This is a frightening situation in my area

Colbert King at the Washington Post often wrote about the fiasco and botch-ups of the DC government's juvie systems. A real mess. I remembered visited Lorton as part of Gallaudet's Saloshin seminar and escapes happened all the time....Lorton is closed now. DC inmates are now in the federal prison system nationwide, making it hard for the families to visit. Well, then don't commit crimes, duh....
 
DURAY said:
Colbert King at the Washington Post often wrote about the fiasco and botch-ups of the DC government's juvie systems. A real mess. I remembered visited Lorton as part of Gallaudet's Saloshin seminar and escapes happened all the time....Lorton is closed now. DC inmates are now in the federal prison system nationwide, making it hard for the families to visit. Well, then don't commit crimes, duh....
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Some DC juveniles, those with mental health issues, are obviously sent to the facility in question.

Inmates who are not incarcerated as the result of a federal crime are not housed at federal facilities.
 
Update:

Cops no stranger to Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health

SUMMERVILLE -- Nestled behind a weathered wooden fence on a compact, tree-lined campus, Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health blends in with the bustling suburb around it. One state lawmaker living nearby didn't even realize it was there.

But the 60-bed treatment center on Midland Parkway and its sister facility in North Charleston have long been on the radar of area police agencies. Officers have been called to the complexes dozens of times in recent years for reported escapes, assaults and other disturbances.

Statement from Univeral Health Services

What's more, Palmetto's parent corporation, Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services (UHS), has a history of similar problems and reported safety violations at facilities it owns in other states. Among other things:

--North Carolina regulators last year threatened to revoke the license of one of UHS's Charlotte centers where a 15-year-old was stabbed in the eye with a rusty nail by a fellow resident.

--A UHS-owned center in Winston-Salem, N.C., was cited for various issues, including an incident in which a teen was reportedly forced to perform oral sex on his roommate.

--Virginia officials last month froze admissions at three UHS-owned facilities for troubled children in Norfolk and Portsmouth, Va., until safety and treatment issues are corrected. In particular, officials cited a need for greater staffing and supervision at the facilities.

The company's Lowcountry facilities had attracted little attention from the general public. But that all changed on April 20, when four Washington teens with violent pasts escaped from Palmetto's Summerville facility while being treated for behavioral problems.

Universal Health Services facilities under scrutiny

Though the teens were later caught, Palmetto has come under intense scrutiny for accepting out-of-state kids with criminal histories at a complex guarded by little more than a privacy fence.

Some state lawmakers are now calling for a ban on the practice after learning that one of the D.C. teens had been charged with attempted murder. And the district agency that sent the teens to Summerville has suspended further placements at Palmetto while the treatment center reviews its security protocols.

Supporters say Universal Health Services and its centers provide valuable treatment options for severely troubled kids struggling with such problems as sexual aggression, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress.

Critics have questioned whether the Forbes 500 health management corporation is putting profits ahead of care by placing young sex offenders and criminals in facilities not designed or staffed to accommodate them.

UHS, which has some 200 facilities throughout the country, is certainly profitable. The corporation reported net revenues of $5.6 billion in 2010 and a 42 percent surge in revenues in the first quarter of this year.

UHS insists that the bottom line is ensuring that proper care and safety measures are in place at its facilities. In response to a list of questions from The Post and Courier about its facilities, the company issued a short press release defending its operations.

"UHS has always put patient and employee safety first at all of its behavioral health facilities," the statement read. "It's a hallmark of what we do, and we're proud of our track record of providing the highest quality of care for patients with special, and sometimes, mental health needs."

Importing problems?

Universal Health Services operates Palmetto Behavioral Health facilities in Summerville, North Charleston and Florence. The centers, which have a total of 260 beds, are part of a network of 17 youth treatment centers in South Carolina that house nearly 800 youths with mental illnesses, violent behavior and other problems.

Most are privately run, and the state has little say as to who is placed in these facilities or where they come from.

Palmetto officials have declined to answer questions about how many out-of-state offenders are housed at its facilities or what criminal charges they may face. In response to recent questions from The Post and Courier, Palmetto issued a release stating that its Summerville facility does not admit violent sexual predators, and that none of the four escapees are sexual or violent offenders.

That would seemingly contradict previous statements from officials in Washington, indicating that all four youths have histories of violence.

