon request.

136110. For two years, Santa Maria agrees to notify APD of any personnel change with the

1377behavior analyst providing clinical oversight of the Burke Street Group Home within 15

1390days of the change and provide a copy of the contract for the new behavior analyst

1406providing clinical oversight to the Agency.

141211. Santa Maria Home Care, Inc. will submit all documentation specified in this Settlement

1426Agreement to APD Residential Program Supervisor Myra Leitold at

1435Myra.Leitold@apdcares.org or 1313 N. Tampa Street, Suite 515, Tampa, Florida 33602.

144612. Any verified breach by Santa Maria of the terms of this agreement may result in

1462administrative action pursuant to section 393.0673, and Chapter 120, Florida Statutes.

1473The parties agree that this settlement agreement may be enforced in circuit court in Leon

1488County, Florida.

149013. This Settlement Agreement supersedes and replaces any prior oral or written agreements

1503between the parties. All terms and conditions of this settlement are fully set forth in this

1519document and no other material terms of settlement exist outside this document.

153114. If any verified breach of this Settlement Agreement is identified by the Agency, then the

1547Agency shall provide Respondent with written notice of the breached terms. Upon receipt

1560of such notice, Respondent shall have fifteen (15) business days by which to remedy the

1575identified violations before any action to interpret, challenge or enforce the terms of this

1589Settlement Agreement may be brought.

159415. Santa Maria Home Care, Inc. will voluntarily withdraw its petition in DOAH Case Number:

160920-4473FL upon execution of this Settlement Agreement.

161616. By executing this Settlement Agreement, the parties stipulate that the settlement of this

1630matter shall constitute a compromise of the disputed claims, and that this Settlement

1643Agreement does not constitute any admission of liability by the Respondent for the facts

1657contained in Administrative Complaint and DOAH case number 20-4473FL against license

1668number 5654-6-GA.

167017. Nothing herein shall preclude the Agency from imposing a sanction against the

1683Respondent for any deficiency/violation of statute or rule that has not been alleged in the

1698Agency’s Administrative Complaint dated September 3, 2020.

170518. Respondent acknowledges that this proposed Settlement Agreement is subject to

1716approval of the Director of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, and that this

1730Settlement Agreement will have no force and effect until signed by the Director or her

1745designee.

174619. Each signatory to this Settlement Agreement will sign and date the document

1759and email it to the counsel for the Agency, Trevor Suter, who will distribute copies to

1775all parties once all signature pages ar e received. The document can be emailed to

1790trevor.suter@apdcares.org.

179120. This Settlement Agreement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing or error by

1805either party with respect to this case or any other matter.

181621. The parties agree that each party shall bear its own costs and attorney’s fees, unless

1832legal action is required to enforce the terms of this Settlement Agreement, in which case

1847the prevailing party will be entitled to re cover reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs

1861incurred in the enforcement action from the non-prevailing party. Venue for enforcement

1873by either party of any alleged breach of this Settlement Agreement shall lie exclusively in

1888the Second Judicial Circuit in and for Leon County, Tallahassee, Florida.

189922. This Settlement Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding on each party’s

1915successors, assigns, heirs, administrators, representatives, and trustees.

Select the PDF icon to view the document.
PDF
Date
Proceedings
PDF:
Date: 01/14/2022
Proceedings: Agency Final Order
PDF:
Date: 01/14/2022
Proceedings: Settlement Agreement filed.
PDF:
Date: 01/14/2022
Proceedings: Agency Final Order Approving Settlement Agreement filed.
PDF:
Date: 12/17/2020
Proceedings: Order Closing File and Relinquishing Jurisdiction. CASE CLOSED.
PDF:
Date: 12/15/2020
Proceedings: Agency's Unopposed Motion to Relinquish Jurisdiction filed.
PDF:
Date: 10/20/2020
Proceedings: Order of Pre-hearing Instructions.
PDF:
Date: 10/20/2020
Proceedings: Notice of Hearing by Zoom Conference (hearing set for December 18, 2020; 9:30 a.m., Eastern Time).
PDF:
Date: 10/14/2020
Proceedings: Joint Response to Initial Order filed.
PDF:
Date: 10/07/2020
Proceedings: Initial Order.
PDF:
Date: 10/07/2020
Proceedings: Administrative Complaint filed.
PDF:
Date: 10/07/2020
Proceedings: Respondent's Response filed.
PDF:
Date: 10/07/2020
Proceedings: Notice (of Agency referral) filed.

Case Information

Judge:
BRIAN A. NEWMAN
Date Filed:
10/07/2020
Date Assignment:
10/07/2020
Last Docket Entry:
01/14/2022
Location:
Tampa, Florida
District:
Middle
Agency:
Other
Suffix:
FL
 

Counsels

Related DOAH Cases(s) (1):

Related Florida Statute(s) (1):