Judge, Wife Must Improve 4 Care Homes

An Orange County Superior Court judge and his wife were ordered Monday to either bring their four board-and-care homes into compliance with state codes within 60 days or else close the facilities and relocate the 19 elderly patients who live in them, state officials said.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert Higa issued a preliminary injunction to close the homes but stayed the order to allow the owners of the homes, Orange County Superior Court Judge Leonard H. and Betty McBride, to meet state requirements.

The state attorney general’s office began court proceedings to close the homes last year, after the McBrides failed to respond to the state Department of Social Services’ order that they obtain licenses to operate the facilities.

Betty McBride, who, according to her husband, actually operates the homes, completed the license application in January, but it was denied the following month, said John Grant, licensing program supervisor for the department in Santa Ana.

Grant said Monday that the application was denied for three reasons: the “lack of qualification� of McBride to operate a board-and-care facility; several fire code violations, most involving the homes’ lack of access ramps and quick exits for nonambulatory patients, and the fact that the McBrides had operated the homes in violation of state law without a license for nearly two years.

Some of the fire code violations have been corrected, but others remain, said Grant, who visited the homes, located in an unincorporated county area east of Santa Ana, last Friday.

McBride said Monday that some of the fire code violations had not been corrected because his wife had not understood all that was required. He said that misunderstanding has been corrected.

“She intends to comply with whatever is necessary within the 60 days,� McBride said.

He added that his wife also needs to obtain some building permits in order to sufficiently upgrade the board-and-care homes to meet state requirements.

“If it is humanly possible, she will accomplish that, too,� McBride said.

If the McBrides can correct the deficiencies in the homes and meet state licensing requirements within 60 days, under the order issued by Judge Higa in Norwalk Superior Court, they may be able to stay open, said Fred Dumont, Orange County district manager for the state agency.

“We would be willing to work with them in the spirit of the injunction,� Dumont said Monday.

In the meantime, no new boarders will be permitted at the McBrides’ homes, which operate under the name Bishop’s Board and Care Inc., Dumont said.

In an interview last fall, McBride said his wife started a board-and-care facility in 1984 to care for an elderly friend and neighbor who detested living in convalescent homes. Since their own eight children had moved away from home, McBride said they took the woman in their house.

“She just started it by chance and it grew from there,� McBride said. He said his wife runs the four facilities with nine employees, including a 24-hour live-in resident at each house.

Times staff writer Ray Perez contributed to this article.