List date(s) this work was published or aired.
Feb. 27, March 29, April 9, April 29 and Sept. 2, 2011 (submitted as “designated series”)
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Brian Lee, the longtime chief of an ombudsman program for long-term care in Florida, was suddenly let go after a solid track record of standing up for elderly residents. Within days of Lee’s asking for nursing-home ownership information– something required under the new Affordable Care Act– Florida Gov. Rick Scott had taken the unusual step of reaching down through several layers of bureaucracy to ask for Lee’s resignation. This appeared to be an illegal move under federal law– and a resulting federal investigation agreed it was. But the state not only refused to undo Lee’s dismissal, it also tried to silence his corps of volunteers by getting rid of those who spoke to the media.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
The primary Internet resources used were Florida Statutes (myflorida.com) and the wonderful bill-tracker website set up by the Florida Legislature in 2009. I also used Nexis.com extensively to find Lee and volunteer ombudsmen and researched federal law online. Other documents and emails were provided by sources. All were vital to producing the stories.
Explain types of human sources used.
The two most critical sources were: Brian Lee, the ousted ombudsman; and Lynn Dos Santos, the volunteer chairwoman of the State Long Term Care Ombudsman Council who was outraged over what had happened. Many people were afraid to talk on the record, even if they had no income at stake. The actions by state officials served to intimidate the volunteers (most of them retirees themselves), and some were afraid they would be sued for violating the state’s “gag order” on the situation, which said that all comments on the program had to be approved by the state Department of Elder Affairs. It took a great deal of coaxing to get them to talk, even off the record.
Results:
In October, a Florida Senate committee launched an investigation into the allegations, and leaders from both parties have vowed to make changes during the upcoming session. One possibility is that the ombudsman program will be moved from its current home under the authority of the state Department of Elder Affairs. The federal government has yet to impose any penalties on the state for its violations, but it has ordered the Florida Department of Elder Affairs to come up with a plan of correction, and there are still whistle-blower lawsuits by Lee and Dos Santos pending against the state. Perhaps equally important, the federal report made Scott look pretty bad. After several other decisions that seemed to disregard either the law or the advice of people with more expertise, Scott’s approval rating tanked to the lowest of any governor in the country. That seemed to spur changes in Scott’s behavior– he started holding news conferences and actually taking questions again, and he began meeting with other officials and advocates on issues. Still, many of the volunteer ombudsmen have quit. One estimate is that half of the original 400 have left, though the state won’t corroborate– and it may be a while before the program fully recovers.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
There have been no corrections or clarifications.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Don’t stop pestering the people who owe you– and the public– answers. Gov. Scott’s approach to this issue was to try to ignore it. None of his four press aides would return repeated calls or emails on the subject, and the Department of Elder Affairs spokeswoman managed to give the barest minimum of information. But the big picture here was that the lives and living conditions of vulnerable elderly residents were at stake– they were the ones most likely to be affected by an ombudsman program that had its hands tied. So I kept calling and calling, even though I knew chances were slim to none that I’d get a response, because after a while that pattern in itself became newsworthy.