Gorham Guardian — Investigative Report — March 2026

NeuroRestorative and the Gorham School District:
What the Public Has Not Been Told

A review of the financial, contractual, and regulatory record surrounding GSD's relationship with Mentor ABI, LLC
Legal Entity: Mentor ABI, LLC (Delaware) d/b/a NeuroRestorative Maine Period Covered: FY2018 – FY2027 SC Vote: April 8, 2026  •  Referendum: June 9, 2026 Sources: SEC EDGAR • Maine DOE • CMS • HHS-OIG • DOJ • FTC • Gorham Assessor • Maine DHHS • Maine Legislature • U.S. Bankruptcy Court
Summary of Findings
$455K
FY27 revenue cliff tied to NR relationship
$116K
NR's MaineCare billing in FY24 — +93% from FY23
~$43K
FY24 GSD subsidy reduction from NR billing (est.)
27×
Growth in NR billing FY18–FY24 ($4K to $116K)
119
Shell companies under NR's parent (2018 SEC filing)
$500M
Debt-funded dividends extracted by PE owners 2019–2021
12
School districts in Perry's Greater Sebago billing network
222
Mainers on brain injury waiver waitlist while PE extracts profits
Section 1
The Corporate Identity of NeuroRestorative

"NeuroRestorative" is a brand name, not a legal entity. The company that holds contracts, employs staff, bills insurance, and assumes legal obligations in Maine is Mentor ABI, LLC — a Delaware limited liability company. ABI stands for Acquired Brain Injury. This entity is confirmed in the SEC-filed Exhibit 21.1 (Subsidiaries of the Registrant) of Civitas Solutions, Inc. (CIK: 0001608638), filed December 13, 2018.

Civitas Solutions was formerly called The MENTOR Network. In 2019, it was taken private by two private equity firms — Centerbridge Partners and Vistria Group — and subsequently rebranded as Sevita Health. The company now operates as one of the largest private Medicaid-funded disability services providers in the United States, with approximately 45,000 employees and nearly all revenue derived from federal and state health programs.

Centerbridge Partners & Vistria Group
— Wall Street private equity firms; acquired the company in 2019
Sevita Health
— formerly Civitas Solutions / The MENTOR Network; ~$5B annual revenue; Boston, MA
National Mentor Holdings, Inc.
— Delaware holding company; 313 Congress St, Boston MA 02210
Mentor ABI, LLC
— Delaware LLC; the legal entity operating in Maine; confirmed in SEC Exhibit 21.1 (2018)
NeuroRestorative Maine
— trade name only; no separate Maine company exists under this name
9 Rivers Edge Drive, Gorham, ME 04038
— leased group home; 5 licensed beds; 3 bedrooms

Because Mentor ABI, LLC is incorporated in Delaware but operates in Maine, it is required under Maine law to register as a foreign LLC with the Maine Secretary of State. That registration can be searched at apps3.web.maine.gov/nei-sos-icrs/ICRS (search "Mentor ABI"). The registered agent is almost certainly CT Corporation System, which handles state registrations for all Civitas/Sevita entities. This search requires manual access due to CAPTCHAs and cannot be performed remotely.

Finding

The contract counterparty's legal name has never appeared in any GSD public document.

Every public budget reference to this entity uses the brand name "NeuroRestorative" or the phrase "state agency client." No School Committee agenda, budget workshop presentation, or ED279 disclosure identifies the entity by its legal name, Mentor ABI, LLC, or discloses its Delaware incorporation, its private equity ownership, or the four-layer corporate chain above it.

Section 2
The Property at 9 Rivers Edge Drive

Mentor ABI, LLC does not own the house at 9 Rivers Edge Drive, Gorham. The property is owned by J & J Realty Trust Partnership LLC, registered at 285 Washington Street, Braintree, Massachusetts 02184. Its principal is John Connolly, vice president at SUCCESS! Real Estate in Braintree. The LLC purchased the property on November 3, 2017 for $365,000.

Braintree, MA is adjacent to Dedham, MA — the location of NeuroRestorative's corporate office at 980 Washington Street, Suite 306. This is a standard private equity group home ownership structure: a separate real estate investor acquires the property, and the care operator leases it. As a consequence, some portion of the revenue GSD pays to Mentor ABI, LLC and the reimbursements NR receives from MaineCare ultimately pass through to a private Massachusetts real estate trust in the form of rent. This arrangement has never been disclosed in any GSD public budget document.

