Print Page - South Carolina lack supervision of group homes

The HEAL-online news letter from August 12 includes a link to this article:

Quote

S.C. has no say in youth centers: Little-known facilities hold troubled teens (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/26/sc-has-no-say-in-youth-centers/)--April 26th, 2011 (source: postandcourier.com)

SUMMERVILLE -- Many residents were stunned to learn last week that a local youth treatment center was housing violent teens from outside South Carolina. How could this happen, they wondered.

The truth is: The state has almost no control of who is placed in these facilities or where they come from. In many cases, even the local police don't know who is in their backyard.

South Carolina is home to 17 of these treatment centers that house nearly 800 kids and young adults struggling with mental illness, violent behavior and other problems. Many, like Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health, are privately run facilities.

State's involvement

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control licenses these centers but has virtually no say in where they are located or who they accept as clients, agency spokesman Thom Berry said.

DHEC inspectors typically visit these facilities just once every two years unless a complaint is lodged, Berry said. Even then, they are looking at things such as staffing ratios, the dispensing of medication and treatment plans. They don't control admissions or security measures. These facilities are not required to report escapes; only hospitalizations and deaths, he said.

That doesn't sit well with some town officials following last week's escape of four violence-prone Washington, D.C., teens from Palmetto's 60-bed treatment center on Midland Parkway. One escapee who remains at large had reportedly been charged with attempted murder.

"I'm very concerned," Town Councilman Walter Bailey said. "We have plenty of home-grown thugs in South Carolina without importing them from other states."

Councilman Bob Jackson said he wants town officials to discuss ways to improve security and notification measures at the center. He said a number of residents have spoken to him with concerns about security at the facility, which is surrounded by a 6-foot-tall wooden fence topped with a lattice.

"The gates there I could have climbed when I was 9 years old. When I was a teenager, those gates would have just been fun," Jackson said. "They don't look like they are designed to keep someone in. And my belief is, this was not an isolated case."

Prior incidents

Since February 2006, Summerville police have been called to the facility 128 times. In that time, there have been 12 missing-person calls and seven reports of runaways, police Capt. Michael Donoghue said.

In October 2009, a 15-year-old from the facility was accused of savagely beating a 64-year-old woman after slipping out a side door, according to a police report.

The victim, Toni Kucish, told police she was climbing from her vehicle when the teen started hitting her, knocking her to the ground. He continued to punch her in the head and shoulders while she was down. He ran off after she screamed for help but was quickly caught by staff members from the center, the police report stated.

Staff members told police the teen had run off after asking to get a drink of water. The teen told police he was angry with staff and decided to take it out on the first person he saw, a police report stated.

Geoffrey H. Waggoner, Kucish's attorney, said his client suffered a hemorrhage six months later that caused bleeding on the brain while she was talking to someone about the incident.

"Not only did the institution fail to acknowledge the attack on Ms. Kucish nearly two years ago, from recent events, it appears that meaningful improvements in security are still lacking," he said.

The facilities

Stacey Lindbergh, Palmetto's director of business development and community relations, declined to comment on the episode or anything related to last week's escape, citing patient confidentiality restrictions. The center released a statement last week saying it is "committed to providing the best possible treatment to its patients and takes their safety and well- being very seriously."

The Summerville facility is one of three operated in South Carolina by Palmetto Behavioral Health System. Palmetto, in turn, is owned by Universal Health Services, a Fortune 500 health management company with some 200 facilities throughout the country. The parent company reported net revenues of $5.6 billion in 2010.

The Summerville facility is not the only Palmetto Behavioral Health center to have problems. In February 2004, a 21-year-old accused of robbery escaped twice in two weeks from Palmetto's North Charleston treatment center, allegedly kidnapping his children's mother during his time on the run. Two years earlier, a 16-year-old boy was accused of sexually molesting two other boys --ages 12 and 14 -- at the same facility.

It remains unclear just how many out-of-state offenders are housed at the Palmetto facilities or how long the practice has been going on.

'Needs to change'

Steve Rublee, director of the Medical University Institute of Psychiatry, said it is not uncommon for treatment centers like Palmetto to accept clients from other states that may not have facilities to accommodate all of the youths under their jurisdiction. He ran a child and adolescent residential facility for seven years.

Rublee said the centers provide an important care option for youths dealing with long-term problems. "I think there is very much a need for this long-term care option that residential treatment centers provide," he said.

That may be, but state Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston, still plans to push for restrictions on the age and level of criminal offender allowed at that type of center. He also wants the state to prohibit these facilities from accepting out-of-state clients with criminal backgrounds.

"The questions are: Why are we even taking in any of these offenders from outside of South Carolina, why are we putting them behind a fence you can buy at Lowe's and how soon can we end this process?" he said. "This practice needs to change."

Quote from: "Glenn Smith, of The Post and Courier,"

The Summerville facility is one of three operated in South Carolina by Palmetto Behavioral Health System. Palmetto, in turn, is owned by Universal Health Services, a Fortune 500 health management company with some 200 facilities throughout the country. The parent company reported net revenues of $5.6 billion in 2010.

Quote from: "dragonfly"

Universal Health Services...just saw them as the owners of Provo Canyon School.

What are the names of the directors at Universal Health Services, what are the political connections? Sorry I'm not so up on current events.

Universal Health Services, Inc. (http://http://www.uhsinc.com/) bought what was left of CEDU, amongst other facilities...

An old "essay" from StrugglingTeens:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

Essays
Posted: Sep 9, 2005

CEDU EDUCATION WITH NEW OWNER -- "HERE FOREVER" AGAIN! (http://http://www.strugglingteens.com/artman/publish/article_5179.shtml)

By Linda Shaffer, M.A.
Educational Consultant
Sandpoint, ID

Former staff member at CEDU's Rocky Mountain Academy

GO former CEDU GO!

With Universal Health Services (UHS) winning the bid for the now empty CEDU Education buildings in north Idaho, it appears that the future is looking bright for the students, parents and former staff of CEDU and the therapeutic schools industry. All I can say for the industry, families and former staff members of the CEDU schools is "Yippee!" For me, it was unimaginable that the schools and their awesome, inspirational properties would be closed forever. As we wait for UHS to reopen the doors of the dorms and "the house," I personally am eager to know more about the new plan and meet those who will be overseeing it. I anxiously await the removal of the barricade at the entrance so I can drive back onto the property to do my share of handholding as the students, families and staff are welcomed onto the campus. North Idaho is looking forward to the aliveness and bustle created by these teenagers, parents and an eager staff who are more than ready to get back into the business of working with these bright, confused, witty, loving, trying to figure it all out struggling teens.

As an educational consultant these past almost 14 years, I know our role is to assist parents in assessing and making the best recommendations for their child and family. With this in mind, I am hopeful the educational consultants will once again take an in-depth interest in a north Idaho school setting that has been in the forefront of emotional growth education for struggling teens for so many years. When I wrote an earlier piece for Woodbury Reports as the schools closed, "CEDU Education --"Here Forever," I received many responses from staff, former staff and former students who had stumbled upon the article. A recent graduate asked if I wanted to hear his views on the schools, or his perspective on the caring group of people and challenges that changed his life so incredibly.

Every family, be it our personal family, work family or school family, faces trials and victories in a lifetime. In my practice, I work with families and schools all across the country. I am eager to learn more about the new plan in north Idaho, and when appropriate, include these schools in my recommendations for consideration to the families who have hired me.

There is a connection with nature for any school or program in north Idaho, and a history of many successes in this region. I wish the new owners, returning and new staff all the very best. This industry is in need of such places of beauty, safety, care, inspiration, challenges, growth... and joy and laughter again.

With Universal Health Services (UHS) winning the bid for the now empty CEDU Education buildings the future is looking bright for the students, parents and former staff of CEDU and the therapeutic schools industry.

Copyright ©2010, Woodbury Reports, Inc.

Photo and caption from the above article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=403513#p403475) in the OP:

(http://http://postandcourier.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2011/04/25/PALMETTO_BEHAVIORAL_HEALTH_t180.JPG?370a03faaa4bde2115f371a02430eb3e6a451be5)
Neighbors of the Palmetto Behavioral Health complex in Summerville have expressed concerns about security at the facility, which is surrounded by a 6-foot-tall wooden fence topped with 18 inches of lattice.
Photo by Wade Spees[/list]

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/26/sc-has-no-say-in-youth-centers/) left for the above article, "S.C. has no say in youth centers: Little-known facilities hold troubled teens (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=403513#p403475)" (by Glenn Smith; April 26, 2011; The Post and Courier), #s 1-20:

mat catastrophe · 12:36 AM on 4/26/2011

rayshockeynut · 2:41 AM on 4/26/2011

harpo · 5:01 AM on 4/26/2011

tide2 · 7:30 AM on 4/26/2011

Harpo, the way DHEC does these thing is when they make inspections, they call the facility in advance and make an appointment before they show up! I kid you not!! Same thing regarding complaints. DHEC never just shows up out of the blue. katensc · 8:44 AM on 4/26/2011

[/list]
mikecharleston · 5:35 AM on 4/26/2011

Instead of SC legislators focusing on issues like voter ID cards and protecting turtles from balloons, this issue of recruiting out-of-state thugs into our city should be of top priority.pirate42 · 6:10 AM on 4/26/2011

give me a break Its all About MONEY Palmetto Does not care about the Community... They have NO staff trained AT all to take care of this type child...I know First handtide2 · 7:24 AM on 4/26/2011

tide2 · 7:27 AM on 4/26/2011

kerri · 7:38 AM on 4/26/2011

coledanger · 7:45 AM on 4/26/2011

sand lapper · 7:46 AM on 4/26/2011

Man that fence is ugly!! Put them to work sanding and painting that thing! And put some razor wire around the top for God's sake. We don't want them jumping over without being chummonated now do we?newbattleaxe · 7:51 AM on 4/26/2011

sassafras · 9:18 AM on 4/26/2011

These kids attend Dorchester 2 schools. There are some as young as elementary age at this facility.some1thatknows · 4:45 PM on 4/26/2011

Last I remember, the facility had their own school building and employed certified teachers........I do not recall any residents attending any local public school.[/list]
coldbeer · 8:38 AM on 4/26/2011

coledanger, these are not "patients". Your way of thinking is the biggest problem we face with these facilities. These are "inmates". Only when we start treating them like inmates will we solve the problems associated with a safety risk to the public.coldbeer · 8:39 AM on 4/26/2011

We should pay for them all to get their own iPads..

starcar · 11:19 AM on 4/26/2011

And get away cars for when they escape...[/list]
jbt · 8:43 AM on 4/26/2011

Hey Chip, forget changing the type of fence surrounding this national dumping ground for so called "juvenile offenders" and close this place. Do not allow it to re-open until voters in a 5 mile radius decide if they like having a facility housing these individuals in their neighborhood. If they say "no problem" and the local police officials agree then allow it to re-open but in another area. Gitmo comes to mind.beentook2 · 8:46 AM on 4/26/2011

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/26/sc-has-no-say-in-youth-centers/) left for the above article, "S.C. has no say in youth centers: Little-known facilities hold troubled teens (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=403513#p403475)" (by Glenn Smith; April 26, 2011; The Post and Courier), #s 21-40:

nitrat · 8:51 AM on 4/26/2011

sassafras · 9:20 AM on 4/26/2011

These children attend Dorchester 2 schools. Some of them are elementary age, and have attended Oakbrook Elementary.[/list]
nitrat · 8:57 AM on 4/26/2011

early · 9:02 AM on 4/26/2011

They should be forced in to a military boot camp separate from the real folks but they have to go through the program. If they don't make it there, send them to the prison for work details so they can see the light. If that don't work, put them to sleep like the animal they will become

coldbeer · 10:00 AM on 4/26/2011

Boot Camp isn't what it used to be. Recruits get issued "Time-Out" cards that they can "play" any time they get stressed. I doubt today's boot camps woiuld do anything to fix these future criminals.harpo · 11:00 AM on 4/26/2011

Yeah, and no cussin' in boot camp. Now they will probably be issuing cammie panties when the homosexuals start pouring in.[/list]
dogman · 9:13 AM on 4/26/2011

As a former inspector/auditor for the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) in Pa., I can attest that a major focus that DHEC inspectors should be looking at is the security issue and admissions. In the organizations "Policy and Procedure" format, there should be a through procedures outline in place for both, security and admission criteria. Typically an inspector would review the annual or semi-annual (can't believe this is only done every 2 years in SC!!!), report/statistics, and note any weaknesses or discrepancies of the format and recommend corrections be made in order for the facility to continue to retain its license. Sounds to me like the state needs better oversight in behavioral health organizations such as this one. I have spent my life working with juvenile delinquents and in the mental health field. Without controls, you have a recipe for a dangerous environment and outcomes.

harpo · 11:02 AM on 4/26/2011

dogman · 11:48 AM on 4/26/2011

Every Mental Health Agency in Pa, is required to have a "Policy and Procedures" manual which would include the criteria used for Admission(s) of potential residents, i.e. Screening methods used, Psychological reports, etc. In an "Operations" Manual a description would include "Security Procedures" implemented, e.g. recognizing potential risk, areas of potential physical plant security breech, protocol for police contact upon escape, etc. A state auditor/inspector reviews all the agencies policies and instructs the agency to make correction where needed.griff895 · 6:47 PM on 4/26/2011

One of the problems, dogman, is that revenue shortfalls and budget cutbacks have forced many agencies to curtail routine inspection activities.[/list]
keylai · 9:15 AM on 4/26/2011

They have there own teachers. Also there was a time not too long ago when there was no fence. The fence was put up after that lady was beat. The lattice was recently after quite a few kids jumped the fence.

jbt · 11:34 AM on 4/26/2011

That makes me feel so much better knowing they put up a fence and lattice only after a citizen had been beat and more of these "offenders" had "jumped the fence". I will sleep much better tonight knowing this place is safe and secure. But, just in case, I'll get my husband to make sure he has shells for his shotgun.[/list]
david shiel · 9:25 AM on 4/26/2011

I have been a mental health high level executive since 1968, now thankfully retired. In 1968 I founded what remains today a nationally respected reentry program for the mentally ill; Stairways Inc. in Erie Pa.. Every patient we accepted was carefully screened and any history of violence toward staff or others would make the patient ineligible. But back then, quality care, safetyand ethical treatment were the driving considerations as opposed to profit and large Executive salaries . Throughout my long career , I have observed and became convinced that it is virtually impossible to generate a profit in the mental health arena while at the same time providing adequate staffing levels, sound treatment programs, acceptable staff training and adequate salaries and benefits for direct service staff. Kerri's comments were dead on the money. PROFIT above all else.

michael meuli · 9:55 AM on 4/26/2011

Ever read or agreed with anything Foucault said? j/w since you worked in the field[/list]
david shiel · 9:37 AM on 4/26/2011

justamom · 9:41 AM on 4/26/2011

brat · 10:15 AM on 4/26/2011

FYI There is a commission called JCAHO (Joint Commission on the Accredibility of Hospitals Organization) that ROUTINELY makes FREQUENT SURPRISE visits to both the Institute of Psychiatry at the Medical University AND to Palmetto Behavioral Health facilities. They are a NATIONAL acceditation organization, which has VERY STRICT policies which Palmetto PASSED a few months ago.

dogman · 11:36 AM on 4/26/2011

That's true brat, but JCAHO usually does their inspections once every four years, and the inspections are only as good as the inspectors. The "surprise" visits usually aren't that surprising as a facility usually has some idea when to expect them. Believe me, I've been through a number of JCAHO inspections as a Risk Manager for a major hospital, and although nationwide, they are more interested in their profit margin than inspections.dogman · 11:57 AM on 4/26/2011

Since my comment was removed, I'll say it again. JCAHO inspects usually once every 4 years. Most organizations have ample warning when they are coming and what to expect. They charge mega $$$ for their "inspection services" and you are ,in fact, buying your agencies, hospitals accrediation. I was a Risk Manager at a major hospital in PA. and went through many JCAHO inspecitons. They are only as good as the quality of the inspectors are.blackcoffee · 12:04 PM on 4/26/2011

[/list]

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/26/sc-has-no-say-in-youth-centers/) left for the above article, "S.C. has no say in youth centers: Little-known facilities hold troubled teens (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=403513#p403475)" (by Glenn Smith; April 26, 2011; The Post and Courier), #s 41-60:

nitrat · 1:59 PM on 4/26/2011

Isn't almost ALL "accreditation", educational or medical or anything, a racket?[/list]
maxistheman · 10:19 AM on 4/26/2011

This is the biggest bunch of krap I have ever heard. What are they covering up there. Confidentiality reasons! What! Who cares! They are bad kids. What's to cover up, unless they are trying new medical breakthroughs out on these kids.mtpleasantmom · 10:20 AM on 4/26/2011

streetlaw · 10:20 AM on 4/26/2011

No say and not much oversight as suspected sex offenders may serve as counselors in some youth agencies...and btw known sex offenders may be in that nursing home you put your wife or mother in and they won't tell you...in fact they may not even know...wwajsp · 10:23 AM on 4/26/2011

Close it down. It's too close to my children's day care. I don't care if these kids need help...they can get it in D.C. or Virginia (I know they have appropriate facilities). This makes me so mad! And frustrated. I was so relieved and secure when I picked their day care, and now, not so much. And I'm all the way in Mt. Pleasant, so I can't even run over and check on them. This is very upsetting.inlikeflynn · 10:53 AM on 4/26/2011

wonder why my comment was removed? what PC rule did i break? anybody know?

sand lapper · 11:07 AM on 4/26/2011

They removed something of mine earlier, too. This liberal rag of a paper is full of surprises.harpo · 11:16 AM on 4/26/2011

Well, if we didn't get to read your post, how could we possibly guess why it was removed, hmmm?[/list]
wordup · 10:59 AM on 4/26/2011

situations in sc has been over looked for quite sometime,We need to start acting on changeing the whole system.From top to bottom,no more electing family,sons and daughters.This is an outrage.These teens need discipline,they dont get it at home,so they pass them on to society,innocent people get hurt,rob,killed.Parents should be accountable.The public didnot birth them.harpo · 11:08 AM on 4/26/2011

Open up a new Clockwork Orange teen violence treatment facility in Summerville and have Alex DeLarge and his droogs run it. Yeah, Baby .. YEAH!8011 · 12:57 PM on 4/26/2011

Um...NEWS FLASH...99% of these apathetic excuses for humans will NOT be rehabilitated and will end up repeat offenders, but the PC crowd thinks otherwise. Guess what...Aggressive, low intelligence, crack head, jail bird, thug parents breed aggressive, low intelligence, crack head, jail bird, thug kids. WAKE UP! IT IS TIME TO FOR CHANGE. We need to start getting medieval on these folks. Sure, a few generations will suffer, but that is what it will take.lowcountry01 · 1:15 PM on 4/26/2011

I love it!just sayin' · 1:54 PM on 4/26/2011

http://ir.uhsinc.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=10 ... highlight= (http://ir.uhsinc.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=105817&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1550726&highlight=)[/list]

just sayin' · 1:56 PM on 4/26/2011

..and the stock is soaring.... up 2% today, 60 percent up from the low, YeeeHiiii[/list]
scpdblue · 1:57 PM on 4/26/2011

This place is next to a assisted living complex,apartment complex and housing These type places should be located next to a prison,in the middle of nowhere. That fence is a joke,the gate is a joke,the whole place is a joke.auntb · 2:21 PM on 4/26/2011

http://www.icrimewatch.net/index.php?AgencyID=54575 (http://www.icrimewatch.net/index.php?AgencyID=54575)

The address is 225 Midland Parkway, right? Zip 29485? Is this facility ensuring that all sex offenders are being registered (those over the age of 16.)[/list]

keylai · 3:58 PM on 4/26/2011

Yes, that is the correct address. I would like to know why he is 21 and in a placement for juveniles?some1thatknows · 4:31 PM on 4/26/2011

Maybe ask the out of state court system that refers them to the facility :)[/list]
realistic · 4:33 PM on 4/26/2011

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... m-sc-site/ (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/21/dc-teen-at-large-after-escape-from-sc-site/)

april 25 - http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... offenders/ (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/25/sc-officials-troubled-by-presence-of-dc-offenders/)[/list]
some1thatknows · 4:34 PM on 4/26/2011

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/26/sc-has-no-say-in-youth-centers/) left for the above article, "S.C. has no say in youth centers: Little-known facilities hold troubled teens (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=403513#p403475)" (by Glenn Smith; April 26, 2011; The Post and Courier), #s 61-72:

chs2945 · 4:56 PM on 4/26/2011

True. But that's pretty much a risk of any such job. You know that going in. "Retraints" by staff are common.some1thatknows · 5:07 PM on 4/26/2011

Not referring to the restraints.......referring to when the residents walk up and punch the faces of the staff for whatever reasons.........[/list]
chs2945 · 4:51 PM on 4/26/2011

chs2945 · 4:54 PM on 4/26/2011

* .."SAKE of the individual..."some1thatknows · 5:12 PM on 4/26/2011

jbt · 8:36 AM on 4/27/2011

If these individuals are in this situation due to pathetic family members, then let the state that produced the person and pathetic family treat them. And that these people are roaming our movie theaters, malls, and local fairs and can walk off from this so-called treatment facility without the local authorities being notified, please! The responsibility of these "guilty but mentally ill juveniles" is the state and local communities that produced them not SC.[/list]
nitrat · 5:02 PM on 4/26/2011

the plain truth · 5:41 PM on 4/26/2011

realistic · 6:38 PM on 4/26/2011

mostlysilent · 9:57 PM on 4/26/2011

Name withheld · 10:54 PM on 4/26/2011

This comment is under review.[/list]
melaniem41 · 11:57 PM on 4/26/2011

If there are violent teenagers here who have committed offenses such as murder, whereEVER this center is located needs to have fences with barbed wire, guards, alarms and a safety plan for area neighbors. PERIOD. It doesn't matter that the homes were built after the center. It doesn't matter that they were not aware. For liability sake, for protection of those in the areas around them, this center needs to majorly increase their security.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Quote from: "dragonfly"

we're all gonna go to hell in a bucket...those comments are just chatter...the ex workers were interesting talking about it being all about the money...

