CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Inexperienced leadership, billing and cash-flow problems, and rapid growth contributed to the failure and eventual takeover of one of New Hampshire’s largest drug recovery centers, according to the attorney general’s office report released Monday.
Serenity Place in Manchester, which had been operating at a deficit of hundreds of thousands of dollars, went into receivership in December 2017. It is in liquidation proceedings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
The attorney general’s Charitable Trust Unit’s report said a number of creditors have filed claims against the bankruptcy estate. It said the bankruptcy trustee may bring claims against the former officers and directors of Serenity Place.
Since the center went into receivership, the trust unit has amplified oversight of substance use disorder treatment and recovery organizations. The Department of Health and Human Services also is conducting program audits of substance use disorder treatment providers.
The trust unit’s report cited a failure of oversight and leadership from Serenity Place’s board of directors and executive directors. It also said the center struggled with a shift in funding from grants and contracts to payments for claims made for services and an increased demand for services.
The report said, in 2015, an employee was discovered to have stolen nearly $40,000 from one program, a transitional living space for men. The theft was reported to police and a claim was given to the insurer, but the director didn’t identify the likely suspect, who was later fired for other reasons. The director was reluctant to have the police pursue the matter out of fear it would harm the center’s reputation, the report said.
The two executive directors who ran the center never challenged the move to receivership. The report referenced a number of communications from them lamenting the lack of board oversight and said that at least one of them begged to be evaluated.
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