Another old article is copied out below, from around the time the GAO was actively investigating several of these programs nationwide a couple of years ago. The article discusses the potential impact of the GAO investigation on these three related programs:
Meadowlark Academy,
Tipton Academy and
White Rock Academy (which had their operating license just recently suspended, at the time).
Apparently there were some instances of Meadowlark students having their prescribed medications withheld? From the below article, emphasis added:
Annual licensing renewal inspections for the Meadowlark Academy were completed in September 2007 and September 2008. That facility, too, was cited for non-compliance involving files and paperwork, and those violations were corrected.
One complaint was made against
Meadowlark Academy. It was investigated in February 2007. The state issued two citations afterward, regarding delivery of client services.
One citation was for not having a staff member present in the gym the night of Jan. 15, 2007, when four girls left the building through the gym doors.
The other citation noted the academy did not arrange for the services of a mental health provider; two residents claimed to be diagnosed as bipolar and had been prescribed psychotropic drugs in the past, but their parents were withholding their medication.[/list][/size]
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Salina JournalYouth academy operators defend programsBy DAVID CLOUSTON
3/20/2009Congress has, for at least two years, been trying to pass legislation to better protect against youth abuse and neglect at boarding schools, boot camps and other residential facilities.
Investigations by the federal Government Accountability Office uncovered thousands of cases of youth abuse and neglect since the early 1990s at such institutions nationwide.
And a separate GAO investigation found major gaps in states' licensing and oversight of residential programs.
Such a sweeping spotlight shines brightly on all youth residential programs, although those operators whose facilities are in compliance say they welcome the scrutiny.
"We appreciate the state coming in and making us make sure we're on top of our game," said Danielle McClendon, chief program administrator for Youth Education Systems, the parent company managing Meadowlark Academy for girls in Delphos, and the Tipton Academy for boys in Tipton.
"I do know of places that just have a warehousing mentality," said McClendon, calling it "unfortunate" that those programs "don't have the same ethical outlook and integrity."
The residential academies are owned by Kevin and Kaye Richey of St. George, Utah. Both institutions are housed in school buildings left empty because of consolidation of public schools. Tipton Academy opened four years ago, and Meadowlark Academy celebrates its third anniversary in June.
For-profit residential youth centers in Kansas are drawing attention after the Kansas Department of Health and Environment last month suspended the operating license of White Rock Academy in Esbon.
That facility's alleged violations ranged from not having state permission to admit youths from out of the state to locking emergency exit doors after being told not to do so and failing to provide the intensive mental health and drug treatment that residents were promised.
Annual operating license renewals were completed for the Tipton Academy in December 2006, 2007 and 2008. Each review noted minor areas of non-compliance involving facility files and paperwork that were subsequently corrected.
KDHE records also show that complaints against the facility were made in November 2006, July 2007, July 2008 and September 2008. None of the complaints resulted in issuance of citations.
Annual licensing renewal inspections for the Meadowlark Academy were completed in September 2007 and September 2008. That facility, too, was cited for non-compliance involving files and paperwork, and those violations were corrected.
One complaint was made against Meadowlark Academy. It was investigated in February 2007. The state issued two citations afterward, regarding delivery of client services.
One citation was for not having a staff member present in the gym the night of Jan. 15, 2007, when four girls left the building through the gym doors.
The other citation noted the academy did not arrange for the services of a mental health provider; two residents claimed to be diagnosed as bipolar and had been prescribed psychotropic drugs in the past, but their parents were withholding their medication.
Both areas of non-compliance with KDHE regulations were corrected, according to the state.
Also during the February 2007 inspection, academy staff members were reminded that access to communication between a parent and child cannot be restricted, even with parental consent.
McClendon said both the Tipton and Meadowlark academies utilize a behavior modification model to help youth make positive lifestyle changes.
Such programs involve positive and negative reinforcement, through a point and reward system and graduated sanctions. Positive peer culture -- getting youths to support each other's positive behavior -- is also utilized, she said.
The state requires youth residential programs to run on a staff-to-student ratio of 1-7 during waking hours and 1-10 during sleeping hours.
The state doesn't require that staff working with youth have a college diploma or specialized training in working with adolescents. The minimum requirement is a high school diploma and 18 hours of in-house training a year.