I found some of those comments pretty harsh... As if those kids stuck in Palmetto are considered to be completely unredeemable. And expendable. This one, for example:

maxistheman · 10:19 AM on 4/26/2011

This is the biggest bunch of krap I have ever heard. What are they covering up there. Confidentiality reasons! What! Who cares! They are bad kids. What's to cover up, unless they are trying new medical breakthroughs out on these kids.[/list][/list]

"Trying new medical breakthroughs out on these kids?" It's not hard to see how folks thought it entirely acceptable to foist experimental methodologies on certain segments of the population back in the early days of this industry... They still think that way!

Quote from: "Ursus"

"Trying new medical breakthroughs out on these kids?" It's not hard to see how folks thought it entirely acceptable to foist experimental methodologies on certain segments of the population back in the early days of this industry... They still think that way!

Wow. I wonder how much undercurrent there was (is) in this regard. I'm sickened.

From the above article in the OP, "S.C. has no say in youth centers... (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649#p403475)":

SUMMERVILLE -- Many residents were stunned to learn last week that a local youth treatment center was housing violent teens from outside South Carolina. How could this happen, they wondered.[/list][/size]
The event that caused this realization was the escape of four teens from the privately run Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health treatment facility on Wednesday, April 20th:

DHEC inspectors typically visit these facilities just once every two years unless a complaint is lodged, Berry said. Even then, they are looking at things such as staffing ratios, the dispensing of medication and treatment plans. They don't control admissions or security measures. These facilities are not required to report escapes; only hospitalizations and deaths, he said.

That doesn't sit well with some town officials following last week's escape of four violence-prone Washington, D.C., teens from Palmetto's 60-bed treatment center on Midland Parkway. One escapee who remains at large had reportedly been charged with attempted murder.[/list][/size]
Here follow a few articles related to that incident, starting with the earliest one I could find in the Post and Courier Archives...

The Post and Courier
Three teens in custody after escape, one still at large (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/21/Four-DC-teens/)

BY ANDY PARAS · [email protected]
Originally published 08:28 a.m., April 21, 2011
Updated 02:33 p.m., April 21, 2011

SUMMERVILLE — Three of the four Washington, D.C., teens who escaped from a behavioral health center were taken into custody in Dorchester County Thursday.

Washington, D.C., Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services officials said the four teens fled the Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Center on Midland Parkway at 6:12 p.m. Wednesday. Authorities said all four range in age of 17 to 19 years old and have a history of violence.

Authorities close to the investigation say the fourth teen still on the loose was committed to the center on an attempted murder charge.

Dorchester County Sheriff's deputies caught three of the teens on Dorchester Road near Appian Way about 9:30 a.m. and returned them to the behavioral health center, Maj. John Garrison said.

He said Delonte Parker, 19, is still at-large. Parker is described as a black male, 6-foot-2, 170 pounds.

The behavioral center is described as a 60-bed, secure placement facility that offers residential treatment programs for adolescent males with sexually aggressive behaviors, substance abuse problems and psychiatric, behavioral or conduct issues.

Summerville police Sgt. Cassandra Williams did not say how the teens escaped from the facility. Police radio traffic said the teens scaled a fence in the rear of the facility.

No one was hurt in the escape.

Williams said photos of the suspects were not immediately available because they were of poor quality.

A representative of the behavioral center could not be reached for comment.

Reach Andy Paras at 937-5589 or on twitter at twitter.com/andyparas.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/21/Four-DC-teens/) left for the above article, "Three teens in custody after escape, one still at large (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649#p403605)" (by Andy Paras; April 21, 2011; The Post and Courier), #s 1-20:

maxistheman · 8:50 AM on 4/21/2011

Hide your kids. These creepers are on the prowl. Aahhhhhh!

wwajsp · 9:44 AM on 4/21/2011

You laugh, but my childrens' day care is practically across the street from Midland Parkway! I AM worried!!![/list]
jma · 8:56 AM on 4/21/2011

Escaped "about 6:12 pm? Couldn't they be more specific? Seriously, though hope they catch them soon. Bad things could happen with desperate troubled boys out there.rulenumberone · 9:06 AM on 4/21/2011

We need more specific details for public safety. Why were no decent pictures available? Summerville needs a dialogue about this facility's security.rulenumberone · 9:09 AM on 4/21/2011

How are we supposed to be on the lookout for these kids with no identifying details? Public safety should trump HIPAA or juvenile privacy.really stewed · 9:12 AM on 4/21/2011

scdiver · 1:53 PM on 4/21/2011

maxistheman · 3:15 PM on 4/21/2011

I wanna see you pack that heat mister. Shoot those sexual predators where the sun refuses to shine. WHere are the employees?[/list]
lou9 · 9:35 AM on 4/21/2011

Why are we getting the report from the DC Department of Youth Services and not the behavioral center in Summerville? And now their representative cannot be reached for comment? Sounds like they are more interested in damage control than the welfare of these kids and the community.

wwajsp · 9:46 AM on 4/21/2011

I think you're right! This absolutely infuriates me! I live in that area!scdiver · 12:15 PM on 4/21/2011

I want to know why we're housing 4 "disturbed" teens FROM D.C.!! We don't need any more of their d@mned problems!!realistic · 1:48 PM on 4/21/2011

i will tell you why. as a former employee of this place whenever something negative happens memos are posted ordering staff to not talk to the press.findingmyself · 10:18 PM on 4/21/2011

realistic: I figured you must've been a current or former employee, your experiences mirror my own. And they don't have 4 DC kids, they have 9.[/list]
rulenumberone · 10:18 AM on 4/21/2011

What do they mean they think it might just be three? Is it three or four? We live in the immediate vicinity and we demand some forthcoming answers NOW. They need to find a representative to give out some details. Is one still on the loose or not? And I agree that we need information from LOCAL law enforcement rather than getting the scoop from DC. No acceptable in any way.

lil' dave · 12:04 PM on 4/21/2011

Somebody asleep at the wheel, like air traffic control![/list]
mr. macky · 11:08 AM on 4/21/2011

buzzinlikealdrin · 1:49 PM on 4/21/2011

Is this Summerville High?chs2945 · 7:47 PM on 4/21/2011

Has it changed? I know in the past it was 2 seperate programs. One was all male, sex offenders. The other was mixed-gender behavioral unit.findingmyself · 10:21 PM on 4/21/2011

chs2945: the all male sex offender program is still the same. the other unit is still general behavior, but is also all male, not mixed gender.chs2945 · 11:56 PM on 4/21/2011

Ah. Wasn't sure if they changed it.[/list]

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/21/Four-DC-teens/) left for the above article, "Three teens in custody after escape, one still at large (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649#p403605)" (by Andy Paras; April 21, 2011; The Post and Courier), #s 21-40:

lil' dave · 12:02 PM on 4/21/2011

my2centsworth · 12:03 PM on 4/21/2011

Poor quality photographs of these 'teens' isn't acceptable. Because they are documented as behaviorally challenged, sexual abusers, and violent behavior tendencies, they should have current photos... front, back, sides, and keep them current each time they get a haircut, weave, dental work, etc... THis is ridiculous!!!!kaj · 12:32 PM on 4/21/2011

Because the media isn't required to give you all the facts-or any facts for that matter. It doesn't matter what they look like because anybody could be a danger to society. Law enforcement obviously does their job, or else they wouldn't have apprehended 3 of them. Let them do their jobs. There's nothing you can do about it even if there were pictures of this person. Stop being so judgemental. Maybe you should take a good look at yourself. Maybe you should worry more about this person being at large rather than what he looks like. Grow up people.realistic · 2:16 PM on 4/21/2011

realistic · 2:23 PM on 4/21/2011

addendum: the state needs to do a thorough review of this place, and do an unannounced visit on every shift. previous visits were announced in advance, and staff and kids worked like hell to get the place in a "respectable", a JCAHO accredited facility. or state standards. UNANNOUNCED, south carolina DSS. UNANNOUNCED.my3sons · 3:55 PM on 4/21/2011

http://www.facebook.com/people/Delonte- ... 0852807405 (http://www.facebook.com/people/Delonte-Blowinmoneyfast-Parker/100000852807405)

I think it's a photo of our perp; read his attitudes and interests at the bottom of the page. I think this is the PerpMuggie.[/list]

sometruthplease · 6:16 PM on 4/21/2011

That kid is from WASHINGTON COUNTY, GEORGIA, not WASHINGTON, DC....Harpo, for shame, for shame.doggone85 · 7:00 PM on 4/21/2011

Read his page. He may be worse than the one on the loose.[/list]
pirate42 · 6:05 PM on 4/21/2011

The NUT HUT has a kid with attempted murder charge... that place ewwwwwwwww can not watch a kid of that caliber..clickedin · 7:20 PM on 4/21/2011

realistic · 7:34 PM on 4/21/2011

here is a little history on the facility at midland pkwy. first of all the link at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychiatric_Solutions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychiatric_Solutions) Joey Jacobs was part of new hope in jedburg. The new hope jedburg facility closed because of a death of a Virginia boy: http://articles.dailypress.com/2003-03- ... t-facility (http://articles.dailypress.com/2003-03-29/news/0303290114_1_psychiatric-treatment-south-carolina-department-facility)

However they maintained a new hope facility on 225 midland pkwy. New hope was then purchased by ABS, alternative behavioral services. Which included the jedburg facility. ABS was subsequently bought by PSI, psychiatric solutions. Then everything went to hell. Then PSI was merged with

Mr. Jacobs had left and started pinelands group home off main st. in Summerville .

ABS then sold to psychiatric solutions. Which in turn was "merged with Universal Health Services. Who now operate the 225 midland pkwy. Facilty. The whole front office corporate staff at midland pkwy. Needs to be replaced. From human resourses, to to all of them. Up to and including their managers.

This is a poorly and inadequately run facility for vulnerable adolescents. It is not about helping these kids. It is about how much money can be generated.[/list]
shagmaster76114 · 7:49 PM on 4/21/2011

Maybe if the staff had a union available......Never mind, the governor and her lackey politicos won't allow it.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/21/Four-DC-teens/) left for the above article, "Three teens in custody after escape, one still at large (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649#p403605)" (by Andy Paras; April 21, 2011; The Post and Courier), #s 41-55:

realistic · 9:02 PM on 4/21/2011

health care staff needs unions. i support them because they support their members. that is the shame of south carolina. as an aside i am glad that the boeing facility in n. charleston is at risk due to the controvery re. union vs. non. pro union. get a grip sc, hope you lose to the boeing plant due to your persistence in providing lower wages to employees. right to work. no right for rights.[/list]
chs2945 · 7:58 PM on 4/21/2011

rulenumberone · 11:16 PM on 4/21/2011

No, it's not a government operation. It's a for profit mental health facility. And no hospital allows employees to discuss patients in the media at all. But I do expect the administration not to clam up when a dangerous person is on the losse because of lapses in their system.chs2945 · 11:52 PM on 4/21/2011

You're correct. I didn't mean to imply it was gov't owned or part of DJJ. But it handles kids in that system.[/list]
Name withheld · 8:07 PM on 4/21/2011

This comment is under review.[/list]
Name withheld · 8:34 PM on 4/21/2011

This comment is under review.[/list]
realistic · 9:19 PM on 4/21/2011

All staff in the health care businesses needs to unionize. As do factory workers. As an aside I am glad that the n. Charleston boeing factory is under scrutiny. I hope the union wins. Sc has screwed her employees for decades. No rights, fire at will. No. south carolina is pro business, anti-employee. Ask yourself: why does someone with a master's degree get a job at a place like 225 midland pkwy. At 10.00 bucks and hour or less? Is this what you went to college for?

chs2945 · 9:43 PM on 4/21/2011

findingmyself · 10:24 PM on 4/21/2011

For one thing, only the therapists have to have a masters. Not sure how much they make though. Direct care staff barely have to even have a bachelor's.[/list]
maxistheman · 10:55 PM on 4/21/2011

Creepo. The movie. This place is an unsettling piece of human kind. A nasty undercover operation all in the name of profit and not for the idea of helping the future of America. Disgusting. SHUT THIS PLACE DOWN!

rulenumberone ·

I don't think so. And where do you propose to treat or at least contain these people? On the streets? I don't think so. We need MORE facilities, not less. But this particular facility is troubling me with the stonewalling.maxistheman · 11:14 PM on 4/21/2011

U answered your question. Good work. This place sux!chs2945 · 11:48 PM on 4/21/2011

maxistheman · 10:14 AM on 4/22/2011

I have the answer cheez2945. You're a douche and so is your dog.chs2945 · 12:51 PM on 4/22/2011

Ah. civil discourse. Excellent. Recess is over.[/list]

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

The Post and Courier
Teen escapee remains at large (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/23/partial-inspections-history/)
4 youths fled from Summerville behavioral treatment facility; 3 were later caught

BY DAVID MACDOUGALL, ANDY PARAS
[email protected] [email protected]
Originally published 12:00 a.m., April 22, 2011
Updated 08:08 a.m., April 22, 2011

SUMMERVILLE — Authorities this morning say they still are searching for the last of four Washington, D.C., teens who escaped from a behavioral health facility Wednesday night.

Four teens, ranging in age from 17 to 19, and all of them with a history of violence, escaped from Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health on Midland Parkway about 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, according to officials from the District of Columbia's Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services.

Dorchester County sheriff's deputies caught three of them on Dorchester Road near Appian Way about 9:30 a.m. Thursday, sheriff's Maj. John Garrison said. They were returned to the behavioral health center, Garrison said.

The fourth teen, 19-year-old Delonte Parker, is still at large and is the object of a multi-state search. Parker is described as a black male, 6 feet 2 inches tall and 170 pounds.

A staff member for a District of Columbia councilman said that the teen who was still on the loose had been committed for an attempted murder charge.

The behavioral center is in the Summerville Police Department's jurisdiction. Police Sgt. Cassandra Williams would not say how the teens escaped from the facility. Police radio traffic said they scaled a fence in the rear of the facility.

Williams said photos of the teen were not available because they were of poor quality.

Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health is operated by the Palmetto Behavioral Health System, a mental health provider that also has facilities in Florence and North Charleston. Palmetto Behavioral Health System is owned by Universal Health Services, a Fortune 500 health management company with facilities throughout the country.

Palmetto officials would not discuss the situation, but Stacey Lindbergh, director of business development and community relations, released the following statement:

"The management and staff of Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health are committed to providing the best possible treatment to its patients and takes their safety and well-being very seriously. Due to strict patient confidentiality and privacy laws the facility is precluded from giving any further information."

On its website, Palmetto describes its Summerville treatment center as a 60-bed, secure placement facility that offers residential treatment programs for adolescent males with sexually aggressive behaviors, substance abuse problems and psychiatric, behavioral or conduct issues.

The center serves as an out-of-state placement facility for the District of Columbia's Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, according to a statement released by the district. Palmetto contracts with the district as a service provider of residential treatment.

"The district's confidentiality laws prohibit DYRS from commenting further regarding the youth involved and this incident," the statement said.

Asked for a photograph of the teen who was still at large, Reggie Sanders, a spokesman for the district, said confidentiality regulations prohibit him from discussing the individuals or releasing a photograph.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/22/teen-escapee-remains-at-large/) left for the above article, "Teen escapee remains at large (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=404862#p404860)" (by David MacDougall, Andy Paras; April 22, 2011; The Post and Courier), #s 1-20:

harpo · 12:32 AM on 4/22/2011

rulenumberone · 8:08 AM on 4/22/2011

There is a credibility issue here. We need to delve further, and demand answers. The media have no photo to print, Harpo.[/list]
gomione · 1:34 AM on 4/22/2011

realistic · 8:54 AM on 4/22/2011

http://www.baxterresearch.net/resources ... ildren.pdf (http://www.baxterresearch.net/resources/pdf/The_Psychotropic_Drugging_of_Floridas_Medicaid_Children.pdf)

http://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/view/271/144/ (http://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/view/271/144/)[/list]
lou9 · 9:29 AM on 4/22/2011

So what are you trying to say? That he escaped to get away from an abusive facility? That we should feel sorry for him? Well, what got him in that facility in the first place? His behavior, that's what. If sedation makes him less of a threat to society then so be it. Tell me how you feel when he or some other "overmedicated" teen grabs hold of you or one of your kids.realistic · 10:15 AM on 4/22/2011

[/list]
sid · 4:08 AM on 4/22/2011

No PHOTO of the escaped criminal? His rights are protected but ours are not? What a joke,time has come for changes , criminals give up their rights when they commit a crime. All they should recieve is food and lodging,no gyms or tvs.oversite · 4:11 AM on 4/22/2011

Oh...I didn't know we had a gender-biased, for-profit brainwashing facility here in the area. I guess the more pleasant setting would yield more varied results for any continued experimentation straight out of the USAF. And what a perfect cover.

lou9 · 9:31 AM on 4/22/2011

His behavior put him in there. If brainwashing makes him no longer a menace to society then so be it.[/list]
unojack · 5:16 AM on 4/22/2011

rulenumberone · 8:06 AM on 4/22/2011

It's not operating on your dime. It's a private for profit facility. But I otherwise agree. We need a serious dialogue about this facility, if it chooses not to be a good neighbor.justsayingjustsaying · 8:59 AM on 4/22/2011

chas4life · 11:13 AM on 4/22/2011

palmetto is a private facility, but are getting paid by District to house these criminals alongside non-criminals who are there for mental health issues. Very dangerous situation.[/list]
sand lapper · 5:58 AM on 4/22/2011

sand lapper · 5:59 AM on 4/22/2011

Phugg it....run 'em all through the chummonator. I'm feeling saucy today.helen42 · 6:20 AM on 4/22/2011

19 is a legal adult. What was this adult criminal doing in a youth facility?

realistic · 8:40 AM on 4/22/2011

and why do they put 8 year olds in the same facility? a few years back this facility would release residents upon reaching 18 or when their medicaid ran out, or whichever came first.scnative26 · 2:41 PM on 4/22/2011

Depending on when the offense was committed. If it was done when he was 16 or younger he could be sentenced as a juvenile and place in a juevenile facility until the age of 21 and I have even seen some cases where they were sentenced until the age of 25 depending on the severity of the crime.[/list]
migraine · 6:29 AM on 4/22/2011

ironhorse · 6:31 AM on 4/22/2011

Did you jump the fence as well?[/list]

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/22/teen-escapee-remains-at-large/) left for the above article, "Teen escapee remains at large (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=404862#p404860)" (by David MacDougall, Andy Paras; April 22, 2011; The Post and Courier), #s 21-40:

harpo · 8:29 AM on 4/22/2011

So you were in there for spelling offenses, then?maxistheman · 10:12 AM on 4/22/2011

The All-American hell hole. Kids are forced to get better through beatings, pills, and lost memories of childhood.[/list]
coldbeer · 6:36 AM on 4/22/2011

Name withheld · 6:48 AM on 4/22/2011

This comment is under review.[/list]
starcar · 7:34 AM on 4/22/2011

Shoot Delonte on sight...problem solved.rulenumberone · 8:04 AM on 4/22/2011

HIPAA regulations do preclude a treatment facility from divulging information about the treatment of patients. But this young man has negated those rights by becoming the focus of a public safety issue in the greater community. He chose to make himself news. The community's right for i nformation about a possible threat should now trump his own rights, as he chose. This stonewalling by this for profit holding facility is insensitive to the community. There should be consequences. I hope for the facility, and not Summerville.oldglory · 8:08 AM on 4/22/2011

oldglory · 8:09 AM on 4/22/2011

rulenumberone, I posted this before reading your comments. You do sound knowledgable.[/list]
gcrebel · 8:33 AM on 4/22/2011

The simple reason Palmetto does not want to talk about this incident is because they don't want to disclose how badly they screwed up in letting these dangerour youths get away in the first place. No picture? Please, I am sure DC and local law enforcement have pictures of Delonte Parker that have enough quality to distribute. This man, not youth, was there because he committed a VIOLENT crime. This 19 year old, 6'2", 170 pound is NOT a youth. He is a man. Even by this age, he is a man, which means he is an escaped criminal, not a troubled youth. Using an FOI in this case to obtain more information would seem appropriate in this case.realistic · 8:36 AM on 4/22/2011

lou9 · 9:34 AM on 4/22/2011

They need to put shock collars on them.[/list]
harpo · 8:38 AM on 4/22/2011

chas4life · 11:09 AM on 4/22/2011

It's true. the pictures that the admissions office take are horrible.[/list]
lou9 · 9:25 AM on 4/22/2011

cover2 · 9:27 AM on 4/22/2011

Doesn't Obammy have enough money to fund this program in the D.C. Metro area? It's bad enough we have to defend ourselves against the wackos from here let lone an out of towner. The P&C won't post his photo until he kills someone. Lest give us citizens a fair chance of survival. Just like the gentleman last week who had to defend himself against these same type of Thugs who invaded his home week.