Property DetailRecord
Address9 Rivers Edge Drive, Gorham, ME 04038
Legal ownerJ & J Realty Trust Partnership LLC
Owner address285 Washington Street, Braintree, MA 02184
PrincipalJohn Connolly — SUCCESS! Real Estate, Braintree, MA
Purchase dateNovember 3, 2017
Purchase price$365,000
Gorham assessor account#007020 RE · Map/Lot 0049-0020-0001
Physical description3-bedroom, 2.5-bath ranch, built 2008, 2.58 acres on the Little River
Maine DHHS licensed capacity5 beds
Source: Gorham ME Tax Assessor · Gorham AXIS GIS
Section 3 — Principal Finding
The MaineCare Billing Mechanism: How Gorham Pays Twice

The most significant undisclosed element of the GSD–NR financial relationship is a billing mechanism that automatically reduces GSD's annual state funding every time Mentor ABI, LLC submits a MaineCare claim for a Gorham student. This mechanism operates as follows:

How the MaineCare Seed Recovery Works
1
Mentor ABI, LLC bills MaineCare. NR provides services at 9 Rivers Edge Drive to residents who are also enrolled as Gorham students. NR submits MaineCare claims for those services under the Section 18 Brain Injury Waiver (ME.1082). In FY2024, total claims billed: $115,979.
2
MaineCare pays the claim. The federal government covers approximately 63% of each dollar. The State of Maine covers approximately 37%. In FY2024, Maine's share of NR's total billing was approximately $42,912.
3
Maine DOE advances the state's share — then recovers it from Gorham. The Maine Department of Education fronts the state's portion of each eligible claim. DOE then recoups this amount by reducing GSD's General Purpose Aid (GPA) subsidy — the annual state funding check — by the exact amount advanced. This is posted as a "seed recovery" or "seed adjustment" on the ED279 funding report.
4
GSD loses $42,912 from its GPA check — without a vote, without notice. This is not an invoice. It is a quiet deduction from funding the district had already budgeted. No public budget document discloses that NR's MaineCare billing activity triggers this reduction.

The result is that GSD bears part of the cost of NR's MaineCare billing from its own operating budget. When NR's billing increases, GSD's subsidy check shrinks by a corresponding amount. The district receives no notification, has no vote, and has no documented process for managing this exposure.

Finding — FY2024 Spike Impact

NR's FY2024 billing spike cost GSD an estimated $20,600 in additional subsidy reductions that were never disclosed.

MetricFY2023FY2024Year-over-Year Change
NR total MaineCare billing $60,230 $115,979 +$55,749 (+93%)
Estimated state share (37%) $22,285 $42,912 +$20,627
Additional GSD subsidy loss in FY24 ~$20,600 taken from GPA check
Source: Maine DOE MaineCare Seed Reports · Maine DOE ED279 subsidy mechanism

No public budget workshop, School Committee presentation, or budget narrative document has ever identified this mechanism or quantified its effect on Gorham's budget.

Finding — The "MaineCare Billing Specialist" Position

GSD created a dedicated position to maximize MaineCare billing revenue — while the Seed mechanism ensures a portion of every dollar billed reduces GSD's own state aid.

The Gorham FY2025 budget document (adopted May 2024) states: "A data specialist was added, as well as a Maine Care Billing Specialist which will help create an additional revenue stream."

The framing treats MaineCare billing as a net revenue gain. It does not disclose the Seed recovery mechanism — that for every dollar billed, approximately 37 cents is automatically reclaimed from GSD's General Purpose Aid. Local taxpayers fund the specialist's salary. Federal taxpayers fund the federal match (~63%). State taxpayers fund the state match (~37%) — which is then clawed back from GSD's own subsidy check. The net fiscal benefit to GSD is therefore the federal share only, and this calculation has never been presented to the public.

Section 4
The Dual-Billing Problem

In FY2023, GSD began its own MaineCare School-Based billing program. By FY2026, GSD is billing MaineCare at an annualized rate approximately equal to NR's billing for the same fiscal year and the same student population. Both entities are submitting claims for services delivered to residents of 9 Rivers Edge Drive who are enrolled as Gorham students.

MaineCare rules require providers to implement coordination of benefits — a documented system to ensure the same service is not billed twice by two different parties. No such controls have been disclosed publicly in any GSD budget document, School Committee presentation, or administrative policy statement.

YearNR / Private Provider BillingGSD Own BillingNote
FY2018$4,279
FY2019$15,958
FY2020$32,583
FY2021$51,984
FY2022$53,506
FY2023$60,230$1,722GSD billing begins
FY2024$115,979$0+93% spike — no public explanation
FY2025 (3 qtrs)$27,934Partial year reported
FY2026 (annualized)~$115,000~$115,000Both entities billing simultaneously
Source: Maine DOE public MaineCare Seed Reports · Office of MaineCare Services
What MaineCare Section 18 Covers

NR's billing falls under MaineCare Benefits Manual Section 18 — the 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services Waiver for Adults with Brain Injury (Waiver ID: ME.1082). This waiver covers adults 18 and older with acquired brain injury requiring nursing-facility-level care. Covered services include residential habilitation (24/7 staffing), community support, day habilitation, supported employment, and respite. When NR residents attend GSD programs, some of these service categories overlap with school-based MaineCare billing codes — creating the coordination risk.

Finding

No coordination-of-benefits documentation has ever been disclosed publicly.

