http://web.dailytimes.com/story.lasso?e ... 11df8e4bdbBoy nearly drowns in local creek
By Gerard MacCrossan
The Daily Times
Published May 9, 2006
A 12-year-old San Antonio boy was in critical condition Monday after being swept away Saturday in Johnson Creek. The boy was in a group of four Star Ranch residents on a bike ride with a houseparent when the accident occurred, said spokesman Dave Vinyard.
Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer said Monday that the boy, who has not been named, was wading in the creek. Star Ranch employee Lisa Marie Mariana went into the creek after him as he was swept away by water moving downstream toward the Bluff Trail Road low- water crossing.
The current also carried Mariana downstream against the bridge, where she was pulled out by Donald Ehlers, who lives upstream from the property.
Ehlers said the boys were playing and riding their bikes through a shallow-water crossing for about 20 minutes before the accident occurred.
?It was a two-inch rain, and the water came up after the rain,? he said. ?I don?t know why they let those kids down there.?
According to Ehlers, the creek flows through culverts under the low-water crossing. He said he heard the kids screaming and ran out of the house toward them, while dialing 911 on a portable phone.
He pulled Mariana out of the culvert where she was stuck. He said she was very disoriented. The boy was found about 600 yards downstream, Ehlers said.
Hierholzer said the boy was in the water for more than 10 minutes before rescuers pulled him out. He was taken first to Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital, then was transported to Methodist Children?s Hospital in San Antonio.
Vinyard said he doesn?t believe there was any misconduct by the houseparent.
?I think it was purely an accident,? he said.
Hierholzer urged area residents to take particular care around rivers and creeks in the area.
?The recent rains have made the rivers and creeks in the area very dangerous places to swim or wade, especially near bridges or other places where undercurrents exist,? he said. ?While they give a calm appearance, there can be very dangerous undercurrents, and we are urging everyone to use extreme caution if they intend to spend time in natural bodies of water.?
The incident is being investigated by the sheriff?s office in conjunction with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
The incident is the latest in a series of difficult situations faced by Star Ranch, which provides residential treatment for learning disabled and abused boys. In December, a 12-year-old died after being placed in a restraining hold by an employee. A grand jury cleared the employee of criminal wrongdoing.
Another boy required hospital treatment recently after being stabbed by another resident. The injured boy?s family did not press charges, law enforcement officials said.
http://web.dailytimes.com/story.lasso?e ... bdc408be42State pulls 19 from Star Ranch
By Gerard MacCrossan
The Daily Times
Published May 13, 2006
Star Ranch had only three children left in care Friday evening following the state?s decision to cancel its contract with the West Kerr residential treatment facility.
Star Ranch spokesman Dave Vinyard said 19 children, placed by Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, were taken away Friday morning.
In a letter to Executive Director Rand Southard dated Friday, DFPS cited the death of Christening Garcia last December when he was restrained by a staff member and the near drowning last Saturday of another boy as cause for canceling the contract. The youth involved in the drowning incident, who has not been identified, remains in critical condition at Methodist Children?s Hospital in San Antonio, Vinyard said.
?It?s a very traumatic day for Star Ranch,? Vinyard said. ?Emotionally, it?s a rough place. Those boys didn?t want to leave. Some had been there for years. It was their home and family.?
Star Ranch was founded in 1989 as a summer camp by Rand and Colleen Southard to help children with emotional challenges and learning disabilities. The facility grew to incorporate a year-round residential treatment center, child placement agency and charter school.
?The decision is based on the frequency of serious incidents occurring at Star Ranch RTC and the failure of Star Ranch to maintain the safety of the DFPS children in care,? the letter stated.
DFPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins said Friday that Star Ranch had been under increased scrutiny by the state agency following Garcia?s death.
?We haven?t placed any new children there since the death,? he said. ?We did step up monitoring and were watching them closely and keeping in frequent contact with them.?
But it was the accident last week that triggered the decision to end the state contract.
I think it was the incident that convinced us there seemed to be a pattern of inadequate supervision,? Crimmins said. New placements had been found for all 19 boys by late Friday, he added.
Southard met with DFPS officials Friday when they came to remove the boys.
?Of course DFPS has the right to do this,? Southard said in a written statement. ?We disagree with the decision, and the agency acknowledges that these incidents are unrelated. We just wish we had more opportunity to prepare the boys for another traumatic incident in their lives.?
Vinyard said Star Ranch staff members remain committed to the work in which they are engaged. Rand Southard and the management staff have plans to implement residential home and school facilities for privately placed boys. Those plans are on-going, he said.
According to Crimmins, Star Ranch?s state license to operate a residential treatment center remains in place, but it still is under investigation by the licensing authority. The summer camp is regulated separately by the Texas Department of State Health Services, he said.
Gerard MacCrossan may be reached at gerard.maccrossan(at)dailytimes.com.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/14570828.htmEarlier this month, a 12-year-old Star Ranch resident almost drowned during a bicycle trip along the Guadalupe River. The boy, who wasn't identified, remains hospitalized.
A grand jury found no criminal conduct in Mikie's death and the state placed the facility on probation.
State officials say a follow-up investigation found the ranch didn't comply with rules regarding use of restraints that impair breathing. Records also show the ranch wasn't meeting requirements on training and supervision for staff, said Patrick Crimmins, Family and Protective Services spokesman.
Although the state relocated 19 boys from the ranch, the facility still has three private clients, said Star Ranch spokesman Dave Vineyard.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/ ... d803f.htmlRanch officials say he was placed in "a basket hold" ? held from behind by his hands with his arms crossing his chest ? to stop him from banging his head on the ground.
A grand jury heard evidence in February and found no criminal conduct, officials said.
Crimmins provided records that indicate the agency's follow-up investigation found the ranch was out of compliance with state rules on adherence to written intervention policies, on maintaining adequate staff supervision and training and on using restraints that impair breathing, among others.
http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4899569&nav=1TjDRanch officials say the boy was in a basket hold to stop him from banging his head on the ground. They called the death a "terrible accident."