haynes · 11:30 AM on 4/22/2011

My guess is that this care has been taken out of federal/state control and privatized because "we" don't want the government to take care of sick people. So the care goes to the lowest bidder. And because "we" here in SC are generally under-paid compared to most of the country, we cost less.geecheeboi84 · 1:54 PM on 4/22/2011

And what "type of thug" might that be, cover2? Just for clarification purposes...harpo · 5:40 PM on 4/22/2011

[/list]
maxistheman · 10:10 AM on 4/22/2011

sand lapper · 10:18 AM on 4/22/2011

LOL@ Harpo....spelling offenses...yep the grammar police I employ run your tongue and hands through the chummonator if you can't write or speak correctly.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/22/teen-escapee-remains-at-large/) left for the above article, "Teen escapee remains at large (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=404862#p404860)" (by David MacDougall, Andy Paras; April 22, 2011; The Post and Courier), #s 41-60:

maxistheman · 10:31 AM on 4/22/2011

sky · 10:49 AM on 4/22/2011

Obviously at least 4 of the 'patients' were not in a zombie-like condition or they wouldn't have been able to escape. And somehow I don't believe a word of your post. Are you trying to tell us that you visited Palmetto for an entire day/night and you were allowed to observe all of the patients there? Doubt it. After reading some of your other posts, I think it is more likely a figment of your imagination or you were a patient there yourself.rulenumberone · 10:53 AM on 4/22/201

I agree. Your post is incredible, Better work on your details in writing fiction.scnative26 · 12:42 PM on 4/22/2011

So if you hung out in the lobby?, (which is not allowed after visiting hours) how did you see them get put to bed? How do you know they were given pills before bed? This is a "secure" facility a term they must take lightly but never the less they would not allow you to "hangout" in the lobby ALL day and observe. That is just nonsense.chs2945 · 1:01 PM on 4/22/2011

chs2945 · 1:05 PM on 4/22/2011

sissylala · 1:31 PM on 4/22/2011

why would the lights be on @ 7:30pm.... It's daylight savings time..plenty of natural light. What movie did you steal this from?maxistheman · 2:42 PM on 4/22/2011

I stole it from some Charlie Sheen movie but I can just imagine this is what goes on there. I love you guys. Hahaha LOLharpo · 5:43 PM on 4/22/2011

Poorly written bullsh!t ..[/list]
sky · 10:43 AM on 4/22/2011

The unmitigated gall of Ms Lindbergh stating that they take the safety and health of their 'patients' very seriously! What about the safety and health of the surrounding community when they allow one of their felons to escape?! If this thug harms someone, I certainly hope Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health is held responsible right beside Delonte Parker. The community needs to rise up now to either drive this 'facility' out of the area or at least ensure that it is maximum security.-- Not to mention that a 19 year old with a murder (or attempted murder) conviction should be in the penitentiary.

rulenumberone · 10:55 AM on 4/22/2011

I agree. The facility is being VERY insensitive to the needs of the community. We have a right to expect a safe town, but it cannot be so if we don't know what this attempted murderer looks like. This is very poor public relations. We have tolerated this facility for a number of years, but that tide may turn with this incident.maxistheman · 11:01 AM on 4/22/2011

She must have an amazing gall bladder.[/list]
rulenumberone · 11:01 AM on 4/22/2011

[email protected]

maxistheman · 11:04 AM on 4/22/2011

I am very displeasured right now. I hope they give me some free night stay coupons when I release my anger on them.chas4life · 11:06 AM on 4/22/2011

Yes!!! Both of these facilities house dangerous criminals in the same units as mental health patients. It is a DANGERoUS situation with many innocent patients and staff injured.harpo · 5:44 PM on 4/22/2011

Thank you for the EMail address.[/list]
maxistheman · 11:09 AM on 4/22/2011

two sheds · 12:14 PM on 4/22/2011

Yeah, I saw that...David needs to be put away and never see the light of day again.[/list]
two sheds · 12:14 PM on 4/22/2011

maxistheman · 1:08 PM on 4/22/2011

GIve us pics! Give us pics! Give us pics! Delonte is going down. Hopefully he is not going down on some innocent man.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/22/teen-escapee-remains-at-large/) left for the above article, "Teen escapee remains at large (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=404862#p404860)" (by David MacDougall, Andy Paras; April 22, 2011; The Post and Courier), #s 61-75:

rulenumberone · 10:33 PM on 4/22/2011

Please go away. This is a serious issue.[/list]
louie1994 · 1:21 PM on 4/22/2011

This is not the first time one of the Patient have escaped itm happen all the time. About 7 months ago one of them attacked an old lady outside the denist office a cross the street. Ask the Summervillie Police. I would also say the the Patient that is on the run is a sex offender. A lot of the Patients there have sexually attacked kids from their home state and are tranfered to SC for treatment. YOU ARE NOT SAFE LIVING NEAR THEREmaxistheman · 2:43 PM on 4/22/2011

This place is not secure.8011 · 3:05 PM on 4/22/2011

Delonte? Where-o-where do they continue come up with these names?cover2 · 3:14 PM on 4/22/2011

geecheeboi84 Please read from the P&C dated April 15, 2011. Hopefully this will answer your question. Thank you sir!!! Gadsden died from a single gunshot wound after police said the home- owner fired his handgun at him when he saw Gadsden coming down the stairs holding the homeowner's long gun and bag of ammunition. The homeowner is not facing charges because he had the right to protect his home under the Castle Doctrine, police said.maxistheman · 4:26 PM on 4/22/2011

cover2, what are you talking about? We may need to enroll you in the Palmetto Mental Health Facility.harpo · 5:52 PM on 4/22/2011

getoverurselves · 7:11 PM on 4/22/2011

two sheds · 8:48 PM on 4/22/2011

harpo · 10:10 PM on 4/22/2011

getoverurselves · 10:37 PM on 4/22/2011

I have worked for 27 years in mental health facilities in SC, NC and NY state. If I were to guess, about 1 out of every 20 patients refused to have their picture taken. It's gotten a lot better since we stopped using polaroids (imagine trying to convince someone in a psychotic state that you're not stealing their soul even though his/her image is appearing on a piece of paper). If the facility did have a picture, then by all means it should (must be) provided to the authorities. If they don't have a picture, then there HAS to be a picture of this kid somewhere. Mugshot, driver's license, school yearbook photo, an artist's rendering... For the safety of everyone, it should be published. Still hoping and praying he will be located, medicated and rehabilitated (or incarcerated). Hope the facility figures out what went wrong so something like this doesn't happen again.harpo · 12:19 AM on 4/23/2011

cover2 · 6:42 AM on 4/23/2011

harpo you are 100% correct. Way to go!!oldglory · 8:17 AM on 4/23/2011

Did I miss that this escapee was charged with murder and found guilty? I keep seeing comments that refer to him as a murderer. I do see that he was charged with -attempted- murder--a bit different than -actual- murder. I do know that many are unable to comprehend what they read and/or like to embellish what is reported in order to rant and rave and be seen as a hero.

sky · 10:24 AM on 4/23/2011

[/list]

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

The Post and Courier
Teen behavioral facility lacks stringent security (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/22/teen-behavioral-facility-lacks-stringent-security/)

BY ANDY PARAS, BO PETERSEN
[email protected], [email protected]
Friday, April 22, 2011

(http://http://postandcourier.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2011/04/22/facility_t600.jpg)
Fence that surrounds Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health on Midland Parkway on Friday April 22. Wade Spees // The Post and Courier

SUMMERVILLE -- No real security is required at the children and adolescent treatment center where four teens with a history of criminal violence scaled the fence and ran away Wednesday.

And the center's staff made no timely effort to alert police or residents in surrounding neighborhoods. Police were still waiting Friday for a photograph to be supplied of the teen who remained on the loose.

Among other concerns raised by the escape from the Palmetto Behavioral Health treatment center in Summerville are whether: Older juvenile criminal offenders should be treated at an in-patient/out-patient center treating children.

A 19-year-old offender should have been treated at a children-and-adolescent center.

More regulation is needed over a health care industry that operates in some aspects without any direct state oversight.

A multi-state police search continued Friday for Delonte Parker, 19. He is described as a black male, about 6-foot-2 and 170 pounds. The three other runaways -- an 18-year-old and two 17-year-olds -- have been captured and returned to the center. They were committed to the center by District of Columbia courts under the auspices of the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Center. Authorities did not reveal what charges they faced in Washington.

District officials described them as having violent criminal histories, and a police source told The Washington Times that Parker is a serious offender.

An official in Washington told The Post and Courier the charge is attempted murder. Juvenile records are kept confidential. Parker was arrested in 2008 for fleeing a police officer, according to D.C. Superior Court records obtained by the Times, and was later found guilty of tampering with a monitoring device.

On its website, the center bills itself as offering a wide array of inpatient treatments geared to children and adolescents 6 to 17 years old.

Among disorders treated are sexual aggression, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress.

Authorities would not reveal what the four teens were being treated for at the center.

The compact campus consists of a main building, smaller buildings and open grounds that sit between a nursing home and an assisted living facility near Summerville Medical Center and residential neighborhoods along Midland Parkway. It's surrounded by a 6-foot-tall wooden fence with another 18 inches of lattice on top. The dormitories have steel doors.

No clients were outside Friday, but there are signs, including a volleyball net and a shelter, that they spend time outside.

When asked Friday about security in place at the center and whether it would be improved in the wake of the escape, a staffer would not comment and referred The Post and Courier to a news release issued Thursday. The release said the confidentiality and privacy laws precluded the center from giving more information.

Police were notified of the runaways an hour after they occurred at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Nearby neighbors were not notified.

Summerville police Sgt. Cassandra Williams said the incident isn't considered an escape in South Carolina because the behavioral center is a private facility, not a correctional facility. The three teens were returned to the center without any criminal charges filed against them, although they could face penalties from the Washington, D.C., authorities who committed them, she said.

"Obviously we've got a huge hole in the regulations here in South Carolina," said S.C. Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston. He called on the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control to restrict the age and level of criminal offender allowed at that type of center, and to prohibit accepting out-of-state clients with criminal backgrounds. Or, he said, the Legislature would act on it within two weeks.

"A violent sexual predator has no business in one of these inpatient/outpatients facilities to start with," Limehouse said. "Why in the world are we taking violent sexual predators from out of state? That's farcical."

It operates under a DHEC license for children and adolescent treatment centers and is licensed for 60 beds.

The regulations for that kind of center restrict measures such as use of restraint or isolation and require the facility to have windows that can be opened for ventilation. The center is not required to report runaways, just hospitalizations and deaths.

"As far as who comes there, we don't have any authority over that. I don't know that anybody does," said DHEC spokesman Thom Berry.

In a news release, the D.C. youth center described the Palmetto center as a "secure placement facility." Asked what that entailed, Reggie Sanders, D.C. Human Services Department spokesman, said, "I think you would have to call the center and ask them that."

Residential centers across the country treat criminal offender juveniles as regular clients, as well as juveniles from foster care and private homes, said Steve Rublee, Medical University Institute of Psychiatry director.

Rublee ran a children and adolescent residential facility for seven years.

There is a range of how restrictive the individual facilities are, but "it's a pretty restrictive environment in total," he said. Clients routinely are admitted from out of state.

"They are kids who don't have an immediate crisis but have long-standing problems and need long-term care," he said. The facilities in general are capable of handling clients with various levels of security, depending on staff and facilities, he said.

Kari Sisson, American Association of Child Residential Centers national director, said clients "go AWOL all the time." She was unfamiliar with the Summerville center, which is not an association member.

"Based on (the runaways) histories, you'd think they would be placed in a facility that can meet their needs and the needs of the community," she said. "There are facilities that are more of a locked place that can treat children with these needs."

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/22/teen-behavioral-facility-lacks-stringent-security/) left for the above article, "Teen behavioral facility lacks stringent security (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=404925#p404922)" (by Andy Paras, Bo Petersen; April 22, 2011; Post and Courier):

nitrat · 10:29 PM on 4/22/2011

Did this place used to be known as New Hope Jedburg?tnt · 11:31 PM on 4/22/2011

Some one needs to man up. Everyone is passing the buck. Whom ever issued the license to operate this facility should have made sure of the age limit and what security measures were in place to protect the residents and community.

unojack · 12:34 PM on 4/23/2011

DHEC is whom ever.[/list]

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

On the Saturday following the escape of four teens, three days after the event, The Post and Courier published three articles and an opinion piece, starting with the following short article:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

The Post and Courier
Partial inspections history (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/23/partial-inspections-history/)

Saturday, April 23, 2011

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control on Friday provided a partial history of inspections, complaints and violations at Palmetto Behavioral Health, but said details would require a Freedom of Information request and a manual document search.

General inspections are carried out every two years, said Thom Berry, DHEC media relations director. The record for the Palmetto Behavioral Health center in Summerville for the last five years indicates:

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/23/partial-inspections-history/) left for the above article, "Partial inspections history (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=404925#p404928)" (April 23, 2011; The Post and Courier):

Name withheld · 8:54 AM on 4/23/2011

This comment is under review.[/list]
unojack · 10:40 AM on 4/23/2011

http://www.scdhec.gov/administration/emt-dukes.htm (http://www.scdhec.gov/administration/emt-dukes.htm)

At what level of incompetance must a DEHC licensing inspector be operating in order to fail to notice that violent adult escape risks are being held against their will in a lattice box in a residential neighborhood, along with non violent children nearly half their age?

If these conditions are allowed by law and regulation, and I suspect they are since the escapees were shipped in from outside SC, then the situation becomes a matter of the dollar, and everyone involved must be held accountable for breach of the public trust as related to public safety.[/list]
realistic · 1:35 PM on 4/23/2011

let us hope that dhec leaves no stone unturned and investigates with a magnifying glass. check charts, check medical records. talk to the residents housed there. talk to front line staff. get a true picture of this hell hole.sc29403 · 2:44 PM on 4/23/2011

What about their facility in Charleston, Palmetto Lowcountry Behavioral Health? Where is that record?Name withheld · 10:16 PM on 4/23/2011

This comment is under review.[/list]

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

The Post and Courier
4 escapees only had to scale fence (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/23/this-is-secure4-escapees-only-had-to-scale-fence/)

BY ANDY PARAS, BO PETERSEN
[email protected] [email protected]
Saturday, April 23, 2011

(http://http://postandcourier.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2011/04/22/leadescape_t600.jpg)
Four teens hopped the fence of the Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health facility and escaped Wednesday. One remains at large.
Wade Spees // The Post and Courier

SUMMERVILLE -- No real security is legally required at the children and adolescent treatment center where four teens with a history of criminal violence scaled the fence and ran away Wednesday.

And the center's staff made no timely effort to alert police or residents in surrounding neighborhoods, authorities said. Police were still waiting Friday for a photograph to be supplied of the teen who remained on the loose.

(http://http://postandcourier.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2011/04/22/gx23teen_t180.jpg)[/list]

Among other concerns raised by the escape from the Palmetto Behavioral Health treatment center in Summerville are whether:

--Older juvenile criminal offenders should be treated at an inpatient/outpatient center treating children.

--A 19-year-old offender should have been treated at a children-and-adolescent center.

--More regulation is needed over a health care industry that operates in some aspects without any direct state oversight.

A multi-state police search continued Friday for Delonte Parker, 19. He is described as a black male, about 6-feet-2 and 170 pounds. The three other runaways, an 18-year-old and two 17-year-olds, were captured Thursday and returned to the center.

They were committed to the center by District of Columbia courts under the auspices of the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Center. Authorities did not reveal what charges they faced in Washington.

District officials described the teens as having violent criminal histories, and a police source told The Washington Times that Parker is a serious offender. An official in Washington told The Post and Courier that he has been charged with attempted murder.

Juvenile records are kept confidential. Parker was arrested in 2008 for fleeing a police officer, according to D.C. Superior Court records obtained by the Times, and was later found guilty of tampering with a monitoring device.

On its website, the Summerville center bills itself as offering a wide array of inpatient treatments geared to children and adolescents 6 to 17 years old. Among disorders treated are sexual aggression, substance abuse and post- traumatic stress.

Authorities would not reveal what the four teens were being treated for at the center.

The compact campus consists of a main building, smaller buildings and open grounds that sit between a nursing home and an assisted- living facility near Summerville Medical Center and residential neighborhoods along Midland Parkway.

It is surrounded by a 6-foot-tall wooden fence with another 18 inches of lattice on top. The dormitories have steel doors.

No clients were outside Friday, but there are signs, including a volleyball net and a shelter, that they spend time outside.

When asked Friday about security in place at the center and whether it would be improved in the wake of the escape, a staff member would not comment and referred The Post and Courier to a news release issued Thursday.

The release said the confidentiality and privacy laws precluded the center from giving more information.

Police were notified of the runaways an hour after they occurred at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Nearby neighbors were not notified.

Summerville police Sgt. Cassandra Williams said the incident is not considered an escape in South Carolina because the behavioral center is a private facility, not a correctional facility.

The three teens who were captured were returned to the center without any criminal charges filed against them, although they could face penalties from the Washington, D.C., authorities who committed them, she said.

"Obviously we've got a huge hole in the regulations here in South Carolina," said S.C. Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston. He called on the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control to restrict the age and level of criminal offender allowed at that type of center, and to prohibit accepting out-of-state clients with criminal backgrounds.

Or, he said, the Legislature would act on it within two weeks.

"A violent sexual predator has no business in one of these inpatient/outpatients facilities to start with," Limehouse said. "Why in the world are we taking violent sexual predators from out of state? That's farcical."

The center operates under a DHEC license for children and adolescent treatment centers and is licensed for 60 beds.

The regulations for that kind of center restrict measures such as use of restraint or isolation, and require the facility to have windows that can be opened for ventilation. The center is not required to report runaways, just hospitalizations and deaths.

"As far as who comes there, we don't have any authority over that. I don't know that anybody does," said DHEC spokesman Thom Berry.

In a news release, the D.C. youth center described the Palmetto center as a "secure placement facility." Asked what that entailed, Reggie Sanders, D.C. Human Services Department spokesman, said, "I think you would have to call the center and ask them that."

Residential centers across the country treat criminal- offender juveniles as regular clients, as well as juveniles from foster care and private homes, said Steve Rublee, director of the Medical University Institute of Psychiatry. He ran a children and adolescent residential facility for seven years.

There is a range of how restrictive the individual facilities are, but "it's a pretty restrictive environment in total," he said. Clients routinely are admitted from out of state.

"They are kids who don't have an immediate crisis but have long-standing problems and need long-term care," he said. The facilities in general are capable of handling clients with various levels of security, depending on staff and facilities, he said.

Kari Sisson, American Association of Child Residential Centers national director, said clients "go AWOL all the time." She was unfamiliar with the Summerville center, which is not an association member.

"Based on (the runaways') histories, you'd think they would be placed in a facility that can meet their needs and the needs of the community," she said. "There are facilities that are more of a locked place that can treat children with these needs."

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/23/this-is-secure4-escapees-only-had-to-scale-fence/) left for the above article, "4 escapees only had to scale fence (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=404931#p404931)" (by Andy Paras, Bo Petersen; April 23, 2011; The Post and Courier), #s 1-20:

harpo · 1:14 AM on 4/23/2011

Chip makes good points .. now let's see what he can get going to get this fixed. I want nothing short of razor wire and guards .. just like they have at Lieber .. if they're going to keep hosting these out-of-state HALIMs.sid · 4:23 AM on 4/23/2011

tide2 · 6:31 AM on 4/23/2011

[/list]
tide2 · 6:29 AM on 4/23/2011

dick tater · 7:46 AM on 4/23/2011

I think the 'juvenile offenders' treated at facilities like this one should be constantly reminded that a high percentage of SC residents are armed and wouldn't hesitate to shoot them if threatened. Impress on them that they will be safer by remaining inside the fence and getting rehabilitated.

wonderdog · 8:45 AM on 4/23/2011

Agree......lock and load![/list]
beentook2 · 7:47 AM on 4/23/2011

jeff61 · 8:04 AM on 4/23/2011

Tell me any where in this article does it say these kids were from New York?? Read it for christ sakejeff61 · 8:08 AM on 4/23/2011

I see that post stating the kids were from New York has been deleted

ironhorse · 8:12 AM on 4/23/2011

The initial article of two days ago stated the 19 YO was from NY.[/list]
realistic · 8:09 AM on 4/23/2011

http://www.palmettobehavioralhealth.com ... _Lead.html (http://www.palmettobehavioralhealth.com/Page_About/About_Lead.html)[/list]

findingmyself · 9:11 PM on 4/23/2011

My hope is that former (and maybe even current?) employees will step forward to the news and bring it out in the open that these kinds of issues are *not* new to the place, that a long list of shadiness led to this incident.[/list]
inlikeflynn · 8:30 AM on 4/23/2011

Name withheld · 8:57 AM on 4/23/2011

This comment is under review.[/list]
beentook2 · 10:55 AM on 4/23/2011

just sayin' · 1:31 PM on 4/23/2011

President Eisenhower warned about the Mental Health Industrial Complex[/list]
mp · 11:24 AM on 4/23/2011

Nineteen years old is not a kid. He had no business at this facility in the first place. Second, WTH you mean this place did not have to report escapes? Someone in DHEC needs their butt fired over that one. Once again, DHEC does it to the very people it is supposed to be working fo - the citizens of SC.mp · 11:26 AM on 4/23/2011

Summerville needs to review this business' business license and application. If it is doing business not specifically disclosed or authorized, revoke the business license and shut them down.psych guy · 12:03 PM on 4/23/2011

This DC kid thing could easily be construed as nothing more than a very questionable and seeminly unethical in many aspects scheme to fill beds and generate daily bed count and revenue. It has been a fiasco; good staff hurt, staff in fear, units trashed, patients intimidated, overwhelmed staff fired instead of the CEO, Tolley and COO, Turner, who have been known to refer to the DC kids as a "book of business." These are severe antisocial criminals for the most part and most often do not respond to poorly staffed and executed treatment programs. I would predict, however, that poor underpaid , under-trained staff will be fired rather than the money motivated managers who started this whole misquided thing a couple of years back and forced on very reluctant staff.unojack · 12:25 PM on 4/23/2011

In case it's gone unnoticed, the P&C has slipped in an article under the heading of "partial inspection results released" in older posts. Page on down...you'll see it. The article relates directly to this issue as it identifies DHEC as the goverment agency responible for licensing and oversight in these storage facilities (as defined by their waaay less than stellar recidivism rates).