GSD's administrative policies, School Committee materials, and public budget documents contain no reference to any system for monitoring overlap between GSD's MaineCare school-based billing and Mentor ABI, LLC's simultaneous Section 18 billing for the same students. This is a documented compliance requirement under Maine Office of MaineCare Services rules. Its absence from the public record is unexplained.

LD 858: A New Double-Billing Risk

On July 8, 2025, Governor Mills signed LD 858 — "An Act to Ensure Behavioral and Mental Health Services Are Available to Students by Providing Grants to Schools That Contract for Those Services." The law creates a state grant program for behavioral and mental health services specifically for services not otherwise covered or reimbursable through MaineCare.

The risk: If a school contracts for services and bills MaineCare for those services, then also applies for an LD 858 grant for the same services, the district may receive reimbursement twice — once through MaineCare and once through the grant. This is not a theoretical risk; it is a structural feature of how the two programs interact. Whether Gorham or any Greater Sebago district has applied for LD 858 grants while simultaneously billing MaineCare for the same student services has not been disclosed publicly.

Section 5
The Complete GSD–NR Financial Picture

The public budget narrative presents the NR revenue wind-down as a single line item — a $455,000 revenue reduction. In fact, the GSD–NR financial relationship involves at least five distinct money flows, not all of which are accurately characterized in public budget documents.

#Money FlowDirectionFY26FY27Publicly Disclosed?
1 NR pays GSD for educational services to residents NR → GSD $150,000 $50,000 Vague — "state agency client"
2 Maine DOE modular building reimbursement — Narragansett school (5-year DOE capital reimbursement; expires on its own schedule; unrelated to NR) State → GSD $254,918 $0 Misattributed to NR (see note below)
3 Child development services revenue (NR-linked) State → GSD $100,000 $0 Not explained
4 NR MaineCare billing — reduces GSD's GPA subsidy check GSD loses $$ ~$43,000 loss TBD Never disclosed
5 NR residents enrolled in GAE ESOL — $516/person tuition NR → GSD/GAE Small / unknown Unknown Never disclosed
Total NR-related revenue in budget documents (items 1–3) $504,918 $50,000 Net cliff: ~$455K
Correction: Item 2 — Narragansett Modular Building Reimbursement Is NOT Related to NR

The $254,918 is a Maine DOE capital reimbursement for the modular building at Narragansett school — a standard five-year DOE reimbursement for portable/modular school building costs. It expired on its own five-year schedule and has no connection to NeuroRestorative or the NR wind-down. It is presented in FY27 budget documents in the same revenue table section as the NR-related revenue reductions, creating the false impression that NR generated $454,918 in annual revenue for GSD when the actual NR revenue impact is −$200,000 (direct NR payments −$100K + Child Development Services −$100K). The $254,918 difference represents a significant misattribution that overstates the value of the NR relationship to the district.

The Taxpayer Shell Game: Who Actually Pays for Each $100 Claimed
ComponentAmount per $100 ClaimedSourceImpact
Federal Medicaid match~$63–70Federal taxpayersPaid to provider (NR or GSD)
MaineCare Seed (state share)~$30–37State taxpayersAdvanced by DOE — then clawed back from GSD's GPA check
Net to GSD from its own billing~$63–70Federal share onlyState share returned to DOE; local taxpayers also fund billing specialist
Net to NR (private provider) per $100$100Combined federal + stateFull payment retained; state share cost borne by GSD through subsidy reduction

Every dollar NR bills MaineCare is paid in full — to NR. GSD then loses the state's share (~37%) from its own subsidy check. GSD's own billing retains only the federal portion (~63%). Neither the brochure nor any public budget document presents this arithmetic.

Private Equity Extraction: Where Maine Taxpayer Dollars End Up

Sevita Health / NeuroRestorative employs approximately 134 Maine staff supporting roughly 100 clients annually. Meanwhile, 222 Mainers remain on the brain injury waiver waitlist — unable to access services while the same parent company extracted $500 million in debt-funded dividends between 2019 and 2021 and loaded an additional $1.5 billion in new debt in late 2024. Maine taxpayer dollars flowing through MaineCare to Sevita pass through to debt service and investor returns for Centerbridge Partners (New York) and Vistria Group (Chicago).

Section 6
Medicare Enrollment and the Authorized Official Question

Medicare enrollment records for Mentor ABI, LLC's Maine facilities list Brett I. Cohen as the authorized official, at the address 313 Congress Street, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02210 — the corporate headquarters of The MENTOR Network/Civitas Solutions. Brett Cohen served as Chief Operating Officer of the entire national organization from 2015 until July 2023, when he departed to become CEO of Recovery Centers of America.

Federal Medicare rules require that enrollment records be updated when authorized officials change. As of the date of this report — more than two years after Cohen's departure — it appears these records have not been updated. An outdated authorized official on a Medicare enrollment record is a compliance issue that can affect claims processing and liability.

