Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > News Items
Teen on life support after assault at children's home
wdtony:
Two things bother me. If this is such a loving, family oriented place, why all the runaways? And the language about tough love and helping them from themselves is eerily familiar.
I hope the kid in the hospital makes a full recovery. It sounds like he got assaulted over an argument and the staff didn't do anything to the assailant afterwards. If the cops are called so frequently, why weren't they called about this assault? Weird.
when this poor kid gets out of the hospital, I hope he can answer all questions about this place. I am sure the police will want to know every detail.
Ursus:
Dayton Daily News
Teen's assault worst incident in One Way Farm history, founder says
Teen suspect had no history of violence; victim remains 'critical'
By Hannah Poturalski, Staff Writer Updated 8:22 PM Friday, December 23, 2011
One Way Farm in Fairfield Twp. houses wayward teens in a group home setting. Samantha Grier/Staff photographer
FAIRFIELD TWP. — The founder of the One Way Farm Children’s Home said the beating earlier this week that left a teenager on life support is the most severe incident in its 34-year history.
The 16-year-old boy remained in critical condition Friday at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman confirmed. The teen, a Fairfield High School student, was assaulted Monday night by another resident, a 17-year-old Warren County boy, who is charged with felony aggravated assault.
Barbara Condo, founder and executive director of One Way Farm, said no fight or incident comes close to matching the severity of the assault Monday night at the River Road facility.
“It’s most disturbing for me because this is not a job — this is what I do, this is my life,” she said.
Condo said while the police investigation is ongoing, her agency can’t speak on specifics of the incident.
Staff at the group home called 911 around 11:30 p.m. Monday to report an unresponsive boy. The call came three hours after he had been assaulted, according to Fairfield Twp. police.
Between 7:30 and 8 p.m. Monday, the 17-year-old allegedly punched the victim, throwing him to the ground — where he landed on his head — and then repeatedly punched him in the head, said Fairfield Twp. Police Chief Richard St. John, during a dispute over a flashlight each boy claimed was his.
“We called it a fight but it really wasn’t much of a fight,” St. John said. “The arrestee just basically assaulted the victim.”
Police were not called immediately after the assault, and the victim was up, walking and talking after the incident, St. John said. He was discovered later that night, unconscious on the floor, during a bed check by staff members, according to police reports.
The suspect, a ward of Warren County Children Services, is in custody at Butler County Juvenile Justice Center. A hearing is set for Jan. 3 in Butler County Juvenile Court.
Patricia Jacobs, director of Warren County Children Services, said the teen has no prior history of violence and had been at One Way Farm since the end of November.
Prior to placement, the teenager was living with his family in Warren County and had no prior involvement with children services, she said. He was the only youth at the facility placed by Warren County Children Services, though the child welfare agency has placed children at One Way Farm over the course of many years, Jacobs said.
One Way Farm followed protocol in issuing a critical incident report to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, which licenses the agency, documents show. Angela Terez, an ODJFS spokeswoman, said by Tuesday her office had been notified the teen was hospitalized.
The agency has served about 8,500 children since 1976, said Greg Elam, board president of One Way Farm. Although officials would not detail its policy regarding its responses to fights and when to notify authorities, Elam said that “typically disputes with kids are handled internally.”
In accordance with its policy, Butler County Children Services on Tuesday removed three youths it had placed at One Way Farm, said Director Jeff Centers.
“We moved the kids right away,” Centers said upon learning the severity of the attack.
Jody Canupp, development director at One Way Farm, said the facility accepts children from nine Ohio counties, including Butler and Warren counties. She would not disclose how many children were at the 20-bed facility, nor whether any other youths had been removed following the incident.
According to Fairfield Twp. police records, officers have been dispatched 92 times since Jan. 1, which is down from last year when police responded 166 times to One Way Farm. St. John said he was unable to provide information on the types of calls because the records staff was off for the holiday, however, he said the majority of calls are for reports of runaway juveniles.
One Way Farm has received numerous accolades for its service. Most recently it was granted a 2011 Better Business Bureau Torch Award.