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/23/this-is-secure4-escapees-only-had-to-scale-fence/) left for the above article, "4 escapees only had to scale fence (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=404931#p404931)" (by Andy Paras, Bo Petersen; April 23, 2011; The Post and Courier), #s 21-40:

realistic · 1:24 PM on 4/23/2011

uno - one would think the P & C would have a side bar or something linking that story to this one or vice versa.[/list]
sc29403 · 12:52 PM on 4/23/2011

These Palmetto "hospitals" cut corners, break rules, coerce employees into unethical behaviors to keep their jobs, put direct care staff in danger, torment patients, swindle other agencies with lies. There is nothing "therapeutic" about them. The #1 priority at this "private" facility is $$$. Please don't put your child in any of their hospitals, they will be at risk at the hands of these other "patients" (i.e., criminals). As psych guy posted, "overwhelmed staff fired instead of the CEO Tolley and COO Turner" allows this to continue. If an employee attempts to break "the code of silence" about abuse, they are black balled and eventually fired under some flimsy pretense.

maxistheman · 10:16 AM on 4/25/2011

Oooo, black balls you say?[/list]
jbt · 1:14 PM on 4/23/2011

I'm sure the residents in the area where these individuals from DC (or New York as previously reported ) were asked if they were against housing 19 year old "criminal juveniles" they all said," No, send all here and we'll be glad to have them in the neighborhood. " And to hear that this center does not have to report any one of these predators missing because they are not a "locked facility"and yet they house these individuals for so-called treatment beyond comprehension.This place needs to shut down now, all their out of state "residents" sent back to city that sent them here, and allow homeowners in the area have a voice in who will be allowed in their neighborhood.realistic · 1:20 PM on 4/23/2011

sc29403 · 2:56 PM on 4/23/2011

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011 ... s-history/ (http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/23/partial-inspections-history/)[/list]
tomcatz · 5:58 PM on 4/23/2011

dhec is a joke!!![/list]
ridicula · 2:13 PM on 4/23/2011

This facility happens to be stting right next to a nusing home and a hospital as well as several other residential facilities and homes. It was extremely neglegent of Palmetto not to alert the neighbors that a violent criminal was on the loose and could have been hiding out in any of the buildings or vehicles. I am outraged!barracho · 2:13 PM on 4/23/2011

Did they do anything after they escaped? No....These kids would be model citizens in North Charleston...don't get your panties in a wad.....Trivial junk.

sc29403 · 2:56 PM on 4/23/2011

You don't mind paying for them? Although this is a private facility, once they transfer and become "residents" of SC our/your tax payer dollars are used to educate them and possibly more if they become wards of our courts. Then we pay for everything including their hospital bills at this "hospital".[/list]
sc29403 · 2:49 PM on 4/23/2011

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011 ... s-history/ (http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/23/partial-inspections-history/)[/list]
tomcatz · 5:59 PM on 4/23/2011

Until the "social reformers" & school administrators cease to refer to these "punks" as children, this type of activity will continue. These, (multi-state police search continued Friday for Delonte Parker, 19. He is described as a black male, about 6-feet-2 and 170 pounds) "punks" are criminals and to place them in such an "institution" is Criminal!!!willyt · 7:58 PM on 4/23/2011

realistic · 8:30 PM on 4/23/2011

harpo · 9:49 PM on 4/23/2011

So if a photo becomes available .. do we expect that the Post & Courier will publish it? Delonte Parker is black .. and the weekend staff is even more racially activist than the regular staff is. I'll keep an eye on Live5, CountOn2, WISTV, and Channel 4 for updates and bring 'em here if they get one.tell it all · 11:31 PM on 4/23/2011

These post are not half of what's going on. They have more children than beds in the facility. They have children sleeping on the floors. The children have bad hygene problems because they don't give them any products to wash. It was so bad one child had crabs!! I totally agree with the people who actually know, they are not getting rid of the people who created this problem!29483 · 12:23 AM on 4/24/2011

katensc · 7:02 PM on 4/24/2011

DHEC can only operate under rules the legislature sets. Are the rules stringent enough? Apparently not, but only the legislature can change the rules.[/list]
Name withheld · 2:26 AM on 4/24/2011

This comment is under review.[/list]
maxistheman · 10:14 AM on 4/25/2011

My dog could get over that thing. What a sad excuse for security. Oh well, at least it's a good business opportunity for Palmetto Behavioral Health. Don't worry about our security. We will be fine. Keep on bringing dangerous adolscents our way. We'll fight em all off.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/23/this-is-secure4-escapees-only-had-to-scale-fence/) left for the above article, "4 escapees only had to scale fence (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=404931#p404931)" (by Andy Paras, Bo Petersen; April 23, 2011; The Post and Courier), #s 41-42:

maxistheman · 10:17 AM on 4/25/2011

I heard they are now accepting troubled kids from Compton, Baltimore, Atlanta, Detroit, and St. Louis. I can't wait. They are gonna light Summerville up. So diverse, so right, so good.

findingmyself · 11:02 AM on 4/27/2011

They've always accepted kids from out of state. However, it's only the last few years that they've been accepting the very dangerous DC kids.[/list]

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

The Post and Courier
Area resident warned her neighbors (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/23/area-resident-warned-her-neighbors/)

By ANDY PARAS
[email protected]
Saturday, April 23, 2011

(http://http://postandcourier.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2011/04/22/escape2_t180.jpg)
Peggy Williams lives in the Oakbrook Commons neighborhood near the Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health facility. She said that after she learned of the four teens on the loose, she called her neighbors to warn them to lock their doors.
Photo by Wade Spees

SUMMERVILLE -- Peggy Williams got a call from her husband that four teenagers with violent histories had escaped from the Palmetto Behavioral Health center just down the road. She immediately called her neighbors in the Oakbrook Commons neighborhood to warn them to lock their doors.

That was about 8 a.m. Thursday, nearly 15 hours after authorities said the Washington, D.C., teenagers scaled a 6-foot-tall wooden fence and disappeared into the woods behind the Midland Parkway complex.

Three of the teens were picked up about 9:30 a.m. Thursday by Dorchester County sheriff's deputies, who spotted them walking along Dorchester Road. A fourth teen, who according to a D.C. councilman's staff member was committed as a juvenile on an attempted murder charge, was still on the loose Friday.

Genny Duesterbeck, one of the neighbors who received a call from Williams, questioned why residents weren't told about the escape and given a description of the teens sooner.

"How come we're not allowed to know that?" she said. "I think we should be entitled to know if they escape."

A Summerville police officer said the incident isn't considered an escape in South Carolina because the behavioral center is a private facility, not a correctional facility. The teens jumped the fence about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. The wooden fence is topped with 18 inches of lattice but no security wire.

"That lattice is ridiculous," Duesterbeck said. "It's a cheap way to try and provide security."

Williams lives in the portion of the Oakbrook Commons neighborhood closest to the behavioral center. She said she doesn't feel unsafe. There were a couple other similar incidents at the behavioral center, she said, but those were years ago.

Larry Duesterbeck, Genny's husband of 50 years, also said he doubted that residents in the mostly older community had much to worry about, and didn't think it's worth bothering the residents if it's not serious.

It's not much different, he said, than the occasional person who walks away from the hospital that is also down the road.

"If you run, you're not going to stay here. You're going to run a little ways," he said. "I'll guarantee you that young man -- if I'm a betting man -- is heading home for Easter."

Summerville police Sgt. Cassandra Williams (no relation to Peggy Williams) said she can see both sides of the issue.

As a resident, she would want to know if there were an escape, she said, but noted that there are people out on bail accused of serious crimes. She said there have been so few problems at the center that most people didn't even know it was there until this week.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/23/area-resident-warned-her-neighbors/) left for the above article, "Area resident warned her neighbors (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=404937#p404935)" (by Andy Paras; April 23, 2011; The Post and Courier):

harpo · 12:48 AM on 4/23/2011

findingmyself · 8:21 AM on 4/23/2011

"few problems"? If they only knew!scpdblue · 9:56 AM on 4/23/2011

harpo,You have few parts of the mystery solved ; He is a Adult,Delonte Parker 6'2" he is a Bravo Mike,Brown eyes,black hair,he is violent and he is running loose in our community.The people need to circle the wagons,arm themselves and have a town meeting with the city,and the state as to why this place was built in a family housing area in the first place,why security measures are not in place to begin with, who will be fired for letting this incident happen in the first place and that includes from the TOP down. , what security measures will be in place to stop future escapes and ease citizens fears.unojack · 12:17 PM on 4/23/2011

harpo · 9:53 PM on 4/23/2011

Are they quite sure Parker isn't holding one of the local households hostage at this moment; have they knocked on every door in the immediate area to check on that? If he could gain entry into a home and tie up the occupant(s), he'd have safe haven, food, drink, television, and a vehicle to use to leave in the dead of night after this dies down a little.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Recent events prompted the Post and Courier to publish the following Editorial or Opinion piece on the matter...

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

The Post and Courier
Shocking public-safety gap (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/23/shocking-public-safety-gap/)

Saturday, April 23, 2011

The escape of four teenagers, each with a history of violence, from a Summerville behavioral health facility is of intense concern to the public and law enforcement officials, who have so far tracked three of them down.

Also of great concern: Why are violent teens from other jurisdictions being sent to South Carolina? Don't we have enough problems of our own?

The young offenders had been undergoing treatment at the Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health on Midland Parkway, a facility under contract with the District of Columbia's Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services.

Incredibly, a DYRS spokesperson refused to provide information about or a photograph of the teenager who remained at large as of Friday, citing "confidentiality regulations."

But the escapee has been identified by other sources as 19-year old Delonte Parker, who reportedly was charged with attempted murder in Washington, D.C.

According to our report, the center offers residential treatment programs for adolescent males with sexually aggressive behaviors, substance abuse problems and psychiatric, behavioral or conduct issues.

Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston, accurately describes the situation as a "recipe for disaster" and wants the state Department of Health and Environmental Control to promulgate regulations restricting the relocation of violent offenders 17 years or older from out of state.

And Rep. Limehouse, who has been at the forefront of recent legislation to guard the public against sexual predators, wants stronger security guidelines generally for residential facilities that treat violent offenders.

The state also needs to ensure that when any violent individual from a behavioral or mental health facility gets loose that there is no barrier to adequate public notification. Photographs and any other pertinent information that might assist in his recapture must be made available.

Public safety, not confidentiality, must be the priority.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

It was at this point that the article posted in the OP, "S.C. has no say in youth centers: Little-known facilities hold troubled teens (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649#p403475)" by Glenn Smith, got published on Tuesday, April 26, 2011.

Comments left for that article on the Post and Courier website archived starting here (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649#p403519).

I guess one might wonder... just how how much information the good folk of Summerville have been privy to, with regard to just what exactly goes on at the Palmetto behav facility...

Then again, this current crescendo of hoopla might be nothing more than over-reaction on the part of the locals, not to mention a bonanza of political opportunity, eh?

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

The Post and Courier
Local lawmakers to file legislation to restrict sex offender facilities (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/26/local-lawmakers-file-legislation-restrict-sex-offe/)

BY YVONNE WENGER · [email protected]
Originally published 02:47 p.m., April 26, 2011
Updated 02:57 p.m., April 26, 2011

COLUMBIA — Three Lowcountry lawmakers expect to file legislation as early as Wednesday blocking, or at a minimum restricting, treatment facilities from housing out-of-state sex offenders.

Republican Reps. Chip Limehouse of Charleston, and Jenny Anderson Horne and Chris Murphy of Summerville, are working with legislative counsel to put new standards in place for facilities such as Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health. The action comes in response to last week's escape by four violence-prone Washington D.C. teens from the privately run institution. One escapee who remains at large had reportedly been charged with attempted murder.

The facility's spokeswoman could not be immediately reached for comment.

The lawmakers expect to have a draft bill in their hands later today or early Wednesday.

Murphy said he did not know until last week that the facility existed, despite the fact that he lives within 1,000 feet of it and represented the area on Dorchester County Council for eight years before his election in November to the state House.

"I have a real problem with that," he said. "We don't need to be a dumping ground for Washington, D.C.'s problems. We're going to close this loophole one way or another."

Murphy and Limehouse said legislative counsel is researching what legal limitations the state faces.

"We do not need, nor do we want, out-of-state sex offenders for any reason — period, end of discussion," Limehouse said.

Murphy said he wants the state, if it can, to impose restrictions on where certain types of violent offenders can be treated. He said he also wants to research setting minimum security standards for the facility, perhaps in line with those for the South Carolina Department of Corrections. Murphy said the Summerville facility's 6-foot-tall fence is better suited for blocking the public from seeing what's going on, than keeping the offenders inside.

Also, Murphy said he wants facility administrators to notify law enforcement immediately when offenders escape or walk off, and provide them with the individual's physical description.

A photo of the still-missing offender still had not been released by local officials as of Tuesday afternoon.

The stakes are too high for lawmakers not to act, Murphy said. The area surrounding Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health is suburban, filled with neighborhoods and parks and swimming pools.

"That's a target-rich environment," he said.

The Summerville treatment center is one of 17 in the state that house nearly 800 kids and young adults struggling with mental illness, violent behavior and other problems. Many are privately run facilities and the state has little control of who is placed in these facilities or where they come from.

Limehouse said the concern is of statewide significance, and the Legislature has to act fast.

"We're under a huge time crunch," he said. Lawmakers are scheduled to adjourn in early June, but in about a week chamber rules will make it much more difficult for bills to become law.

Reach Yvonne Wenger at 803-926-7855, follow her at twitter.com/yvonnewenger (http://http://twitter.com/yvonnewenger) and read her Political Briefings blog at postandcourier.com/blogs (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/blogs).

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/26/local-lawmakers-file-legislation-restrict-sex-offe/) left for the above article, "Local lawmakers to file legislation to restrict sex offender facilities (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=404947#p404947)" (by Yvonne Wenger; April 26, 2011, Post and Courier):

maxistheman · 2:54 PM on 4/26/2011

Shut these places down.scdiver · 2:56 PM on 4/26/2011

mcgillicuddy · 3:10 PM on 4/26/2011

The only facilities that should be open for male sex offenders would be a door to walk through and wall with a hole in it where dudes stick their wiener and bag so a tiny guillotine can cut them off. For women, if they're above an eight out of ten, they should be sent to my house.creeker · 3:43 PM on 4/26/2011

Uh, that business has probably been there at least 15 to 20 years, way before any of those houses were built. Surprised that many people were unaware of it being located there. The business has changed hands a couple times since probably 2005, but it is funny that the land and building are owned by a competitor...lol. I've seen people reference that there were young children there too, but at least 6 years ago, they only housed boys ages 13-21. New owners, new rules I guess.

nitrat · 5:10 PM on 4/26/2011

Is this the old New Hope Jedburg facility?creeker · 9:28 PM on 4/26/2011

Close....New Hope Jedburg was on Road 16 off exit 194. They had the young children ages 6 to 12. Boys and girls. It closed in probably 2005 or so. The property was sold to another mental health provider but has remained empty since then. The Midland Parkway location used to be a New Hope business called New Hope Inc or New Hope Summerville.[/list]
pirate42 · 4:37 PM on 4/26/2011

about time you all woke up....oversite · 6:21 PM on 4/26/2011

Predator-panic rhetoric from another group of vote-begging, spotlighting, popularity racers - who could care less if such a bill would increase the deficit, while doing absolutely nothing to improve public safety. Disadvantaged youth and depressed teens are "problems"?? And South Carolina is the "dumping ground"?? A severely depressed 16 year old on the verge of suicide is a PROBLEM for you!!?? Yeah that sounds like the kind of false-representation ego-centric politician mentality that would prefer they remain in their econmic bracket with little or no assistance and little or no education. Biggest problem with these self-righteous well-to-do political fakes? They only know how to spend and use public money and resources for their own careers.

sky · 7:28 PM on 4/26/2011

I'll tell you what I have a problem with; a 19 year old with a long history of violent crimes and charged with attempted murder being housed with 13-17 year olds being treated for depression. I would be very concerned if my child needed treatment and was exposed to violent criminals. Last year a 'patient'/thug molested two young teens. Regulations are needed to keep those over 17 yrs of age and violent offenders out of behavioral health facilities for teens. They are better suited for correctional facilities or secure treatment centers for older 'patients'.[/list]
oversite · 6:26 PM on 4/26/2011

Let the record show that Chip Limehouse and his merry band of panic button pushers regard troubled and disadvantaged youth as "problems".

sky · 7:30 PM on 4/26/2011

Troubled and disadvantaged...is that what we're calling thugs with a history of violent crimes and a charge of attempted murder these days?[/list]
oversite · 6:45 PM on 4/26/2011

I'm sorry, but when did the phrase "sex offender" first enter this story? Which one of the four is a C O N V I C T E D offender? I wouldn't be at all surprised if they're participants in a Judgement deferral program. But anytime you've got a combination of males, crime, and facility then I reckon if you're a clever politician you could throw in the "sex offender" phrase for good measure and really watch it take off...with your vote-begging name stuck on it. What's really absurd is that the troubled low income 13-17 year olds that Rep. Limehouse and his colleagues consider "problems" would be "child victims" in other situations. As long as it benefits that clever agenda - right?

findingmyself · 1:35 PM on 4/27/2011

The facility does house kids with sexual aggression problems, i.e. sex offenders. However, they have always kept them separate from the kids with more "generic" drug/alcohol/violence problems. Nowhere has it been said that the escapees were of the sex offender kind, everybody seems to be jumping to that conclusion.[/list]

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Here's what appears to be another Editorial by the Post and Courier:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

The Post and Courier
Public risk needs quick fix (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/27/public-risk-needs-quick-fix/)

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Our latest report on security issues at a Summerville behavioral health facility makes clear that last week's escape of four violence-prone teens wasn't merely an isolated security breach. Unfortunately, all of the details haven't been provided -- and won't be until regulations are strengthened on behalf of public safety.

According to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Summerville facility and the other 16 private facilities like it don't even have to report escapes. In fact, a Summerville policeman said such occurrences aren't even considered "escapes" because they don't involve a correctional facility.

Summerville police, however, do cite 128 times that they previously had been called to the Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health facility. Among the problems were seven runaways and 12 missing-person calls.

Our article cited other episodes allegedly caused by patients who have fled the facility. Those reportedly included assault and kidnapping.

Stacey Lindbergh, Palmetto's director of business development and community relations, wouldn't comment on anything related to last week's escape when questioned by our reporter. She cited patient confidentiality restrictions.

Patient confidentiality should not extend to include potential threats to public safety.

But so far, not even a photograph of the teen who remains at large has been released, again because of patient confidentiality.

That 19-year-old reportedly was charged with attempted murder in Washington, D.C., and sent to Palmetto for treatment. Palmetto is under contract with the District of Columbia's Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services.

Local and state officials are reasonably questioning why a facility in Summerville is allowed to take violence-prone patients from out of state.

As Summerville Town Councilman Walter Bailey said, "We have plenty of homegrown thugs in South Carolina without importing them from other states."

As a former long-term solicitor, Mr. Bailey ought to know.

And officials question the security arrangements at the private behavioral health center. The recent escapees simply climbed a six-foot privacy fence topped with 18 inches of lattice.

Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston, raises another question: "How soon can we end this practice?"

That largely depends on what Rep. Limehouse and his colleagues can do before the session ends.

There has to be greater accountability for these facilities, private or public.

There must be limits to the claims of "patient confidentiality" when public safety is threatened.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

The Post and Courier
Youths' escape spurs bill (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/27/youths-escape-spurs-bill/)
Lawmakers target out-of-state violent teens in S.C. facilities

BY YVONNE WENGER · [email protected]
Wednesday, April 27, 2011

(http://http://postandcourier.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2011/04/27/billmugs_t180.jpg?370a03faaa4bde2115f371a02430eb3e6a451be5)
Reps. Jenny Anderson Horne (from left), Chris Murphy of Summerville and Chip Limehouse of Charleston drafted a bill in response to a security breach at Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health. Photos Provided

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina would reject out-of-state violent youths for treatment at state-based facilities, or at a minimum put more security standards in place, under a bill that Lowcountry lawmakers expect to file as early as today.

