State Closes Care Facility Over Problems of Supervision : Littlerock: The temporary suspension comes after one client died of exposure in the desert two days after leaving Sunshine Home.

A residential care facility for the elderly and disabled in Littlerock was closed this week after state investigators determined that operators failed to supervise their clients. One client died of exposure in the desert two days after leaving the facility this month.

The Sunshine Home was served with a temporary suspension order Wednesday, and a dozen clients staying there were transferred to other facilities, said Liz Brady, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Social Services.

The state’s action comes on the heels of the death of Carey Don Quintana, 35, whose body was found Aug. 3 about two blocks from the Sunshine Home on Avenue S in Littlerock, authorities said. Quintana, who was mentally retarded, had been missing two days when the body was discovered, according to the suspension order. Sheriff’s deputies said he died of exposure.

“The death was certainly a contributing factor” in the decision to suspend operations at the facility, Brady said. But she said investigators had been looking at the facility before that and had been working with operators “to try to correct the situation.”

The suspension order signed by Fred Miller, deputy director of the Community Care Licensing Division of the Department of Social Services, referred to “numerous incidents of missing clients.” The documents also listed a series of fights among clients and one incident in which a staff member physically attacked a client.

The most recent problem at the home occurred Aug. 13, when one client hit another over the head with a chair. Stitches were required to close the wound, according to the suspension order.

Besides trying to revoke the license at Sunshine Home, the complaint also seeks to revoke the license for four other group homes operated by Aurora and Chalit Nakpawan in Sylmar, Arleta and Van Nuys. Each of the other facilities has six beds. The other facilities are: Aurora’s Group Home, Lil Care Center, Aurora’s Group Home III, and Aurora’s Group Home IV.

The licensee has 15 days to appeal the suspension order, said Brady. If there is no appeal, the facility will be closed permanently, she said.

Operators are listed as the Nakpawans and Puro and Antonio Alfonso. A recording Thursday stated that the phone at the Sunshine Home had been disconnected or was not in service. Attempts to reach the Nakpawans and the Alfonsos were unsuccessful.