Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => Straight, Inc. and Derivatives => Topic started by: marika708 on November 30, 2004, 12:57:00 PM
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Charlotte Group Home Fined $10,000 For Girl's Death
POSTED: 9:50 am EST November 30, 2004
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- State regulators have fined a Charlotte group $10,000, the heaviest civil penalty possible, following the death of a 12-year-old girl in September.
The group home, Covenant Group Home, has since closed. The state, which initially suspended the home's license, mailed the owners a notice of license revocation late last month.
By law, the owners won't be allowed to open another group home for five years. However, they are still licensed to run two other Charlotte group homes.
Shirley Arciszewski of Buncombe County died Sept. 11 after a worker tried to restrain her. State records revealed that a 10-year-old girl witnessed the violent confrontation and later told officials it began after a dispute over a ball Shirley had been bouncing.
A fine of $10,000 is the highest the state can impose against a group home, said Stephanie Alexander, head of mental health licensing and certification for the N.C. Division of Facility Services.
The state fined Covenant $5,000 for violating rules designed to make sure children aren't harmed when workers restrain them, and $5,000 for violating rules requiring workers to be trained and competent before using restraints.
"This was an incredibly egregious incident," she said, "so they have a high penalty."
The worker pulled Shirley to the floor by the hair and lay on top of her, according to the witness and state regulators. Shirley said she couldn't breathe, state records say, but the worker told her she would be fine.
The worker, Valisia Gaye Callahan, 45, hadn't been fully trained at the time of the incident, state officials said.
No criminal charges have been filed. Mecklenburg Assistant District Attorney David Graham said his office is investigating.
Ronda Carson, one of Covenant Group Home's owners, declined comment.
Investigations of Covenant's two other homes resulted in citations for one home, including failure to properly investigate one staff member's background and failing to train an employee properly in seclusion and restraint techniques.
The report on the other home hasn't been completed, Alexander said.
Shirley had been sent to Covenant after her mother, Ruth McGraw, lost custody of her. Shirley's aunt, Loretta D'Souza, said she wished child welfare officials had listened earlier this year when she tried to take custody of the child.
"They shouldn't have put her in that group home," she said. "I believe she'd be alive today if she'd been at my house." Don't hate the media. Become the media
--Jello Biafra