22 Adults Removed From Alleged Illegal Texas Group Home

Follow CBSDFW.COM:Facebook | Twitter

AUSTIN (AP) — More than 20 adults were removed from a 1,400 square-foot-house in Austin where investigators say an illegal group home was operating without air conditioning.

Emergency medical personnel say several of the 22 adults were transported to a hospital Friday afternoon, to be checked, as temperatures reached near triple-digits.

Investigators believe the operator a few days ago moved the people from a similar home in Belton, about 60 miles north of Austin, which also was shut down by regulators amid poor living conditions.

Texas Department of Aging and Disabilities Services spokeswoman Cecilia Cavuto says the home is believed to be operated by a woman barred through a temporary restraining order by the attorney general from running assisted living facilities in Texas.

Cavuto said her agency and others were working to find new housing.

Names of the residents weren't released.

Cavuto said it's not uncommon for the agency to get tips about a possible unlicensed group home. Often, investigators find the claim to be untrue. No licensing is required if a home doesn't provide assistance with dressing, bathing, feeding, and providing medications.

Cavuto says the Austin home was providing those services.

Austin Police Department said they took into custody the person who was interfering with the investigation at the scene.

Last week, the agency got a tip about a home allegedly operating illegally in Belton and it was closed.

Sometime this week, Cavuto said, the people from the Belton home were brought to the home in Austin.

No one has been charged in the incident so far. Cavuto said monetary penalties and criminal prosecution are possible when someone is found to be operating an unlicensed group home.

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)