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Kathy:
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FACILITY TO TREAT TEEN SEX OFFENDERS
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Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL)-April 22, 1999
by Valerie Whitney
A former juvenile boot camp on Indian Lake Road is about to become a locked treatment center for 30 teen-age sex offenders.
Three Springs Inc., a private therapeutic company based in Huntsville, Ala., will operate the residential facility under a three- year contract with the state for $1.6 million a year, a company spokesman said.
The residents, who will be committed there by the courts, will be 30 male youths ranging in age from 13 to 18 and drawn from across northern Florida.
The camp most recently housed a girl's treatment program operated by Stewart- Marchman Center. The boys will start being admitted this summer, said Paul Summers, group administrator for Three Springs.
Janet Abee, manager of the state's Juvenile Justice Department for District 12, an area that includes Volusia County, said a contract with Three Springs will be signed within the next couple of weeks. However, the company already has begun recruiting psychologists, counselors, case workers, coaches and others for the unit. Job interviews start Monday.
Abee said the Daytona Beach site was chosen because a vacant high-security facility already existed on the property. The facility opened in November 1995, but the Volusia County Sheriff's Office closed the boot camp in February 1997, citing a lack of state funds to run it.
"Normally when we send out a request for proposals, the program can be sited anywhere," Abee said.
However, in this case, state officials informed contractors about the boot camp, which was originally designed to house high-risk male offenders. The girls who had been housed there were not considered to be true high risks and have been transferred to Stewart-Marchman's complex at Tiger Bay.
"It kind of just made it a natural place" to house the program, she said. The program will draw from a six-district region that stretches from Pensacola to Jacksonville and also includes Ocala and Gainesville, as well as Volusia and Flagler counties.
"And, of course, we have our own share of sex offenders in this area," Abee said.
The location will be convenient to visit for families of area youths confined there, she added. The state's other facility for youthful sex offenders is in Broward County.
The project is Three Springs' first contract in Florida. The company's marketing slogan "Helping troubled children discover lasting solutions" reflects its rehabilitation philosophy.
A lot of people don't understand sex offenders. This is something that can be treated," Summers said.
He said Three Springs staffers from a similar program the company operates in Courtland, Ala., will be brought in to help get the program up and running. "This is not something new to us," he said.
The facility is expected to create 45 to 50 jobs, with a monthly payroll around $100,000.
The company operates 23 programs 16 for boys and seven for girls for youthful offenders in seven states. Some programs are correctional programs and others deal with mental health issues.
Those sent to Three Springs of Daytona Beach the most likely name of the center will be confined there for a full year.
Once the 30 beds are filled, the camp will not accept any additional residents. All of the things the teens will need, including schooling, will be provided for them on the property, he said.
A 12-foot barbed wire fence surrounds the site, which is off U.S. 92, several miles west of Interstate 95. Summer said officials are planning to add additional security features.
FLORIDANews-Journal
Page: 1C
Copyright (c) 1999 Daytona Beach News-Journal
Kathy:
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Private girls' school to open in September
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Auldern Academy is designed particularly to help high schoolers with self-esteem problems ==================================================
Chapel Hill Herald (NC)-August 1, 2001
NEIL OFFEN www.threesprings.com
Edition: Final
Section: Front
Page: 1
Copyright, 2001, The Durham Herald Company
Kathy:
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Teen's death raises questions about care of juveniles ==================================================
Mobile Register (AL)-August 27, 2001
Author: BILL POOVEY, Associated Press Writer
Teen's death raises questions about care of juveniles In lawsuit, mother contends 14-year-old might have been murdered at Tuskegee detention center By BILL POOVEY Associated Press Writer TUSKEGEE - Fourteen-year-old Dionte Pickens of Tuscaloosa died in state custody at a juvenile lockup, a black leather belt looped over a closet clothes rod and around his neck.
The teen-ager's mother contends in a lawsuit that her child possibly was murdered in the dark by another detainee at the Three Springs detention center in Tuskegee.
The death and the lawsuit have raised questions about the treatment of juveniles at the center, which is run by Huntsville-based Three Springs Inc. The state's welfare agency has removed about a dozen teens who were assigned there, but the state Department of Youth Services has 25 juveniles at the Tuskegee site and 49 at a center Three Springs operates at Madison.
The company operates a total of 21 juvenile programs in Alabama and six other states.
Wendy Brooks Crew, a lawyer for Pickens' mother, said Pickens had been locked up in Tuscaloosa for truancy when he was transferred hundreds of miles to the Three Springs center at Tuskegee. Crew said Pickens' mother was not informed in advance about the transfer.