Separately, a search of the federal National Provider Identifier (NPI) registry returns zero results for "Mentor ABI" or "Mentor ABI, LLC" as a standalone entity. This indicates Mentor ABI bills Medicare and MaineCare under a parent organization's NPI number — most likely National Mentor Healthcare, LLC. This structure makes it difficult to isolate billing activity by individual facility or state-level subsidiary, and obscures accountability when billing disputes arise.

Sources: GlobalNewsWire (Brett Cohen CEO announcement, July 31, 2023) · SEC EDGAR Civitas 10-K · CMS Medicare Revalidation List (March 2026)
Section 7
Regulatory Record of the Parent Company
DateActionEntityStatus
September 2025 FTC enforcement action — antitrust violation (interlocking directorates). Three Sevita directors simultaneously served on the board of a direct competitor (Beacon Specialized Living, also owned by Vistria Group). All three resigned under FTC pressure. Sevita Health / Vistria Group Resolved — directors resigned
January 2025 – February 2026 FTC lawsuit to block Sevita–BrightSpring merger. FTC prevailed. Merger was blocked. Sevita Health / BrightSpring Health FTC won; merger blocked
January 2026 HHS-OIG audit found $45.6 million in improper MaineCare payments for autism and RCS services (Section 28) across Maine school districts. 100% error rate in sampled claims. Federal clawback of $28.7 million demanded. NeuroRestorative operates within the same MaineCare framework and some overlapping service categories. Maine school-based MaineCare (Section 28) — same system NR bills under Active — clawback demanded
2024 CMS fined NeuroRestorative facilities in Utah a total of $86,800 for care deficiencies. NeuroRestorative (Utah) Fines paid
2024 Massachusetts regulators found licensing deficiencies at NeuroRestorative facilities. NeuroRestorative (Massachusetts) Documented
2023 Florida regulators attempted to revoke NeuroRestorative's operating license. Matter resolved with $13,000 fine. NeuroRestorative (Florida) Resolved — fine paid
2023 California regulators cited NeuroRestorative for conditions constituting a "threat to health or safety." NeuroRestorative (California) Documented
Active DOJ lawsuit against co-investor KKR for $650 million+ in antitrust penalties, related to the same market concentration concerns underlying the Sevita FTC actions. KKR / Sevita ecosystem Ongoing litigation
2019 U.S. Senate committee investigation into The MENTOR Network (now Sevita) for quality-of-care concerns in Iowa and Oregon group home settings. National Mentor Holdings, Inc. Concluded

The September 2025 FTC enforcement action occurred during the period when GSD was preparing the FY27 budget and evaluating the financial impact of the NR wind-down. It has not been addressed in any public budget discussion or School Committee meeting on record. The pattern of multi-state regulatory actions — Florida, Utah, California, Massachusetts, and two separate federal antitrust proceedings — establishes a systemic record, not isolated incidents.

Section 8
The Greater Sebago Education Alliance: A Conflict at the Center

Superintendent Heather J. Perry, Ph.D. holds two simultaneous leadership roles with direct bearing on this investigation. Since 2015, she has served as Superintendent of the Gorham School Department. Since 2023, she has also served as Executive Director of the Greater Sebago Education Alliance (GSE) — a Regional Service Center established under Maine law for the administrative benefit of 12 school districts including Gorham, Westbrook, RSU 14 (Kennebunk), Portland, Scarborough, and South Portland.

Under Maine law, Regional Service Centers may be enrolled with the Maine Office of MaineCare Services as third-party billing agents for the districts they serve. The GSE's billing agent status means it can submit MaineCare claims on behalf of member districts — including Gorham — centralizing the billing function that GSD's own "MaineCare Billing Specialist" position (FY2025) was created to manage. Billing agents do not absorb the Seed clawback; the member school districts do.

Finding — Concentration of Roles

The same person who directs GSD's budget simultaneously directs the billing infrastructure that processes GSD's MaineCare claims — and chairs the state committee that controls the funding policy under which all of this operates.

RoleOrganizationSinceRelevance
SuperintendentGorham School Department2015Controls GSD budget, contracts, and staff including the MaineCare Billing Specialist
Executive DirectorGreater Sebago Education Alliance (RSC)2023Directs the RSC that acts as third-party MaineCare billing agent for 12 districts including Gorham
Chair, State-Wide Funding CommitteeMaine School Superintendents Association (MSSA)ActiveControls state-level policy on the school funding formula — the same formula that governs how Seed recoveries are calculated and applied

Perry's national recognition — 2026 Maine Superintendent of the Year (October 2025) and National Finalist for the AASA National Superintendent of the Year (December 2025, first Maine superintendent to reach this level since 1988) — is attributed in part to "innovative" programs including workforce development partnerships with healthcare providers. The investigation does not question her professional achievements. It documents the structural conflicts created by the simultaneous accumulation of these roles and the absence of any public disclosure of those conflicts in GSD budget presentations.

