All of you, no matter where in the state of Fl you are, need to investigate & stay on top of Kid Finders wanting to open ANY kind of facility. In my state, NC, all group homes, nursing homes, etc are licensed under the Division of Facilities. They are supposed to do inspections, set forth the laws & make sure those are being followed. Trust me, they are normally not very good at doing this.
A family here, the Yeltons, remind me very much of those behind KF. This woman & her family ran MANY rest homes but included those with mental handicaps or severe mental illness in her homes. Because she listed her homes as "rest homes" she didnt have to have the more strict laws/safe guards in place. That home was fined numerous times for being in violation of the few slack rules they did have. It was not safe, it was not clean, it didnt meet the needs of ANY clients & she hired a known sex offender to work there who later raped a client. Depending on what type of place he opens will depend on how it is licensed or how he is paid.....is it all donation or will they be doing something that can be medicaid billed? Most places the state prevents the hiring of sex offenders, drug convictions, DWI & other things. Depending on what he is licensed under will decide if he can hire them or if he even has to do a back ground ck on anyone he hires.
I urge you to call the agency in charge of this type of facility, ask what type of license etc. Keep an eye on these people. Once they open anything it is VERY difficult to get them shut down. Years & years of complaints, a couple of deaths, clients leaving the facility did not shut down the Yeltons place here. It finally was shut down but only after another client, who still remains missing, wandered off. I believe the Yeltons still have other homes & I find that disgraceful. This place was well known to the state due to all the complaints, it was well known to the media but it still took another terrible incident to close them down. The Yeltons did have a "rest" home before but it was shut down, only to be allowed to reopen with the same owners, just a new name. KEEP ON TOP OF THIS STORY. KEEP THE MEDIA INVOLVED. Start making your calls to the state NOW & demanding they investigate these people BEFORE they are allowed to open anything for anyone. THe elderly, the handicapped, the mentally ill & run aways are all very high risk for the people that should be helping them to abuse them. You all have to stop them from opening anything. I bet Ms Belich would help point everyone in the right direction.
Off my soap box & thanks. I just see way to much of this abuse in my own state.