This should make you angry — it does me
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Editor’s note: the Fountain family receives only a small royalty from Messrs. Hssan and Ali for use of our name — we are not otherwise — well, mostly not — certainly, not a whole lot — involved in its operation.
The Bangor Daily News published a weepy opinion column two weeks ago, denouncing Trump and bewailing the curtailment of some of the millions in cash currently being handed out to special-ed professionals. This paragraph, revealing the percentage of children currently diagnosed as “special needs” and the growth of those diagnoses, caught my eye, and caused me to save the article in my draft folder:
In 2021-2022, 33% of Maine children had diagnosed mental, emotional, or behavioral conditions. This is 14% higher than the previous year, 27% higher than 2017-2018, and well above the national average of 24.5%.
What can explain this huge increase in mental illness among Maine’s children and children across the country? It could be due to too many bowls of Fruit Loops or too much time spent on cell phones, but easy money, and plenty of it, surely plays a part. Even worse, whether the increase is real or not, the amount of cash that’s being shoveled to “treatment centers” with no oversight or accountability is guaranteed to generate fraud on a massive scale. Burning Madoff alerted me to the following article from Minnesota, and, like similar schemes in Maine, it involves Somalis, but they are certainly not the only crooks to spot this unguarded treasure.
The article is about just one phony treatment center that’s scammed $2 million in just two years. Multiply that by hundreds of other cities, thousands of federally and state-funded centers, and the fraud will add up to billions of dollars. And neither the federal government, nor the individual states or flying monkeys of the press paid any attention to the thievery whatsoever until they were finally forced to when the Minneapolis scandal surfaced after years of ignoring and suppressing reports from independent news sources.
Until Trump, and the media and political hacks (looking at you, Chris Murphy) have responded by denouncing the “cruelty” of stopping even a penny of these payouts, and suing to keep the cash flowing.
EXCLUSIVE: Autism center with little on-site activity received $2 million in taxpayer funds
Excerpts:
A Medicaid-funded autism program has seen an explosion in growth over the past four years, to the point where federal prosecutors say "the fraud has overtaken the legitimate services." DHS confirmed 85 open investigations.
As Minnesota reels from one fraud bombshell after another — autism therapy costs exploding into the hundreds of millions, a $100 million housing program shut down over phantom claims, and new allegations of taxpayer dollars reaching overseas terrorist group Al-Shabaab — Alpha News continues to receive a flood of tips from residents who say something in their community doesn’t look right.
One of those tips arrived over the summer about a taxpayer-funded autism therapy center in Burnsville that has billed the state nearly $2 million since October 2023. Yet a neighboring business owner says the facility is almost always empty, and weeks of surveillance footage reviewed by Alpha News appears to back that up.
Tip about Burnsville autism center
Fountain Autism Center LLC is owned by Sharmake Hassan and Sacdiyo Huruse Abdi Ali. [
The business posts hours of 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends, according to signage on its front door, but a neighboring business says it rarely appears open.
“No one is ever there,” a nearby business owner told Alpha News. “It just doesn’t add up when you see how much money they’re getting from the state.”
The business owner, who has owned property near Fountain Autism Center for roughly 20 years and asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation, said he and other nearby tenants have long joked that it’s a “fake business” because of the lack of visible activity.
Alpha News reviewed weeks of video footage of the entrance to the Burnsville autism facility. The video showed only a few cars and individuals ever entering or leaving the center over a span of weeks. The parking lot, which has about a dozen or so spaces, remained mostly empty during normal business hours, according to the video reviewed by Alpha News.
Inside the building
Alpha News visited Fountain Autism Center during posted business hours and found only one employee present. She offered a brief tour of the facility, which included multiple therapy rooms and a kitchen, but there were no children or additional staff on site.
Asked why the building looked empty, she replied, “Most of them come after school.”
Asked how many clients the center serves, she first said, “A good ten,” then added that “most of them come after school or they do like in-home services.”
However, surveillance footage reviewed by Alpha News from multiple weekdays after school hours did not show an influx of children or staff entering the facility.
The employee also confirmed the center primarily accepts Medical Assistance and UCare clients.
In a follow-up phone call, the same employee said the center currently serves “four” children in person.
No license required despite millions in taxpayer funding
According to public state payment records, Fountain Autism Center has received at least $1,978,763 in taxpayer-funded reimbursements since October 2023.
Yet despite taking in millions, the center does not need a state license to operate. That’s because businesses in Minnesota’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) program are not required to be licensed.
The EIDBI program, which provides services to people under the age of 21 with autism spectrum disorder, itself has come under scrutiny amid widespread fraud concerns. The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) told Alpha News there are currently 85 open investigations of EIDBI autism providers. DHS labeled EIDBI a “high-risk” provider type earlier this year.
Felon with four drug convictions helps oversee treatment
As part of its investigation into Fountain Autism Center, Alpha News learned that one of main clinicians in charge of treatment is a four-time convicted felon, according to public records.
Tracy Lee Doerr is the center’s Qualified Supervising Professional (QSP) — the clinical authority responsible for designing treatment plans and overseeing autism services. He also has a criminal history that includes four felony drug convictions, a misdemeanor conviction for domestic abuse-violate order for protection, and two DWIs.
Asked about his criminal history, Doerr said his convictions should be considered an asset, stating: “Yes, I do have a criminal record, which I believe contributes to my growth and perspective as a clinician. It has helped me develop empathy and a broader understanding of the human experience,” Doerr stated.
“I have no connection to any fraudulent activity, and if Fountain were found to be involved in such issues, I would want to know immediately to reassess my professional associations,” he added.
On his LinkedIn profile, Doerr states that he works with “EIDBI centers as a QSP at numerous centers.” That model is one of the concerns highlighted in a recent DHS report, which warned that Minnesota’s limited pool of QSPs is being stretched across too many agencies.
“The number of QSPs working in the state is not growing at nearly the same rate as the number of provider agencies,” the report stated.
Wider concerns about EIDBI oversight
This case surfaces as questions continue to grow around Minnesota’s rapidly expanding EIDBI autism therapy sector. An X account identifying itself as Minnesota Department of Human Service Employees recently wrote:
“Our internal research is showing that autism fraud (EIDBI) fraud is significantly WORSE than Feeding Our Future.”
A January DHS report speaks to the rapid growth of the EIDBI program, noting that the number of providers has “more than quadrupled over a four-year period from 2020 through 2024:
Plenty, plenty more in the linked-to article. Read the whole thing, but consult your cardiologist first.