Utah teens back from wilds after boy's death
By Angie Welling
Deseret Morning News
Three Utah teenagers who had been placed in the same youth wilderness program where a 15-year-old Salt Lake City boy died earlier this month have returned home.
Staff members from Utah Juvenile Justice Services, which had custody of all four boys, drove to southwest Colorado on Thursday to pick up the teens, agency director Dan Maldonado said. Two of the teens had recently completed the 60-day program for at-risk youths and were ready to come home, while the third will be placed in another program based on his needs.
On the orders of state officials, Caleb Jensen entered Alternative Youth Adventures in Montrose, Colo., on March 28. He died May 2 from what the Mesa County coroner has determined to be natural causes.
Concerns about whether Jensen suffered from an untreated staph infection, however, have led Colorado authorities to suspend the facility's license pending an investigation by the Montrose County Sheriff's Office.
Utah has a long history with Alternative Youth Adventures, contracting with the facility when it was located near Loa, Wayne County, and continuing the relationship when it moved to Colorado, said Carol Sisco, spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Human Services.
"We've had a very good track record with them," she said.
The state has placed 20 youths in the Alternative Youth Adventures program since July 1, 2006, according to Maldonado. The facility is the only wilderness therapy program with which Utah Juvenile Justice Services currently contracts, though that three-year contract was set to expire on June 31.
The agency typically has custody of about 1,300 youths under the age of 21 who have been referred to them by the juvenile court system.
It places the children in a variety of programs, depending on an assessment of their individual needs. "We have a wide array of programs, and most of them are much longer custody programs," Maldonado said. "Something like a wilderness program is indicated for someone whose offense profile suggests that we might be able to have a shorter-term custody arrangement."
In this case, staff members advised that Jensen be placed in the wilderness program and a juvenile court judge accepted the recommendation. The teen was placed with eight other at-risk youths for a two-month "outing" with four AYA staff members to take part in character-building exercises intended to build their self-esteem and communication skills, said Bill Palatucci, senior vice president of Community Education Centers Inc., which operates Alternative Youth Adventures.
"This is a well-known, well-regarded program and so this incident is really out of character and unprecedented for AYA Colorado," Palatucci said. "That makes it all the more difficult to explain."
Jensen passed a physical exam the day he arrived at the facility, as well as a checkup the week before his death. He also visited with a counselor the day before he died in the base camp, Sisco said.
Staff members are trained to identify medical conditions in the youths, according to Palatucci, and medical assistance is always available.
"They're very used to adolescents with behavioral problems, but also with claims of medical conditions," he said. :question: "They have to know how to recognize symptoms and problems and the track record has been that they've been able to do that very well.
"Our contention is that this medical condition was just something that was not easily detectable."
Maldonado is in daily contact with Colorado authorities and is awaiting the outcome of the investigation there before taking any action in Utah.
"The nature and depth of our review will be contingent on the results of the investigation that comes out of the county sheriff's office," he said. "At this point, what we are waiting for are some answers from Colorado about their judgment about staff error or negligence."
The director has also been in contact with Jensen's family, who are understandably struggling with the young man's death.
"They are not doing very well at all. My staff tell me that mom is having a very difficult time with this," he said. "There are people in our staff that are having a hard time and there are people in Colorado having a hard time, too."
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http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660220017,00.htmlTeen died of staph infection while on outing
Katharhynn Heidelberg
Daily Press News Editor
MONTROSE — Outdoor programs through Alternative Youth Adventures are on hold after the state suspended the organization’s licenses Wednesday.
The state human services department said the staph infection that claimed 15-year-old Caleb Jensen during a Montrose outing produced observable symptoms which AYA staff allegedly neglected.[Palatucci, "Our contention is that this medical condition was just something that was not easily detectable."]The program’s parent company, Community Education Centers, Inc., denied negligence in the boy’s death.
AYA, which runs wilderness therapy programs for at-risk or adjudicated youths, was being investigated by Montrose County authorities after Jensen’s death on Little Red Mountain May 2, near the Mesa County line.
The Mesa County Coroner, to whom Jensen’s autopsy was transferred while jurisdiction was being determined, said in a Thursday news release the youth died from a methicillin-resistant staph aureus infection.
The Colorado Attorney General’s Office confirmed Thursday AYA’s therapeutic residential childcare and residential childcare licenses were summarily suspended at the request of the Colorado Department of Human Services.
“It’s the department’s belief the child reported symptoms of observable signs of infection that were neglected and he was denied proper medical treatment,” Liz McDonough, Colorado Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman said Friday.“That’s the basis for the summary suspension. The kids have been removed and are being put in alternative placements.”
The suspension means AYA is prohibited from engaging in the practices its licenses permitted it to undertake, AG spokesman Nate Stauch said.
AYA has the right to an expedited hearing on the matter, but according to the suspension order, it had to surrender its license immediately. Further proceedings will determine whether the license should be revoked.
Jensen was participating in a program run through the Montrose office when he died.
According to the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office, AYA staff members tried to revive Jensen and notified emergency dispatch. They brought him to an evacuation point, and Mesa County deputies responded, but CPR efforts were unsuccessful and Jensen was pronounced dead.
AYA Vice President Bill Palatucci said the organization will fight for its licenses and its staff. “We plan to contest the suspension. We firmly believe the
staff did everything appropriately and correctly and there were no obvious signs that this juvenile was distressed,” he said.
“We’re very happy to work with the department to review policies and procedures, but we don’t see the need for suspension right now.” :rofl:
District Attorney Myrl Serra said previously the matter was still under active investigation.
Serra said Thursday he had no information about the suspension.
Palatucci said
the Little Red Mountain outing included four staff members and nine youth clients, which is typical. The program’s licensing allowed a ratio of one to four, he said.
He would not say why Jensen was in the program, citing confidentiality concerns, but did say the boy’s enrollment had been court-ordered in Utah.
Program outings have ceased for now, Palatucci said, and AYA has complied with the suspension. “We’ll have to deal with the hearing procedure the suspension puts in motion,” he said. “It adds to the difficulties of the staff and clients. We will have to find alternative placements for youths in programs that can accommodate them.”
He said AYA was going to stand behind its employees. “While outings have been suspended, our staff will remain in place,” Palatucci said.
“We don’t think anybody did anything wrong. It was a very tragic set of circumstances.
The underlying cause (of death) was just undetectable.”
McDonough said the incident was “disturbing.”
“This tragic death of this young man is something we have to look at in terms of how our kids are cared for and to ensure that, no matter what the nature of the program, that appropriate medical procedures are in place to handle what may come up. Our thoughts go out to the young man’s family in Utah.”
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2 ... news/2.txt