Sevita Health lawsuits and regulatory actions span four main tracks: Federal Trade Commission antitrust enforcement, U.S. Senate investigations into deaths and abuse in the company’s care, state license sanctions in at least eleven states, and employment and workers’ compensation litigation. Sevita, formerly known as The Mentor Network, is one of the largest providers of home and community-based services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the United States, operating in 40 states with roughly 45,000 employees.
FTC Antitrust Actions
Interlocking Board Seats (2025)
In September 2025, the Federal Trade Commission announced that three directors had resigned from Sevita’s board to resolve concerns that Sevita and Beacon Specialized Living Services, a competing provider, shared common board members. The FTC identified the overlap as a potential violation of Section 8 of the Clayton Act, which generally prohibits directors and officers from serving simultaneously on the boards of competing companies. The matter closed without a formal complaint or consent order.
FTC Bureau of Competition Director Daniel Guarnera said firms should review their board memberships to avoid overlaps, particularly “when new board members are added as a result of investments by private equity firms or other new shareholders.”
BrightSpring Acquisition and Forced Divestitures
Sevita agreed in January 2025 to acquire ResCare Community Living, the community-based services division of BrightSpring Health Services, for $835 million. The FTC determined that the deal would substantially lessen competition for intermediate care facility services in parts of Indiana, Louisiana, and Texas, where the combined company’s market share would exceed 30%. Sevita and BrightSpring were the two largest providers of residential care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities nationwide, and the commission concluded the merger would “eliminate head-to-head competition” in ten metropolitan areas.
Under a consent agreement, Sevita was required to divest 128 intermediate care facilities and associated day-training programs to the Dungarvin Group of Mendota Heights, Minnesota. Affected markets included Evansville, Indianapolis, Muncie, Bedford, and Jasper in Indiana; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Austin, Beaumont, Houston, and San Angelo in Texas. Sevita was barred from reacquiring the divested facilities for ten years and required to notify the FTC before any future intermediate care facility acquisitions in those areas. The FTC finalized the consent order on June 10, 2026, by a 2-0 vote. BrightSpring completed the sale on March 31, 2026.
Congressional Investigations Into Deaths and Abuse
2017 Senate Finance Committee Report
A two-year bipartisan Senate Finance Committee investigation, launched in April 2015 by then-Chairman Orrin Hatch and Ranking Member Ron Wyden, examined The Mentor Network after BuzzFeed News and Mother Jones reported abuse, neglect, and child deaths in the company’s foster care homes. The 2017 report, “An Examination of Foster Care in the United States and the Use of Privatization,” found that 86 children died in the company’s care over a ten-year period. Seventy percent of those deaths were unexpected, and the company’s death rate among foster children was 42% higher than the national average. The Mentor Network conducted internal investigations into only 13 of the 86 cases.
Investigators found that the company had issued a report that “falsely claimed that its death rates are in line with national death rates,” and documented foster parents with criminal histories including kidnapping and substance abuse, along with the hiring of unlicensed workers to fill bed capacity. Families of victims received millions of dollars in settlements.
2020 Reports on Iowa and Oregon
In December 2020, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Ron Wyden released separate investigative reports on two Sevita subsidiaries. Grassley’s report on REM Iowa identified recurring critical incidents, including failures to report abuse or neglect, failures to follow individualized care plans, and failures to adhere to medication schedules.
Wyden’s report on MENTOR Oregon found a “consistent pattern of substandard care” that persisted despite a prior settlement with the Oregon Department of Human Services requiring a new executive director, a five-day new-hire training program, a statewide operations evaluation, and standardized recordkeeping. Weeks before the final report was completed, state regulators shut down a MENTOR Oregon home over the volume of violations found.
State License and Regulatory Actions
Regulators in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Utah have documented instances of patient harm at Sevita-affiliated facilities.
