Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > News Items

Teen on life support after assault at children's home

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wdtony:
Yeah, I really agree with what you wrote. Accidents do happen but when I am caring for a child and he might get assaulted by another kid, I would be cautious and have him checked out at the ER. I have had closed brain injuries myself so I really freak out if a kid gets a knot on his head...I will usually be constantly checking vitals, pupil dilation etc. and I am not a program staff. Too often many programs place low priority on medical care.

cmack:
http://www.oxfordpress.com/news/crime/s ... 02838.html

Severity of beating prompts removal of teens from group home

Police confirm Thursday he is still alive.

By Hannah Poturalski, Staff Writer Updated 7:57 PM Thursday, December 22, 2011

FAIRFIELD TWP. — The severity of an incident this week at a group home for wayward teens has prompted Butler County Children Services to remove some of its juveniles and place them in other care.

A 16-year-old male brutally assaulted between 7:30 and 8 p.m. Monday at One Way Farm on River Road remained on life support Thursday night at Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati, said Fairfield Twp. Police Chief Richard J. St. John. Medics were called to the home about three hours after the incident — around 11:30 p.m. — when the victim was found unresponsive, St. John said.

“It’s an important aspect that the victim stood up, was talking and walking around and didn’t seem to be injured,” St. John said.

A 17-year-old male is accused of punching the victim, throwing him to the ground - where he landed on his head - and laying on top of him before punching him repeatedly in the head.

The suspect, a ward of Warren County Children Services, was arrested late Monday and is being held at Butler County Juvenile Justice Center on the felony charge of aggravated assault. A court date at the juvenile center is set for Jan. 3.

St. John said the investigation is ongoing and detectives would be meeting with the prosecutor’s office.

Jeff Centers, executive director of Butler County Children Services, said the two juveniles involved do not have current or past cases with the department. After the severity of the incident became known, Butler County removed three of its juveniles from One Way Farm and placed them in different care.

St. John said the teens “were fighting over a flashlight that each one claimed was his,” he said.

The victim, a Fairfield High School student, has been in the hospital’s intensive care unit since Monday evening.

St. John said initial reports received Wednesday night said the boy had died, but he learned Thursday the information was false.

Both teenagers are residents of One Way Farm, St. John said. According to police reports, the teen charged in the assault weighs about 70 pounds more and is eight inches taller than the victim.

Greg Elam, board president of One Way Farm, said fights of this severity are “rare events” at the facility. Elam said counselors are on hand to help any juveniles at the facility who might be having a hard time coping with the events.

“As an organization that has been recognized as a leader in healing and helping children live a long and fruitful life, we are doing everything possible to understand and to cope with this unfortunate event that has affected these two children,” Elam said. “With more than 9,000 children coming through the One Way Farm, we have never experienced such loss.”

St. John said officers are called to the facility fairly often, but mainly on reports of runaway juveniles.

One Way Farm is licensed by the state and provides residential care 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. The agency has served about 8,500 children since 1976, according to its website. Earlier this year, One Way Farm was granted the 2011 Better Business Bureau Torch Award.

“When an agency has custody of a child they look at the needs and age of the child,” Centers said.

“They will try to place (the child) with family, then with foster care, then in a group home or a residential treatment facility.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2179 or Hannah.Poturalski@coxinc.com.

Ursus:

--- Quote from: "cmack" ---This doesn't appear to be the typical kind of program discussed hear of fornits. I couldn't determine by reading their website the percentage of kids admitted by parents versus those committed by agencies or courts. However, it does seem that they accept and presumably mix abused and neglected children with those placed by the juvenile courts. On the surface this seems like a potentially dangerous practice which the above story seems to support.
--- End quote ---

--- Quote from: "wdtony" ---I agree, mostly this does look like a decent place. There is a section on their website that states something about long term placement but it is very vague. I do not think this is a behavior modification program at this time. It is another news article about a child almost killed in a program and there was a 3 hour window after the assault that no staff checked on the victim.
--- End quote ---
Hmm. I'm afraid that I am a lil less sanguine re. the alleged "lack of apparent abuse" that goes on at this place, not to mention whether or not they resort to methods of thought reform.

There is a disturbing amount of overly positive PR about this place. They must use the same marketing strategy that Boys' Town uses: crush the voices of complaint by rallying overwhelming community support behind the program's efforts to "save the children."

Don't get me wrong, maybe this all is "really for real," and I can then be safely labeled a dour suspicious ol' bear, but... I've known of folks who really have devoted their lives to endeavors of this ilk, and they don't get even a fraction of the press coverage or community service awards the founder of this place does. Ya gotta wonder, especially in Ohio, just how that comes to be.

I was also a lil taken aback to read how much of a fan of "tough-love" she is. Maybe she means something different by that term than everybody else does. Maybe not.

cmack:

--- Quote from: "Ursus" ---
There is a disturbing amount of overly positive PR about this place. They must use the same marketing strategy that Boys' Town uses: crush the voices of complaint by rallying overwhelming community support behind the program's efforts to "save the children."

Don't get me wrong, maybe this all is "really for real," and I can then be safely labeled a dour suspicious ol' bear, but... I've known of folks who really have devoted their lives to endeavors of this ilk, and they don't get even a fraction of the press coverage or community service awards the founder of this place does. Ya gotta wonder, especially in Ohio, just how that comes to be.

I was also a lil taken aback to read how much of a fan of "tough-love" she is. Maybe she means something different by that term than everybody else does. Maybe not.
--- End quote ---

I think you must have access to sources I'm not familiar with, or somehow overlooked. I don't know who "she" is nor do I remember reading about "tough love". This information might change my perception of the place.

My earlier opinion that this was more of a group home type place versus a BM facility is largely based upon the fact that the kids appear to have unmonitored mail and phone privileges and go to public schools, and may have unsupervised excursions off campus.

cum guzzler:
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