Efforts continue to bring home Navajo Tribal members targeted by fraudulent sober living homes

Vulnerable tribal members were lured with false promises of treatment for substance abuse.

Instead of receiving the care they were promised, they were caught in a scam that defrauded Arizona’s Medicaid program of nearly three billion dollars.

Thousands were left struggling with untreated addiction and stranded far from home — many on the streets — while their families were unaware of their whereabouts.

In response, the Navajo Nation launched Operation Rainbow Bridge, an initiative to help bring home the estimated 5,000 to 7,000 Tribal members affected by the fraud.

Lieutenant Robert Williams of the Navajo Police Department says this is part of an ongoing effort to locate relatives and loved ones who remain stranded in the Phoenix area.

“When I talk about our relatives and loved ones, I'm not just talking about Dine people. I'm talking about any native relative we might have down there in that area. 'Cause we, during Operation Rainbow Bridge, we did encounter. members of other nations. We encountered some folks from the Cherokee Nation, and some other nations further back east. So, that effort continues, to provide resources for those family members and loved ones, who want to get home out of that situation,” said Lieutenant Williams.

Despite a crackdown on these fraudulent operations, Williams said authorities are still investigating reports that some facilities continue to operate and target tribal members.

“I think we'd be naive to say we stopped it because 's driven by money. There are greedy people who want money and, You know, stopping that, you know, that's a lot of the cause of criminality is that greed. So, we have to remain ever vigilant to protect those who are maybe having trouble protecting themselves. Maybe due to addictions, alcohol or drug addictions. You know, they might not be able to help themselves at that moment in time when these people contact them. Yeah, we will Only keep our eyes and ears out and we ask the public to do the same. Let's look for people who are unscrupulous and are willing to take advantage of those people who are just ravaged by addiction,” he said.

Arizona lawmakers this year failed to pass legislation to tighten regulations governing these facilities. They are expected to consider new legislation in 2025.