CTV News has learned that Ontario's Public Guardian and Trustee (OPGT) and several other provincially-funded organizations had been alerted to the problems at 'People Helping People' group homes and yet individuals with mental health issues continued to be directed there.

Todd Harrison spent just months in a People Helping People home, after independent living combined with his cerebral palsy proved to be too much.

"I looked at a place and I said, 'I like it' and then I got to know the place and I'm like, 'No, it's not, it's not good for me,'" Todd says.

The lack of supervision, combined with his roommate proved to be too much.

"He sometimes gets freaked out and he talks to himself and I basically said to myself, 'I'm scared,'" he adds.

"The only way of getting out in the event of a fire was through the same way you came in. There was no secondary exit. The windows were nailed shut. There wasn't a working smoke detector in the house, or a smoke detector in the basement at all," adds Wayne Harrison, Todd's father.

He pulled Todd out and reported the problem to the fire department as well as the agency that paid Todd's rent, the Ontario Public Trustee and Guardian.

"As far as I know nothing was done. Not a thing was done," adds Wayne.

Todd's disability cheques stopped being sent to his former home.

"[Keith Charles] is making money hand over fist and basically, no expenditures."

The OPGT was alerted to the conditions in Charles' homes years ago and yet continued to issue rent cheques to him on behalf of its clients.

Staff told CTV News they do inspect where clients live and they've also communicated that to enforcement agencies in the past.

But it's not clear if any efforts were made to track how thousands of dollars in taxpayer money was being spent on a monthly basis, to care for dozens of its clients in Charles' care.

A email statement from Brendan Crawley, a spokesperson for the Attorney General of Ontario, says "While in-person visits or meetings with OPGT clients are not specifically required by law, the OPGT may attend a residence or facility to visit a client as needed. However, the legislation which gives the OPGT its authority precludes it from providing oversight for any type of housing (supportive housing, long-term care, group/retirement homes etc.)."

Although the OPGT doesn't actively seek out housing for its clients, it does have to approve where they live.

While clients can choose where they live, OPGT documents clearly state that final responsibility and accountability for these decisions rests with the OPGT.

"There's not enough follow up or inspection before these people are placed in these home," says Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Jeff Yurek.

"If it's not in their mandate to do a pre-inspection before signing off on the rent cheques, adding in that inspection is pretty key- in order to ensure these peopl have healthy and safe environments," says Yurek.

Keith Charles' name still angers Wayne Harrison but he's angrier still that nobody checked him out.

"I'd like to know how the heck he flew under the radar for so long," he says.