The office of Quality Care Access in the Atlantic Office Park in South Portland on Thursday. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)

The state is terminating MaineCare billing privileges and declining to renew licenses for a pair of residential healthcare providers that provide care for adults with developmental disabilities, officials confirmed this week.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services found numerous instances of alleged neglect, administrative mismanagement and other serious infractions within facilities administered by South Portland-based Quality Care Access and Portland-based WeCare Residential Services, according to documents obtained by the Portland Press Herald.

The two organizations operate several small group homes across the state that provide services 24/7 to a total of roughly 35 people with severe autism and other developmental disabilities. The agencies “failed to protect (their) patients from neglect” inside those homes, according to notices DHHS sent to each company.

In one of Quality Care’s Saco group homes, DHHS observed a “medically fragile resident left unattended while requiring total staff support.” In another, they found the home was without hot water. And in a group home the agency operates in Westbrook, Quality Care failed to “correct conditions that posed a danger to an individual’s safety,” a DHHS report states, though it did not elaborate.

In a New Gloucester facility operated by WeCare, investigators found “concerning structural damage” and a lack of food. In several instances, residents had run away from the group home without caretakers’ knowledge.

“Law enforcement discovered resident sitting in the road in Falmouth, several miles
away from resident’s home. Law enforcement returned to the residence and awoke (WeCare) staff to inform them of the elopement,” DHHS’ notice to the agency reads. “(WeCare) staff informed law enforcement that resident was still in their bedroom.”

Both agencies incorrectly administered their patients’ medication and employed staff without the necessary medical licenses, DHHS alleged.

“The department issued Termination of Billing Privileges notices to WeCare Residential Services and Quality Care Residential Services on Sept. 14, 2026, notifying them that their billing privileges would end on Sept. 30, 2026, due to licensure denial,” DHHS spokesperson Lindsay Hammes said in an email.

Hammes declined to provide additional details. WeCare did not respond to requests for comment.

Rapha Nsenga, whose Congolese father founded Quality Care, said the organization “strongly disputes” DHHS’ denial of its license and has appealed the decision.

“(That appeal) means very little if our organization is forced out of existence before the hearing takes place. If residents are moved, employees leave, and our homes are emptied before the appeal is heard; a later decision in (Quality Care’s) favor would come too late to undo the damage,” Nsenga wrote.

Nsenga’s statement said Quality Care has “deep concern for the health and safety” of its clients but did not address DHHS’ allegations of neglect and administrative malfeasance.

Laura Cordes, executive director of the Maine Association for Community Service Providers, a group that represents home care and other healthcare providers, said any allegations of neglect are “difficult to hear.”

“The subsequent additional disruption, now placed upon individuals with disabilities and their families to find a new home and supports that match their individual needs in a community where they want to be — near family and or friends or activities that are a part of their lives — is of great concern as the state’s timeline is short,” Cordes said in a written statement.

“The provider community is working quickly to help individuals explore their options and facilitate safe and successful transitions,” she added.

The department’s decision to refuse the agencies’ license renewals and revoke their ability to bill MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program, comes amid a protracted battle between national Republicans and Maine Democrats over alleged fraud and abuse within the program.

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, have repeatedly claimed widespread fraud within Maine’s Medicaid program, often without offering specifics or proof.

“(Gov. Janet Mills) has actually fought back against our efforts to identify fraud in the Medicaid and Medicare programs, which, by the way, not only does it steal from you, but it means that those programs are gonna go bankrupt, because all the money’s going to the fraudsters,” Vance said during a May speech in Bangor.

Oz claimed that during his visit to Maine this year he found that 90% of the state’s home care services were committing fraud. He did not provide evidence to back that claim up, and Maine officials have pushed back against it.

“Although the department’s review is ongoing, our preliminary findings do not support the claim that 90% of services were inappropriately paid,” Hammes said last month.

A federal audit released in January reported that Maine made at least $45.6 million in improper Medicaid payments for support services for autistic children in 2023.

In June, the Mills administration suspended payments to five providers based on credible allegations of fraud. Her office and Maine DHHS have said they are cooperating with federal inquiries into alleged fraud.

DHHS has not accused either WeCare or Quality Care, the providers whose MaineCare billing privileges are being rescinded, of committing fraud. But both agencies share similarities with providers that have been investigated for fraudulent billing practices.

There are about a dozen home care companies registered to the same Portland address as WeCare, according to data from OpenCorporates. All of them were founded after WeCare in 2022. Most are now inactive.

Prior May 2026, filings with the Maine Department of the Secretary of State show Quality Care shared the same Lewiston address as Gateway Community Services, a provider whose Medicaid funding privileges were suspended in December over credible allegations of fraud.

Ferdus Awali, listed as Quality Care’s registered agent in state filings, has also established a number of other home and childcare corporations across the state, most of which are now inactive. Awali could not be reached for comment.