The District of Columbia Department of Youth Rehabilitation Center placed the four teens who escaped from the Summerville center. The agency has been sending youths to Palmetto for the past two years for specialized treatment, and it places juveniles in other UHS facilities around the country, said Chris Shorter, the agency's chief of staff.

The district pays Palmetto about $300 per day for each youth placed in its centers, based on treatment needs, Shorter said. Before the recent incident, the arrangement had worked well, he said.

Still, some state lawmakers remain concerned by the practice and are pushing for restrictions on the age, residency and level of criminal offender allowed at these centers.

State Rep. Chris Murphy, R-Summerville, said 15 to 20 out-of-state youths from around the country were being treated at the center on Midland Parkway when he toured the site on a recent afternoon.

"We do not need to be importing other state's problems," said Murphy, who represents the area where the facility is located.

Palmetto officials declined to discuss specific details of patient cases, citing confidentiality laws. They did say that the center plans to install additional security cameras and a new 12-foot chain-link fence designed to prevent climbing.

Palmetto officials said they are talking with state legislators about ways to further improve security. They also announced last week that a new executive director had been named for the Summerville facility.

Murphy said he welcomes the security improvements, but "they are still a long way off from where they need to be."

Checking for problems

David H. Zoellner, managing attorney for Columbia-based Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities Inc., said he understands the community's safety concerns, but his organization is leery of additional barriers placed in the way of kids who need care.

"Even if a juvenile has some disciplinary actions pending, he or she should be entitled to treatment if they need it," he said. "We would prefer they not be in big facilities or facilities out of state, but sometimes that may be necessary."

Zoellner said representatives of his organization have visited Palmetto's centers at various times and "have not found any particular problems with the treatment of kids there."

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control inspects the centers every two years. DHEC reported finding six violations at the Summerville facility during a 2007 inspection and three during a 2009 visit. State officials have offered no details about those violations, but have said the problems were corrected.

The Post and Courier requested access to those inspection records on April 25, but was told by a DHEC official that it would take some time to retrieve and review the documents for confidentiality issues. The newspaper's request was still pending at press time.

DHEC estimated that it could take at least another week to retrieve these public documents, at a cost of $475 to the newspaper. By contrast, North Carolina officials furnished hundreds of pages of detailed documents from facility inspections at no charge within hours of the newspaper's request this month.

Police, meanwhile, have been regular visitors to Palmetto's centers. Summerville police have been called to the Midland Parkway facility 128 times since February 2006, including 19 calls for missing persons and runaways, 42 reports of assaults and three reports of sexual assaults, records show.

In one incident from October 2009, a 15-year-old boy was accused of attacking and beating a 64-year-old woman after he slipped away from the center by ducking out a side door, police said.

The woman is now suing the center, accusing Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health of gross negligence and recklessness in the incident.

North Charleston police have been called to Palmetto's Speissegger Drive facility 98 times in the past five years, including 13 runaway and missing-person calls, 22 assault calls and six reports of sexual assaults, according to police.

Care and profits

Three former Palmetto staff members told The Post and Courier that the company's facilities are understaffed and ill-prepared to deal with hard-core, young offenders who have come in through out-of-state placements in recent years.

The workers spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisals.

One ex-worker at the Summerville center provided the newspaper with a copy of a complaint she sent to a corporate help line in 2008 detailing safety concerns brought on by a lack of staff.

At the time the facility was owned by Psychiatric Solutions Inc., which was taken over last year by Universal Health Services.

The worker stated that the third shift at the facility had only four workers and a medical technician to oversee 54 residents. "There are multiple occasions where, because of understaffing, a female staff member is left alone with over a dozen male residents, some of the residents being dangerous sex offenders," the complaint read.

The worker said nothing was ever done about her complaint.

Statement from Palmetto Behavioral Health

Palmetto officials insist the facility meets and typically exceeds staffing requirements put in place by the state.

State regulations, however, do not specify staffing ratios at treatment centers like Palmetto, according to Thom Berry, a DHEC spokesman. The regulation says only that "qualified personnel shall be employed in sufficient numbers to carry out the functions of the facility."

"Failure to Care" report

In 2006, the nation's largest health care union issued a report alleging that understaffing and poor case management at Universal Health Services' behavioral treatment centers led to sexual abuse, runaway patients, assaults and other problems.

