State license revocation date set for group home
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Two days after receiving over 100 signatures on a petition, the Ohio Department of Mental Health has set a revocation hearing for the license of a group home operator in Youngstown.
The date scheduled is February 27, 2020.
Members of the Youngstown Housing Task Force collected over 100 signatures from people who want to see the Ohio Department of Mental Health shut down a group home on Canfield Road.
The task force compiled over 120 pages of records documenting problems through the local health department, police records, and state inspections.
Jack Daughtery, a member of the Youngstown Housing Task Force, said, "The living environment there is not where anyone should have to live anywhere in our neighborhoods."
Neighbors say some of the men who live the group home get into trouble because there isn't inadequate supervision and nothing for the men to do.
An image of a man allegedly taking a child's bike was given to police in August 2017; neighbors say the problems persist in 2019.
Joseph Hartsfield, who lives in the neighborhood, said, "One of the residents was trying to break in my car. I caught him. He was trying to break in an elderly lady's car."
Documents from May 2019 show police-reported the smell of garbage and urine emanating from the group home. Police say a resident had been urinating in a drain in the basement.
Alphy added, "You want to live in a good environment, you want to make sure that they're living in a good environment, that they are healthy, that they're clean."
The operator of the group home Faith Temple Community Outreach, did not want to talk on camera for an interview but said she might talk with us next week. Alfreda Atkins has listed group homes on Glennwood Avenue and Kiwatha Road, but those are closed. The group home in the 800 block of Canfield Road has four clients. Atkins said, "I provide a service to the clients. I provide a safe, comfortable place for them to stay, along with three balanced meals a day for people with mental health issues. I had some past issues with compliance prior to moving in myself to take care of things and make sure I am in compliance with state regulations. I really am a maid to them."
The state department of Mental Health has scheduled a licensure revocation hearing for February 27, 2020. The Youngstown Housing Task Force wants the Youngstown Health Department to revoke the remaining group home's occupancy permit.