Reps. Jenny Anderson Horne and Chris Murphy of Summerville and Chip Limehouse of Charleston, all Republicans, want to take action after four violence-prone Washington, teens escaped from the Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health treatment center last week. One, who reportedly is charged with attempted murder, remains at large.

Lawmakers will have to act fast if the bill has a chance to become law before the Legislature adjourns for the year in June.

The later bills are introduced, the less likely they are to make it into law.

The Lowcountry lawmakers are working with legislative counsel to figure out how far the state can legally go to put limitations and standards in place for the 17 treatment centers throughout South Carolina.

"We don't need to be a dumping ground for Washington, D.C.'s problems," Murphy said.

Messages requesting comment from the treatment center were not returned Tuesday.

Nearly 800 children and young adults with mental illness, violent behavior and other problems live in these centers, many of which are privately run, such as Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health.

Limehouse said the No. 1 goal is to figure out how the state can ban out-of-state violent youths from being housed in South Carolina. He wants to tie residency requirements to facility licensing through the state Department of Health and Environmental Control. As it is, the state has little control over who is housed in such facilities.

"We do not need, nor do we want, out-of-state sex offenders for any reason -- period, end of discussion," Limehouse said.

But short of that, Limehouse said, the Legislature should make sure that children and teens of different ages are not mixed, especially when it comes to sex offenders.

Murphy said treatment facilities that house violent youths must have minimum-security standards, perhaps in line with those for the S.C. Department of Corrections. Murphy said the Summerville facility's 6-foot-tall fence is better suited for blocking the public from seeing what's going on than keeping offenders inside.

Also, Murphy said he wants facility administrators to notify law enforcement immediately when people walk off or escape, and to provide them with the individual's physical description. Summerville authorities complained that the facility provided them little helpful information on the escapees.

A photo of the offender who remains missing still had not been released by Tuesday.

Murphy said he did not know until last week that the facility existed, even though he lives within 1,000 feet of it and represented the area on Dorchester County Council for eight years before his election in November to the state House.

"I have a real problem with that," he said.

The stakes are too high for lawmakers not to act, Murphy said. The area surrounding Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health is suburban, filled with neighborhoods and parks and swimming pools.

"That's a target-rich environment," he said.

Reach Yvonne Wenger at 803-926-7855, follow her at twitter.com/yvonnewenger (http://http://twitter.com/yvonnewenger) and read her Political Briefings blog (http://http://postandcourier.com/blogs).

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/27/youths-escape-spurs-bill/) left for the above article, "Youths' escape spurs bill (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405002#p404957)" (by Yvonne Wenger; April 27, 2011; Post and Courier), #s 1-20:

harpo · 12:57 AM on 4/27/2011

This announcement signals the beginning of the bribery phase of the bill in which private companies affected are solicited to present their bribes to those slated to vote on the bills. Graft and corruption in South Carolina are intrinsic components of its political machine .. and you can bet private money will cross palms before the lines are drawn.

toolman · 5:56 AM on 4/27/2011

Well, agent Harpo, it's time to set up a sting.just sayin' · 7:11 AM on 4/27/2011

Every lobbyist worth his salt knows a great tailor.[/list]
gomione · 2:02 AM on 4/27/2011

toolman · 5:55 AM on 4/27/2011

A great law would be one that keeps ALL politicians out of the state.sand lapper · 6:23 AM on 4/27/2011

At the VERY LEAST...put razor wire around the tops of those fences. Good luck digging through southern Pine and Oak roots. And good luck uprooting the ones running the show from the profit margins as they will surely find loopholes to continue doing business in this shady manner.coldbeer · 6:36 AM on 4/27/2011

coldbeer · 6:37 AM on 4/27/2011

I'm really surprised that one of our money hungry, sue happy lawyers hasn't stepped up and gotten residents around the facility to file a law suit. It might actually do some good in this case.

retired · 10:14 AM on 4/27/2011

I will call you on this one! "ue happy lawyers? I do not think so! The vast majority of lawyers prefer not to sue.[/list]
coldbeer · 11:24 AM on 4/27/2011

rulenumberone · 12:39 PM on 4/27/2011

I expect we will start that dialogue soon if the facility doesn't hold a meeting with neighbors to personally address our safety concerns.[/list]
newbattleaxe · 7:23 AM on 4/27/2011

Good luck to our state legislators getting this one passed! Maybe other parts of the state are having similar problems with similar facilities. This would surely help speed the legislation along!starcar · 7:40 AM on 4/27/2011

Close it down...make it too expensive to keep the thugs in SC and still make money.beentook2 · 8:00 AM on 4/27/2011

jbt · 8:08 AM on 4/27/2011

This state does not need any "out of state" offenders of any kind not just sex offenders. If the state legislatures will not pass laws prohibiting the transfer of these so called dangerous but mentally ill to our communities then local counties have to step up, impose new regulations on these facilities, fees and other demands to prevent making it profitable for these so-called treatment facilities. If not, just release them all into our sanctuary city North Charleston and they'll blend right in.

rulenumberone · 12:45 PM on 4/27/2011

If facilities like these aren't allowed to profit, we WILL have more people on the streets, and you will have more interaction. I prefer that government run mental health facilities- we at least have some oversight there where we don't with a profit machine.[/list]
oldglory · 8:37 AM on 4/27/2011

retired · 10:20 AM on 4/27/2011

For your information, our criminals can steal, rob, rape, burglarize, assault, and do any criminal activity as well or better than criminals from other states. That is why they come here and use the facilities in our State, so they can gain knowledge from our criminals![/list]
rabochiy · 9:38 AM on 4/27/2011

But...isn't privatization good? Government intrusion bad? I'm getting disoriented.maxistheman · 9:53 AM on 4/27/2011

Chipper Limehouse. That sounds like a delcious treat for all.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/27/youths-escape-spurs-bill/) left for the above article, "Youths' escape spurs bill (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405002#p404957)" (by Yvonne Wenger; April 27, 2011; Post and Courier), #s 21-40:

lou9 · 9:56 AM on 4/27/2011

roladur · 10:21 AM on 4/27/2011

lou9 · 11:54 AM on 4/27/2011

You need to adjust your tin foil hat. The alien messages are seeping into your brain.ironhorse · 4:54 PM on 4/27/2011

And why are the aliens using 2nd grade grammer skills to get their message to him?[/list]
chrisjiii · 10:30 AM on 4/27/2011

Typical knee jerk reaction by the teapugs.Make more restrictive laws in an attempt to look like they're actually doing the people's business.

lou9 · 11:53 AM on 4/27/2011

So if a rapist/murder/violent offender escapes from one of these instutions he can hang out at your place? I guess you don't think it's the people's business to be safe from these criminals?[/list]
coldbeer · 11:19 AM on 4/27/2011

roladur, w t f did you just try and say??? I'm pretty sure I've never read anything so disjointed and incomprehensible as the jibberish you posted.

happy67 · 1:12 PM on 4/27/2011

Maybe we could get him together with zoomru![/list]
coldbeer · 11:31 AM on 4/27/2011

Nevermind roladur. I just looked at a few of your other posts. It's clear your mind is not functioning normally. Your little 'bio" reads as if you admit to criminal sexual conduct in the past. Ive got no interest in discussing anything with you. I think sex offenders should be put to death.mtpleasantmom · 11:36 AM on 4/27/2011

According to yesterday's article, local police have been called in an average of once every 2 weeks in the past 5 years. That, to me, makes it crystal clear that the facility is incapable of properly handling their caseload.

rulenumberone · 12:41 PM on 4/27/2011

The town of Summerville should start billing them since they're being used as a private business security force.[/list]
early · 11:43 AM on 4/27/2011

Ok, this is step one, next step...no more nuclear waste stored here..OK

rulenumberone · 12:46 PM on 4/27/2011

Too much money changing hands. That's a tough fight.[/list]
early · 11:45 AM on 4/27/2011

roladur · 12:19 PM on 4/27/2011

Wow!! Everyone gets an (A) for understanding confusion and honesty.

coldbeer · 4:01 PM on 4/27/2011

So... are you a sex offender as your profile would lead one to believe?[/list]
rulenumberone · 12:28 PM on 4/27/2011

Oh. Tea Pots demanding MORE GOVERNMENT REGULATION! So it really IS important for government to look out for our safety. And Chris Murphy is clueless if he had no idea that facility existed. This is a kneejerk reaction and has little chance of passing at this point. Think things through so they really protect us. We always have to be care to have a good balance- we need more, not fewer facilities for mental health in this state. And yes, Chris, the stakes are hig if you do not act. You're up for re-election in 2012 if you haven't got your judgeship by then.

unojack · 4:44 PM on 4/27/2011

rulenumberone · 10:35 PM on 4/27/2011

I'm an independent who sees through the silliness of the GOP and the hijacking tea party people. You always want that evil govt off your backs, out of your lives, and don't want to pay for even basic functions of govt through taxes. But when something happens you're screaming for politicians to "do something." Here you are wanting to regulate private business in a free enterprise economy? No wonder our leaders are deadlocked- we send mixed messages to the,. Just wait until your Medicare is cancelled by the Tea Pots. You really can't have it both ways. And I never supported "section 8 housing and issuing credit cards to the lazy." You're misguided. It is what it is.[/list]
rulenumberone · 12:35 PM on 4/27/2011

[email protected]

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/27/youths-escape-spurs-bill/) left for the above article, "Youths' escape spurs bill (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405002#p404957)" (by Yvonne Wenger; April 27, 2011; Post and Courier), #s 41-42:

sc29403 · 3:01 AM on 4/28/2011

findingmyself · 11:13 AM on 4/28/2011

The key here, I think, is the licensing bodies need to do UNANNOUNCED visits, instead of always giving warning. A lot would clean up if the place didn't know from one day to the next if inspectors were going to show up out of nowhere.[/list]

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Police video footage also accessible via below headline link:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

The Post and Courier
Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health center did little to assist police (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/28/center-did-little-to-assist-police/)
Video, report detail events after violent youths escape

By Glenn Smith · [email protected]
Thursday, April 28, 2011

Video: Four Youths Escape (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/videos/2011/apr/27/1735/)

(http://http://postandcourier.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/videothumbs/2011/04/27/Thumbnail_t180.jpg?370a03faaa4bde2115f371a02430eb3e6a451be5)
Summerville Police Department released this dashboard camera video and audio of the first officer responding to the report of an escape by 4 youths at Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health center on April 20.

SUMMERVILLE -- Police officer Trey Hardy raced to the teen treatment center eager to help find four runaways who scaled a fence and fled.

He pulled into the parking lot and told a worker to get someone who could provide some information on the missing youths.

And then Hardy waited.

"They don't seem too concerned about it here," Hardy told a fellow officer who radioed for a description of the missing teens.

It would be several minutes before anyone came out to talk with Hardy. And when they did, staff members struggled to provide basic descriptions of the teens and offered no specifics as to why they were being housed at Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health.

Hardy's frustrating encounter was captured in a police report and cruiser video footage released Wednesday to The Post and Courier documenting the police response to the teens' April 20 escape from the 60-bed Midland Parkway treatment facility.

It wasn't until the following day that police learned the teens had criminal backgrounds and violent pasts in their home city of Washington. When the information finally came, it was from Washington media, who called Summerville police after hearing about the escape, police said.

"We were learning from them what we had here," police Sgt. Cassandra Williams said.

Williams said she was surprised to learn the next day that the teens had a history of violence. One runaway who remains missing had reportedly been charged in Washington with attempted murder. The staff made no mention of this, Williams said. "How could you not know what's in your house?"

If officers had had all the facts, Williams said, they might have been able to get the teens back where they belonged that night, she said.

"I wish we had been given everything we needed on day one," she said. "We can only act on what we have knowledge of and go from there. And we were not given all the information that night."

A difficult situation

Palmetto officials have not responded to repeated questions about the incident, citing patient confidentiality laws. The center released a statement last week saying it is "committed to providing the best possible treatment to its patients and takes their safety and well- being very seriously."

The incident has sparked outrage in the community and calls for legislative change. The report and video released Wednesday illustrates the difficulty police encountered in extracting routine details from the staff of Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health. The scene played out this way:

Hardy was called to the Midland Parkway center about 6:30 p.m. to check out a report of four young men running away from the facility. Once he got there, he had to wait 12 minutes before anyone came out to meet him.

When he finally met with a staff member, she provided "very vague" information. Staff could not provide a specific location where the four scaled the center's 6-foot wooden fence or a solid time frame for the incident. Hardy was told they ran off while en route to the gym.

Staff also had difficulty providing clothing descriptions for three of the missing youths and had to call over to the nursing station to get height and weight measurements for the teens. Staff did not tell Hardy the teens posed a threat to the community.

At one point, he specifically asked why they had been sent to the center from Washington. "Are they criminal or mental?"

"A little of both," a staff member replied. "They're juveniles sent here because of psychiatric issues and they may have come here because they committed a crime."

The only mention of violence came when a staff member told Hardy one youth had attacked a center worker, police said. He ran criminal histories on all four teens but found very little because they are juveniles.

Police later learned the teens had been committed to the center by District of Columbia courts under the auspices of the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Center. District officials described the teens as having violent criminal histories.

Dorchester County sheriff's deputies rounded up three of the teens the next day. The fourth, 19-year-old Delonte Parker, remained the subject of a multi-state manhunt Wednesday with no known sightings, police said.

A history of violence

Also on Wednesday, a woman who allegedly was attacked and beaten by a 15-year-old from the center two years ago filed a lawsuit accusing Palmetto Behavioral Health of gross negligence and recklessness in the incident. She is represented by Mount Pleasant attorney Geoffrey H. Waggoner.

The victim, Toni Kucish, told police she was climbing from her vehicle on Oct. 12, 2009, when the teen started hitting her, knocking her to the ground. He continued to punch the 64-year-old woman in the head and shoulders while she was down. He ran off after she screamed for help but was quickly caught by staff members from the center, the police report stated.

Staff members told police the teen had slipped out a side door and run off after asking to get a drink of water. The teen told police he was angry with staff and decided to take it out on the first person he saw, a police report stated.

The lawsuit states the attack left Kucish with long-lasting emotional and psychological trauma, as well as physical complications. The suit alleges Palmetto failed to have adequate staffing, security and safeguards in place to prevent an attack by a client with a known propensity for violence and aggression.

Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/28/center-did-little-to-assist-police/) left for the above article, "Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health center did little to assist police (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405005#p405005)" (by Glenn Smith; April 28, 2011; Post and Courier), #s 1-20:

sc29403 · 1:27 AM on 4/28/2011

Un-be-liev-a-ble! A 6 ft, 200 lb, mentally ill man charged with attempted murder escapes along with three others and this is the reaction of staff? Listen to the audio on the police video. No urgency or much concern at all, even a couple of chuckles. Why are these news reports protecting the names of those in charge? Who is giving the report to the officer? No one bothered to gather the "patient" description info while waiting for the police? Why did they even call the police?!? Whoever did probably got reprimanded for doing so...for breaking the code of silence.Name withheld[/b] · 2:47 AM on 4/28/2011

This comment is under review.[/list]
coldbeer · 5:34 AM on 4/28/2011

This place should be shut down and the owners and supervisors charged with endangering the public.

retired · 10:08 AM on 4/28/2011

It should be shut down.[/list]
rayshockeynut · 5:46 AM on 4/28/2011

This place is a danger to the general public.... SHUT IT DOWN!!!!!!!!eye on you · 6:20 AM on 4/28/2011

Drop the fundingtoolman · 6:24 AM on 4/28/2011

Shut 'er Down! Privacy laws do not take precedent over threats to the community. The people running this place have no business accepting DC criminal trash anyway. We have enough produced locally. Somebody who is retired needs to go up there and carry protest signs until it's shut down. We workers can be there Saturday.sand lapper · 6:27 AM on 4/28/2011

tide2 · 7:19 AM on 4/28/2011

Whats more alarming is the monsters are likely on mind altering drugs.tide2 · 7:22 AM on 4/28/2011

paulie · 7:38 AM on 4/28/2011

Remember, we now have only pro-business members on the DHEC board now, thanks to Haley.tomcatz · 9:57 AM on 4/28/2011

The "new" attorney general is prolly hiding behind his daddy's desk!!![/list]
inlikeflynn · 7:44 AM on 4/28/2011

billythekid · 7:48 AM on 4/28/2011

When you strip down state government, like Sanford had done and Haley continues to do, this is the kind of stuff you get. Expect what you inspect and these types of "homes" have very little, if any "agency" that is overseeing them.sand lapper · 7:53 AM on 4/28/2011

tide2: AND once those drugs wear off and they stop taking them, they'll all be Dr. Jekylls with axes to grind...literally.billythekid · 8:00 AM on 4/28/2011

Name withheld[/b] · 8:30 AM on 4/28/2011

This comment is under review.[/list]
bigmack · 8:59 AM on 4/28/2011

sandlapper,D.C. did not force anything on the state of S.C. our greedy,stupid republican politicians embraced it!singleroni · 9:06 AM on 4/28/2011

just curious- are any of these kids going to school with our kids?

red06 · 9:21 AM on 4/28/2011

The client have there own school they go too on campus[/list]

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/28/center-did-little-to-assist-police/) left for the above article, "Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health center did little to assist police (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405005#p405005)" (by Glenn Smith; April 28, 2011; Post and Courier), #s 21-35:

paulie · 10:24 AM on 4/28/2011

Translation into English red06 ... ?sc29403 · 7:50 PM on 4/28/2011

no, they are schooled on site, but they are reimbursed through tax dollars, so we pay....[/list]
jbt · 9:31 AM on 4/28/2011

I foresee a new "Welcome To SC" sign, "Dumping Ground For Old Nuclear Waste And Young "Guilty but Mentally Ill" Criminals."bigmack · 9:39 AM on 4/28/2011

they have captured the last escapee in D.C. !8011 · 9:48 AM on 4/28/2011

New rule for juvenile violent offenders: No rules, no confidentiality, hard labor, zero tolerance, boot in the azz! Rights? Your rights went out the window when you played the fool!tomcatz · 9:59 AM on 4/28/2011

Ask "ole earl", he is the main dhec man, with all of the answers!!!retired · 10:13 AM on 4/28/2011

Who knew that this facility existed?

zoomru · 10:22 AM on 4/28/2011

[/list]
zoomru · 10:17 AM on 4/28/2011

zoomru · 10:28 AM on 4/28/2011

crankyyankee · 11:00 AM on 4/28/2011

Funny how ya'll blame the Republicans but all of the perps are democrats! I talked to the single parent mothers of these thugs and they assured me they are good mothers and their kids are doing exceptional in a very good educational system. Sound familiar?wisertime · 11:56 AM on 4/28/2011

What's even more surprising in the video is the magically appearing gold SUV near the beginning of the video (between 0:48-0:50).scpdblue · 12:01 PM on 4/28/2011

All bravo Mikes,NO contact phone numbers(disconnected),All with violent and mental problems,from war zone states/District I wonder who is paying for their stay.Surely not the parent,cousins,uncle,grandma or auntie. That would leave only one other, The taxpayers.sand lapper · 12:43 PM on 4/28/2011

harpo · 4:24 PM on 4/28/2011

FIST POUNDZ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

From the above comments (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&start=30#p405014):

bigmack · 9:39 AM on 4/28/2011

they have captured the last escapee in D.C. ![/list]

And so they have...

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

The Post and Courier
Fourth youth in custody, lawmakers file bill to stop future escapes (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/28/last-dc-youth-who-escaped-sc-center-caught/)

By Yvonne Wenger · [email protected]
Originally published 11:40 a.m., April 28, 2011
Updated 02:06 p.m., April 28, 2011

COLUMBIA — The fourth youth who escaped last week from the Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health Center was caught Wednesday in the Washington, D.C, area, after seven days at large.

Nineteen-year-old Delonte Parker — who had been placed in the South Carolina facility after being charged with attempted murder in Washington — was captured by a task force of federal, state and local law enforcement, including the U.S. Marshals Service.

Parker was the last of four escaped youths from Washington to be captured.

It's not clear if the Washington youths will return to the Summerville facility.

Meanwhile, South Carolina lawmakers have filed legislation designed to stop future escapes and limit state-based treatment facilities from housing certain out-of-state violent offenders, specifically sex offenders.

The 60-bed behavior health center in Summerville, like many of the 16 other similar facilities, is privately run and receives little government oversight. The facility houses adolescent males with sexually aggressive behaviors, substance abuse problems and psychiatric, behavioral or conduct issues, according to officials.

The escape sparked a public outcry when it was learned that the center was enclosed by a relatively low fence and that the facility operators made little attempt to inform police of the seriousness of the incident.

Little information available on youths' whereabouts

Reggie Sanders, public information officer for the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, said the fourth youth was captured in the Washington area, but Sanders did not have information on how Parker traveled north or where he is now. Likewise, Sanders said he could not say whether Parker or the other three youths will return to the Summerville facility or be housed elsewhere. Sanders said he did not know whether any of the four youths committed any other crimes while they were at large.

