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The Attorney General closed the bribery investigation. But Arizona still does not know what happened between a child\u2019s death, a licensing violation \u2014 and Sunshine\u2019s 30% rate increase.<\/p>\n
THE CRIMINAL QUESTION MAY BE CLOSED. THE OVERSIGHT QUESTION IS NOT.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Nine-year-old Jakob Blodgett<\/a> had Type 1 diabetes.\u00a0\u00a0In December 2022, only days after entering Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) custody, he was placed in a group home operated by Sunshine Residential Homes \u2014 Arizona\u2019s largest group-home provider.\u00a0\u00a0He needed insulin to live. Records reviewed by investigators and reporters describe missed insulin doses, dangerously elevated blood-sugar readings and direct-care workers who later said they had not received formal diabetes training from Sunshine.<\/p>\n On December 21, Jakob was rushed to the hospital suffering from diabetic ketoacidosis. He developed brain swelling and was placed on a ventilator.\u00a0\u00a0He died five days later. He was nine years old.<\/strong><\/p>\n There has been a great deal of discussion about Sunshine since then.\u00a0\u00a0Political contributions. Rate increases. Allegations of pay-to-play. A two-year Attorney General investigation. And finally, on August 21, 2026, Attorney General Kris Mayes announced that investigators had found no evidence of the quid pro quo necessary to support a bribery charge<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n That answers one legal question\u2026<\/em>It does not answer what happened inside DCS.<\/p>\n Because after Jakob died, DCS investigated Sunshine\u2019s care and issued the provider a licensing violation.\u00a0 According to recent Associated Press reporting, DCS required Sunshine to take corrective steps \u2014 but the agency has not publicly disclosed exactly what those corrective steps were.\u00a0\u00a0There was NO<\/strong> fine. NO<\/strong> license suspension. NO<\/strong> license revocation.\u00a0\u00a0And then comes the part of the timeline Arizona still needs explained:<\/p>\n The licensing violation was issued roughly two weeks before DCS approved Sunshine for a 30% rate increase in May 2023.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n So, What Happened During Those Two Weeks?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n QUESTION ONE: WHAT DID DCS REQUIRE SUNSHINE TO FIX?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The public record gives us pieces of the answer. DCS licensing official Myriam Villarreal later testified that Sunshine was asked to make policy changes and that the direct-care employees actually caring for Jakob should have received more diabetes training \u2014 not merely management personnel.<\/p>\n She also acknowledged that the agency had not verified that every staff member had the appropriate training. But the actual corrective-action plan has not been publicly disclosed.<\/p>\n And perhaps most importantly:<\/p>\n Did DCS Ever Verify That Sunshine Actually Completed What It Was Told to Fix?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Those should not be difficult questions to answer when the state is licensing a company to care for children who cannot care for themselves.<\/p>\n QUESTION TWO: WHO KNEW WHAT WHEN THE RATE WENT UP?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The second unanswered question may be even more important.\u00a0 Did The People Recommending and Approving Sunshine\u2019s 30% Rate Increase Know That DCS Licensing Had Just Cited the Provider Over Jakob\u2019s Care?\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>The public record we have reviewed does not establish that they did.<\/p>\n We have not located a public memorandum, email, deposition or rate-review document showing that those decision-makers reviewed Jakob\u2019s death<\/a>, the licensing violation or Sunshine\u2019s corrective-action history before approving the increase.\u00a0 That does not prove<\/em> they were kept in the dark. It does not prove<\/em> they knew. It means Arizona still does not<\/em> know.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>And that distinction matters\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n The Attorney General investigated whether campaign contributions were exchanged for favorable treatment and concluded there was insufficient evidence of criminal bribery.\u00a0\u00a0But there is another question entirely:<\/p>\n When Arizona Decides Whether to Give Substantially More Taxpayer Money to a Child-Welfare Provider, Does the Person Making That Decision Know What the Licensing Side of the Same Agency Knows About That Provider\u2019s Safety Record?