Michigan Veteran Mistreatment Leads to Statewide Shakeup

11 former workers at the Kent County Home for Veterans face felony charges following a 2016 audit that revealed their mishandling of abuse case filings and staff shortages. Additionally, the staff reported doing 100% of room checks when only about 43% were actually completed according to video surveillance. Reports also showed that the facility faced staff shortages of sometimes as many as 22 personnel per day. Ninety percent of abuse and neglect reports were not passed on to the nursing director, according to the audit survey. The staff faces up to 4 years in jail in addition to $5,000 in fines for their mistreatment of the veterans.

Governor Rick Snyder replaced the current head of veteran affairs in Michigan as a result of the audit’s findings. He accepted his former campaign manager and Director of the Veteran Affairs Agency in Michigan, Jeff Barnes’s, resignation and appointed his current chief legal counsel, James Redford, in Barnes’s stead. Snyder says the findings of the audit are “deeply troubling” and that Michigan Veterans deserve better.

If a veteran you know is being neglected or abused please please contact SMDA for a free consultation so we can help them receive the appropriate compensation and care that they need and deserve.

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