The lawsuit contends that Pickens' Oct. 15, 2000, death was due to inadequate supervision and that his designated supervisor was playing a video game when Pickens died. A medical examiner said the body was discovered in a bedroom closet about 9 p.m., with the bedroom adjacent to a common room used by about 20 other teen-agers.
Three Springs knew that Pickens, who was taking anti-depressant and psychotropic medication, had previously attempted suicide, Crew said.
The suit claims Three Springs Inc., which is paid $121.50 a day for each of the 25 DYS youths it keeps in Tuskegee, either allowed Pickens to be murdered by hanging or allowed him to commit suicide.
A Three Springs employee said Pickens was murdered, Crew said.
The state deputy chief medical examiner who was called and arrived at Three Springs about 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2000, concluded after observing Pickens' body in the cinderblock room and following an investigation and autopsy that the death was a suicide.
DYS spokesman Allen Peaton said records of all 1,100 DYS detainees in state and corporate-owned lockups are confidential, even after a death. He also said DYS officials could not discuss Pickens' case because of the lawsuit.
"A priority of DYS is to place all 1,100 youths in our custody in safe and appropriate placements," Peaton said.
The Alabama Bureau of Investigation referred its investigation report on Pickens' death to the Macon County District Attorney's Office. Deputy District Attorney Kenneth Gibbs said his office has reviewed the report. He said an investigation was continuing. Gibbs declined to say if his office has reached a conclusion about Pickens' death being a suicide.
Three Springs executives referred questions to their attorney, Marc Givhan of Birmingham, who issued a statement: "The entire Three Springs organization is saddened by the death of this young man. Because this matter is in litigation, it is inappropriate for us to comment further."
The suit contends that a doctor at Three Springs had recommended within three days of Pickens arrival that he have a psychological evaluation as soon as possible but Pickens was instead "housed in a room with nonbreakaway hardware" and allowed to have a belt.
Crew said Pickens never received a psychological evaluation and his death was more than a month after his arrival at Three Springs.
While DYS continues to use the Three Springs Tuskegee Secure Program, state Human Resources Commissioner Bill Fuller said that after he heard about Pickens' death last fall he removed all of the "12 or 13" abused and neglected teens in his department's custody who were assigned there.
"We had heard that a DYS child died of unexplained causes at the same site," Fuller said. "We were aware of that then and that was a factor" in moving them.
Fuller said the teens in DHR custody "each had their own youthful opinions" about how Pickens died.
"The atmosphere was generally oppressive for my children," Fuller said. "My primary reason was not the recent death so much as the physical conditions that my boys were exposed to day-to-day, a confinement atmosphere."
Crew said Pickens' mother, Louisa Dunn, is divorced from his father.
"When he was on his medication he did very well," Crew said. "When he was off his medication he was difficult for his mother to control."
She said Pickens was supposed to be starting 10th grade.
"It is my understanding he had no charges other than misdemeanors and what are called status offenses," Crew said. "He had problems at school, truancy ... couldn't focus and couldn't concentrate."
Pickens' juvenile court officer, Thomas Snoddy, did not return telephone messages seeking comment. JUVENILES IN CUSTODY The Alabama Department of Youth Services has a total of about 1,100 juveniles in custody, including about 208 girls. The contract lockups, number of beds they provide for state detainees and state's daily cost for each:
Alabama Clinical Schools at Birmingham: about 25 beds for male sex offenders, $145.35.
Three Springs Inc. at Tuskegee: about 25 beds, $121.50.
Three Springs Inc. at Madison: about 49 beds, $123.50.
Eufaula Youth Facility operated by First Corrections Corp. of Norfolk, Va.: about 90 beds, $90.50.
Big Brothers in Dothan community group homes for boys: about eight beds, $77.
Alabama Youth Home in Westover: about 12 beds, $74.
Alabama Youth Home in Wetumpka: about 12 beds, $74.
The Bridge Inc. girls' home at Decatur: about eight beds, $70.
West Alabama Youth Services Inc. at Greensboro: about eight beds for girls, $70.
Dorothy's House in Dothan: about eight beds for girls, $75.57.
The Bridge Wilderness boot camp for males at Gadsden: about 24 beds, $72.
The Bridge drug and alcohol treatment program for boys at Gadsden: about 24 beds, $82.
The Bridge drug and alcohol treatment program for boys at Mobile: about 40 beds, $82.
The Bridge boot camp-wilderness program at Gadsden for girls: about 24 beds, $72.
Lee County Youth Development Center female boot camp-wilderness program for girls: about 16 beds, $80.
Oak Mountain Youth Services alcohol-drug interdiction program: about 24 beds for boys, $91.
