Charlestown has been shocked by allegations of serious mismanagement and worse at the Life Focus Center.
It now appears that several investigations are ongoing into theft of state funding at the local institution.
State Auditor Suzanne Bump’s lawyers and auditors are now checking over the books and there is the belief that the District Attorney’s office may be pursuing an investigation as well.
About all that has been heard officially from the Life Focus Center management and leadership apparently comes with the aid of a high powered and expensive public relations firm which has informed us that accounting errors were made that need to be corrected.
If it was as a simple as that, the Life Focus Center would not be the object of investigations and more importantly, of derision.
What is at the forefront of everything being alleged is that whatever was stolen or mismanaged was done at the direct expense of some of the most severely handicapped people, people unable to care for themselves or to watch what is being spent.
Also, the allegations about the Life Focus Center obviously come from inside the institution because the auditors have known exactly what to look for.
So there is an insider and that insider knows everything and he or she is not going to stop pointing to investigators about where they should go..
In this neighborhood, there are ages old rules and regulations about spilling the beans to authorities when you know something is rotten in Denmark – or on Main Street for that matter.
However, in this case, in the case of money apparently being stolen from severely handicapped people without relatives or parents, the rules are thrown out the window.
Stealing, borrowing or misusing state funding for the handicapped is like abusing the handicapped.
About the only thing we believe could be worse is stealing from the church.
At some point, a full accounting is going to reveal exactly who got what and who didn’t.
When that moment arrives, not even the finest sound bites from the most expensive and skilled public relations firm will put off the final judgment.
It is high time for the folks responsible to resign from the Life Focus Center before they are likely indicted for misuse or abuse of funding for the severely handicapped.
Everyone involved in this scam should be ashamed of themselves.
What went on there is an embarrassment to our humanity.