KY Sober living operator charged with fraud continues to operate recovery homes
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- Operator Dawkins, indicted in 2024 Medicaid fraud, continues running recovery homes
- State regulators cite uncertified homes and utility cutoffs; CHFS probes status
- Former staff report unpaid wages and inadequate client support at Great Neighbors
An owner of a troubled Lexington sober living home company who was charged in 2024 with Medicaid fraud has continued to operate recovery homes for people seeking sobriety despite a federal indictment.
Dashawn Dawkins, who is listed as an owner and of Great Neighbors, which operates multiple sober living homes in Fayette County, was charged in November 2024 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky with conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and charges related to kickbacks.
Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which oversees sober living homes, shut down one of Great Neighbors sober living homes in November after residents reported there was no running water or electricity at one of its homes. The home was never certified or licensed by the state, officials have said.
Dawkins, who listed as an officer of Great Neighbors on the Kentucky Secretary of State website, was indicted along with his mother Delores Jordan, Jerome Davis, and Ernest Williams in November 2024 in what federal prosecutors say was a more than $20 million Medicaid fraud scheme. At the time, Jordan was listed as the owner of Serenity Keepers, a Fayette County sober living home operator.
According to federal prosecutors, beginning in August 2019, Jordan, Serenity Keepers’ owner, solicited kickbacks from a co-conspirator in exchange for the referral of Serenity Keepers’ urine drug tests to various laboratories.
The kickbacks were allegedly paid in the form of checks, cash payments, and wire transfers of approximately $1,300 every two weeks to Jordan’s son, Dawkins. Beginning in October 2021, Jordan allegedly demanded the kickback amount increase to $5,000, based on the increased volume of urine drug tests referred by Serenity Keepers to the labs, according to the federal indictment.
Jordan allegedly received the increased amount through payments sent every two weeks to her boyfriend, Davis, paid through his company, X-Tremly for Christ LLC.
The indictment alleges that Jordan, Dawkins, and Williams conspired to defraud Medicare and Kentucky Medicaid by causing approximately $26.7 million in medically unnecessary urine drug tests to be fraudulently billed to Medicare and Kentucky Medicaid from August 2019 to March 2022, according to the indictment.
Between August 2019 and February 2022, Serenity Keepers allegedly billed Medicaid for six hours of peer support services per day, for every client enrolled in their program who had Medicaid coverage. The indictment alleges that a majority of the services billed were not provided by registered peer support specialists, not supervised by appropriate personnel, not provided at all, or not provided in accordance with state regulations governing such services, according to federal prosecutors.
Dawkins and Williams were peer support specialists, according to federal court documents. Peer support specialists are typically people who have successfully completed recovery programs and help oversee day-to-day operations and services.
Jordan pleaded guilty to one count involving the kickback conspiracy in November 2025. Also in November, Williams, the other peer support specialist, pleaded guilty to one charge involving healthcare fraud.
Dawkins’ trial, originally scheduled for Dec. 8, has been delayed until Feb. 23, court records show. Dawkins has pleaded not guilty.
Dawkins could not be reached for comment. A lawyer for Dawkins was also not immediately available for comment. According to federal court documents, Dawkins was allowed to go to Puerto Rico from Dec. 23 to Dec. 28.
Why did the state allow Dawkins to continue to operate sober living homes ?
Kendra Steele, a spokeswoman for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said the cabinet does not pull licenses or certifications of sober living operators when an operator has been charged with fraud.
Dawkins has not been convicted.
“The Cabinet for Health and Family Services does not pull licenses while investigations are active,” Steele said. ”The criminal indictment and ongoing federal case are related to Medicaid fraud, which is handled by the (attorney general’s) office, not CHFS.”
The Kentucky Attorney General and the U.S. District Attorney can investigate and prosecute Medicaid fraud cases. Medicaid is a joint state-federal healthcare program for the poor and disabled. Medicaid can pay for sober living services. Sober living or recovery homes serve people who need additional supports to get and remain sober.
The state is still investigating Great Neighbors.
“CHFS has a separate ongoing investigation into Good Neighbors’ certification status due to prior complaints of recovery residences that this operator was running without a certification,” Steele said. “When CHFS was made aware of each of the uncertified locations, it immediately notified the operator of its violation.”
No heat, no power and no pay
State regulators said they notified Great Neighbors in November 2025 when residents contacted the Herald-Leader after the electricity and water were cut off at a sober living home on Buckhorn Drive. State officials also discovered that sober living home was not certified by the state, which is required under state law.
A second Great Neighbors sober living home in Fayette County was also not licensed by the state and residents there were moved in December, state officials said at the time.
In addition to struggling to pay water and other utility bills, Great Neighbors also struggled to pay staff, several former employees said. In addition, former employees said clients living in those homes aren’t getting the support and programming they need.
Jessica LaFollette started as a peer support specialist for Great Neighbors in July. She and other peer support specialists have not received full payment from Great Neighbors in months. LaFollette said they were told in November by the owners, TJ Harris and Dawkins, the two men would be doing work traditionally done by peer support specialists.
However, LaFollette and other peer support specialists said clients have reported they barely see Harris, who is related to Dawkins. Dawkins has also not responded to texts from LaFollette and other staff about overdue pay. Some former employees, who did not wish to speak on the record for fear of retribution, said they are owed thousands of dollars in back pay.
LaFollette and other former employees said it was common for the heat or electricity to go out in various homes due to nonpayment of utility bills.
LaFollette and other former employees said they are worried about the clients in those Great Neighbors properties. LaFollette said she has been told by former clients some of those homes have been shut down. It’s not clear how many homes Great Neighbors currently operates.
“I’m worried about the clients in these houses,” LaFollette said.
