A Middletown behavioral health clinician has been sentenced for defrauding Medicaid by submitting claims for work she did not perform and allowing unlicensed employees to provide behavioral health services.
Darlene Shuff-Porter, also known as Darlene Dailey, 66, was sentenced on Feb. 11 by Judge Tracy Lee Dayton to three years in prison, execution of that time suspended, with five years of conditional discharge, according to a release from the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice.
Shuff-Porter pleaded guilty in New Haven Superior Court on Oct. 20, 2025 to one count first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community and health insurance fraud. She was ordered not to be a Medicaid provider during her five-year conditional discharge and also paid $55,410.69 in restitution her sentencing date, the DCJ said.
According to the DCJ, ‘by pleading guilty to two program-related felonies, the defendant is also subject to mandatory exclusion as a health care provider to certain federally funded health programs pursuant to federal and state laws and regulations. Medicaid is a government program that provides health coverage to low-income, disabled and elderly individuals, and is financed by both the federal and state governments and administered by the Connecticut Department of Social Services.”
Inspectors of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney determined that Shuff-Porter, the owner of Dailey Professional Counseling Services, LLC, in Meriden, reportedly billed for psychotherapy services that were not rendered between December 2018 and April 2020, court records show.
Evidence showed that Dailey Professional Counseling Services, LLC was submitting claims to the Department of Social Services for meetings with clients that did not happen. In addition, Shuff-Porter was reportedly “utilizing unlicensed employees to meet with clients and then billing as if licensed qualified services were provided,” according to the DCJ.
In total, Shuff-Porter was accused of fraudulently billing Medicaid for $55,410.69 in Medicaid payments “she was not entitled to receive,” the DCJ said.
The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney.
Anyone with information about suspected fraud or abuse in the public healthcare system is asked to contact the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney at 860-258-5986.