By SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
A Phenix City healthcare provider has agreed to repay $300,000 after a federal investigation found it billed Alabama’s Medicaid program for services that investigators say were not provided to vulnerable children.
U.S. Attorney Thomas Govan announced that New Life Center for Change, Inc., doing business as Teen University, reached a civil settlement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama. The agreement resolves allegations that the facility submitted false Medicaid claims while operating under a contract with the Alabama Department of Human Resources.
According to investigators, Teen University and its owner, Alfonza Smith, were contracted to provide housing, meals and care for children with emotional and behavioral challenges. The contract also required two hours of daily basic living skills instruction for each resident.
However, an investigation by the Alabama Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit found those services were not consistently provided, prompting a referral that led to a federal False Claims Act lawsuit. The facility is no longer a Medicaid provider.
“Protecting the integrity of Medicaid and ensuring that vulnerable children receive the services they are promised are among our highest priorities,” Govan said.
Attorney General Steve Marshall said healthcare fraud undermines public trust and wastes taxpayer dollars, adding, “When providers take taxpayer money without delivering the services they promised, we will find them, and there will be consequences.”
The case was part of the 2026 National Healthcare Fraud Takedown, a nationwide effort targeting fraud in government-funded healthcare programs.