Utah Department of Human Services notified the pastors Thursday that the home's license to provide residential support services will be revoked Feb. 16 unless they appeal the decision. The agency charged that residents were forced to work for as little as 28 cents per hour for Transmetron, a telemarketing company owned by Sandlin, pastor of Central Christian Church in Salt Lake City. Residents, most of whom were parolees or probationers, were told they would be kicked out of the program and sent back to jail if they didn't abide by the rules, the agency alleged.
"We deny all the charges and accusations that were made," says Ferris, director of administration for House of Refuge. "[The state] said we were in violation without even looking at our books. They came in on a witch hunt."
Human Services visited the House of Refuge, inside Central Christian Church at 370 S. 300 East, Jan. 26 after KSL-TV had begun an investigation and notified Human Services of complaints. Ken Stettler, executive director of licensing for the agency, says state investigators were inside about two hours before Ferris forced them to leave. Ferris says he asked the investigators to submit a formal request for the documents sought, but received only the notice of agency action one week later.
The notice also charges that residents served food without food handler's permits, including one who told his supervisor he had Hepatitis C. One resident told investigators that he had been physically assaulted and verbally abused by Sandlin, according to the notice.
Ferris says the accusations are false and were made by a few disgruntled residents who had dropped out of the program. He says the program is "tough" to help residents succeed. Residents working inside the program were not paid, but were given room, board and weekly stipends to cover any extra expenses. Those placed in jobs outside of the House of Refuge through Transmetron's staffing arm, were required to donate their earnings to support the program. When the men completed their six-month contracts at House of Refuge, they were given gifts, typically 46 percent of the money they had earned working.
Ferris says these terms were spelled out in the men's contracts when they joined the program. Stettler says the men were coerced because they had nowhere else to go but prison.
"What's unfortunate is that men who are in need of treatment ended up being exploited . . . and that it's gone on as long as it has undetected," Stettler says.
House of Refuge and the pastors may face further charges pending investigations by Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, the U.S. Office of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the Utah Department of Commerce, Stettler says.
Francine Giani, executive director of the state Department of Commerce, says Transmetron has failed to register as a telemarketing business and post the bond required by statute. And it might have violated the statute's requirements that certain people, including prison inmates, not be allowed to telemarket. She would not confirm or deny that an investigation into Transmetron was ongoing.
Jack Ford, director of public affairs for the Utah Department of Corrections, says House of Refuge has been dropped from the agency's list of alternatives for parolees and probationers without housing. Some judges believed House of Refuge was a substance-abuse treatment program, for which it was never licensed, and were referring it to people sentenced to treatment, Ford says.
Published reports Friday said that most of the men had been removed from the House of Refuge by state agencies. Ferris says no residents have been pulled and that there are 11 enrolled men at the facility.
rwinters@sltrib.com
