(The Center Square) – Tribal nations who had members victimized by the sober living home fraud crisis can now apply for grant funds.
The money will be sourced from the Arizona Attorney General’s Anti-Racketeering Revolving Fund, and a tribe can qualify for up to $500,000 in funding for “direct assistance” and other projects to help those impacted. Sham sober living homes have become a major issue in Arizona, as many Native Americans were targeted for getting alcoholism treatment at the problematic facilities. Oftentimes, the centers would not be licensed or completely out of line with the law.
Fox 10 Phoenix reported that some victims in these schemes would be brought from reservations to the Phoenix area, which resulted in confusion, lack of help, and economic struggles for some. Arizona PBS reported that Native Americans on Medicaid are still being directly impacted, as the practice could still be going on as of this summer.
“Every community deserves care they can trust,” Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement. “This funding will help Tribal Nations provide much-needed support for individuals impacted by the fraudulent sober living home scandal. And my office will continue to pursue accountability for those responsible for sober living home fraud.”
The move comes as there continues to be a crackdown on home operators who have been caught running the unlicensed homes. The Maricopa County Superior Court set an over $3.86 million restitution order for Ariell Olivia Dix on top of their prison sentence for running fake addiction facilities, which led to taxpayer funds also being taken away from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, according to a news release from the Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday.
A legislative fix was pushed in the Arizona Senate last session that did not ultimately make it through. However, a separate bill related to assisted living aimed to also increase accountability for some aspects of the sober living home issue, according to Capitol Media Services.
