Jeffrey Hustito was upset about not getting to see the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals play that day, even though he believed his behavioral health provider planned to give him tickets. His family said they sent him money for the game, only for him to learn he was being disciplined and wouldn’t attend the game after all. In a brief phone interview, Darielle Magee, the owner of Beyond4Wallz and a hairstylist, said she opened the business after losing loved ones to drugs.
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Sober living at Gaylord is not available to anyone that has not been in a residential level of care with Sobriety House. In order to apply to live at Gaylord, clients must complete a minimum of 60 days in the Transitional Residential Program (TRT)/Phase II. Phoenix Concept is located in Lakewood, near Colfax and Saulsbury in the 40 West Arts creative district. This property is home to 12 clients at a time, has easy access to public transportation, and multiple 12-step meetings are available nearby. The Gaylord Apartments are located near 14th and Gaylord Street in Capitol Hill.
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State records show the business, which received a state health department license in April 2021, was reimbursed $3.5 million from Medicaid that year. The next year, Beyond4Wallz’s Medicaid claims more than tripled, to $11.1 million. Around February 2022, Hustito called home scared, thirsty and unsure of his whereabouts, she said. His family believed he may have been kicked out of his sober living home, leaving him with no place to stay. By the time his father drove the four and a half hours to Phoenix, Hustito had figured out he was in Maricopa, a bedroom community more than 30 miles south of the city. Jeffrey Hustito decided to seek treatment in Phoenix based on a recommendation from friends at Zuni Pueblo.
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One allowed the state Medicaid program to bypass background checks for providers and in-person inspections of facilities. Another let providers continue collecting Medicaid payments after their health department licenses lapsed, meaning AHCCCS no longer had updated information on clinics’ certifications or ownership. The changes were not communicated beyond Snyder’s senior leadership team for nearly two years, according to documentation provided by an AHCCCS spokesperson. Unlike many sober living facilities that are bedrooms in large houses with communal spaces for kitchen, living room, etc., Gaylord is a completely independent living situation. Sobriety House employs a live-in Gaylord Property Manager that lives onsite full-time.
He was caught up in a murky network of treatment programs, according to interviews with his family, social media posts, and state and county records. Sober living home operators always seemed to be moving him, his father said. Within weeks, Heredia and the governor stood with tribal leaders and law enforcement officials to announce a sweeping investigation into fraudulent facilities. AHCCCS also created a hotline that victims displaced from shuttered programs could use to request temporary housing, transportation back to their tribal communities and treatment. More than 11,700 people called it over the next year and a half, state figures show.
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A white van pulled https://northiowatoday.com/2025/01/27/sober-house-rules-what-you-should-know-before-moving-in/ up to the Hustito family’s house to take him back to Phoenix. Anders Hustito couldn’t believe the driver had the nerve to show up at the family’s home, shaded by a cottonwood tree along a quiet gravel road. Texas lawmakers pushed for new exceptions to the state’s strict abortion ban after we reported on the deaths of pregnant women whose miscarriages went untreated.
- The Hobbs administration began to grasp the scope of the fraud scheme in the weeks that followed, said Christian Slater, the governor’s spokesperson.
- During the pandemic, Snyder enacted changes to increase access to care.
- According to police, Jeffrey Hustito checked into another sober living home on Dec. 26, this one in the suburb of Glendale.
- His family said they sent him money for the game, only for him to learn he was being disciplined and wouldn’t attend the game after all.
- We provide high-quality services to a much underserved and often overlooked population.
Dozens of People Died in Arizona Sober Living Homes as State Officials Fumbled Medicaid Fraud Response
In November 2024, her office announced a $6 million grant program for tribal nations affected by the sober living home fraud. A spokesperson said only tribes and nonprofits in Arizona can apply for the money. When Anders arrived to collect Jeffrey’s belongings with his oldest son and daughter-in-law, Anders asked a man who came to the door how residents could have access to alcohol while seeking treatment. Two days later, he needed medical treatment again, for alcohol poisoning. He was taken to another hospital and released to his sober living home.
This acquisition broadened Sobriety House’s capabilities to include female clients and raised capacity from 36 clients to 50. It was called the Citizens Mission and was housed at 1617 Larimer Street. Undocumented immigrants can access many city services, regardless of their status. City employees will not ask about immigration status unless it is necessary to do their jobs. They must keep information about immigration status confidential.
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Hatathlie said the behavioral health facilities’ tactics of sending vans to tribal communities grew increasingly aggressive as they recruited clients with promises of free food, housing and clothing. Police intervened but didn’t yet fully understand what was happening, the state senator said. The first uptick in behavioral health reimbursement claims came in 2019. That same year, Ducey appointed Jami Snyder, a deputy director at AHCCCS and former head of Texas’ Medicaid agency, to serve as director of AHCCCS. She pursued new initiatives, like additional mental health services and housing options for Medicaid recipients.
Please see the information below to learn about the differences between Sobriety House’s IRT and TRT programs. Clients will learn to identify their traumatic experience and have an opportunity to process the unaddressed emotionally harmful experiences. Groups that allow the clients to select their topic and process within an alliance of peers. Authorities called Anders Hustito on Dec. 27 to tell him his son had died. He blamed himself for not driving to Phoenix a day earlier to search for his son.
- Stepping Stone’s Board and the State Department of Health then asked Sobriety House to take on the responsibility of running the program.
- Jeffrey Hustito was upset about not getting to see the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals play that day, even though he believed his behavioral health provider planned to give him tickets.
- In May, the cap on reimbursement rates went into effect, though it’s not clear what prompted AHCCCS to address vulnerabilities that staff had identified more than a year earlier.
- Sobriety House employs a live-in Gaylord Property Manager that lives onsite full-time.
- A class-action lawsuit filed last month by families who allege the state’s inaction harmed or killed loved ones seeking addiction treatment names three people who died outside of sober living homes or treatment programs.
She also had a more hands-off approach to agency operations, including fraud prevention, than her predecessors, according to former AHCCCS employees. Snyder did not mention the fraudulent facilities several days later when she went before a legislative committee to discuss a recent audit shortly before stepping down as AHCCCS director. The audit, conducted every 10 years, is used by legislators to evaluate the future of state agencies. The audit did not indicate if this was related to the growing crisis. Even as AHCCCS struggled to stop the schemes, it was clear the behavioral health care industry was aware of fraudulent billing, according to agency documents. Co-occurring disorders are to be expected in all behavioral health settings and we provide services that emphasizes continuity and quality that is in the sober house best interest of the client.