\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n If the answer is YES, where is the record showing it?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n If the answer is NO, why not?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n AND THEN THERE WAS ANOTHER CHILD<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Jakob\u2019s death also raises a question much larger than Sunshine.\u00a0\u00a0Less than two years later, 15-year-old Christian Williams<\/strong><\/a>, another Arizona child with Type 1 diabetes, died from diabetic ketoacidosis while living in a DCS-contracted group home operated by a different provider<\/strong>.<\/p>\n This is important: Christian was not in a Sunshine home. <\/strong>But the similarities are difficult to ignore.\u00a0\u00a0Records reported by ABC15 show that Christian was also permitted to refuse insulin. Weeks before his death, the group home warned DCS that he required a higher level of care. One email reportedly warned that the situation could result in his death. Another asked whether a nurse could be provided because of his high medical needs. He remained at the home.<\/p>\n Christian died in July 2024. <\/em><\/p>\n Now we have a broader question:\u00a0\u00a0How Many Other Medically Fragile Children Have Been Placed in Group Homes Where the People Caring for Them Did Not Have the Training, Medical Support or Experience Their Conditions Required?<\/p>\n Two deaths do not prove a statewide pattern\u2026But they are more than enough reason to ask whether Arizona knows the answer.<\/p>\n And the concern is not theoretical. A 2023 Arizona Auditor General examination of DCS<\/a> found problems with the Department\u2019s investigation of complaints, enforcement against licensed out-of-home providers and monitoring of group homes \u2014 problems the Auditor General warned could leave children in risky or unhealthy environments.<\/p>\n THE RECORDS HAVE NOW BEEN REQUESTED<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n We are seeking answers to two very specific questions:<\/p>\n What exactly did DCS require Sunshine to correct after the licensing violation connected to Jakob Blodgett\u2019s death?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n And did the officials recommending or approving Sunshine\u2019s 30% rate increase know what DCS licensing had just found?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The records that should answer those questions include the licensing-violation file, the corrective-action plan and closing records, post-incident training and monitoring documents, and the May 2023 rate-review packet.<\/p>\n Those Records May Take Time to Obtain.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n What is already public is enough to establish that Arizona still has unanswered questions. The Attorney General may have closed the criminal bribery investigation\u2026But a closed criminal investigation does not close the door on government accountability.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n A child died.\u00a0 <\/em>The state cited his provider. Corrective action was ordered \u2014 but its details remain outside the public record.\u00a0\u00a0Then, roughly two weeks later, the provider received a 30% rate increase<\/a>. And less than two years afterward, another diabetic child died in another Arizona group home under circumstances that raised disturbingly similar questions about insulin, staff response and medical supervision.<\/p>\n And until Arizona can explain what it knew, who knew it \u2014 and what changed after these children died \u2014 we are not finished asking.<\/strong><\/p>\n A Lingering Narrative \u2013 Burying Foster Care Treatment vs. Illegal Immigrant Children Treatment!<\/em><\/p>\n Close Your Eyes and pretend that Jakob or Christian were illegals<\/strong>; now, open them up and imagine the media outrage and demand by politicians for criminal action and facility shutdowns!\u00a0 Substandard treatment of children in foster care is not a new revelation; what is though, is the \u201cprioritized\u201d attention given to allegations of substandard treatment of illegal immigrant children.<\/p>\n ASK YOURSELVES WHY?<\/strong><\/p>\n By Linda Brickman<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a92026 Linda Brickman. All Rights Reserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n The post EXCLUSIVE: Arizona\u2019s Governor Hobbs Was Investigated for Pay-To-Play Violations After a 9-Year-Old Child Died in Sunshine\u2019s Custody<\/a> appeared first on The Gateway Pundit<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Arizona\u2019s Governor Hobbs Was Investigated for Pay-To-Play Violations After a 9-Year-Old Child Died in Sunshine\u2019s Custody The Attorney<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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