The children’s home is nonprofit organization licensed by ODJFS to provide residential care 365 days a year, 24 hours a day to 10 male children between the ages of 6 and 17, or if handicapped, up to age 21, through its Sunrise home at 6141 River Road. It also has a capacity of 10 female children, ages 6 to 17, or up to 21 for handicapped clients, through its New Dawn home at 6145 River Road on its campus, documents show. The agency has full certification through Dec. 29, 2012.
State records show few, minor instances of noncompliance. It’s most recent audit, dated Nov. 15, had four findings, records show, three dealing with paperwork. According to records, the agency did not file a report until three days after a resident was taken to the hospital in September; a child’s file did not contain documentation about who transported the child to the facility and that person’s agency affiliation; documentation was missing noting whether an employee’s references were verified prior to hire; and lastly, that no doors were hung leading into any of the four boys bedrooms.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2179 or Hannah.Poturalski@coxinc.com.
Copyright © 2011 Cox Ohio Publishing, Dayton, Ohio, USA.
wdtony:
Ok, so the police were called 92 times this year and 166 times last year. That is a damn lot of times for a place that holds a total of about 20 kids.
That's 258 times in the last 2 years total. Wow.
I guess the bright side is that the kids are actually able to run away relatively easy. It is still questionable why they would want to run away so badly from a place full of love. Maybe out of fear from being assaulted over a flashlight.
cmack:
--- Quote from: "wdtony" ---Two things bother me. If this is such a loving, family oriented place, why all the runaways?
--- End quote ---
I was wondering the same thing. Even assuming they are working with a difficult population that's still a lot of runaways.
--- Quote --- It sounds like he got assaulted over an argument and the staff didn't do anything to the assailant afterwards. If the cops are called so frequently, why weren't they called about this assault? Weird.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, it is. All of those police calls can't be for runaways can they?
--- Quote ---when this poor kid gets out of the hospital, I hope he can answer all questions about this place. I am sure the police will want to know every detail.
--- End quote ---
I hope he recovers and I hope the police really do want to know every detail, but with all the calls over the past two years certainly they had to know something was up.
--- Quote ---Ok, so the police were called 92 times this year and 166 times last year. That is a damn lot of times for a place that holds a total of about 20 kids.
That's 258 times in the last 2 years total. Wow.
--- End quote ---
Wow! That's about 2.5 times per week or almost 13 times per kid.
--- Quote from: "Ursus" ---State records show few, minor instances of noncompliance...and lastly, that no doors were hung leading into any of the four boys bedrooms.
--- End quote ---
Despite all the rosy language and supposed rights no doors on the rooms strongly suggests a total lack of trust of the boys and a much more authoritarian structure than is presented in the media. This combined with all the police calls and runaways makes me wonder if the program is taking a lot of violent adjudicated kids to fill beds.
cmack:
http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/c ... 03870.html
One Way Farm teen severely beaten still in critical condition
Male was assaulted at One Way Farm Children’s Home.
Staff report Updated 10:02 PM Sunday, December 25, 2011
FAIRFIELD TWP. — A spokeswoman with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center said Sunday there was no update on the condition of a 16-year-old boy who was beaten early last week at One Way Farm Children’s Home in Fairfield Twp.
The boy was listed in critical condition on Sunday night, according to hospital officials.
The teen, a Fairfield High School student, was assaulted Monday night by another resident of the children’s home, a 17-year-old Warren County boy. He has been charged with felony aggravated assault, according to Fairfield Twp. police.
Staff at the group home called 911 at around ?11:30 p.m. Monday to report an unresponsive boy. The call came three hours after he had been assaulted, according to police.
Between 7:30 and 8 p.m. Monday, the 17-year-old allegedly punched the victim, throwing him to the ground — where he landed on his head — and then repeatedly punched him in the head, said Fairfield Twp. Police Chief Richard St. John. The altercation was the result of a dispute over a flashlight each boy claimed was his.
Police were not called immediately after the assault, and the victim was up, walking and talking after the incident, St. John said. He was discovered later that night, unconscious on the floor, during a bed check by staff members, according to the police report.
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