The Service Employees International Union report, titled "Failure to Care," documented more than 50 incidents of abuse, improper treatment and alleged violations at UHS facilities across the country.

Prefacing the report, four members of the National Alliance of Professional Psychology Providers wrote a statement of concern that the findings illustrate a crisis in the nation's health care industry that places "earnings and exorbitant profits above the public interest at the expense of quality services to those in need."

In a statement, UHS declined to discuss specifics of the allegations or specific patient cases, stating simply that no two facilities are the same and that "programs, services and the continuums of care at every location are based on the needs of each individual community."

"All throughout the organization, everyone is committed to providing the best possible treatment for our patients in a safe, caring and respectful environment," the statement went on to say.

John Caccavale, a California psychologist who serves as the psychology alliance's executive director, said his group remains concerned about the level of care offered by mega-corporations like Universal Health Services.

Regulators will cite and fine these operations, but they are loathe to shut them down because budget cutbacks in most states have limited options for placing folks who need mental health treatment, he said.

"For the corporations, the profits you can make in this system are unbelievable, and you can get away with giving substandard care and no one really gives a damn," he said.
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Cops no stranger to Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health | The Post and Courier, Charleston SC - News, Sports, Entertainment
 
More updates:

Universal Health Services facilities under scrutiny
Sunday, May 15, 2011

Youth treatment centers operated by Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services have run into problems in other states, as well. Below are some examples:

The Keys of Carolina

North Carolina inspectors threatened to pull the license of The Keys of Carolina treatment center in Charlotte last year following a series of violent incidents.

State inspectors moved in after a 2009 incident in which a 15-year-old was stabbed in the eye with 3 1/2-inch nail by a fellow resident. The attack occurred after one teen teased and gossiped about the other having been raped by a relative as a toddler.

He gleaned that confidential information from staff notebooks that had been left unattended, according to state documents.

The facility failed to report the incident to the state as required when a hospitalization occurs, state officials said.

Follow-up visits uncovered a host of additional problems, including training deficiencies, improper restraint techniques and failure to follow treatment plans, according to state reports.

Inspectors also documented an escape and incidents of violence, including a patient requiring staples to close a gash in his head that occurred while he was reportedly "horse playing" with a staff member.

The state eventually reached a settlement with The Keys in October that allowed the center to keep operating. The center, which admitted no wrongdoing, agreed to pay a $26,500 penalty and conduct more training for staff.

The Pines

Virginia officials moved on April 25 to freeze admissions to The Pines Residential Treatment Center, which operates three facilities in Norfolk and Portsmouth for children with psychiatric and behavioral problems.

Virginia letter to The Pines

The state Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services also issued a provisional license for The Pines, a step taken before a license is revoked, said Meghan McGuire, a department spokeswoman. The Pines, owned by Universal Health Services, is licensed to care for 424 children.

McGuire said the moves "are not related to any one incident, but are the result of ongoing performance issues that must be corrected to ensure safety and effective treatment for the troubled children there."

The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk reported that the action occurred after state investigators determined that The Pines failed to report and document an allegation of sexual abuse at one of its facilities.

Old Vineyard Youth Services

North Carolina regulators required Old Vineyard Youth Services in Winston-Salem to correct deficiencies last year after investigators found evidence of improper sexual contact between two male teen residents, documents show.

Complaint and corrections for Old Vineyard

A 14-year-old boy accused his 17-year-old roommate of forcing him to have oral sex and trying to rape him while staff members were preoccupied with a disturbance in the unit, a state report show. Investigators reviewed video footage that showed the boys engaged in sex acts, records show, but prosecutors reportedly determined that the evidence did not warrant criminal charges.

The facility, which did not admit wrongdoing, agreed to improve monitoring procedures and training for staff.

Several other problems were uncovered during 2009 visits, including medication errors and an allegation that a patient had engaged in oral sex with a staff member, reports show. The facility worked to correct the problems identified and fired the staff member in question, records show.
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Universal Health Services facilities under scrutiny | The Post and Courier, Charleston SC - News, Sports, Entertainment
 
Reba said:
More updates:


Universal Health Services facilities under scrutiny | The Post and Courier, Charleston SC - News, Sports, Entertainment
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Bad things happen in jails, juvenile detention centers, and forensic mental health units. It is the nature of the environment. Oh well.

