Death of Danieal Kelly: Social Worker in Health Care Fraud Case "Unsurprised" at News of Death

Manuelita Buenaflor, the social-service administrator and "quality assurance" director at Multiethnic Behavior Health Inc., cried as she testified, "In my heart, I said it was just a matter of time before this would happen. My reminders were ignored." She said she was sad but "unsurprised" at news of the death of Danieal Kelly, who had cerebral palsy. Buenaflor was aware that MultiEthnic staff habitually failed to make the home visits they were contracted by the City of Philadelphia to perform.

Buenaflor, who testified after a plea agreement for health care fraud, helped found MultiEthnic with defendants, Mickal Kamuvaka and Solomon Manamela. Buenaflor's duties were to review caseworker files and she said that months would go by without documentation of home visits being filed. On cross-examination, she conceded it was possible that caseworkers may have written but not "formally submitted their reports," or that reports may have been held up by a supervisor. When Kamuvaka's attorney, William Cannon, implied that late reports were better than none, remarking "better late than never," Buenaflor disagreed, and said workers were "writing notes for visits not existing, and that's sickening."

City social workers were first sent to Danieal Kelly's home in September, 2005, after an anonymous report to a hot line of children running around unclothed and out late at night unsupervised. Trina N. Jenkins, the city intake worker sent out, testified that, while she found the children to be clean and clothed, Danieal Kelly's mother Andrea Kelly seemed "overwhelmed" with the responsibility of eight children in a one-floor rowhouse apartment where they all slept in the same room. None of the children was enrolled in school. Andrea Kelly told Jenkins that Danieal was "nonverbal." Jenkins helped Andrea Kelly enroll the children in school. She described Kelly as cooperative and anxious about DHS intervention, telling Jenkins, "I'd do anything to keep my family." Subsequently, the Kelly family case was given to MultiEthnic for long-term supervision.

On August 6, 2006, 14-year-old Danieal Kelly was found dead of malnutrition, bedsores, neglect, and heat stress. Besides Kamuvaka and Manamela, caseworkers Mariam Coulibaly and Julius Juma Murray are also on trial for billing the city for services they never provided and attempting to cover up the fraud. Five other MultiEthnic employees have pleaded guilty.

Andrea Kelly pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and was sentenced last year to 20 to 40 years in prison. At the time of Danieal's death, Andrea Kelly had nine children by five different fathers. One child was in state custody, and she was pregnant with another, giving birth to her tenth child the autumn after Daniel's death.

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Sources: WPVI-TV6 Philadelphia; Philadelphia Inquirer at Philly.Com