Daybreak seeks licensure after series of lawsuits against the shuttered facility dismissed

A longtime drug treatment provider in Spokane is accusing the state Department of Health of a shoddy and unfair investigation that forced its closure and hampered the recovery of youths who were forced to leave when the state shut it down.

Daybreak Youth Services may attempt to reopen its youth behavioral health facilities after achieving several legal victories that the organization said should restore its credibility and reputation.

It had to shut down its two inpatient facilities in 2023 amid a scandal and Department of Health orders.

“We’re in the process of completely clearing our name, getting our license back and deciding what we can do now to help teens,” said Daybreak board member Ron Benfield.

If Daybreak regains licensure, Benfield said he is unsure if it will reopen their Spokane facility.

“Whether we will operate the same thing in the same locations, or in Washington, I think is an open question,” he said.

Founded in 1978, Daybreak offered addiction and mental health treatment for youth ages 12 to 18. Before its closure, the organization’s two inpatient clinics included an all-girls Spokane facility with 36 beds and a Vancouver-area boys facility with 56 beds.

The Department of Health ordered both facilities closed in 2023 – claiming Daybreak refused to cooperate with an investigation into several instances of alleged misconduct between staff and patients. While litigation of Daybreak’s suspended license continues, many of those underlying cases of misconduct have since failed to hold up to legal scrutiny.

In a summary judgement ending one case, Spokane Superior Court Judge Tony Hazel ruled no reasonable jury could have found Daybreak at fault “without engaging in impermissible and unlawful speculation.”

In that lawsuit, Jamie Million alleged her daughter’s fentanyl overdose death was caused by her inappropriate relationship with a “skills coach” employed by Daybreak . But the 17-year-old’s death occurred 14 months after she was last discharged by Daybreak.

In his ruling, Hazel said that Daybreak being responsible for a death so long after being in a facility’s care was “beyond the scope of employment.”

“At the end of the day, respectfully I find that the plaintiff’s evidence amounts to only speculation,” he said.

Hazel noted that the teen could have “suffered injury as a result of Daybreak’s action,” but any possible injury was not causal to her death.

A lawyer for Million could not be reached Thursday for comment.

Another case against Daybreak was dismissed in November 2024 and ended with sanctions against the plaintiff for not complying with discovery, a court order requiring the parties to share information and evidence pertinent to the case.

A criminal case against a Daybreak staff member was dismissed during trial after the youth victim testified he was unsure if the alleged abuse had taken place.

Daybreak says these court victories undermine the state’s underlying reasons for stripping its license.

“Every time Daybreak has been given the opportunity to defend itself in legal proceeding before a neutral Judge, the allegations against Daybreak collapse,” said David H. Smith, legal counsel or Daybreak, said in a prepared statement. “The Department of Health built its case for emergency closure on rumors, speculation, and after-the-fact hearsay statements from unreliable sources.”

A legal case over Daybreak’s medical license is still ongoing. A spokesperson for the Department of Health declined to comment on the case.

The health department initially suspended the license because Daybreak “repeatedly failed to cooperate with state health department investigations into ongoing patient safety concerns.” The state agency ordered Daybreak to transfer patients and end operations within three days.

After the facility failed to do so, the department successfully obtained a contempt order against Daybreak for operating without license. In April this year an appeals court reversed this ruling, affirming it was “impossible” for Daybreak to shut down within the time allotted .

All patients were eventually transferred and Daybreak was shuttered within 12 days of the 2023 order. Benfield said the rushed order caused further damage to patients.

“A lot of these kids had nowhere to go over a very compressed Memorial Day weekend. Two of them ended up on a train towards Seattle and they disappeared off the train before it got there. Another female that was discharged from Spokane overdosed less than two weeks later and passed away,” he said.

The underlying issue of whether the license suspension was justified is still being litigated. Benfield hopes for a ruling from an administrative judge in the coming months that will allow Daybreak to again operate in Washington state.

“Daybreak was forced out of business without ever having the chance to contest false allegations,” said Tom Russell, the CEO of Daybreak. “But one by one, the truth is coming out. The Department of health’s campaign against Daybreak is unraveling.”