Florida
In late 2023, Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration moved to revoke the license of NeuroRestorative, a Sevita brand, citing repeat violations and a failure to “protect the rights of its clients to be free from physical abuse.” Documented problems included inappropriate or excessive restraints, inadequate staff training, failure to meet minimum nursing staff requirements, and hazardous facility conditions. The state settled for a $13,000 fine rather than revoking the license. Florida also fined Florida MENTOR in August 2024 for the improper mechanical restraint of a resident to a wheelchair for “staff convenience,” and fined a separate Florida MENTOR entity in July 2024 for failing to conduct criminal background checks on staff.
California
At the Illinois Home, an Enhanced Behavioral Support Home in Sacramento, former administrator Ileya Silva alleged chronic understaffing, medication mismanagement, and inadequate training. A resident, Katrina Turner, was reported by her family to have sustained bruises, a black eye, and a concussion in the facility’s care. Staff were accused of “brake checking” a transport van to cause residents to fall; three employees were terminated. Regulators sanctioned the facility, blocking new placements, and fined it over $1,500 by August 2023. Sevita ceased operating all Enhanced Behavioral Support Homes in California as of June 30, 2023, though it continues to run more than 20 other residential facilities and day programs in the state.
Massachusetts
In 2022, the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services temporarily removed Sevita’s license to operate group homes, citing “inadequate staff training and supervision” and a “myriad of issues” found during onsite reviews.
Utah
A NeuroRestorative facility in Riverton has been fined four times by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services since 2022, accumulating $124,000 in penalties. A February 2024 inspection found the facility “failed to prevent abuse, neglect … and exploitation” of residents. Later inspections cited failures in pressure ulcer care and timely abuse reporting (June 2023), significant medication errors and infection control failures (November 2024), and inadequate supervision, unnecessary physical restraints, and failure to report suspected abuse (April 2025).
Iowa and Illinois
Iowa fined a NeuroRestorative group home $10,500 in 2022 after a resident was left unattended in a liquor store and consumed vodka. The Illinois Human Rights Authority substantiated allegations of inadequate treatment, deficient service planning, and staff sleeping on the job at Sevita facilities in 2023 and 2024.
Employment and Labor Lawsuits
Tobacco Surcharge Class Action
In May 2026, current and former Sevita employees filed a proposed class action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. Schmidt et al. v. National Mentor Holdings LLC (No. 0:26-cv-02614) alleges that Sevita charged tobacco-using employees an additional $50 per month for health coverage without disclosing that employees could submit doctor’s notes to waive or adjust the penalty. Plaintiffs contend that omission violates federal disclosure requirements for wellness program communications.
California Wage and Hour Settlement
Bentton v. Sevita Health (Case Nos. 22STCV06236 and 22STCV13818), a wage and hour class action filed in February 2022 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, reached a class settlement. A motion for final approval was filed in December 2023 and set for hearing in February 2024.
NLRB Charge
In Case 15-CA-296427, filed in May 2022 by United Labor Unions, Local 100 in Kenner, Louisiana, the union alleged that Sevita refused to bargain in good faith. The NLRB General Counsel dismissed the charge in July 2022.
Workers’ Compensation Rulings
In Sevita Health v. Kelli Wyatt (No. 23-ICA-385), the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals ruled against the company in February 2024, affirming that a direct support professional sustained a compensable knee injury while pushing a patient in a shower chair. Sevita had argued the injury was a residual effect of a prior at-home incident, but the court found sufficient evidence of a new workplace injury.
In Sanders v. Sevita Health (Docket No. 2022-03-0499), the Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board affirmed in August 2023 that an employee’s claim for a work-related mental injury was likely barred by the one-year statute of limitations, finding the injury occurred in March 2021 rather than the May 2021 date on the petition.
Why the Pattern Matters
Sevita was acquired in March 2019 by private equity firms Centerbridge Partners and the Vistria Group; Madison Dearborn Partners bought a 25% stake in early 2022, valuing the company at roughly $3 billion. Between 2013 and 2023, private equity firms acquired more than 1,000 disability and elder care providers nationwide. Critics argue that national operators with billions in resources are difficult for state-level regulators to oversee, particularly when a single company operates under multiple brand names, including NeuroRestorative, REM, and Florida MENTOR, across dozens of states. Roughly 85% to 90% of Sevita’s revenue comes from Medicaid.