- A mother raised concerns about Safe and Sound Services' ongoing residential operations.
- The Utah Department of Health revoked the company's day treatment license in February.
- The state is investigating contract compliance and has sanctioned Safe and Sound.
SALT LAKE CITY — A mother raised new concerns Monday even as the state said this month that it was taking action against a care program linked to the carbon monoxide deaths of three disabled men.
On Feb. 6, police said an individual caregiver, 25-year-old Isaiah Vaughn Pulu, left the three men inside a running car in a West Valley garage for hours while he ate and watched TV.
Pulu was subsequently charged with three counts of murder, a first-degree felony, and earlier this month the Utah Department of Health and Human Services announced it was revoking the day treatment license of his employer, Safe and Sound Services, over "severe noncompliances" related to supervision, staffing and background checks.
"When they announced that they had revoked the license, I think it brought us all a feeling of some justice and some peace," said Wendy Rollins, mother of Colton Moser.
Moser was one of the three men who died on Feb. 6.
"I think we were all really grateful in our minds thinking that the other clients wouldn't be at high risk in that program," Rollins said.
Rollins said she once again grew concerned upon learning the revocation of the day treatment license wasn't the end of the story.
"The residential homes under Safe and Sound and the same owner were going to remain active at this time because they were under a certificate, and so it would be a different division of the state that may handle that," Rollins said.
KSL inquired with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services about Rollins' concerns and the state responded with a detailed statement about Safe and Sound's status:
"Safe and Sound only holds one license, which is for day treatment, and that license is being revoked. Safe and Sound currently has a DHHS91172 contract for services for Utah Department of Health and Human Services clients, including people with intellectual disabilities, related conditions and/or acquired brain injury. That contract is still active and can be requested via GRAMA.
"However, DHHS has placed sanctions on Safe and Sound's contract, including placing a hold on any new admissions and removing the day treatment service codes due to the revocation of the day treatment license. The DHHS Office of Service Review, which is responsible for contract oversight, is in the process of investigating contract compliance.
"The Division of Licensing and Background Checks certifies residential support sites operated by contracted providers where three or fewer people live. Safe and Sound operates certified residential sites. However, certified sites are subject to strict privacy laws due to serving vulnerable populations in a very small group size. As such, DLBC cannot release information about specific, certified sites. All certified residential sites must contract with DHHS for payment of those services and are subject to the contract oversight of the OSR.
"Regardless of whether a program has a certification for a residential support site, they cannot serve clients at that site without a contract for the specific services that site is certified to provide."
When asked further about the timeline of the state's review into the contract, a spokesperson returned the following response:
"Every investigation is unique and requires a tailored level of effort and multiagency coordination," the department said. "Our benchmark is a 30-day turnaround; however, that timeline fluctuates based on the investigative workload and the depth of evidence required to reach a definitive conclusion."
Rollins said prior to the carbon monoxide death of her son, she had previous concerns about Moser's treatment related to his residential home, and she hoped the state would act swiftly.
"I think that the fact that this is such a tragedy that if they have enough incidents — and serious-level incidents to shut down their day program — they should absolutely not be running their residential program," Rollins said.
