Rewriting attributions and softening unverified claims in the article.

A man died at a Cutler Bay assisted living facility after the two caregivers on shift were unable to perform CPR, according to a state inspection report cited in a Miami Herald investigation by Carol Marbin Miller published Friday.

Paradise Villa, a six-bed home at 21164 SW 92nd Place, houses people with mental illness. The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration documented the death in its report.

Caregiver panicked after resident's fall from wheelchair

The resident had fallen from his wheelchair and stopped breathing, the daughter of another resident told state inspectors in December 2025. No one performed CPR until rescue workers arrived after the daughter called for help.

One caregiver said they did not give the man CPR. "I panicked ... I was very nervous," the caregiver said, according to the report.

The exact date of the incident is redacted in the report.

16 Miami-Dade homes fight state to stay open

Sixteen Miami-Dade assisted living facilities that house people with mental illness are litigating with the state to stay open, according to records cited by the Herald.

Steve Leifman, a retired Miami-Dade Mental Health Court judge, told the Herald little has changed since he called the homes "a cheap, easy, unregulated system of care" 15 years ago.

Low Medicaid rates leave funding gap for care homes

The financial gap is stark. The market rate for an assisted living facility bed in Miami-Dade runs $3,400 to $3,600 a month, according to Thriving Mind CEO Laura Naredo. One Medicaid program pays as little as $15.75 a day for a behavioral health bed, or $472.50 for 30 days. Another can pay up to $2,400 a month.

Thriving Mind is the privately run mental health service manager overseeing 40 Miami-Dade mental health agencies. On Sept. 17, its board members discussed conditions at assisted living facilities for people with mental illness. Board chair Luis Collazo, who also directs Palm Breeze Assisted Living Facility, said there is nowhere else to place these residents.

Naredo said Florida has no system to alert community mental health agencies when state regulators move to strip a facility's license.

The Agency for Health Care Administration did not respond to the Herald's questions for the investigation.

Residents concerned about conditions at a local care facility can file a complaint through the agency's website.