Documentary Evidence — GSE Third-Party Billing Agent Status

"In cases where a Regional Service Center is created to streamline administrative duties but not to provide services to members, the Regional Service Center will be enrolled as a third-party billing agent for the participating schools and/or SAUs." — MaineCare in Education 2023 Guide

Sources: Maine RSC statute · MaineCare in Education 2023 Guide · MSSA · AASA press release December 2025 · Maine AASA Superintendent of the Year announcement October 2025
Section 9
The Kennebunk Co-Location Risk

At 3 Brazier Lane, Kennebunk, ME 04043, NeuroRestorative shares a physical address with RiverRidge Center — a nursing facility operated by Genesis Healthcare that is currently in bankruptcy proceedings (2025–2026). This co-location creates a documented billing risk.

Entity at 3 Brazier LaneStatusKey History
RiverRidge Center (Genesis Healthcare) In bankruptcy (2025–2026) $53.6 million DOJ settlement for Medicare fraud (2017). Genesis Healthcare filed for bankruptcy. Ongoing litigation.
NeuroRestorative (Kennebunk) Operating Brain injury rehabilitation services at shared address. NR bills MaineCare (Section 18) for residents.
Finding — July 28, 2025 CMS Inspection

A federal inspection at 3 Brazier Lane on July 28, 2025 found conditions constituting "immediate jeopardy to resident health or safety."

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) inspection resulted in:

  • $23,590 in federal fines
  • 27 deficiency citations, including infection control failures
  • A finding of "immediate jeopardy to resident health or safety" — the highest federal severity level

The billing risk at this shared location is direct: two providers (RiverRidge, billed under Medicare; NeuroRestorative, billed under MaineCare Section 18) occupying the same physical address, serving overlapping populations, with no publicly documented coordination-of-benefits controls between Medicare and MaineCare billing for residents at that address. This mirrors the dual-billing structure documented for Gorham students (Section 4 above), but at a facility with a confirmed federal "immediate jeopardy" finding.

Sources: CMS inspection records · DOJ settlement records (Genesis Healthcare, 2017) · U.S. Bankruptcy Court records (Genesis Healthcare, 2025–2026)
Section 10
Regulatory Capture: The ABIAC and Jen Jello

Jen Jello holds two simultaneous positions that, taken together, represent a textbook case of regulatory capture:

RoleOrganizationNature
State Director NeuroRestorative Maine (a Sevita Health subsidiary) Private — corporate leadership of Maine's largest private brain injury services provider. Bills MaineCare under Sections 18 and 102.
Co-Chair Maine Acquired Brain Injury Advisory Council (ABIAC) Public — state oversight body that advises DHHS on brain injury policy, funding levels, and regulatory direction for the very programs her employer operates.
Finding — Statutory Conflict

Title 34-B MRSA §19001 requires the Maine ABIAC to provide "independent oversight." The corporate director of the state's largest private brain injury provider simultaneously chairs that oversight body.

This is not a minor procedural concern. The ABIAC advises DHHS on funding levels for Sections 18 and 102 — the MaineCare service categories under which NeuroRestorative's Maine operations are reimbursed. The State Director of the entity being regulated is co-chairing the body that sets the regulatory and funding recommendations for that entity's reimbursement rates.

Finding — Legislative Testimony, February 12, 2025

Jello testified before the Maine Legislature on February 12, 2025, lobbying for MaineCare rate increases specifically for Sections 18 and 102 — NeuroRestorative's billing categories.

In that testimony, she cited "workforce instability" as the justification for rate increases. The testimony did not disclose that NeuroRestorative's parent company, Sevita Health, had extracted $500 million in debt-funded dividends from 2019 to 2021 and loaded $1.5 billion in new debt as recently as late 2024 — a direct contributor to any workforce instability by reducing funds available for front-line staff compensation. The dual role — corporate director lobbying for higher reimbursement while chairing the oversight body that recommends those rates — has never been disclosed in any GSD public budget document.

Sources: Maine Legislature testimony archive (February 12, 2025) · Title 34-B MRSA §19001 · Maine DHHS ABIAC membership records · Sevita Health corporate disclosures
Section 11
DHHS Licensing Record

Maine DHHS Division of Licensing and Certification maintains public inspection records for all licensed residential care facilities. The NeuroRestorative Sebago facilities have confirmed Maine DHHS license numbers. The Gorham facility's license number has not been confirmed from publicly indexed sources.

FacilityAddressMaine License #Type
NeuroRestorative Sebago House986 Sebago Road, Sebago, ME 04029RCD2000Residential Care
NeuroRestorative Sebago Ranch988 Sebago Road, Sebago, ME 04029RCC2294Residential Care
NeuroRestorative Sebago Lodge1014 Sebago Road, Sebago, ME 04024RCD38602Residential Care
NeuroRestorative Gorham9 Rivers Edge Drive, Gorham, ME 04038Not yet confirmed from public sourcesResidential Care

Inspection reports, complaint records, deficiency citations, and enforcement actions for each of these facilities are public records accessible through the Maine DHHS Licensed Provider Search at gateway.maine.gov/dhhs-apps/aspen/. This portal requires browser-based access and cannot be queried remotely.