Sanders said the situation is still under investigation and he noted that he is limited in what information he can provide because of privacy laws that apply to youth in the agency’s supervision.

Local lawmakers attempt to prevent future problems

The pending legislation would require residential treatment facilities for children and teens to report any escapes to law enforcement immediately along with a physical description of the youth and whether he or she has a criminal past. New security standards would also have to be put in place.

The bill would ban out-of-state sex offenders from the facilities, and lawmakers hope to expand the ban to violent offenders.

Facilities would not be licensed be if they are located within 1,000 feet of a school, child care center, park, public swimming pool or mass transit stop. Children and teens within the facility would have to be housed according to ages, severity of their disorders and whether they have a criminal past, under the proposal.

The bill ties the new standards to facility licensing and licensing renewal.

Republican S.C. Reps. Jenny Anderson Horne, Chris Murphy, both of Summerville, and Chip Limehouse of Charleston, drafted the bill with legislative counsel in the days after the April 20 escape. The lawmakers must move quickly, if the bill is to make it into law before the Legislature's June adjournment.

It is not immediately clear how the legislation, if it becomes law, would affect the Summerville treatment center or similar facilities in the short- and long-term. But, Murphy said, he wants the facilities to voluntarily comply with the standards laid out in the bill, including removing all out-of-state sex offenders from their supervision.

"This is just the first step," Murphy said of the bill filing. He, other lawmakers and local elected officials will be working with the Summerville facility to prevent future incidents, he said.

Horne said, "This is designed to not only protect the community but to protect the children who are also in that facility."

Facility leaders speak up

Officials for the Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health center said in a statement today that management and staff have cooperated fully with authorities, and will continue to do so. The facility is not allowed to discuss details of individual cases, due to strict patient confidentiality and privacy laws, the statement says.

The facility follows all safety and security regulations for compliance with the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, ordinances and regulations from the local fire Marshall, according to the state. The existing fence and gate was installed for additional security in accordance with standards acceptable to state and local officials, the statement reads.

What's more, the Summerville center is waiting for the state to approve a request from early 2010 to expand additional security measures.

"Our facility fills a vital role in the community by helping mentally ill youths get better through appropriate treatment," officials said in an unsigned statement. "Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health takes care of disadvantaged children and adolescents for whom placement options are almost completely exhausted.

"We are committed to their well-being and providing successful treatment and education for these youths who have led extremely difficult lives. Our objective is to prepare them to become productive members of society. That's why we take responsibility for their safety very seriously."

S.C. and Washington officials working together

The bill was filed this morning. Horne, Limehouse and Murphy drafted and researched the complex bill in the two days the Legislature was in session following the escape.

The three other youths who escaped with Parker were apprehended April 21, a day after their escape.

The D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services announced after 10 p.m. Wednesday that the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force had Parker in custody without incident.

The task force focuses on capturing the most violent and dangerous fugitives in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, Maryland, and Virginia, according to its mission statement.

Neil Stanley, acting director of the Washington juvenile justice agency, credited Summerville and D.C. law enforcement for their work. The agency cites its public safety goals as giving youth the chance to become more productive citizens by building skills in the least restrictive, homelike environments.

Staff writer Dave Munday and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Reach Yvonne Wenger at 803-926-7855, follow her at twitter.com/yvonnewenger (http://http://twitter.com/yvonnewenger) and read her Political Briefings blog at postandcourier.com/blogs (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/blogs).

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

From the just above article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405019#p405017):

Officials for the Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health center said in a statement today that management and staff have cooperated fully with authorities, and will continue to do so. The facility is not allowed to discuss details of individual cases, due to strict patient confidentiality and privacy laws, the statement says...[/list]

Here's that statement:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health

Press Statement (http://http://media.charleston.net/2011/pdf/palmettohealthpressrelease_04282011.pdf)[/list][/list]

Since the day of the incident the management and staff of Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health have cooperated fully with all the authorities concerned with this investigation and will continue to do so until its completion.

Our facility fills a vital role in the community by helping mentally ill youths get better through appropriate treatment. Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health takes care of disadvantaged children and adolescents for whom placement options are almost completely exhausted. We are committed to their well-being and providing successful treatment and education for these youths who have led extremely difficult lives. Our objective is to prepare them to become productive members of society. That's why we take responsibility for their safety very seriously.

Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health follows all of the safety and security regulations dictated by the state in compliance with the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) along with other ordinances and regulations from the local fire Marshall. The facility installed the existing fence and gate for additional security in accordance with standards acceptable to state and local officials. Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health submitted a proposal to DHEC in early 2010 to expand additional security measures at the facility and is still awaiting approval.

Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health has been successfully accredited and is an important resource for thousands of young residents in Dorchester and the surrounding counties who suffer from psychiatric illnesses and need treatment. There are hundreds of adolescents who have received high quality, successful treatments at Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health and have had their lives dramatically improved as a result of the efforts of over 140 dedicated individuals that work at the facility.

Palmetto Summerville is fully dedicated and committed to its mission of helping every child in its care while maintaining compliance with all federal and state regulations. Due to strict patient confidentiality and privacy laws, the facility is precluded from discussing the specific details of any individual patient case.

# #

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/28/last-dc-youth-who-escaped-sc-center-caught/) left for the above article, "Fourth youth in custody, lawmakers file bill to stop future escapes (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405021#p405017)" (by Yvonne Wenger; April 28, 2011; Post and Courier), #s 1-20:

sand lapper · 8:11 AM on 4/28/2011

This situation is like scratching the head off a giant zit. Yeah they caught the guys...but now the problem has deep roots. Stop using us as a dumping ground DC! Use Ohio instead for God's sake.

iamwhoisayiam · 10:17 AM on 4/28/2011

you are truly an idiot, i like how you guys sit here all day and comment on things but are you out in the community making a difference or simply taking up all of our oxygen spewing your negative thoughts.sky · 10:29 AM on 4/28/2011

And iamwho, what are you doing on here? Spreading love and positive thoughts? How about you walk the walk?cold war vet · 10:31 AM on 4/28/2011

Sandlapper is right in many ways. Too many out-of-staters are sent to SC to do time in numerous rehab facilities throughout the state. I agree with him. Make them do their time in prison or treatment facilties in their home state.doggone85 · 11:29 AM on 4/28/2011

I agree with sand lapper on all of his points except one. Don't you know it is a law in Ohio that you must at some point move to Charleston? We don't want him coming back here!scpdblue · 11:46 AM on 4/28/2011

I agree with sand lapper. Also iamwho is a jackwagon from mambe,pambe land.sand lapper · 12:41 PM on 4/28/2011

doggone- I knew there was a law about that! Doh!willyt · 4:02 PM on 4/28/2011

lil' dave · 4:04 PM on 4/28/2011

sand lapper I agree![/list]
mtpleasantmom · 8:13 AM on 4/28/2011

I sincerely hope they don't ship him back.nitrat · 8:17 AM on 4/28/2011

Where was he caught? How far did he get?

cold war vet · 10:33 AM on 4/28/2011

A different news report indicated the thug was caught by the DC Youth Authorities in the DC area. So basically, he ran home to Momma and was apprehended.[/list]
jbt · 8:41 AM on 4/28/2011

I sure hope our local and state legislatures make sure this individual stays in DC and not returned.

sky · 10:32 AM on 4/28/2011

I would hope that once a violent criminal escapes from a 'treatment center' that they are no longer eligible for this option. At this thug's age and with his criminal history, he needs to be incarcerated. He blew his chance.[/list]
singleroni · 9:01 AM on 4/28/2011

just wondering=- are any of these kids going to public school with our kids?harpo · 10:24 AM on 4/28/2011

Will we be seeing a PerpMuggie here in the Post & Courier? Will they show Delonte Parker finally? Will Harpo have to bring it to you instead? Hmmm?cold war vet · 10:28 AM on 4/28/2011

I want to know why a 19 year-old is in a "youth detention facility". A 19 year-old is an adult and belongs in prison if he's been convicted of a crime.65rocksteady · 10:51 AM on 4/28/2011

19 years old is not a "youth". He is an adult who belongs in jail, not in our town behind a fence that a 12 year old "youth" could easily climb over. Lieber or MacDougal is where people like him belong, or better yet, a prison in DC.lou9 · 11:33 AM on 4/28/2011

Since he was apprehended by the DC task force I'm assuming he was caught in DC (nice reporting on that fact). So how does a 19 year old detention center escapee get from SC to DC? Did a family member come and pick him up? Did momma send him some bus money? He didn't get there on his own.

scpdblue · 11:48 AM on 4/28/2011

I agree with you,Those questions need to be addressed.[/list]

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/28/last-dc-youth-who-escaped-sc-center-caught/) left for the above article, "Fourth youth in custody, lawmakers file bill to stop future escapes (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405021#p405017)" (by Yvonne Wenger; April 28, 2011; Post and Courier), #s 21-37:

good karma in sc · 1:03 PM on 4/28/2011

knuckles · 1:46 PM on 4/28/2011

So what's in this magical "bill" that's going to keep this from happening again? Razor wire, machine gun guards or are they going to have to promise not to escape, what?tnt · 1:46 PM on 4/28/2011

People should be more concerned about the mental facility making sure the inmates don't escape than where they come from. The law should allow the perps. photo to be show if he escapes. The community should be protected at all cost not the perp.

nitrat · 3:33 PM on 4/28/2011

technically, he's not a perp. He's/they're hospital patients.lil' dave · 4:11 PM on 4/28/2011

So, nitrat! He is a criminal mental patient? He was not too mental to find his way back to DC. Sounds very cleaver and crafty. Maybe he wants us to think he is a mental patient. Attempted murder=criminal![/list]
oldman · 2:03 PM on 4/28/2011

"Horne, Limehouse and Murphy drafted and researched the complex bill in the two days the Legislature was in session following the escape." ......REAL complex - done in 2 days WHILE the Legislature was in session. A more cynical person than I am might think this is political grandstanding, but Chip would never do anything like that!jbt · 2:24 PM on 4/28/2011

It would be nice to know what's in this bill, but was unable to see it because I don't know the bill information number.I suppose it's like the health care bill, in order to see what's in it, they have to pass it. But from the information gleaned from the Post and Courier, our legislatures are concerned with sex offenders and the public is concerned with all these so-called "juveniles" that have been found guilty of any crime but "mentally ill" being allowed in our state.None of these people should be allowed here and this place should be closed immediately.maxistheman · 2:57 PM on 4/28/2011

SHOOOOOOOW HIS PIC!really?? · 3:58 PM on 4/28/2011

I do not know the reason why out of state youths would be sent here not unless there are some kickbacks somewhere. I do know first hand that Palmetto is a joke, is very uneducated, and is only looking for money. I wouldn't send my enemy to this worthless place.lil' dave · 4:00 PM on 4/28/2011

sc29403 · 7:31 PM on 4/28/2011

This hospital violates their license, w/o any repercussions.[/list]
tide2 · 4:23 PM on 4/28/2011

oldman · 7:03 PM on 4/28/2011

OK, 1 time, for all you knuckleheads who read a headline but not the article and ,in this case, whine about why these kids were in Summerville: right there, line 19 - PRIVATELY RUN FACILITY WITH LITTLE STATE SUPERVISION. This is a private business that can take anybody's trash. So all of you "too-much government interference" people , shut up.

sc29403 · 7:28 PM on 4/28/2011

Actually, they have to be licensed by the state, follow the rules, and be inspected on a regular basis. This facility is only licensed for 6-17 yr olds, not adults.sky · 11:59 AM on 4/29/2011

Not to mention the cost of providing this care for 'underprivileged' youth. Who do you think pays for that, Oldman? I'm quite sure this private facility doesn't provide it out of the goodness of their heart.[/list]
sc29403 · 8:01 PM on 4/28/2011

Name withheld · 9:42 PM on 4/28/2011

This comment is under review.[/list]

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

From the above article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405023#p405017):

Republican S.C. Reps. Jenny Anderson Horne, Chris Murphy, both of Summerville, and Chip Limehouse of Charleston, drafted the bill with legislative counsel in the days after the April 20 escape. The lawmakers must move quickly, if the bill is to make it into law before the Legislature's June adjournment.

It is not immediately clear how the legislation, if it becomes law, would affect the Summerville treatment center or similar facilities in the short- and long-term. But, Murphy said, he wants the facilities to voluntarily comply with the standards laid out in the bill, including removing all out-of-state sex offenders from their supervision.[/list]

Here's that Bill, version available as of April 28, 2011:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

—> Link (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess119_2011-2012/prever/4148_20110428.htm)

South Carolina General Assembly
119th Session, 2011-2012

Download This Version (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess119_2011-2012/prever/4148_20110428.docx) in Microsoft Word format

Bill 4148

<Indicates Matter Stricken>
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL[/list]

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTIONS 44-7-272, 44-7-274, 44-7-276, and 44-7-278 SO AS TO ESTABLISH PROVISIONS FOR RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT FACILITIES FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS THAT PROHIBIT LICENSURE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL OF A FACILITY UNLESS IT IS AT LEAST ONE THOUSAND FEET FROM A SCHOOL, CHILDCARE FACILITY, PARK, PUBLIC SWIMMING POOL, AND MASS TRANSPORTATION STOPS, THAT PROHIBIT THE ADMISSION OF OUT-OF-STATE CLIENTS THAT ARE OR WOULD BE REQUIRED TO REGISTER FOR THE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY AND TO PROVIDE THAT A FACILITY IN VIOLATION OF THIS PROVISION IS SUBJECT TO SANCTIONS, THAT REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO DEVELOP LEVELS OF FACILITY LICENSURE, AND LEVELS OF LICENSURE FOR PROGRAMS WITHIN A FACILITY, BASED UPON CLIENT DISORDERS AND BEHAVIOR AND SUPERVISION, SAFETY, AND SECURITY FACTORS WITHIN EACH FACILITY OR PROGRAM LEVEL, AND THAT REQUIRE THESE FACILITIES TO NOTIFY LAW ENFORCEMENT UPON A CLIENT LEAVING THE FACILITY WITHOUT PERMISSION AND TO MAINTAIN RECORDS OF THESE MATTERS, WHICH ARE SUBJECT TO INSPECTION BY THE DEPARTMENT.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Article 1, Chapter 7, Title 44 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 44-7-272. The Department of Health and Environmental Control must not issue a license pursuant to this article for a residential treatment facility for children and adolescents unless the facility is at least one thousand feet from a school, childcare facility, park, public swimming pool, and mass transportation stop.

Section 44-7-274. A residential treatment facility for children and adolescents licensed in this State must not admit a child from another state or country to the facility if the child is or would be required to register with the sex offender registry in this State pursuant to Article 7, Chapter 3, Title 23. A violation of this section subjects the facility to immediate removal of the child, an order to cease operations, licensure suspension or revocation, or a civil penalty imposed by the department or any combination of these.

Section 44-7-276. (A) The Department of Health and Environmental Control shall develop criteria for levels of residential treatment facilities, or programs within a facility, for children and adolescents. This criteria must be based upon the type of client the facility serves, what client treatment specializations the facility offers, if any, the severity of the disorders of children who may be accepted into the care of the facility, whether clients who may be served by the facility may have a criminal history and if so, what types of offenses are accepted, and other factors the department may promulgate in regulation. These criteria must be used by the department to establish levels of licensure, or levels of licensure for programs within a facility, pursuant to client disorders and behavior from a lesser to a greater degree of:

(1) the need for and amount of client supervision;

(2) client violence, or potential violence; and

(3) the danger, or potential danger, to others that clients may pose.

(B) Based upon the levels of licensure for a facility, or program within a facility, the department shall develop supervision, safety, security, and recordkeeping requirements in regulation for each level, and other regulations as the department may consider necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this chapter. A residential treatment facility for children and adolescents must comply with these requirements in order to be licensed and to obtain license renewal.

Section 44-7-278. If a child in residential treatment facility for children and adolescents leaves the facility without permission, and the child's whereabouts are unknown, the facility immediately shall report the incident to local law enforcement, including a physical description of the child, any criminal history, and any behavioral or conduct problems that may pose a threat to the safety of the public. The facility also shall maintain an incident report on the matter including information that must be included in the report as prescribed by the department in regulation. These reports must be maintained for five years and are subject to inspection by the department at anytime upon request."

SECTION 2. The provisions of Sections 44-7-272, 44-7-274, and 44-7-276 of the 1976 Code, as added by Section 1 of this act, apply to residential treatment facilities for children and adolescents, as defined in Section 44-7-130 of the 1976 Code, or programs within such a facility, that submit an application for licensure on or after the effective date of this act. However, beginning in 2012, licensure renewal for a residential treatment facility for children or adolescents, or a program within a facility, must comply with the provisions of Section 44-7-274 in order to obtain licensure renewal, and beginning in 2013, licensure renewal for residential treatment facilities for children and adolescents, or programs within a facility, must comply with the provisions of Sections 44-7-276 in order to obtain licensure renewal.

SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this act is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such holding shall not affect the constitutionality or validity of the remaining portions of this act, the General Assembly hereby declaring that it would have passed this act, and each and every section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, and word thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more other sections, subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, or words hereof may be declared to be unconstitutional, invalid, or otherwise ineffective.

SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on April 28, 2011 at 11:11 AM

This appears to be an update of the just previous article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405052#p405017) with similar headline...

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

The Post and Courier
4th youth caught in Md: Lawmakers craft bill to require more oversight of S.C. facilities that house troubled teens, children (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/29/4th-youth-caught-md-lawmakers-craft-bill-require-m/)

BY YVONNE WENGER
Friday, April 29, 2011

(http://http://postandcourier.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2011/04/28/PALMETTO_BEHAVIORAL_HEALTH_t180.JPG)
All four teens who scaled the fence of the Palmetto Behavioral Health facility in Summerville last week have been caught. Photo by Wade Spees

COLUMBIA — All four of the Washington, D.C., youths who escaped a Summerville treatment center are now in custody, but S.C. legislators said Thursday the state still must adopt a plan to prevent future incidents.

Delonte Parker, 19, was captured around 5 p.m. Wednesday outside of a CVS/pharmacy in Laurel, Md., by the U.S. Marshals Service Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force. Parker escaped last week from the Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health treatment center, where he was placed after being charged with attempted murder in Washington.

Officials refused to provide details about how Parker traveled north or where he and the other three youths are now and if any will return to the Summerville facility. Three of the four youths who scaled a 6-foot wooden fence at the treatment center on April 20 and fled were caught the next day.

Lowcountry Republican Reps. Jenny Anderson Horne, Chip Limehouse and Chris Murphy crafted legislation to require more government oversight on the 60-bed Summerville facility and the 16 other similar state-based treatment centers that house children and teens who are sexually aggressive, have substance-abuse problems, or have other psychiatric, behavioral or conduct issues. The bill is designed to stop future escapes by mandating new security standards and banning certain out-of-state violent offenders, specifically sex offenders.

'Hopefully, this will end the practice of importing criminals,' said Limehouse, of Charleston. 'Don't we have enough criminals here in South Carolina? My treatment plan is to leave them where they are and don't allow them to come to here.'

The bill, filed Thursday, follows a public outcry over the escape. The youths, ranging in age from 17 to 19, were restrained only by a relatively low fence, despite its suburban surroundings, and the facility staff was slow to provide information to law enforcement.

Information scarce

Reggie Sanders, spokesman for the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, said he did not know whether any of the four youths committed any other crimes while they were at large. The teens were committed to the local center by District of Columbia courts.

Sanders said the situation is still under investigation. He said he is limited in what information he can provide because of privacy laws that apply to youths in the agency's supervision.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Cole Barnhart said in an email that Parker was believed to be staying in a hotel in the Laurel area when he was spotted by fugitive task force members outside the drugstore. Neither Barnhart nor Summerville police Sgt. Cassandra Williams responded to requests for more information Thursday.

More public protections

The pending legislation would require residential treatment facilities for children and teens to report any escapes to law enforcement immediately along with a physical description of the youth and whether he or she has a criminal past. New security standards would also have to be put in place.

The bill would ban out-of-state sex offenders from the facilities, and lawmakers hope to expand the ban to all violent offenders.

Facilities would not be licensed if they are located within 1,000 feet of a school, child care center, park, public swimming pool or mass transit stop. Under the proposal, children and teens within the facility would have to be housed according to ages, severity of their disorders and whether they have a criminal past.

The bill ties the new standards to facility licensing and licensing renewal. 'This is designed to not only protect the community but to protect the children who are also in that facility,' said Horne, of Summerville.

The lawmakers must move quickly, if the bill is to make it into law before the Legislature's June adjournment.

'This is just the first step,' said Murphy, also of Summerville.

In the meantime, Murphy said he wants the facilities to comply with the standards laid out in the bill voluntarily, including removing all out-of-state sex offenders from their supervision.

It is not immediately clear how the Summerville facility would be affected in the short and long term, but Limehouse said if the bill passes, he would expect the treatment centers would begin phasing out the violent out-of-state youths before the facilities are due for license renewals.

Facility speaks up

Officials for Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health said in a statement Thursday that its management and staff have cooperated fully with authorities and will continue to do so. The facility is not allowed to discuss details of individual cases, due to strict patient confidentiality and privacy laws, according to the statement.

The facility follows all safety and security regulations for compliance with the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, ordinances and regulations from the local fire marshal, according to the statement. The existing fence and gate were installed for additional security in accordance with standards acceptable to state and local officials, the statement said.