McClendon said her company's in-house training consists of skills such as verbally de-escalating potentially violent behavior, adolescent development, emergency policies and procedures and the signs and symptoms of illness.
Most of the youth clients spend 12 to 18 months in the facilities' care.
"We do know that Rome wasn't built overnight and these (behavior) problems didn't surface overnight. It takes time to build these new habits," McClendon said.
McClendon has been working with youth residential facilities for about seven years. She holds bachelor's degrees in psychology and sociology from Northwest Missouri State University and a master's degree in human services and counseling from Kapele University online, headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., which is fully accredited.
Tipton and Meadowlark academies aren't cheap. Like most youth residential facilities (some reports say there are now more than 600 such private institutions nationwide), monthly tuition runs into the thousands of dollars.
At Meadowlark, new students pay about $3,000 in start-up fees and just under $5,000 in monthly tuition, McClendon said. School uniforms are included in the cost.
Technology could make a difference in the future in overseeing youth residential centers.
A bill passed by the U.S. House in February would create a toll-free national hot line for individuals to report cases of abuse, and a Web site would list information about substantial abuse cases at residential programs.
And to prevent deceptive marketing practices and help parents make the best choice of a facility, the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009 would require that programs inform parents of their staff members' qualifications, roles and responsibilities.
The act follows similar legislation passed in the House in 2008. Senate action on the 2009 bill is pending.
Ken Stettler, director of the Office of Licensing for the Utah Department of Human Services, which sets standards for youth residential programs in that state, said he applauds some of the protection measures encompassed in the proposed federal act.
But others would place burdensome reporting requirements on states that would become yet another unfunded federal mandate, he predicts.
Critics of the youth residential program industry, such as the Coalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse, point to hundreds of corroborated reports of physical and sexual abuse and dozens of deaths in such programs due to lax state and federal regulations.
Such deaths have included a 15-year-old boy, Caleb Jensen, who died from an untreated staph infection in 2007 at a Utah wilderness camp for troubled youths. Jensen's mother in January filed suit seeking at least $45 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Her son was found dead bundled in a feces- and urine-soaked sleeping bag.
A disruptive teenage girl at a Catholic church-run treatment center in Cleveland died in December. A coroner ruled she choked on vomit and suffocated while being held in a face-down position. Three workers involved in the incident were fired.
And a Pennsylvania boy, 16, died in February 2006, while being restrained at the SummitQuest Academy in Lancaster County. Joey Aletriz's death was the second in two months at the facility. SummitQuest closed in February.
Stettler said his state has toughened its laws regulating youth residential centers. His office sponsored conferences in the late 1990s trying to attract legislators from other midwestern and western states to discuss the issue "because we knew that other states could be at risk."
"Numerous programs are in business for the right reasons," Stettler said. "Then there are those who see it strictly as an investment."
At the Tipton and Meadowlark academies, McClendon said her company works with other agencies whose representatives can see how their programs are being run.
For instance, teachers from the Smoky Hill Education Service Center in Salina work with students at both academies. The teachers help the academy students complete the integrated learning system software, which is a computerized learning system that enables students to learn at their own pace. The system not only helps remedial students catch up, it can help other students wanting advanced placement courses.
Rita Cook, executive director of Smoky Hill, said the White Rock academy purchased the software but didn't utilize any Smoky Hill teachers.
"This gives us better oversight as to the quality of the program," Cook said.
McClendon said her academies are also working with Lakeside High School in Downs and the North Ottawa County School District in Minneapolis to assure that the credits earned by the academy students meet accredited standards.
The academies aren't accredited, but that is a goal, McClendon said.
The non-profit Saint Francis Academy in Salina has long served as a home for troubled boys. It also works with courts in Kansas and the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services to help youths who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect find adoptive homes. It also helps reintegrate youths back into their families and helps those families find counseling services.
Saint Francis is accredited by the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Health Care Organizations.
"We have constant oversight by KDHE, SRS and the Joint Commission," said Kevin Carrico, Saint Francis' attorney. "We have a constant stream of audits and all kinds of outcome measures."
Said Cory Rathbun, a Saint Francis executive, "I think when you have an accrediting agency, it gives the organization a level of transparency. You're asking people to come in and review about every aspect of your program."
Reporter David Clouston can be reached at 822-1403 or by e-mail at [email protected].Copyright © 2010 Salina Journal and MediaSpan