Section 12
Gorham Adult Education

Residents at 9 Rivers Edge Drive who are learning English are enrolled in Gorham Adult Education's ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) program at 106 Weeks Road, Gorham. Mentor ABI, LLC pays GAE approximately $516 per person per year for this enrollment. Given the 5-bed licensed capacity, the number of NR participants is small and the total annual revenue is modest — estimated at $1,000 to $2,500. The relationship has not been disclosed in any public budget document as a component of the GSD–NR financial arrangement.

Note: Gorham's separately growing multilingual enrollment in K-12 (58 → 67 → 90 projected students) reflects the district's broader refugee and immigrant community and is independent of the NR facility arrangement. The $540,975 FY27 multilingual budget increase reflects legitimate community need and should not be conflated with the adult education component of the NR relationship.

Program Coordinator: Lori Frederick (207-222-1095) · Director: Bridget Khan · 106 Weeks Road, Gorham ME 04038
Section 13
Disclosure Gaps
What Was Not DisclosedWhy It Matters
The legal name of the contract counterparty Voters cannot evaluate a contract they do not know the legal name of. "NeuroRestorative" is a brand; the legal entity with rights and obligations is Mentor ABI, LLC.
The MaineCare seed recovery mechanism Every dollar NR bills MaineCare triggers a proportional automatic reduction in GSD's state funding. This has never been disclosed in any public budget presentation.
The FY2024 billing spike ($60K → $116K) A 93% year-over-year increase in NR MaineCare billing with no public explanation cost GSD approximately $20,600 in additional subsidy reductions.
Dual MaineCare billing by both GSD and NR Two entities billing for the same students at similar dollar amounts, with no disclosed coordination-of-benefits controls, is a Medicaid compliance risk.
The private equity ownership structure The entity operating the Gorham house is owned by Centerbridge Partners and Vistria Group through four corporate layers. This affects financial stability, care incentives, and risk assessment.
The property ownership at 9 Rivers Edge Drive GSD revenue and NR billing partially fund rent payments to a private Massachusetts real estate LLC, with no disclosure of this arrangement.
The FTC enforcement action (September 2025) A federal antitrust action against the parent company during the budget development period was not disclosed or addressed in any public SC discussion.
The NR contract itself No record of a School Committee vote authorizing the Mentor ABI, LLC contract has been found in the public record. Public school contracts of this financial magnitude are ordinarily subject to a public vote.
Superintendent Perry's dual role with the Greater Sebago Education Alliance Perry simultaneously directs GSD's budget and serves as Executive Director of the RSC that acts as MaineCare billing agent for GSD and 11 other districts. She also chairs the state funding committee that governs the formula under which Seed recoveries are calculated. None of these relationships have been disclosed in any GSD budget presentation.
LD 858 grant-billing conflict The July 2025 law provides grants specifically for behavioral health services "not otherwise covered by MaineCare." If GSD or its GSE billing network simultaneously bills MaineCare and applies for LD 858 grants for the same students, this creates a double-billing pathway. No public disclosure or conflict analysis has been presented.
Jen Jello's regulatory capture at the ABIAC The State Director of Maine's largest private brain injury provider simultaneously co-chairs the state advisory body that recommends funding and regulatory policy for that same provider's MaineCare billing categories. She testified before the Legislature in February 2025 for rate increases in those categories without disclosing the $500M in dividends and $1.5B in new debt at her parent company. GSD has never disclosed this conflict in any budget discussion.
The Kennebunk co-location "immediate jeopardy" finding A July 28, 2025 CMS inspection at the address shared by NeuroRestorative and a Genesis Healthcare nursing facility (currently in bankruptcy) found "immediate jeopardy to resident health or safety," $23,590 in fines, and 27 deficiency citations. This occurred while GSD was developing its FY27 budget referencing NR as a continuing relationship. It was not disclosed in any public budget discussion.
Section 14
Freedom of Access Act Requests

The following public records requests are directed to the appropriate agencies. All records identified below are public under the Maine Freedom of Access Act, 1 M.R.S.A. §§ 400 et seq. Agencies are required to respond within five business days.

