Pay-to-Play Arizona Group Home Avoids Penalty in Boy’s Death

PHOENIX – Caregivers responsible for 9-year-old Jakob Blodgett had already raised concerns that he was slipping candy and refusing his insulin, records show. At the Arizona group home where he was placed, a staff member texted a supervisor after seeing that the boy’s blood sugar level was dangerously high.

The instruction that came back was simple: give him water.

By the time Jakob missed two doses of the long-acting insulin he depended on, he was rushed to a hospital. Doctors found swelling in his brain, placed him on a ventilator and later determined he died in 2022 from complications tied to Type 1 diabetes.

No penalties were issued in connection with Blodgett’s death. Now, Sunshine Residential Homes — Arizona’s largest provider of group home placements for children — is drawing renewed scrutiny amid a political fight surrounding Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ reelection bid. Records indicate the company made political contributions that benefited Hobbs, then received a state-approved rate increase months later for providing beds to children in care.

Arizona’s attorney general, also a Democrat, said investigators found no proof of bribery. Republican lawmakers, however, continue to press for answers, while the state auditor general’s office is carrying out a separate review.

The boy’s death and the pay-to-play allegations highlight questions about Arizona’s congregate-care capacity for children, training for workers who care for them and oversight of providers and other contractors who hold leverage over the state simply due to their size and influence.

Alleged political favors become campaign fodder

Hobbs maintains she wasn’t involved in the decision to increase rates for Sunshine Residential Homes. But Republican challenger, U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, has made the scandal a centerpiece of his campaign to unseat her.

“That was all handled by the department,” Hobbs said, “and they made the decision based on what was in the best interest of the department and the kids in their care.”

The allegations were first reported by The Arizona Republic and prompted an investigation by Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes. However, Mayes’ office said it couldn’t find evidence to support bribery charges against Hobbs and concluded that Sunshine’s rate increases were the result of its “outsized leverage” as the state’s largest group home provider, not because of politics.

The company had threatened to reduce its bed capacity if it didn’t get an increase, saying it would instead use beds to house unaccompanied immigrant children for the federal government, officials said. Child welfare officials have said a reduction in Sunshine’s beds would significantly affect the state’s ability to place children in homes and would likely lead to siblings in foster care being split up and sent to different homes.

In all, Sunshine made $550,000 in contributions, including $100,000 to Hobbs’ inaugural fund in December 2022 and $150,000 to a legal defense fund for Hobbs between November 2023 and May 2024, according to records.

A separate investigation by the state auditor general’s office and Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, a Republican, is continuing.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office also has interviewed several Sunshine employees as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into Blodgett’s death. No one has been charged.

Blodgett isn’t the only diabetic child to die after a stay at an Arizona group home. In July 2024, a 15-year-old boy staying at a group home in Mesa operated by another company died of diabetic ketoacidosis after staff said the boy refused to take insulin, according to records.

Text messages outline concerns over a diabetic coma

Blodgett was staying at a foster home in metro Phoenix where only the house manager was trained in managing his diabetes.

Staff members said the boy was refusing to take his medicine. The manager advised an employee via text to tell the boy that the manager would be called if he refused to take his medicine.

“We don’t want him to go into a diabetic coma,” the manager texted.

The employee texted back about whether the child should get insulin. The manager didn’t respond.

MORE STORY: RHOC Recap: Tamra’s Divorce Bombshell, Vicki’s Ring Fury

The next day, the employee texted the boy’s blood glucose reading to the manager and asked what to do. The manager said to give Blodgett water but didn’t give any instructions about insulin, according to lawyers for the state and Blodgett’s family. The day after missing his second dose, Blodgett was taken to a hospital.

Violation nets no penalties

Two weeks before approving a 30% rate increase in May 2023, the Arizona Department of Child Safety issued a licensing violation against Sunshine over Blodgett’s case. The agency declined to specify to The Associated Press which policy was violated.

Robert Pastor, an attorney representing the family in a wrongful death lawsuit, said the violation was for not giving Blodgett the insulin as prescribed. The lawyer said Sunshine’s staff missed the signs of ketoacidosis, a serious complication caused by a lack of insulin, and waited too long to take Blodgett to the hospital. He also disputed claims that the boy had refused medication.

The state didn’t fine Sunshine or suspend or revoke its license as a result of the violation, according to court records. The agency said it detailed the steps Sunshine had to take to come into compliance, but declined to reveal to the AP what those steps were.

Pastor agreed with the attorney general’s conclusion that Sunshine has a lot of leverage over the state due to reliance on the company’s beds.

“That leverage gave Sunshine an increased rate increase,” Pastor said. “We also know that that leverage that Sunshine has over DCS means that when they kill a child, there will be no consequences. There will be no accountability.”

In a statement, Sunshine spokesperson Tommy McKone said the wrongful death lawsuit remains active, but declined to comment on the licensing violation and the company’s policy on responding to children who refuse medications.

“Sunshine Residential followed all policies and procedures for the required care, throughout his stay at our homes, under state law,” McKone said.

In court records, lawyers for Sunshine said the state indicated Blodgett’s medical needs were minimal and didn’t inform the group home provider that Blodgett’s diabetes management was complex.

Boy was hospitalized before heading to group home

Blodgett went into foster care in December 2022 after his father was jailed on a drug charge. His blood glucose levels were high when he was brought to a welcome center operated by the Department of Child Safety, which sought medical help for Blodgett from a children’s hospital where he was treated over several days.

Once discharged, Blodgett went to a Sunshine home.

While he went two days without getting the long-lasting insulin he needed before going to bed, the staff did give him another type of insulin — fast-acting insulin after eating meals — over both days. After the boy missed a long-lasting dose, the house manager contacted the same hospital to talk about how to improve his blood glucose levels.

In a deposition, the house manager testified there was nothing the staff could do if the child refused his medication. Pastor said the claim that the boy refused insulin is a false narrative aimed at blaming the child.

More workers should have been trained

Myriam Villarreal, an official in the Department of Child Safety’s operation that licenses group homes, testified in an April 2025 deposition that Blodgett’s condition wasn’t caught in time because group home workers weren’t trained in spotting the signs of ketoacidosis.

Pressed on why the company didn’t face any penalties, Villarreal testified that the state asked for policy modifications from the company. And she said training should have been provided to the staff members who directly cared for the boy, not just the house manager.

“We didn’t look that every single staff (member) had the appropriate training,” Villarreal testified.