How to recover my iPad locked to owner without Serial Number

Sorry, but if the Apple ID used to lock the iPad cannot be accessed, and the group home cannot get a copy of the receipt, then there's nothing that can be done. It doesn't matter how the device is being used or by whom, it's completely a matter of proving device ownership. I know it seem heartless, but Apple cannot and will not assist if you cannot prove ownership of the iPad. One wouldn't want them to, or the anti-theft provisions of locking a device would be useless.

I'm afraid that this all down to the group home taking responsibility or refusing to. If they will not take any responsibility, then absent consulting a lawyer (who would probably charge close to what the iPad would cost to replace), there's nothing that can be done. The iPad is indeed useless at this point.

Regards.

Getting the proper receipt will depend in if the iPad was purchased from the official Apple Store on the website or if it was purchased from a different Amazon seller. If it was purchased from any other third party seller on Amazon, then there is no point in even attempting to get the proper documentation. It would have needed to be purchased from the official Apple site on Amazon. A receipt from any third party seller would not be accepted.

If you got a receipt from Amazon that does not show the serial number, then you just have the Bill of Laden and it is not the receipt at all. The original receipt will show the Seller and that needs to say Apple Computer and the receipt will also show the serial number of the iPad.

Unfortunately it is simply required to provide the original purchase receipt that also shows the serial number to make sure the correct device is being addressed. There are no exceptions. Companies seem to get into trouble when they start making exceptions as then who decides when it is OK in one case and not the other. And if a person did make an exception and was found to be scammed by someone making a false claim, then the company would be liable. Many data breaches and individual accounts have been compromised when an exception to a rule is broken, so now the policies are set in stone and the employees don't have any way to bypass these rules even if they wanted to.

It would seem to me that the Group Home has failed you and should own up to that fact and rectify the matter with a new iPad. Any Apple device is going to be locked to the person that sets it up. The person that purchased the device can remove the lock with the original receipt from Apple or Authorized Apple Seller. It's just that simple.