Just can't let go of the fact that you got all indignant over a 19 year old walking away from a secure mental health facility and were so certain that something horrible was going to happen as a result, but didn't. You need a career change. Become a cop. Or better yet, a politician. Maybe you could do something productive to change all these horrible horrible things in the world that you see instead of just sitting back and criticising those that are out there in the field on a daily basis.
 
jillio said:
Bad things happen in jails, juvenile detention centers, and forensic mental health units. It is the nature of the environment. Oh well.
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That's why they have to be carefully regulated to keep the bad things to a minimum.

Just can't let go of the fact that you got all indignant over a 19 year old walking away from a secure mental health facility
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If he just walked away, I guess it wasn't so secure.

and were so certain that something horrible was going to happen as a result, but didn't.
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Show me a post where I said that.

You need a career change. Become a cop. Or better yet, a politician. Maybe you could do something productive to change all these horrible horrible things in the world that you see instead of just sitting back and criticising those that are out there in the field on a daily basis.
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In other words, I'm the only ADer who's not allowed to complain or rant about a topic without being criticized by you?
 
Reba said:
That's why they have to be carefully regulated to keep the bad things to a minimum.


If he just walked away, I guess it wasn't so secure.


Show me a post where I said that.


In other words, I'm the only ADer who's not allowed to complain or rant about a topic without being criticized by you?
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Since you don't seem to be satisfied with the way they are being regulated,why aren't you doing something to solve the problems?

Nope, everyone that comes across as uninformed and bigoted gets criticised equally by me.
 
jillio said:
Since you don't seem to be satisfied with the way they are being regulated,why aren't you doing something to solve the problems?
Click to expand...
My state representatives in the legislature are doing something about it. Didn't you read that?

Nope, everyone that comes across as uninformed and bigoted gets criticised equally by me.
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You're not just criticizing the content of the posts, you're saying that we shouldn't even post at all if it doesn't meet your criteria. That sounds more like censorship.
 
Reba said:
My state representatives in the legislature are doing something about it. Didn't you read that?


You're not just criticizing the content of the posts, you're saying that we shouldn't even post at all if it doesn't meet your criteria. That sounds more like censorship.
Click to expand...

Why is it when I disagree with your opinion you seem to think that you are being told not to post? I am simply saying you should not make hard and fast judgements without all of the information.

They are asking for a review of the facilities. They are not asking for a regression in treatment protocol.
 
jillio said:
Why is it when I disagree with your opinion you seem to think that you are being told not to post? I am simply saying you should not make hard and fast judgements without all of the information.
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Because you say things like this:

"Maybe you could do something productive to change all these horrible horrible things in the world that you see instead of just sitting back and criticising those that are out there in the field on a daily basis."

They are asking for a review of the facilities. They are not asking for a regression in treatment protocol.
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A review of the facilities and their procedures.

Who said anything about a regression in treatment protocol?
 
Those are good questions Reba. I don't remember you making even the slightest implication that you were talking about anything even remotely having to do with treatment - but rather the fact that the entire health care facilities should be scrutinized for incidents such as 4 VIOLENT offenders just happening to walk away.

Jillio needs to quite possibly get a refund for her PhD, or, we need to fire those psychologists and psychiatrists that see nothing wrong with this picture.
 
Steinhauer said:
Those are good questions Reba. I don't remember you making even the slightest implication that you were talking about anything even remotely having to do with treatment - but rather the fact that the entire health care facilities should be scrutinized for incidents such as 4 VIOLENT offenders just happening to walk away.
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Thank you.

Jillio needs to quite possibly get a refund for her PhD, or, we need to fire those psychologists and psychiatrists that see nothing wrong with this picture.
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I try not to get personal here.

Obviously the psychologists and psychiatrists that are involved in these centers have a lot at stake (financially), and don't want too much shaking of their bushes to see what falls out.
 
Steinhauer said:
Those are good questions Reba. I don't remember you making even the slightest implication that you were talking about anything even remotely having to do with treatment - but rather the fact that the entire health care facilities should be scrutinized for incidents such as 4 VIOLENT offenders just happening to walk away.

Jillio needs to quite possibly get a refund for her PhD, or, we need to fire those psychologists and psychiatrists that see nothing wrong with this picture.
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As usual you have no idea what you are talking about, and have resorted to ad homnum attacks as a result of your own incompetence,:roll:
 
 
Pretty sad situation. A bunch of totally irresponsible people. Looks like a bunch of quacks to me.
 
