State denies license for company that wants to house migrant children in NC

The state has denied a key license to a company that hopes to house dozens of migrant children in Scotland County, further endangering the group's hold on a $3.9 million federal grant.

New Horizon didn't even apply for this license, which the federal government says is required, until WRAL News started asking questions about the grant, which the company won in April. That reporting revealed that the state had shut down a much smaller New Horizon group home in 2018, making it impossible for them to get this new license without a successful appeal.

A decision on that appeal remained pending Friday afternoon with the state Office of Administrative Hearings.

An attempt to reach an attorney for New Horizon Friday wasn't immediately successful, but she has said before that state regulators made significant errors when they shut down the company's Lumber Bridge group home last year, citing 28 violations.

Because of these alleged violations, the state Department of Health and Human Services' denial of this new license was all but assured. In fact it's dated July 31, the same day WRAL published a lengthy report on the grant and the state's license review.

The denial wasn’t made public until this week, after a DHHS representative mentioned it to state Rep. Charles Graham's legislative assistant. Graham, D-Robeson, represents a district near New Horizon's planned new shelter, a former assisted living facility that the company hopes to redevelop as a temporary home for up to 72 unaccompanied minor children from the U.S. border.

A local social worker had called Graham's office after WRAL News' initial report, concerned that an unlicensed company with a troubled history had gotten such a grant. Graham's office emailed DHHS to see "what can be done."

WRAL News requested the denial letter from DHHS late Thursday morning. It was released Friday afternoon, and a spokeswoman said the delay was due to the need to black out a single signature at the bottom of the letter.

This denial can be appealed within 60 days, much as the last one was. A new appeal had not been filed as of Friday afternoon, according to the Office of Administrative Hearings, and New Horizon's first appeal remained undecided.

Former New Horizon employees have confirmed to WRAL News the basics of the state's violation reports, which allege abuse and say the company failed to provide proper care and counseling to boys at the home who had a range of mental issues. Instead of getting required services, the state said in its report, children spent hours watching Netflix and playing video games.

New Horizon's leadership has repeatedly failed to return messages or answer questions.

An unnamed spokesperson for the federal Administration for Children and Families, which oversees the new grant, said by email Monday that the agency "has no additional information to provide regarding the referenced grant." They have said in the past that New Horizon must have a state license to shelter children under this grant.

After repeated inquiries by WRAL News, the federal agency has refused for weeks to answer questions about the amount of federal tax dollars the company has received so far or how the company was vetted by federal officials.

It's also unclear whether ACF will seek the return of the grant money now that the company is apparently unable to provide services for migrant children.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated Aug. 12, 2019, with additional comment from a federal spokesperson.