Ramsey Youth Services Inc. for special needs boys: about 12 beds, $135.45. The state's average daily cost for each juvenile at the DYS Mount Meigs, Roebuck and Chalkville campuses is $137. State-operated boot camps in Autauga County and Thomasville are about $92. State-operated group homes at Gadsden, Mobile, Montgomery, Florence and Troy are $70-$80. Source: Alabama Department of Youth Services PHOTO DAVE MARTIN /Associated Press Fourteen-year-old Dionte Pickens of Tuscaloosa died in state custody at the Three Springs detention center, above, in Tuskegee, Ala. A black leather belt was looped over a closet clothes rod and around the teen-ager's neck. His mother contends in a lawsuit that her child was possibly murdered by another detainee at the center.
Page B-1
Copyright 2001, Mobile Register. All Rights Reserved.
Kathy:
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ALABAMA TEENAGER'S DEATH RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT PRIVATELY-RUN CARE ==================================================
Watertown Daily Times (NY)-September 14, 2001
Author: Associated Press
When Dionte Pickens' body was found, it was hanging in a closet of a juvenile lockup, a black leather belt looped around the 14-year-old's neck.
His mother believes that her child's death last October - whether a suicide or a murder - was the result of inadequate supervision at the for-profit Three Springs detention center in Tuskegee. A lawsuit contends Pickens died while his designated supervisor was playing a video game.
The death and the lawsuit have raised questions about the treatment of juveniles at the center, run by Huntsville-based Three Springs Inc., which operates 21 juvenile programs in Alabama and six other states.
The state's welfare agency has removed about a dozen teens who were assigned there, but the state Department of Youth Services has 25 juveniles at the Tuskegee site and 49 at a center Three Springs operates in Madison.
The state deputy chief medical examiner concluded - after an autopsy and an investigation - that Pickens' death in the cinderblock room was a suicide.
The Alabama Bureau of Investigation referred its investigation report on Pickens' death to the Macon County District Attorney's Office. Deputy District Attorney Kenneth Gibbs said an investigation was continuing.
Several privately run facilities that treat young offenders have been criticized for poor supervision and management in several states, including centers in Colorado and Louisiana.
Wendy Brooks Crew, a lawyer for Pickens' mother, said Pickens had been locked up in Tuscaloosa for truancy when he was transferred hundreds of miles to the Three Springs center at Tuskegee. Crew said Pickens' mother was not informed in advance about the transfer.
The medical examiner said the body of the teen was discovered in a bedroom closet adjacent to a common room used by about 20 other teenagers.
Pickens' mother, Louisa Dunn, claims Three Springs Inc., which is paid $121.50 a day for each of the youngsters assigned to the state it keeps in Tuskegee, either allowed Pickens to be murdered by hanging or allowed him to commit suicide.
The suit contends that a doctor at Three Springs had recommended within three days of Pickens arrival that he have a psychological evaluation as soon as possible.
Instead, Pickens was "housed in a room with non-breakaway hardware" and allowed to have a belt, Crew said. Pickens never received a psychological evaluation and his death was more than a month after his arrival, she said.
Three Springs knew that Pickens, who was taking anti-depressant and psychotropic medication, had previously attempted suicide, Crew said.
"When he was on his medication he did very well," Crew said. "When he was off his medication he was difficult for his mother to control."
Three Springs attorney Marc Givhan said the company is saddened by the death, but would not comment beyond that.
While the state continues to use the Tuskegee facility, state Human Resources Commissioner Bill Fuller said that after he heard about Pickens' death, he removed all of the "12 or 13" abused and neglected teens who were assigned there.
"The atmosphere was generally oppressive for my children," Fuller said. "My primary reason was not the recent death so much as the physical conditions that my boys were exposed to day-to-day, a confinement atmosphere."
State Department of Youth Services spokesman Allen Peaton said records of all 1,100 of its detainees in state and corporate-owned lockups are confidential, even after a death.
As for Pickens' history with law enforcement, Crew said, "It is my understanding he had no charges other than misdemeanors and what are called status offenses."
Section: National News
Page: 3
Copyright (c) 2001 Watertown Daily Times
Kathy:
Montgomery Advertiser (AL)-January 17, 2003
(excerpt)
MONTGOMERY. ALA
Hanged boy case
settled by mother
The mother of a 14-year-old boy who was found hanged in state custody at a juvenile lockup in Tuskegee has settled with a private company in a lawsuit claiming her son's death was the result of inadequate supervision.
Louisa Dunn, the mother of Dionte Pickens, reached the settlement with Huntsville-based Three Springs Inc. and four employees of the company, which contracts with the state for two juvenile treatment facilities, said Dunn's attorney, Wendy Crew.
Pickens had been locked up in Tuscaloosa for truancy when Crew said he was transferred to Tuskegee without his mother being informed.
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