That is why the general public is not in a position of making decisions regarding mental health. I knew no changes would be forthcoming. There has been no evidence that any changes are necessary.
 
jillio said:
That is why the general public is not in a position of making decisions regarding mental health. I knew no changes would be forthcoming. There has been no evidence that any changes are necessary.
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Right. Since the previous situation, things have gotten worse. People still escape from the center, the public isn't notified until after the fact, and the residents are beating up on the staff. Everything is just fine there.
 
Reba said:
Right. Since the previous situation, things have gotten worse. People still escape from the center, the public isn't notified until after the fact, and the residents are beating up on the staff. Everything is just fine there.
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How many people in the community have been harmed?

As was previously discussed at length, there is a reason that the public is not notified.

Anyone who works at a mental health facility is aware of the risk of being attacked by a client.:dunno2: It isn't something any of us focus on. Apparently, the general public is more concerned about the risk than are the people who are actually subject to the risk.

Yep. Things are fine there. Only a few seem to need to stir up a pot of negativity regarding the population this center serves.
 
D.C. teen who fled from BWI is latest to escape from city juvenile authorities
By Allison Klein, Published: June 21

D.C. youth corrections officers were dispatched to Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport on Sunday afternoon to pick up a city teen who is facing assault charges and has a history of escaping from authorities.

But they arrived 15 minutes late. By the time they got there, Brandon Sparrow, 18, had run, making quick work of the guard from Utah who had escorted him on and off the plane.

Sparrow, who was caught Tuesday, is the latest D.C. youth to flee from juvenile justice authorities. The escape prompted finger pointing from the corrections union, outrage from a D.C. Council member and self-examination from the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS), which vowed to change some policies and regulations.

“Arriving late under these circumstances cannot be justified,” said council member Jim Graham, (D-Ward 1), who oversees the department. “This appears to be a DYRS lapse. Why wasn’t this individual in restraints?”

Christopher Shorter, spokesman and chief of staff for Neil Stanley, interim DYRS director, said general practice is for officers to arrive 45 minutes early when picking up a detainee at an airport.

“But that is not formally in our transportation policy,” Shorter said. “This forces the agency to look at internal policy and protocols. It will be part of our written policy going forward.”

Sparrow, who was found in Southeast Washington on Tuesday morning by U.S. Marshals, was to be taken from the airport to New Beginnings, the secure facility in Laurel for D.C. youths.

Tasha Williams, chairwoman of the union that represents correctional officers at New Beginnings, said the supervisors who dispatched officers to the airport declined to send ones with expertise in transporting detainees.

“He’s a high-risk offender. He’s a flight risk,” Williams said. “Protocol is to send experienced transportation officers who would have been in place 45 minutes early.”

Williams said that the agency’s transportation coordinator was fired months ago and that the position remains vacant. She said there are only three officers who have expertise in detainee transport, and none of them was sent to the airport Sunday.

“This would not have happened if they sent people with the right training,” she said.

Shorter initially said the officers were late because the plane Sparrow was on had landed early.

The plane landed eight minutes early, at 4:15 p.m.

Sparrow was returning to the District from a treatment facility in Utah, where he had been placed by DYRS for several weeks.

Sparrow was due in court Monday for an arraignment in connection with a May 6 incident in which he is accused of using a broom to hit an officer at New Beginnings.

After he left the plane, he told the Utah officer who was escorting him that he needed to use the bathroom, Graham said. Then, he ran.

This was the second high-profile escape for Sparrow.

On April 20, Sparrow and three other detainees ran away from Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health center in Summerville, S.C., a 60-bed DYRS placement facility. The center treats teens with sexually aggressive behavior, substance abuse problems and other behavioral issues.

He was caught the next day and sent to New Beginnings. Two weeks later, he was charged with assaulting an officer there. He then was sent to the Cottonwood Treatment Center, a secure psychiatric facility in Salt Lake City, for several weeks. The South Carolina escape came two days after a teen at New Beginnings attacked a guard, stole his keys, climbed the fence using a nearby ladder and escaped in the guard’s car.

Graham has introduced a bill that would allow for the public release of the name and photograph of any youth who escapes from a secure detention facility. The bill failed to pass a council vote several weeks ago as an emergency measure but is before the council.
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D.C. teen who fled from BWI is latest to escape from city juvenile authorities - The Washington Post
 
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