Group home under scrutiny after arrest of patient

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services is investigating whether a group home in Holly Springs is a dangerous facility.

The VAGAP Health group home came into question after 22-year-old Gregory McClain was arrested Saturday. Police say he repeatedly stabbed another group home resident with a screwdriver during an argument. He now faces charges of attempted murder.

Officials are now trying to figure out whether the home created an unhealthy environment for the patients.

Windcrest subdivision resident Shannon Dye has lived in her home on Apple Drupe Way, which is right across the street from the group home, for more than three years.

"I received a call from a neighbor saying police cars came flying down the street, guns drawn, busting in the door and that the man was taken out on the stretcher covered in blood," Dye said.

She said she and her husband dreamed of raising their their boys in this Holly Springs subdivision until the group home opened. They say they are now considering moving.

"Clients, patients being brought in and they were being patted down and some were actually being brought here in handcuffs by the police and released into the house, and that's when we started to become a little more concerned," Dye said.

And concern has spread from the mouths of neighbors to the ears of police.

"The home, as far as we know, opened in December, and since that time we have responded to 17 calls for service," Police Chief John Herring said.

In response to community outcry, town officials and the chief of police reached out to DHHS, who late Monday suspended the facility's license.

"There were many things the facility didn't do correctly when admitting these clients,” Jeff Horton, with DHHS, said. “They weren't properly accessing the clients to see what their needs were, they weren't providing proper supervision."

The suspension indicates the facility may present imminent danger to the health, safety and welfare of the clients, which makes Dye and residents like her question whether their own safety is being protected.

"I'll tell you I have used my home alarm system more in the past 16 weeks than I have in the entire three-and-a-half years that I have lived here," Dye said.

There are more than 3,000 group homes like this one around the state.