By Dave Janoski
Three board members at Clearbrook Inc., a nonprofit drug and alcohol treatment provider, resigned Thursday after an attorney for Luzerne County determined their private business dealings with Clearbrook violated its contract with the county's drug and alcohol program.
A fourth board member, the daughter of former Clearbrook Inc. CEO Nicholas F. Colangelo, also resigned. An attorney for the nonprofit said Ms. Colangelo's continuing work as a Clearbrook consultant could have disqualified her from serving on the board under its contract with the Luzerne/Wyoming Counties Drug and Alcohol Program. The organization also has a contract with Lackawanna County.
The resignations came one day after a Luzerne County solicitor advised the drug and alcohol program to stop sending clients to Clearbrook's inpatient treatment centers in Shickshinny and Laurel Run in response to questions from The Citizens' Voice, owned by Times-Tribune parent Times-Shamrock, about the board members' business dealings.
Mr. Colangelo, who remains in a leadership position at Clearbrook as chief executive of the related Clearbrook Foundation, said the nonprofit acted quickly to ensure that needy county residents whose treatment costs are borne by the county drug and alcohol program would continue to have access to Clearbrook's services.
"In a matter of hours, it was done," Mr. Colangelo said. "We were out of compliance and when it was brought to my attention, it was corrected."
He said officials at Clearbrook were unaware that its county contract barred board members from doing business with the nonprofit. Such relationships are allowed by Clearbrook's bylaws, which were submitted to the state and county, he said.
The Luzerne/Wyoming County program paid Clearbrook $304,750 in fiscal year 2011-12, using state, county and federal money dedicated to funding inpatient substance abuse treatment for residents who receive Medical Assistance, lack health coverage or qualify under low-income guidelines. The Lackawanna County Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse paid Clearbrook $182,733 through similar programs in 2011-12. Its contract with Clearbrook also bars business relationships between the nonprofit and its board members.
Clearbrook, which employs 145 people, had revenues of $11.5 million in 2011.
Luzerne County assistant solicitor Brian Bufalino, who advised stopping referrals to Clearbrook on Wednesday, recommended Thursday that referrals be resumed after Clearbrook informed him of the resignations. County Human Services Director Mary Dysleski said she was awaiting final approval to resume referrals from county Manager Robert Lawton on Thursday afternoon.
The annual number of referrals from Luzerne County was unavailable Thursday, but Mr. Colangelo said about 25 percent of the approximately 1,600 patients admitted to Clearbrook each year have their treatment funded through government programs. The vast majority of them come from Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.
Lackawanna County Communications Director Joseph A. D'Arienzo said Thursday that his county was preparing a statement on the Clearbrook issue, but none had been issued as of Thursday evening.
The four board members who resigned Thursday morning were Dunmore attorney Thomas P. Cummings Jr., who serves as Clearbrook's general counsel; Dr. Albert D. Janerich of Plains Twp., the nonprofit's medical director; Helen Lavelle, CEO of Lavelle Strategy Group, a Scranton advertising agency; and teacher and poet Dawn Leas, who is Mr. Colangelo's daughter.
Mr. Cummings was paid $59,568 for handling Clearbrook's legal work in 2011, according to documents it filed with the Internal Revenue Service, and Mr. Janerich's medical practice was paid $120,150. Ms. Lavelle's firm billed Clearbrook $105,897 for placing ads, producing videos and other services since she joined the board in 2009.
Mr. Cummings said he would continue to serve as general counsel if asked by the newly constituted board.
Clearbrook's bylaws require that the board of trustees have nine to 15 members. There are now eight board members following the resignations.
Efforts to reach Mr. Janerich and Ms. Leas were unsuccessful Thursday.
Ms. Lavelle said she had "absolutely no idea that there was an issue."
"I was doing business with Clearbrook before I was on the board," she said.
"I don't have to be on the board for people to get the treatment they need," Ms. Lavelle said. "My only concern is that Clearbrook continues to provide the type of treatment that saves lives."
The contract language barring business relationships between providers and their board members was inserted into Luzerne and Lackawanna counties' drug and alcohol treatment contracts beginning in 2010.
The state requires similar language barring business relationships between county drug and alcohol programs and the programs' board members in contracts the county programs have with the state Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, which provides much of their funding. The language is optional in the contracts between the county programs and their providers.
Ms. Dysleski said Luzerne County will consider whether to keep that contract language in providers' contracts for fiscal year 2013-2014, which begins in July.
Contact the writer: djanoski@citizensvoice.com