SafeHouse Questions

On September 3, 2021, these questions were sent to SafeHouse Center Board president Tara Mahoney, Board members Sheriff Jerry Clayton, Barbara McQuade, Todd Kephart, and Gregory Dill, Executive Director Barbara Niess-May, Service and Program Director Kimberly Montgomery, and Shelter/Helpline Coordinator Meggan Casper.

None of those who were asked to comment, did so. On September 7, Tara Mahoney sent an email in which she wrote, “I have been out of town for the holiday weekend.  I am reviewing your requests.” Mahoney never responded.

1.  It is alleged that the security at SafeHouse remains substandard (after the July 31 article) and puts survivors in danger. The one camera positioned above the entrance to the shelter side is active, but does not record. Every other shelter within 100 miles of SafeHouse has cameras installed inside and outside the facilities that record and the footage is archived. Ms. Mahoney/Ms. Niess-May incorrectly asserted that the legal issue is “privacy.” It is not, in fact, a position that is supported by local, state or federal law. How do you respond to the six women who’ve said the lax security at SafeHouse puts its residents in direct danger from their assailants?

2.  One of the women interviewed said she left the facility after one week because of the racist, toxic environment. She went back to the home she shares with her assailant. She said she sleeps (when she does sleep) with a knife and mace under her pillow. How is such an “outcome” fulfilling the mission of the facility?

3.  I have an audio recording in which an exited survivor called the SafeHouse Helpline and Ms. Casper answered. Ms. Casper refused to provide any services, tells the survivor never to call again, and hung up on the survivor, who clearly said she was suicidal. How is such a “service” fulfilling the mission of the facility? What are Ms. Casper’s educational qualifications and or state license status as a mental health professional?

3.  How often do SafeHouse staff go through the kitchen/food storage to cull rotted/expired food items?

4.  In your written answers to my questions in August, Ms. Niess-May, you wrote that tours are permitted of the facility by the public and elected officials. An Ann Arbor Council member has said you refused him a tour, repeatedly, most recently this week. SafeHouse has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Ann Arbor taxpayers. Why was Ann Arbor CM Hayner’s request for a tour denied?

5.  I requested a tour in August. Why was I denied a tour of the facility?

6.  Survivors who were assigned laundry “chores” objected to the expectation that they do the laundry of other people, including their soiled sheets. How is washing other people’s sheets as a “chore” sanitary? How is forcing Black women to do the laundry of others without pay not a perpetuation of racist crimes perpetrated by whites for the past 450 years?

7.  Ms. Mahoney, in your last answers (August 4), you told me you felt oversight of SafeHouse by the Board was exemplary. How do moldy bathroom facilities, rotted food, unsafe/unsanitary housing conditions and forced contact with the bodily fluids of others via “chores,” strike you as exemplary oversight of the facility’s management on the Board’s part?

8.  Three residents were “exited” after speaking with me about unsafe/unhealthy conditions at SafeHouse. In the audio recording I have of one of the “exits,” Kim Montgomery and Meggan Casper both agree the “infraction” for which the client was exited was done with the explicit permission of staff. Casper can be heard saying she had a “video” of the event. The resident did not agree to be recorded. This means Casper and Montgomery used an illegally made video of a private individual, a clear invasion of privacy, to “exit” the individual for doing an activity that was sanctioned by staff. Would you please comment on the use of that video by Montgomery and Casper. (Note: we know SafeHouse video cameras do not record, as per Ms. Mahoney’s explanation.)

9.  Over the past several months, SafeHouse has seen tremendous staff turnover. I’ve been told by a staffer that survivors are being turned away because there is inadequate staffing. Former staff claim the toxic work environment and low pay are the problems. Any comment on the persistent staff complaints about high turnover and low pay?

10.  Two “exited” residents say that they were forced out of the facility without all of their belongings, including child car seats. A third exited resident was only allowed to get all of her belongings because the Pittsfield Police demanded she be permitted to do so. In the instance of one of the residents, this means she can’t safely transport her children. When she called to ask for her belongings, she says they were not immediately turned over. What justification do you offer, Ms. Niess-May, for keeping the belongings of exited survivors?

11.  Multiple SafeHouse staff and residents have repeatedly described the facility as a detention center. Any comment?

12.  To you Board members, how does the Board justify the continued employment of Ms. Niess-May, Ms. Montgomery and Ms. Casper? How does the community have any confidence in the continued service of the SafeHouse Board members– under whose oversight these horrific incidents have happened? Why should donors continue to fund a shelter that is unsafe, filthy, and managed in ways that allow ineptitude, vindictiveness and dishonesty to adversely impact the lives of sexual/physical abuse survivors and their children?