Conor Wight joined WCCO after cultivating his skills as an award-winning investigative reporter in Syracuse, NY. As a newcomer to Minnesota, he's excited to explore this beautiful state and all that the Twin Cities have to offer.
The five autism service centers raided by federal law enforcement on Tuesday as part of an apparent series of fraud investigations all utilize money from the same state program that two other providers have already pleaded guilty to stealing from.
For at least one expert in the field, it's a program that became unexpectedly popular to try to defraud. The Early Intensive Development and Behavioral Intervention program is designed to provide reimbursements to agencies that provide medical assistance to people with autism under the age of 21. On Tuesday, during the raids, state officials announced that the investigations at the autism service centers were directly related to EIDBI.
"This is an important action for families who rely on autism services and for Minnesota taxpayers fed up, as I am, with criminals taking advantage of the systems we have in place to deliver social services," Department of Human Services Commissioner Shireen Gandhi said, in part, in a statement.
EIDBI has been under a spotlight now for several years. According to the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor, the number of provider agencies went from nearly 150 in 2020 to more than 500 in 2024. The total annual cost went from $38.1 million to $324.9 million in the same time period.
Dr. Eric Larsson, executive director of clinical services at the Lovaas Institute Midwest, said that he initially believed the program was effectively protected by the mountain of bureaucratic red tape required to get a child to qualify for the program. He began to see red flags, however, when he directed his team to start contacting providers in 2024 to help fill gaps after some agencies began to stop seeing new clients in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"There were 200 that you just couldn't call them, couldn't email them, they didn't have a website. How did they get on the DHS rolls?" Larsson said.
In recent months, in cases stemming from FBI raids in 2024, two people have pleaded guilty to stealing millions in taxpayer money linked to the EIDBI program.
"I was surprised even at that point that they were centers that do EIDBI because of, again, all these hoops you have to jump through," Larsson said.
As of Friday, there have been no announced charges or arrests related to Tuesday's raids. The sites in question, according to state officials, are Global Star Therapy LLC in Savage, Empower Skill Academy in Fridley, Aspen Associates LLC in Minneapolis and in Fridley and Mendota Autism in Mendota Heights. WCCO has made several attempts to contact owners and employees at the sites.
During Tuesday's raids, the Empower Skill Academy was empty, but on Friday, there were several adults and children inside with multiple cars in the parking lot. No one answered at the door, but a man identifying himself as the owner called WCCO and stated that they are running a legitimate business. He declined to provide his name and said a lawyer would answer other questions.
DHS said its conducted 444 on-site visits of EIDBI service providers; it was those site visits that prompted DHS to designate the program as "high risk."
A revalidation of EIDBI is underway with a deadline of May 31. All current EIDBI agencies must apply for provisional licenses by that same date, a new measure passed by the state legislature.