If the ORS would have stopped this madness in 2001,(that is as far back as I have documented proof) think about it, none of our families would have had to endure what they did. If the ORS licensed HLA and did their job in 2001, perhaps it wouldn't have come to this. The ORS finally licensed HLA, after repeated pressure from advocates and the impact of the class action suit, but still did nothing. In a letter from Keith Bostick, Director of the ORS, to the advocate families (to paraphrase) he basically stated that if HLA did not comply and there were still infractions, the ORS would shut HLA down. Well HLA was not in compliance and Bostick kept extending the license to this day. I repeatedly asked why the investigative findings were not posted on their web-site and was continually told it was not ready, beginning Dec.2006 and continuing into April 2007. I then requested the investigative report (redacted) under "the Freedom of Information Act"( I was a novice). I was sent a couple of pages I already had. It is now July of 2007 and Bostick sends me an email saying he does not understand what I requested and that they already complied. Citing "Georgia Sunshine Laws", The Georgia Open Records Act" , it was not until attorney David Leacock offered to help and in April 2008 as an attorney, he requested the documents from ORS attorney Nina Edidin. Under these laws a private individual is entitled to redacted (when necessary) documents. It was not until David Leacock, P.A. asserted that he would go further if the ORS did not comply, did the ORS start to comply. The cost for the records was $ 700.00 plus. In May 2008, just over 2900 pages of the 2006 ORS Investigation of HLA miraculously appeared. To reiterate, after their findings, that were damning, in early Dec. of 2006, Bostick informed the family advocates that they were going to allow HLA to continue without being licensed. Pressure was stepped up by the advocates, and, thus, HLA was to be a licensed child caring facility. We were ecstatic, but again novices. Late winter of 2008 I was contacted by the GAO agents, and among other things complied with their request for my documents. I turned the documents over to the agents investigating Hidden Lake Academy, which David Leacock P.A. generously dedicated his time to oversee, obviously leading to also investigating the ORS debacle of their so called over-sight, which as a state agency, was pertinent to the Miller Bill. This could help the committee and Congress gain a clearer understanding of how state agencies fall beyond short in their regulatory duties in reference to these schools and not just Georgia. We all know if the agency big wigs stepped up to the plate, politics aside and did their job, it may have protected children that have perished in these schools, I say 'perished' not just in body, but soul. In the case of Hidden Lake Academy, Inc. the ORS is totally responsible for what they knowingly allowed to continue at HLA. Licensing HLA after 12 years of operating under the radar and manipulating the system, the ORS took no responsibility. No one was asked to resign, no one was fired. Fortunately for the ORS, there was not a child's death at HLA due to the negligent behavior of the ORS, but we all felt it was a matter of time because of the amount of suicide attempts that were not reportedprior to licensing. Buccellato also could have prevented this by not accepting children that were not "appropriate" for the program, as it was offered. The ORS was criminally complacent. Buccellato was the "addict" and the ORS was his co-dependent, enabler,to the detriment of hundreds of families. To this date, there has been no public apology from the State of Georgia and the ORS. Did the ORS only require HLA to be licensed
to literally shut us up? Why license HLA if the ORS was not going to follow through? From this writers experience and perspective, it was not just Buccellato that appeared more crooked than a doornail. At the very least, Georgia should clean house at the ORS. I was told during the investigation that the ORS dropped the ball, and so did Georgia's State GAO, when that agency was informed. Well, all well and good, but not enough is it?