What's more, the Summerville center is waiting for the state to approve a request from early 2010 to expand its security measures. DHEC did not immediately provide information about the request.

Our facility fills a vital role in the community by helping mentally ill youths get better through appropriate treatment,' officials said in an unsigned statement. 'Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health takes care of disadvantaged children and adolescents for whom placement options are almost completely exhausted.

'We are committed to their well-being and providing successful treatment and education for these youths who have led extremely difficult lives. Our objective is to prepare them to become productive members of society. That's why we take responsibility for their safety very seriously.'

Dave Munday contributed to this report. Reach Yvonne Wenger at 803-926-7855, follow her at twitter.com/yvonnewenger (http://http://twitter.com/yvonnewenger) and read her Political Briefings blog at postandcourier.com/blogs (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/blogs).

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/29/4th-youth-caught-md-lawmakers-craft-bill-require-m/) left for the above article, "4th youth caught in Md: Lawmakers craft bill to require more oversight of S.C. facilities that house troubled teens, children (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405050#p405050)" (by Yvonne Wenger; April 29, 2011; Post and Courier):

sand lapper · 6:06 AM on 4/29/2011

inlikeflynn · 6:43 AM on 4/29/2011

raider · 7:19 AM on 4/29/2011

eEnough already! isn't it time to move on to something else? Why isn't the newsless courier writing about the cuts in funding to mental health that are going to result in many mental health patients being discharged to the streets. Why aren't we concerned about that?coldbeer · 7:20 AM on 4/29/2011

This place needs to be shut down. Public protests should be in order.coldbeer · 7:22 AM on 4/29/2011

raider, are you asking why there is a current thrend to try and stop forcing those of us that earn our way from supporting those that don't? I don't get up and go to work so I can pay for your mental health issues. I do it to take care of my own family.

nitrat · 9:16 AM on 4/29/2011

coldbeer · 10:42 AM on 4/29/2011

Treatmeant of any medical or mental condition should be paid for by friends, family and charity, not forced upon the rest of the population.[/list]
paulie · 7:26 AM on 4/29/2011

If they don't have a Homeowners organization, they should form one. They could then write the covenants not allowing such a place. Any legal thoughts on this?

coldbeer · 8:20 AM on 4/29/2011

Any new HOA covenants would not be retroactive.[/list]
jbt · 8:40 AM on 4/29/2011

This bill our lawmakers have quickly thrown together is a start but they still seem to be preoccupied with sex offenders. What about the "guilty but mentally ill" murders, drug users that commit burglary to support their drug habits and other criminals housed in this so called "treatment facility"? They need to close this place and move to the DC area. I'm sure Virginia has some nice residential areas that would welcome them and think of how much money they will save (due to the price of gas) shipping their criminals here.rayshockeynut · 9:38 AM on 4/29/2011

realistic · 9:34 PM on 4/29/2011

ray - the general area and public was now aware of this place and what they did or who they housed. don't blame the lawmakers. blame the facility for not being forthcoming.[/list]
lou9 · 11:59 AM on 4/29/2011

some1thatknows · 12:44 PM on 4/29/2011

Or a friend from his neck of the town[/list]
red06 · 12:24 PM on 4/29/2011

this center had done alot to help children in the past and so you yall dont need be so hard on them for one the reason this incident happen in the first place is because they accepted a contact with dc and did not realizes what kind of client that would be getting the client from dc are client that are one step away from going to jail. They felt they would give these clients a second chance and then they sent these client to the center to get rehabilitated.

some1thatknows · 12:42 PM on 4/29/2011

They knew exactly what kind of client they were getting..........ADMIN cares about nothing but the $$$ the DC residents were bringing inrealistic · 9:31 PM on 4/29/2011

are you drunk? they have done nothing to help these kids. they knew who they were getting from dc. one step away from going to jail? listen, these are more than 2nd chancers. these are violent thugs. next facility: the big house, where they belong. don't be generous. these kids like those who escaped are on a fast tract for future incarcerations. these are NOT little 9 year olds. these are 17, 19 year old men. get a grip.[/list]
some1thatknows · 12:41 PM on 4/29/2011

wandasikes · 1:03 PM on 4/29/2011

I believe that facilities should not be licensed if they are located within 1,000 feet of a nursing home eitherwandasikes · 1:10 PM on 4/29/2011

I also checked Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health website, it states that they treat kids from 12-17, so why do they have residents above the age of 17?

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

From the above comments (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405075#p405052):

wandasikes · 1:10 PM on 4/29/2011

I also checked Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health website, it states that they treat kids from 12-17, so why do they have residents above the age of 17?[/list]

Also, like another commenter on the Post and Courier site noted previously, it's kinda odd that the Palmetto Summerville facility chooses to specialize in treating "sexually reactive" adolescents as well as those who suffer from "attachment and trauma issues." I can think of more than a few scenarios in which certain kids might find themselves in an unduly advantageous position to exploit certain other kids, which is, ultimately, clearly not to the benefit of any of them.

From Palmetto Summerville's homepage:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health (http://http://www.palmettobehavioralhealth.com/Page_Facilities/Facilities_Summerville.html)

Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health
225 Midland Parkway
Summerville, SC 29485
Toll Free: 800-387-0037
Local: 843-851-5015
Fax: 843-851-5029[/list]

(http://http://www.palmettobehavioralhealth.com/Assets/Maps/Summerville250.jpg)

Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health offers a residential treatment program for adolescent males with sexually reactive behaviors, substance abuse problems and psychiatric, behavioral or conduct issues.

For more information on the caring services we provide to our patients, please click on the highlighted link to open an Acrobat brochure that describes our programs.

The Waypoint program is a residential treatment program for adolescent males with sexually reactive behaviors between the ages of 12 and 17.

The Summit program works with the family to treat psychiatric, behavior/conduct, mood, attachment and trauma issues in adolescent males ages 12 to 17.

Admissions
To call about bed availability or to make a referral, please contact:
Kim Griffin, Director of Admissions
Palmetto BHC Residential Treatment Centers
(office) 843-667-0644 (cell) 843-250-2022
(pager) 843-673-2169 (fax) 843-669-5127
Referrals and admissions may be made 24/7.[/list]

The Post and Courier
Rose files bill in wake of teen escapes (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/30/rose-files-bill-in-wake-of-escapes/)

BY YVONNE WENGER · [email protected]
Saturday, April 30, 2011

(http://http://postandcourier.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2010/11/26/mikerose_t180.JPG)
Rose

COLUMBIA -- An existing South Carolina law does not go far enough to protect residents against the threat that violent out-of-state mental health patients can pose on local communities, state Sen. Mike Rose said Friday.

Rose called the state's Interstate Compact on Mental Health "flawed and inadequate" to deal with a situation similar to the April 20 escape at the Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health treatment center when four Washington, D.C., youths fled the facility, including 19-year-old Delonte Parker, who reportedly had been charged with attempted murder.

Parker was captured Wednesday in Maryland. The other three were apprehended on Dorchester Road the day after their escape.

"This is a wake-up call," said Rose, R-Summerville. "I conclude from my investigation that the existing laws are not adequate to protect the citizens of South Carolina. We're going to change that.

"If Washington is sending their problems to us, who else is sending their problems to us? New York? Philadelphia?"

Rose filed legislation Thursday to put more protections in place for South Carolina residents. His bill is similar to one introduced in the House this week by Republican Reps. Jenny Anderson Horne and Chris Murphy, both of Summerville, and Chip Limehouse of Charleston.

Both bills aim to ban, or at minimum restrict, violent out-of-state offenders -- especially sexual predators -- from being treated at South Carolina-based facilities. The bills also call for facilities to follow certain steps to notify law enforcement of an escape.

Currently, treatment facilities, such as Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health, are under little government oversight.

Rose said he also wants to see the facilities, not the government, pay for any costs associated with an escape.

He intends to hold public hearings to gain more insight into the situation and determine how far the state can go within constitutional boundaries to draft new restrictions.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/30/rose-files-bill-in-wake-of-escapes/) left for the above article, "Rose files bill in wake of teen escapes (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405082#p405077)" (by Yvonne Wenger; April 30, 2011; Post and Courier):

unojack · 9:42 AM on 4/30/2011

wsm · 10:22 PM on 4/30/2011

Here's Bill 4148 again, updated as of May 11, 2011...

Previous version (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405084#p405023) (as of April 28, 2011)

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

—> Link (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess119_2011-2012/bills/4148.htm)

South Carolina General Assembly
119th Session, 2011-2012

Download This Bill (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess119_2011-2012/bills/4148.docx) in Microsoft Word format

<Indicates Matter Stricken>
Indicates New Matter

H. 4148

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Limehouse, Murphy and Horne
Document Path: l:councilbillsswb6182ac11.docx
Companion/Similar bill(s): 859

Introduced in the House on April 28, 2011
Currently residing in the House Committee on Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs

Summary: Residential treatment facilities for children and adolescents that prohibit licensure by DHEC

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date Body Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4/28/2011 House Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 5 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess119_2011-2012/hj11/20110428.htm#p5))
4/28/2011 House Referred to Committee on Medical, Military, Public and
Municipal Affairs (House Journal-page 5 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess119_2011-2012/hj11/20110428.htm#p5))

View the latest legislative information (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/cgi-bin/web_bh10.exe?bill1=4148&session=119) at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

4/28/2011 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess119_2011-2012/prever/4148_20110428.htm)

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL[/list]

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTIONS 44-7-272 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c007.htm#44-7-272), 44-7-274 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c007.htm#44-7-274), 44-7-276 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c007.htm#44-7-276), and 44-7-278 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c007.htm#44-7-278) SO AS TO ESTABLISH PROVISIONS FOR RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT FACILITIES FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS THAT PROHIBIT LICENSURE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL OF A FACILITY UNLESS IT IS AT LEAST ONE THOUSAND FEET FROM A SCHOOL, CHILDCARE FACILITY, PARK, PUBLIC SWIMMING POOL, AND MASS TRANSPORTATION STOPS, THAT PROHIBIT THE ADMISSION OF OUT-OF-STATE CLIENTS THAT ARE OR WOULD BE REQUIRED TO REGISTER FOR THE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY AND TO PROVIDE THAT A FACILITY IN VIOLATION OF THIS PROVISION IS SUBJECT TO SANCTIONS, THAT REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO DEVELOP LEVELS OF FACILITY LICENSURE, AND LEVELS OF LICENSURE FOR PROGRAMS WITHIN A FACILITY, BASED UPON CLIENT DISORDERS AND BEHAVIOR AND SUPERVISION, SAFETY, AND SECURITY FACTORS WITHIN EACH FACILITY OR PROGRAM LEVEL, AND THAT REQUIRE THESE FACILITIES TO NOTIFY LAW ENFORCEMENT UPON A CLIENT LEAVING THE FACILITY WITHOUT PERMISSION AND TO MAINTAIN RECORDS OF THESE MATTERS, WHICH ARE SUBJECT TO INSPECTION BY THE DEPARTMENT.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Article 1, Chapter 7, Title 44 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 44-7-272 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c007.htm#44-7-272). The Department of Health and Environmental Control must not issue a license pursuant to this article for a residential treatment facility for children and adolescents unless the facility is at least one thousand feet from a school, childcare facility, park, public swimming pool, and mass transportation stop.

Section 44-7-274 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c007.htm#44-7-274). A residential treatment facility for children and adolescents licensed in this State must not admit a child from another state or country to the facility if the child is or would be required to register with the sex offender registry in this State pursuant to Article 7, Chapter 3, Title 23. A violation of this section subjects the facility to immediate removal of the child, an order to cease operations, licensure suspension or revocation, or a civil penalty imposed by the department or any combination of these.

Section 44-7-276 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c007.htm#44-7-276). (A) The Department of Health and Environmental Control shall develop criteria for levels of residential treatment facilities, or programs within a facility, for children and adolescents. This criteria must be based upon the type of client the facility serves, what client treatment specializations the facility offers, if any, the severity of the disorders of children who may be accepted into the care of the facility, whether clients who may be served by the facility may have a criminal history and if so, what types of offenses are accepted, and other factors the department may promulgate in regulation. These criteria must be used by the department to establish levels of licensure, or levels of licensure for programs within a facility, pursuant to client disorders and behavior from a lesser to a greater degree of:

(1) the need for and amount of client supervision;

(2) client violence, or potential violence; and

(3) the danger, or potential danger, to others that clients may pose.

(B) Based upon the levels of licensure for a facility, or program within a facility, the department shall develop supervision, safety, security, and recordkeeping requirements in regulation for each level, and other regulations as the department may consider necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this chapter. A residential treatment facility for children and adolescents must comply with these requirements in order to be licensed and to obtain license renewal.

Section 44-7-278 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c007.htm#44-7-278). If a child in residential treatment facility for children and adolescents leaves the facility without permission, and the child's whereabouts are unknown, the facility immediately shall report the incident to local law enforcement, including a physical description of the child, any criminal history, and any behavioral or conduct problems that may pose a threat to the safety of the public. The facility also shall maintain an incident report on the matter including information that must be included in the report as prescribed by the department in regulation. These reports must be maintained for five years and are subject to inspection by the department at anytime upon request."

SECTION 2. The provisions of Sections 44-7-272 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c007.htm#44-7-272), 44-7-274 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c007.htm#44-7-274), and 44-7-276 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c007.htm#44-7-276) of the 1976 Code, as added by Section 1 of this act, apply to residential treatment facilities for children and adolescents, as defined in Section 44-7-130 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c007.htm#44-7-130) of the 1976 Code, or programs within such a facility, that submit an application for licensure on or after the effective date of this act. However, beginning in 2012, licensure renewal for a residential treatment facility for children or adolescents, or a program within a facility, must comply with the provisions of Section 44-7-274 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c007.htm#44-7-274) in order to obtain licensure renewal, and beginning in 2013, licensure renewal for residential treatment facilities for children and adolescents, or programs within a facility, must comply with the provisions of Sections 44-7-276 (http://http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c007.htm#44-7-276) in order to obtain licensure renewal.

SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this act is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such holding shall not affect the constitutionality or validity of the remaining portions of this act, the General Assembly hereby declaring that it would have passed this act, and each and every section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, and word thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more other sections, subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, or words hereof may be declared to be unconstitutional, invalid, or otherwise ineffective.

SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on May 11, 2011 at 9:46 AM

The Post and Courier
Cops no stranger to Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/may/15/cops-no-stranger-to-sville-facility/)
Treatment center's owner also has litany of problems

BY GLENN SMITH · [email protected]
Sunday, May 15, 2011

(http://http://postandcourier.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2011/05/14/leadpalmetto_t600.jpg)
Four teens recently escaped from Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health facility and escaped. All were later caught. Staff

SUMMERVILLE -- Nestled behind a weathered wooden fence on a compact, tree-lined campus, Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health blends in with the bustling suburb around it. One state lawmaker living nearby didn't even realize it was there.

But the 60-bed treatment center on Midland Parkway and its sister facility in North Charleston have long been on the radar of area police agencies. Officers have been called to the complexes dozens of times in recent years for reported escapes, assaults and other disturbances.

What's more, Palmetto's parent corporation, Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services (UHS), has a history of similar problems and reported safety violations at facilities it owns in other states. Among other things:

--North Carolina regulators last year threatened to revoke the license of one of UHS's Charlotte centers where a 15-year-old was stabbed in the eye with a rusty nail by a fellow resident.

--A UHS-owned center in Winston-Salem, N.C., was cited for various issues, including an incident in which a teen was reportedly forced to perform oral sex on his roommate.

--Virginia officials last month froze admissions at three UHS-owned facilities for troubled children in Norfolk and Portsmouth, Va., until safety and treatment issues are corrected. In particular, officials cited a need for greater staffing and supervision at the facilities.

The company's Lowcountry facilities had attracted little attention from the general public. But that all changed on April 20, when four Washington teens with violent pasts escaped from Palmetto's Summerville facility while being treated for behavioral problems.

Though the teens were later caught, Palmetto has come under intense scrutiny for accepting out-of-state kids with criminal histories at a complex guarded by little more than a privacy fence.

Some state lawmakers are now calling for a ban on the practice after learning that one of the D.C. teens had been charged with attempted murder. And the district agency that sent the teens to Summerville has suspended further placements at Palmetto while the treatment center reviews its security protocols.

Supporters say Universal Health Services and its centers provide valuable treatment options for severely troubled kids struggling with such problems as sexual aggression, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress.

Critics have questioned whether the Forbes 500 health management corporation is putting profits ahead of care by placing young sex offenders and criminals in facilities not designed or staffed to accommodate them.

UHS, which has some 200 facilities throughout the country, is certainly profitable. The corporation reported net revenues of $5.6 billion in 2010 and a 42 percent surge in revenues in the first quarter of this year.

UHS insists that the bottom line is ensuring that proper care and safety measures are in place at its facilities. In response to a list of questions from The Post and Courier about its facilities, the company issued a short press release defending its operations.

"UHS has always put patient and employee safety first at all of its behavioral health facilities," the statement read. "It's a hallmark of what we do, and we're proud of our track record of providing the highest quality of care for patients with special, and sometimes, mental health needs."

• Statement from Univeral Health Services (http://http://media.charleston.net/2011/pdf/uhspressreleas_05052011.pdf)[/list]

Importing problems?

Universal Health Services operates Palmetto Behavioral Health facilities in Summerville, North Charleston and Florence. The centers, which have a total of 260 beds, are part of a network of 17 youth treatment centers in South Carolina that house nearly 800 youths with mental illnesses, violent behavior and other problems.

Most are privately run, and the state has little say as to who is placed in these facilities or where they come from.

Palmetto officials have declined to answer questions about how many out-of-state offenders are housed at its facilities or what criminal charges they may face. In response to recent questions from The Post and Courier, Palmetto issued a release stating that its Summerville facility does not admit violent sexual predators, and that none of the four escapees are sexual or violent offenders.

That would seemingly contradict previous statements from officials in Washington, indicating that all four youths have histories of violence.

The District of Columbia Department of Youth Rehabilitation Center placed the four teens who escaped from the Summerville center. The agency has been sending youths to Palmetto for the past two years for specialized treatment, and it places juveniles in other UHS facilities around the country, said Chris Shorter, the agency's chief of staff.

The district pays Palmetto about $300 per day for each youth placed in its centers, based on treatment needs, Shorter said. Before the recent incident, the arrangement had worked well, he said.

Still, some state lawmakers remain concerned by the practice and are pushing for restrictions on the age, residency and level of criminal offender allowed at these centers.

State Rep. Chris Murphy, R-Summerville, said 15 to 20 out-of-state youths from around the country were being treated at the center on Midland Parkway when he toured the site on a recent afternoon.

"We do not need to be importing other state's problems," said Murphy, who represents the area where the facility is located.

Palmetto officials declined to discuss specific details of patient cases, citing confidentiality laws. They did say that the center plans to install additional security cameras and a new 12-foot chain-link fence designed to prevent climbing.

Palmetto officials said they are talking with state legislators about ways to further improve security. They also announced last week that a new executive director had been named for the Summerville facility.

Murphy said he welcomes the security improvements, but "they are still a long way off from where they need to be."

• Statement from Palmetto Behavioral Health (http://http://media.charleston.net/2011/pdf/psbhpressrelease_05052011.pdf)[/list]

Checking for problems

David H. Zoellner, managing attorney for Columbia-based Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities Inc., said he understands the community's safety concerns, but his organization is leery of additional barriers placed in the way of kids who need care.

"Even if a juvenile has some disciplinary actions pending, he or she should be entitled to treatment if they need it," he said. "We would prefer they not be in big facilities or facilities out of state, but sometimes that may be necessary."

Zoellner said representatives of his organization have visited Palmetto's centers at various times and "have not found any particular problems with the treatment of kids there."

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control inspects the centers every two years. DHEC reported finding six violations at the Summerville facility during a 2007 inspection and three during a 2009 visit. State officials have offered no details about those violations, but have said the problems were corrected.

The Post and Courier requested access to those inspection records on April 25, but was told by a DHEC official that it would take some time to retrieve and review the documents for confidentiality issues. The newspaper's request was still pending at press time.

DHEC estimated that it could take at least another week to retrieve these public documents, at a cost of $475 to the newspaper. By contrast, North Carolina officials furnished hundreds of pages of detailed documents from facility inspections at no charge within hours of the newspaper's request this month.

Police, meanwhile, have been regular visitors to Palmetto's centers. Summerville police have been called to the Midland Parkway facility 128 times since February 2006, including 19 calls for missing persons and runaways, 42 reports of assaults and three reports of sexual assaults, records show.

In one incident from October 2009, a 15-year-old boy was accused of attacking and beating a 64-year-old woman after he slipped away from the center by ducking out a side door, police said.

The woman is now suing the center, accusing Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health of gross negligence and recklessness in the incident.

North Charleston police have been called to Palmetto's Speissegger Drive facility 98 times in the past five years, including 13 runaway and missing-person calls, 22 assault calls and six reports of sexual assaults, according to police.

List of police calls

• Summerville Police calls to Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health (http://http://media.charleston.net/2011/pdf/svillepdpalmettosummervillebehavioralhealth.pdf)
• North Charleston Police calls to Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health (http://http://media.charleston.net/2011/pdf/ncpdpalmettosummervillebehavioralhealth.pdf)[/list]

Care and profits

Three former Palmetto staff members told The Post and Courier that the company's facilities are understaffed and ill-prepared to deal with hard-core, young offenders who have come in through out-of-state placements in recent years.