To: Gorham School Department — Superintendent's Office
All contracts, agreements, memoranda of understanding, renewals, amendments, and School Committee authorization or vote records for any agreement between GSD and Mentor ABI, LLC; NeuroRestorative Maine; NeuroRestorative; The MENTOR Network; National Mentor Holdings, Inc.; Civitas Solutions, Inc.; or Sevita Health — from 2015 to present.
Note: Request by all entity names. The legal counterparty is Mentor ABI, LLC; records filed under the brand name "NeuroRestorative" may be incomplete.
To: Gorham School Department — Superintendent's Office
All procurement records for the Mentor ABI, LLC relationship: requests for proposal, competitive bid solicitations, sole-source justifications, and any vendor evaluation documentation from 2015 to present.
Note: Establishes whether the contract was competitively bid and whether a sole-source justification was documented.
To: Gorham School Department — Superintendent's Office
All MaineCare school-based billing policies, coordination-of-benefits documentation, billing logs, and any correspondence with Maine DHHS Office of MaineCare Services regarding overlap between GSD's billing program and private provider billing for the same students — FY2022 to present.
Note: Establishes whether coordination-of-benefits controls exist and whether dual billing has been reviewed.
To: Gorham Adult Education
All enrollment records, tuition agreements, invoices, and payment records for NR / Mentor ABI, LLC residents or staff enrolled in GAE ESOL programming — FY2020 to present — including the per-pupil tuition rate and total annual revenue received from Mentor ABI, LLC.
Note: Confirms whether this revenue relationship is being tracked separately or embedded elsewhere in the GAE budget.
To: Maine DHHS — Division of Licensing and Certification (41 Anthony Avenue, Station 11, Augusta, ME 04333)
All licensing records, inspection reports, complaint records, deficiency citations, plans of correction, and enforcement actions for: 9 Rivers Edge Drive, Gorham ME; 986 Sebago Road (License #RCD2000); 988 Sebago Road (License #RCC2294); and 1014 Sebago Road (License #RCD38602), Sebago ME — from January 2017 to present.
Note: Documents regulatory history and quality-of-care record at all Maine NR facilities tied to the GSD relationship.
To: Gorham School Department — Superintendent's Office
All records, agreements, memoranda, and communications related to Superintendent Heather Perry's role as Executive Director of the Greater Sebago Education Alliance (GSE) Regional Service Center, including: any conflict-of-interest disclosures filed with the GSD School Committee; any documentation of GSE's MaineCare third-party billing agent status and its applicability to GSD claims; all records of GSD claims processed through the GSE billing network from FY2022 to present; and any LD 858 grant applications submitted by GSD or GSE on behalf of GSD from 2025 to present.
Note: Establishes whether the dual-role conflict was disclosed to the School Committee and whether LD 858 grants were sought for services also billed to MaineCare.
To: Maine DHHS — Office of MaineCare Services (242 State Street, Augusta, ME 04333)
All records related to Jen Jello's participation in the Maine Acquired Brain Injury Advisory Council (ABIAC), including: any conflict-of-interest disclosures filed with DHHS; all ABIAC meeting minutes and voting records from 2020 to present in which rate adjustments for MaineCare Sections 18 and/or 102 were discussed or recommended; and all correspondence between the ABIAC or its members and NeuroRestorative Maine, National Mentor Healthcare LLC, Mentor ABI LLC, or Sevita Health from 2020 to present.
Note: Establishes whether the statutory independence requirement of Title 34-B MRSA §19001 was observed and whether the ABIAC's funding recommendations for Sections 18 and 102 were influenced by the participation of a corporate representative of the state's largest Section 18 provider.
Section 15
Questions for the April 8 School Committee Vote and June 9 Referendum

The budget refers to a "state agency client." Is the legal name of that entity Mentor ABI, LLC — a Delaware LLC owned by Centerbridge Partners and Vistria Group — and can you identify the School Committee meeting where this contract was voted on?

When Mentor ABI bills MaineCare for services to Gorham students, Maine DOE recovers the state's share from GSD's GPA subsidy check. Why has this mechanism never been disclosed in a public budget presentation, and what were the actual seed recovery amounts for FY2022, FY2023, and FY2024?

GSD is billing MaineCare and NR is billing MaineCare for the same student population at approximately equal dollar amounts simultaneously. What coordination-of-benefits controls are in place, and where are they documented?

Was the Mentor ABI, LLC contract competitively bid? If not, what sole-source justification is on file?

The FTC brought antitrust enforcement against Sevita Health in September 2025. Did GSD's administration or legal counsel review this action in connection with the NR contract before finalizing the FY27 budget?

Private provider MaineCare billing for Gorham students increased 93% in FY2024 with no public explanation. What caused that increase, and does the district know whether any FY2024 billings duplicated services GSD was also providing?

The property at 9 Rivers Edge Drive is owned by a Massachusetts real estate LLC unrelated to NeuroRestorative. Was this property ownership and lease structure disclosed to GSD before any agreement was signed, and was it reviewed by legal counsel?

Gorham Adult Education receives approximately $516 per person per year from NR for ESOL enrollment. How many NR residents are currently enrolled, and is this revenue expected to continue after the broader NR relationship concludes?

Superintendent Perry serves simultaneously as GSD Superintendent, Executive Director of the Greater Sebago Education Alliance Regional Service Center (which acts as a MaineCare third-party billing agent for GSD), and Chair of the MSSA State-Wide Funding Committee. Has this concentration of roles ever been disclosed to the School Committee in a conflict-of-interest filing? Has legal counsel reviewed it?

