Disabled Alaskans sue state and appointed guardian for alleged financial abuse, neglect

The Office of Public Advocacy successful downtown Anchorage. Their lawman head Beth Goldstein is named arsenic a suspect successful a people action suit alleging nan authorities enabled neglect, financial maltreatment and different harms of abnormal Alaskans. (Rachel Cassandra/Alaska Public Media)

Ten abnormal Alaskans are suing nan authorities and their state-appointed guardian successful a class-action suit that alleges financial maltreatment and neglect.

Under his business Cache Integrity, Thomas McDuffie was a backstage guardian responsible for much than 100 state-assigned wards betwixt 2021 and 2023. The suit alleges he neglected to service nan group successful his care, each of whom are disabled, aged aliases ill.

The suit besides names apical officials pinch nan authorities Office of Public Advocacy and nan state’s Adult Protective Services portion arsenic defendants.

Alaska’s nationalist guardianship programme is expected to service nan state’s astir susceptible group by, among different things, making decisions for them astir finances, benefits aliases healthcare. The authorities employs immoderate nationalist guardians, but nan programme has struggled pinch overburdened nationalist guardians. McDuffie was a backstage guardian assigned nationalist cases because of nan staffing shortage. 

According to nan lawsuit, McDuffie wasn’t paying their taxes, wasn’t uncovering capable lodging for some, grounded to enroll them for nationalist benefits and overpaid himself for his services. The suit claims he near 1 personification successful nan infirmary unnecessarily for a year, racking up a measure of complete $615,000.

Anchorage lawyer Caitlin Shortell, who represents nan plaintiffs successful nan lawsuit, said nan stories of really McDuffie grounded his wards are endless. One of McDuffie’s wards was successful a wheelchair and surviving successful a condo erstwhile it flooded, leaving nan level warped and uneven, she said.

“Mr. McDuffie didn’t supply him capable nutrient aliases salary his bills … and past grounded to make a declare connected nan security for nan flood damage, leaving this personification malnourished, incapable to really move around, moreover successful his ain home, and leaving him pinch spot harm to his condominium,” Shortell said.

McDuffie besides pooled his wards’ money together successful a shared trust, Shortell said, and that makes unwinding nan money he owes group highly difficult.

“If you person hundreds of clients, and each of their money is pooled, really tin you fig retired whose money is whose?” Shortell said. “And that became overmuch much analyzable because of nan deficiency of meticulous bookkeeping and accounting.”

McDuffie is no longer a practicing guardian, arsenic of nan autumn of 2023, and nan authorities has reassigned his wards.

Reached by phone, McDuffie declined an question and reply petition for this story.

Mary, whose past sanction is omitted to protect her privacy, was 1 of McDuffie’s wards and is simply a plaintiff successful nan lawsuit. Mary has dementia and was assigned to McDuffie successful 2021.

As Mary’s guardian, McDuffie was successful complaint of her lodging and financial decisions, which included managing her benefits. Mary’s daughter, Greta, said it quickly became clear that McDuffie was neglecting his duties.

“He did not salary immoderate of her bills,” Greta said. “He didn’t salary her taxes. The full clip he was there, she was successful debt. She had backmost taxes he didn’t pay.”

McDuffie took Mary retired of nan Anchorage Pioneer Home, a state-owned and operated assisted surviving facility, and put her successful different installation she couldn’t afford, Greta said. Mary had security for semipermanent care, but McDuffie ne'er billed it, Greta said.

Greta said she and her sister worked pinch aggregate lawyers complete nan people of 19 months to free their mother from her guardianship and conservatorship nether McDuffie. But by nan clip they succeeded, their mother’s wellness had declined severely. McDuffie didn’t schedule aesculapian appointments for Mary aliases bring her to nan appointments, aliases to occupational aliases beingness therapy, Greta said.

“She went from walking, getting healthcare, to not getting healthcare, to not being capable to walk, to being very depressed,” Greta said. “She wasn’t getting immoderate of nan aesculapian curen she needed.”

Mary has now moved successful pinch Greta’s sister successful Southcentral Alaska, and Greta said she’s begun stepping again, is much societal and her representation is improving. But Greta and her sister are now dealing pinch nan tens of thousands of dollars of indebtedness they said was a consequence of McDuffie’s mismanagement.

While nan suit has yet to beryllium heard successful court, nan authorities is successful nan process of appointing a forensic accountant to untangle nan finances of McDuffie’s erstwhile wards.

The authorities Office of Public Advocacy, aliases OPA, which runs nan nationalist guardian system, has truthful acold been incapable to thief McDuffie’s erstwhile wards retrieve their money. All nan costs McDuffie pooled are successful an relationship that’s been stiff since early 2024.

The authorities is besides responsible for McDuffie’s neglect arsenic a guardian, because authorities labor missed aliases ignored signs of his failures and enabled his assignments, Shortell said.

The suit names 2 authorities labor arsenic defendants: Beth Goldstein, OPA’s lawman director, and Anthony Newman, head of nan authorities wellness department’s Adult Protective Services unit.

According to nan lawsuit, Goldstein did not corroborate McDuffie had a applicable license, and for overmuch of nan clip he was moving arsenic a guardian McDuffy didn’t person one. If Goldstein had recognized McDuffie didn’t person his license, she could’ve prevented immoderate of nan problems, Shortell said.

“Unfortunately, erstwhile it was discovered that he didn’t person a licence successful bully standing, nan licensing section of nan authorities conscionable retroactively granted him a license, which is really rather shocking,” Shortell said.

Goldstein besides allegedly continued to mention cases to McDuffie contempt grounds that he was neglecting his duties.

Adult Protective Services, tally by Newman, besides could person intervened earlier, aft receiving galore reports of harm astir McDuffie and his company, Shortell said.

OPA directed questions astir nan lawsuit to nan authorities Department of Law, which declined an question and reply request. But spokesperson Patty Sullivan shared a little comment on McDuffie’s business, Cache Integrity, over email.

“The actions of Cache Integrity are tragic and nan authorities is moving connected solutions,” nan connection says. “It is unfortunate that nan authorities has been included successful this suit erstwhile nan work lies pinch those who caused nan injury.”

But nether authorities law, Shortell said, nan authorities does person a ineligible work to protect susceptible Alaskans successful its care.

“So, that’s simply not existent that nan authorities of Alaska wasn’t responsible,” she said.

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