MDHHS Officials Say SafeHouse Executive Director’s Public Claim of State “Oversight” is Not True

by P.D. Lesko

SafeHouse Executive Director Barbara Niess-May has repeatedly told elected officials and the public a March 2021 MDHHS Division of Victim Services quality assurance report issued once every five years is proof that “the condition” of the SafeHouse Center building “is held to a high standard.” She has repeatedly used “State oversight” as proof that allegations of mismanagement, unsafe and unsanitary conditions at SafeHouse Center are untrue. However, MDHHS Division of Victim Services officials revealed on Sept. 29 that the MDHHS Division of Victim Services does not, in fact, oversee or hold SafeHouse Center to any standards, including the condition of its building. The other “oversight” Niess-May mentioned in her September 22 statement released to the public were “annual reports” (signed by Niess-May) and audits (conducted with information provided by Niess-May to auditors). A forensic audit would uncover missing money, or any financial crimes; a standard audit would not.

According to MDHHS officials, the Division of Victim Services quality assurance report should not have been used by Niess-May to refute public allegations concerning the facility, its lax security and inadequate services. When questioned via email about the Niess-May’s repeated use of the MDHHS Division of Victim Services quality assurance report in efforts to discredit allegations and to exonerate herself, a spokesman said, “The MDHHS Division of Victim Services is strongly committed to ensuring that victims of domestic violence and sexual assault have access to safe places to live….It should be noted that the Division of Victim Services is not an oversight or regulatory body.”

In her September 22 statement, Niess-May writes, “We [SafeHouse Center] have oversight from the MDHHS Division of Victim Services Quality Assurance Program Review. We are evaluated on over 150 standards and a significant portion of the standards are on facility safety, food safety and upkeep along with survivor support….In the last six months we have undergone this thorough review and received very high ratings.”

When questioned about how, exactly, SafeHouse could have received those “high ratings,” a MDHHS Division of Victim Services spokesman said that the SafeHouse Center March 2021 review was done “remotely due to COVID.” SafeHouse staff have alleged that Niess-May, using her own phone, and a pre-determined path through the shelter, showed the reviewer only what she wanted that individual to see.

In response to The Ann Arbor Independent’s July 31, 2021 article outlining allegations of mismanagement, dangerous and filthy conditions at SafeHouse Center, Niess-May, in written answers to questions about the condition of the facility, sent along a copy of the March 2021 MDHHS Division of Victim Services quality assurance review summary. In her written answers provided in early-August, she said that thanks to the State’s “oversight,” allegations concerning unsafe and unsanitary conditions in the facility made by a dozen people, including staff, interns and survivors, were not true. The individuals who came forward with the allegations in February 2021, provided dozens of photos which were published by The Ann Arbor Independent. Likewise, survivors who came forward in August 2021 provided dozens of photographs, first-hand accounts, videos as well as audio recordings.

Given this information provided to The Ann Arbor Independent by the MDHHS Division of Victim Services, and given the state of the facility documented by survivors and staff in photos and videos, it appears that Niess-May may be attempting to deceive the public, elected officials and possibly her own Board of Directors by claiming SafeHouse Center’s operations and facility standards are “overseen” by the MDHHS Division of Victim Services based on a March 2021 tour of the facility that was done remotely.

In response to photos provided by The Ann Arbor Independent taken by SafeHouse staff and interns shortly before the March 2021 quality assurance review done by the MDHHS Division of Victim Services, MDHHS official Bob Wheaton wrote, “The March review reflects the shelter conditions at a single point in time.”

In response to questions about how, given the photographic and video evidence provided by staff, interns and survivors, the MDHHS Division of Victim Services awarded SafeHouse Center high ratings, officials disputed Niess-May’s characterization of the State’s five-year quality assurance review and its findings. Rather than stand as evidence that SafeHouse Center has a stamp of approval from the MDHHS Division of Victim Services, or is State supervised in any way, the MDHHS Division of Victim Services made clear it takes (and accepts) no responsibility for oversight or regulatory responsibilities. The MDHHS Division of Victim Services quality assurance review, as a record of any form of regulation or actual oversight, is useless.

In her September 22 statement, in addition to trying to use the MDHHS Division of Victim Services quality assurance report to exonerate herself, she blamed Washtenaw County facilities employees who, she alleged, “are in our building continuously assessing the conditions.” Finally, Niess-May claimed survivors are encouraged to provide “anonymous feedback” about SafeHouse facilities and staff via anonymous surveys. In response to Niess-May’s claims that there is a mechanism for anonymous feedback, on social media, former SafeHouse employees and former survivors housed there called Niess-May a “bold-faced liar.”

On August 30, after a survivor of sexual assault was thrown out of the shelter in retaliation for speaking to The Ann Arbor Independent, SafeHouse managers called a “mandatory meeting” for 6:30 p.m. of the remaining six women housed in the 20-room shelter.

“The meeting started an hour late,” said one survivor who provided an audio recording of the gathering. “Meggan (Casper) and Kim (Montgomery) asked us what we wanted changed at the shelter. One woman said she was scared to say anything, afraid she would be thrown out, too.”

On August 17, SafeHouse Tweeted out that the shelter was experiencing a “huge” increase in “requests for shelter.” On August 25, a resident captured a photo of the SafeHouse “Chore Chart,” which showed seven women were housed in the 20-room shelter. This most recent development prompted one local elected official to blurt out that long-time Executive Director Barbara (Niess-May) “obviously can’t distinguish facts from her own gaslighting and bull****. and neither can the Board.”