LD 858 (signed July 8, 2025) provides grants for behavioral health services "not otherwise covered or reimbursable through MaineCare." Has GSD or the Greater Sebago Education Alliance applied for any LD 858 grants for services that were also billed to MaineCare in the same fiscal year for the same students?

Jen Jello, State Director of NeuroRestorative Maine, serves as Co-Chair of the Maine ABIAC — the body that advises DHHS on funding and policy for MaineCare Sections 18 and 102, which are NeuroRestorative's billing categories. Has GSD's administration or legal counsel ever reviewed whether this structure affects the independence of the regulatory oversight governing NR's billing practices?

A July 28, 2025 CMS inspection at 3 Brazier Lane, Kennebunk — a location shared by NeuroRestorative and a Genesis Healthcare nursing facility (in bankruptcy) — found "immediate jeopardy to resident health or safety," $23,590 in fines, and 27 deficiency citations. Was GSD made aware of this finding? Did the administration review it in connection with the ongoing NR relationship described in the FY27 budget?

Appendix A
Key Facts Reference
ItemFactSource
Legal entityMentor ABI, LLC (Delaware)SEC EDGAR · Civitas Exhibit 21.1 (2018)
Corporate HQ313 Congress Street, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02210SEC EDGAR
NR corporate office980 Washington Street, Suite 306, Dedham, MA 02026CARF · Sevita locations
Ultimate owners (2019–present)Centerbridge Partners + Vistria GroupSEC filings · FTC records
Parent company (2018 filing)119 subsidiaries listed under Civitas Solutions, Inc.SEC Exhibit 21.1
Gorham house address9 Rivers Edge Drive, Gorham, ME 04038Gorham assessor
Gorham house ownerJ & J Realty Trust Partnership LLC — John Connolly, 285 Washington St, Braintree MA 02184Gorham assessor · Acct #007020 RE
Purchase date / priceNovember 3, 2017 · $365,000Gorham assessor
Licensed capacity5 beds (3 bedrooms)Maine DHHS licensing
Sebago House license#RCD2000 · 986 Sebago Road, SebagoMaine DHHS
Sebago Ranch license#RCC2294 · 988 Sebago Road, SebagoMaine DHHS
Sebago Lodge license#RCD38602 · 1014 Sebago Road, SebagoMaine DHHS
Medicare authorized official on fileBrett I. Cohen (departed July 2023 — may be outdated)CMS enrollment records
MaineCare billing sectionSection 18 — Brain Injury HCBS Waiver (ME.1082)Maine DHHS MaineCare Benefits Manual
FY2024 private provider billing$115,979 (+93% from FY2023)Maine DOE Seed Reports
Estimated FY2024 GSD seed recovery~$43,000Maine DOE seed mechanism (37% state share)
FY2027 revenue cliff~$455,000GSD FY27 budget documents
GAE ESOL per-person rate from NR$516/yearGSD budget documents
GSD contract publicly disclosedNo — no SC agenda, minutes, or vote found in public recordPublic record review
Contract competitively bidUnknown — no procurement record found in public recordPublic record review
Supt. Perry — dual roleGSD Superintendent (2015–) + GSE Executive Director (2023–) + MSSA Funding Committee ChairMSSA · GSE · AASA press releases
GSE billing agent statusRegional Service Center acting as MaineCare third-party billing agent for 12 districts including GorhamMaineCare in Education 2023 Guide · Maine RSC statute
LD 858Signed July 8, 2025 — grants for behavioral health services "not otherwise covered by MaineCare" — double-billing conflict riskMaine Legislature
Jen Jello — dual roleState Director, NeuroRestorative Maine (Sevita) AND Co-Chair, Maine ABIACMaine Legislature testimony archive · DHHS ABIAC records
Jen Jello — legislative testimonyFebruary 12, 2025 — lobbied for MaineCare rate increases for Sections 18 and 102 (NR's billing categories)Maine Legislature testimony archive
Kennebunk co-location address3 Brazier Lane, Kennebunk, ME 04043 — NeuroRestorative + RiverRidge Center (Genesis Healthcare, in bankruptcy)CMS · DOJ · U.S. Bankruptcy Court
Kennebunk CMS inspectionJuly 28, 2025 — "immediate jeopardy," $23,590 fine, 27 deficienciesCMS inspection records
Genesis Healthcare DOJ settlement$53.6 million (2017) for Medicare fraudDOJ
Sevita — new debt (late 2024)$1.5 billion in new debt loaded, in addition to $500M dividends 2019–2021Corporate financial disclosures
DOJ / KKR antitrust lawsuit$650M+ antitrust penalties sought — related to same market concentration as Sevita FTC actionsDOJ
HHS-OIG audit (January 2026)$45.6M improper MaineCare payments — Section 28; 100% error rate; $28.7M clawback demandedHHS-OIG
Maine brain injury waiver waitlist222 Mainers waiting for services NR provides — while parent extracts dividendsMaine DHHS