The workers spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisals.

One ex-worker at the Summerville center provided the newspaper with a copy of a complaint she sent to a corporate help line in 2008 detailing safety concerns brought on by a lack of staff.

At the time the facility was owned by Psychiatric Solutions Inc., which was taken over last year by Universal Health Services.

The worker stated that the third shift at the facility had only four workers and a medical technician to oversee 54 residents. "There are multiple occasions where, because of understaffing, a female staff member is left alone with over a dozen male residents, some of the residents being dangerous sex offenders," the complaint read.

The worker said nothing was ever done about her complaint.

Palmetto officials insist the facility meets and typically exceeds staffing requirements put in place by the state.

State regulations, however, do not specify staffing ratios at treatment centers like Palmetto, according to Thom Berry, a DHEC spokesman. The regulation says only that "qualified personnel shall be employed in sufficient numbers to carry out the functions of the facility."

In 2006, the nation's largest health care union issued a report alleging that understaffing and poor case management at Universal Health Services' behavioral treatment centers led to sexual abuse, runaway patients, assaults and other problems.

The Service Employees International Union report, titled "Failure to Care," documented more than 50 incidents of abuse, improper treatment and alleged violations at UHS facilities across the country.

Prefacing the report, four members of the National Alliance of Professional Psychology Providers wrote a statement of concern that the findings illustrate a crisis in the nation's health care industry that places "earnings and exorbitant profits above the public interest at the expense of quality services to those in need."

• "Failure to Care" report (http://http://media.charleston.net/2011/pdf/Failure_to_Care.pdf)[/list]

In a statement, UHS declined to discuss specifics of the allegations or specific patient cases, stating simply that no two facilities are the same and that "programs, services and the continuums of care at every location are based on the needs of each individual community."

"All throughout the organization, everyone is committed to providing the best possible treatment for our patients in a safe, caring and respectful environment," the statement went on to say.

John Caccavale, a California psychologist who serves as the psychology alliance's executive director, said his group remains concerned about the level of care offered by mega-corporations like Universal Health Services.

Regulators will cite and fine these operations, but they are loathe to shut them down because budget cutbacks in most states have limited options for placing folks who need mental health treatment, he said.

"For the corporations, the profits you can make in this system are unbelievable, and you can get away with giving substandard care and no one really gives a damn," he said.

Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/may/15/cops-no-stranger-to-sville-facility/) left for the above article, "Cops no stranger to Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405247#p405154)" (by Glenn Smith; May 15, 2011; Post and Courier), #s 1-20:

harpo · 12:33 AM on 5/15/2011

That flimsy lattice on top of the wall .. it's still there. Hasn't been replaced by anything more substantial yet. Until you actually spank this facility, nothing will change.

rayshockeynut · 1:42 AM on 5/15/2011

You don't actually expect them to dip into profits to make the place safe and secure do you?[/list]
wsm · 1:16 AM on 5/15/2011

rayshockeynut · 1:41 AM on 5/15/2011

Stirring the pot again P&C.... This is pretty much the same cra p you have reported before. How about some actual news, like "P&C reporters look to purchase brains for work related use"!!!

rulenumberone · 8:04 AM on 5/15/2011

"Stirring the pot?" That's their job, and they're pretty good at it. And it's actual news if you're a neighbor to the facility or you're the lady who was attacked. I'm glad they're there making waves. They're our ears and eyes in the community, and we want some answers.[/list]
rulenumberone · 8:07 AM on 5/15/2011

This facility has been a very poor communicator with the community. They have totally ignored our concerns and have been using our taxpayer-financed police dept because they have no security. Somebody better be answering our questions and FAST. A neighbor who willingly puts us in jeopardy and then thumbs their nose at our questions is in danger of having to move.pirate42 · 8:24 AM on 5/15/2011

Been there done that... People run it are not aware of the dangers they put on staff.. Its all about the MONEY... Money...Money.. Not treatment or safety... Bottom line..any highly trained people with good record would not be caught dead working there, And if they do they get out fast...nitrat · 8:33 AM on 5/15/2011

anthony w. · 10:13 PM on 5/15/2011

Yep...and the folks in Columbia have hopes of privatizing everything. It never works. All these companies are about is the bottom line profit. These people need to be placed in a secure-state run facility and given treatment (real treatment) rather than placed in these little for profit insane assylums[/list]
inlikeflynn · 8:37 AM on 5/15/2011

dick tater · 8:58 AM on 5/15/2011

$300paid/day/inmate? Really? Could I get 2 or 3?mcgillicuddy · 9:36 AM on 5/15/2011

rulenumberone · 9:43 AM on 5/15/2011

Those DHEC inspection records should be open and easily available to any member of the community-especailly our representatives in the media- AT NO COST WHATSOEVER. Agencies use the provision in the FOIA charging for their services as a stonewalling technique. We need to ask why these reports are not available online for inspection.truthfairy · 9:46 AM on 5/15/2011

If you check the sex offender list for the Summerville area, you'll notice a large percentage of offenders live on Midland Parkway. I always wondered about that...greendiamond · 10:07 AM on 5/15/2011

Oh well, who cares, not me.

rulenumberone · 2:09 PM on 5/15/2011

Maybe you will when some mentally ill person who can't get treatment meets up with in the mall and accosts you or you're targeted by a sex offender who has escaped from lockup. And with fewer and fewer services available that day may well be here. But don't worry about it. At least not yet.rackerfracker · 2:15 PM on 5/15/2011

until they are at your doorharpo · 7:41 PM on 5/15/2011

You cared enough to post, didn't you?[/list]
sky · 2:29 PM on 5/15/2011

sometruthplease · 3:13 PM on 5/15/2011

Not only is this facility guilty of housing violent offenders, local colleges have done the same...don't forget the boy that was out on bond for attempted murder in another state received FINANCIAL AID to attend CSU...I'm guessing that a Bachelor's Degree would have come in handy while in prison for 20+ years. Background checks are important, as is the knowledge that there are violent offenders housed behind a rickety wood fence. I know of the staff at the Midland Park Rd facility, and they're as much in need of counseling as the patients there. It's a dumping ground for money...

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/may/15/cops-no-stranger-to-sville-facility/) left for the above article, "Cops no stranger to Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405247#p405154)" (by Glenn Smith; May 15, 2011; Post and Courier), #s 21-29:

blkknight · 3:13 PM on 5/15/2011

jbt · 3:20 PM on 5/15/2011

Seems like the same re-hashed story. Now what are our representatives going to do to prevent the continued shuffling of the "guilty but mentally ill" criminals from out of state to this so-called treatment facility.These people need to be in a locked down facility with security that can actually do something to prevent these individuals from escaping, assaulting each other or innocent citizens that had the misfortune to live close to this facility.Still say Gitmo or Alcatraz would be a great place for these criminals.Name withheld · 8:25 PM on 5/15/2011

This comment is under review.[/list]
survey says · 8:48 PM on 5/15/2011

If you see a lot of "name withheld" it is because "dfiudsyfu" the Chinese spammer had all his postings deleted as he posted them. I showed his a ss.anthony w. · 10:07 PM on 5/15/2011

Private company...enough said. There is no motivation except profit and there is no purpose in the company trying to "help" or fix a person...THis Nikki Haley is one of the many problems with privitizing every place under the sun. THere is and has always been a need for public run facilities (jails, mental health agencys, etc). Now can we move on and stop this foolisness...there are some things that simply should not be private. Yet the state and other states continue to use this very poor method.concerned professional · 10:24 PM on 5/15/2011

So much for objectivity in reporting. These facilities may accept out of state patients, but I am sure they also treat SC residents. If they did not, these adolescents would not receive care or would be sent home or put on a lengthy waiting list after being evaluated by DMH or DJJ. I guess my question is since you have identified this "new" issue, what to you plan to do to help resolve the problem? How about doing a story about inadequate mental health funding in SC. What about the emergency rooms who are now flooded with mental health patients due to a shortage of alternative services/programs. What about all of the patients who have had a positive experience with Palmetto or any other private facility? There are regulatory agencies to monitor all health care facilities. Let them do their job

sky · 9:16 AM on 5/16/2011

How about those juvenile patients that deserve and need to be there because of depression, PTSD, etc that are housed with adult 'patients' with violent criminal records, and sexually aggressive behavior? The latter should be in secure facilities, not in residential areas with decorative lattice to keep them from 'escaping'. The regulatory agencies charged with monitoring these facilities obviously are not doing their job and/or the regulations are not strict enough.[/list]
Name withheld · 10:31 PM on 5/15/2011

This comment is under review.[/list]
survey says · 10:52 PM on 5/15/2011

There's an incredible amount of research that went into that last article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405278#p405154)! :notworthy:

Excerpted from the above article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405278#p405154), emphasis added:

Palmetto officials have declined to answer questions about how many out-of-state offenders are housed at its facilities or what criminal charges they may face. In response to recent questions from The Post and Courier, Palmetto issued a release stating that its Summerville facility does not admit violent sexual predators, and that none of the four escapees are sexual or violent offenders.

That would seemingly contradict previous statements from officials in Washington, indicating that all four youths have histories of violence.

· · ·

Palmetto officials declined to discuss specific details of patient cases, citing confidentiality laws. They did say that the center plans to install additional security cameras and a new 12-foot chain-link fence designed to prevent climbing.

Palmetto officials said they are talking with state legislators about ways to further improve security. They also announced last week that a new executive director had been named for the Summerville facility.[/list][/size]
Here's that press release from Palmetto Behavioral Health, dated May 5, 2011:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health

Press Statement (http://http://media.charleston.net/2011/pdf/psbhpressrelease_05052011.pdf)[/b][/list][/list]

Every patient admitted to Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health (Palmetto Summerville) has a specific psychiatric diagnosis indicating a severe mental health disorder. Our facility is a mental health behavioral health treatment facility based on a medical model, not a correctional facility. Many of the youth placed with us have been the victims of neglect, physical or sexual abuse and other trauma as well as other types of disorders. Our goal is to provide therapeutic interventions that can assist these youth In becoming productive members of society. Palmetto Summerville duos not admit violent sexual predators. None of the youth who eloped were sex offenders or "violent" offenders. There has been erroneous information circulating that one of these youth has "capital" charges. No patient at Palmetto Summerville now or at the time of the elopement has current charges for this type of offense.

Since the day of the incident the management and staff of Palmetto Summerville have cooperated fully with all the authorities concerned with this investigation. Within minutes of the elopement, Palmetto Summerville called 911. Descriptions of all youth were provided to the responding officer including exact height, weight, and hair color. Additionally, pictures of each youth were provided to law enforcement when they responded to the facility that evening. Officials from Palmetto Summerville maintained contact with law enforcement throughout the night to obtain updates. Due to strict patient con?dentiality and privacy laws, the facility was and continues to be precluded from discussing the specific details of individual patient cases with others outside law enforcement and regulatory agencies.

The current fence that is in place at the facility was installed within the parameters of what was allowed at the time of the installation by state and local officials. Palmetto Summerville has now received approval from Summerville city officials to install a new 12 foot chain link fence that is designed to prevent climbing. The facility currently has surveillance cameras located throughout the facility but will be installing additional cameras.

Palmetto Summerville has been working with legislators to provide information about current practices and efform to increase security that has previously been denied by state and local government agencies due to fire and life safety concerns. Palmetto Summerville is in favor of any efforts legislatively that will allow the facility to implement additional measures to ensure the safely of its patients and the community.

Palmetto Summerville meets all required staffing ratios established by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) and typically exceeds the staffing ratios. Both DHEC and South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) monitor the staffing ratios by reviewing the staffing logs during on-site, unannounced visits by each agency to con?rm that the facility is in compliance.

Mental illness is still very misunderstood. The stigma against individuals suffering from mental or emotional disorders is a significant barrier to receiving treatment. As May is "Mental Health Awareness" month, we hope the community will use this as an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the causes and remedies for individuals suffering from mental health disorders.

# # #

From the above article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405278#p405154), emphasis added:

In 2006, the nation's largest health care union issued a report alleging that understaffing and poor case management at Universal Health Services' behavioral treatment centers led to sexual abuse, runaway patients, assaults and other problems.

The Service Employees International Union report, titled "Failure to Care," documented more than 50 incidents of abuse, improper treatment and alleged violations at UHS facilities across the country.

Prefacing the report, four members of the National Alliance of Professional Psychology Providers wrote a statement of concern that the findings illustrate a crisis in the nation's health care industry that places "earnings and exorbitant profits above the public interest at the expense of quality services to those in need."[/list][/size]
That "Failure to Care" report will be in the post immediately following this one, with footnotes to be posted separately and subsequent...

·

Failure to Care (http://http://media.charleston.net/2011/pdf/Failure_to_Care.pdf)

A National Report on Universal Health
Service's Behavioral Health Operations

This report was prepared by:
Service Employees International Union, Local 1107
3785 E. Sunset Rd., Las Vegas, NV 89120
Tel: 702.386.8849 Fax: 702.386.4883
www.qualitycarenevada.org (http://http://www.qualitycarenevada.org/)[/list][/size][/list]

--------------

A statement of concern from the National Alliance of Professional Psychology Providers

There is a crisis in our nation's mental health care system. Many factors contribute to this crisis including financial, regulatory, and cultural issues. One of the most glaring problems in this crisis is the corporate practice of placing earnings and exorbitant profits above the public interest at the expense of quality services to those in need. Using Universal Health Services (UHS) as an example, this report clearly documents why mega healthcare corporations such as UHS need to be held accountable for the services for which they are contractually responsible to provide.

The enclosed report, "A Failure to Care," addresses this crisis, by shedding light on numerous violations of consumer rights at UHS' behavioral health facilities across the country. It is a report that needs to be taken seriously as it is essential to the public interest that consumers of behavioral healthcare be protected against abuses by those whose custody they are remanded. Among the many well-documented statements detailed in the report are incidents of abuse, inappropriate reliance on restraints and seclusion, medication errors, and failure to identify and treat barriers to recovery. Patients suffering from mental illness are amongst our most vulnerable citizens. Behind close doors under the guise of confidentiality these patients are at the mercy of those who are responsible for their well being. Few would argue that healthcare businesses should be denied making a profit but in healthcare profit must be tempered with the public good.

The report's authors, affiliated with the Service Employees International Union Local 1107 in Las Vegas, are familiar with the difficulty of providing quality health care services under UHS' model of for-profit care. Understaffing, a practice so frequently encountered in UHS facilities, is one of the most favorite targets for cutting costs. It prevents health care workers - no matter how qualified and how dedicated - from providing the best quality care that patients deserve.

As founders of the National Alliance of Professional Psychology Providers and as practitioners and researchers, we are dedicated to promoting an effective and caring mental health system. Such a system must be founded on respect for those who are in need but also for those who provide mental health services.

To ensure that such respect exists in the mental health facilities of our communities across the country, we urge that regulators, elected officials, and other community leaders read this report closely. If UHS, or any other for-profit behavioral health company, is looking at expanding into your community, we recommend that they be scrutinized as to "what they say" and "what they do." We urge all parties to consider the importance of oversight recommended in this report, and take steps to ensure that quality care is provided throughout the behavioral health system. We further recommend that these corporate entities be required to fulfill the terms of their contracts. We, and UHS, can well afford to do better.

--------------

Table of Contents[/list]
Executive Summary ...... 5

I. Introduction ...... 7

II. Profits Before Patients: UHS' Behavioral Health Treatment Model ...... 8

III. UHS' Record of Patient Rights Violations ...... 8

A) Closing Facilities to Protect Patients ...... 8
B) Sexual Exploitation and Abuse ...... 10
C) Runaways at Risk ...... 11
D) Failure to Protect Patients from Controlled Substances ...... 12
E) Patient Care and Recovery at Risk ...... 12
F) Inadequate and Ineffective Discharge Planning ...... 14
G) Inappropriate Use of Seclusion and Restraints ...... 15
H) Disregard for Patient Rights and Protections ...... 17
I) Failing to Provide a Safe Patient Environment ...... 18
J) Patient Dumping ...... 19[/list]
IV. Putting Profits above the Interests of the Community ...... 19

V. Recommendations to Protect your Community from UHS ...... 20

Executive Summary

Universal Health Services (UHS) is one of the nation's largest, fastest-growing and most profitable providers of behavioral health services. Unfortunately, as this report finds, it is also very controversial, frequently understaffing its facilities at the expense of its patients, its staff and the communities it is supposed to serve.

This report finds that UHS has disregarded the patient safety and recovery of the patients it serves, as well as the communities in which it operates:

On more than one occasion, UHS facilities have been cited for failing to provide federally mandated emergency care (EMTALA violations, also known as patient dumping).

UHS closed a behavioral health unit in the midst of a community's mental health crisis because it was not profitable enough.

There are numerous violations of fundamental patient rights, including UHS' failure to respond to allegations that a 15 year old patient was being sexually abused at the facility, that a six year old patient was held in restraints for five days without justification, and that short staffing failed to prevent a patient from committing suicide.

As a result, in the last five years, six UHS facilities in four states have been forced by regulators to temporarily stop or reduce admissions into their facilities.

This report finds that poor case management and understaffing at UHS facilities have led to adverse patient outcomes including:

Sexual exploitation and abuse
Runaways
Inappropriate reliance on restraints and seclusion
Physical assaults
Medication errors
Insufficient discharge planning
Failure to properly identify and treat barriers to recovery

Ways to Protect Your Community

UHS is actively seeking to expand existing facilities and enter new communities. It plans on adding between 700 and 800 new behavioral health beds each year. If a UHS facility is not already located in you community, there is a good chance UHS will be coming to your community in the near future.

UHS' track record of understaffing means that community mental health advocates must act proactively to protect patients. There are a number conditions and recommendations you can implement to protect your community and ensure that patients receive the quality care they deserve. Some of these include:

Carefully review all Certificate of Need requests. Investigate the level of quality care that UHS provides in its behavioral health facilities across the country. Critically examine the documents that UHS submits for review to ensure that they are disclosing their plans for fulfilling staffing needs and quality measures in their proposed facility.

Require staffing ratios for licensure. Impose enforceable staffing ratios on UHS facilities to ensure that they maintain appropriate levels of staff in their facilities.

Require that patients be involved in developing their recovery plan. Require that patients and their families or members of their support system be actively involved in developing the patient's treatment and discharge plan, or recovery plan. Require documentation, such as written identification of what they feel are the barriers to recovery by the patient and members of the patient's support system, to ensure that the patient is having his/her needs addressed and is actively involved in the development and assessment of his/her recovery plan.

Require that patients and family members sit on the board of UHS facilities. Require that members of the mental health community, both patients and family members, sit on the board of behavioral health facilities and be appointed by advocates, such as the local chapter for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

Require transparency in the behavioral health care that UHS provides. Require quality measures, such as the frequency that seclusion and restraints are used; the number of events which lead to patients or staff members being abused, endangered or significantly harmed; and staffing levels be publicly available and easily accessible to mental health consumers

Require that UHS facilities provide care to the uninsured. Require that UHS facilities provide a set amount of charity care to members of the community and have the facilities report the amount of charity care they provide.

Actively involve mental health advocates, patients and family members when reviewing a UHS Certificate of Need proposal and setting conditions. Use their expertise to create conditions for UHS facilities that will effectively protect the rights of mental health consumers in your community.

Require a public review process when UHS is planning to change the existing behavioral health services provided at its facilities. Patients, consumers, family members, workers and advocates should be actively engaged in the public review process.

I. Introduction

"Those children did not receive one bit of psychological therapy all weekend... all because we did not have the appropriate staff and things were too out of control." (1)

— Nurse from UHS-owned Pembroke Hospital in Massachusetts, in a letter to hospital administrators regarding an incident with teenage patients that occurred one week after state regulators lifted a freeze on the admission of children in 2002, and sent anonymously to the Patriot Ledger newspaper.(2)[/size][/list]

"Senior staff confirmed the belief that decisions are driven by finances with little consideration given to the impact of systematic quality of patient care." (3)

— Massachusetts Department of Mental Health report[/size][/list]

Universal Health Services (UHS) is one of the largest for-profit providers of behavioral health services in the country. The company is actively expanding its existing facilities and entering new markets.

As nurses and caregivers in Las Vegas, Nevada, we see first hand how UHS' pattern of short staffing can impact patient care. After all, UHS controls more than one-third of all of the beds in Southern Nevada(4) and earns 20% of the company's net revenues in our community.(5) Our experience with the company in Las Vegas led us to review practices at UHS' behavioral health facilities across the nation.

We found a record of UHS placing consumers and hospital staff in danger, in part due to its practice of understaffing. Incidents like the one described above are not isolated to one facility, but are seen again and again in investigations performed by state agencies across the nation.

In many instances, poor case management and understaffing at UHS behavioral health facilities has led to physical or sexual assaults, patients running away, and at times, death. UHS has placed its patients in jeopardy with its inappropriate use of seclusion and restraints, its pattern of medication errors and incomplete or inaccurate treatment and discharge planning. UHS' profit-driven model of behavioral health care has forced communities to use resources to respond to emergencies that UHS has created. Several UHS facilities across the nation have been forced by authorities to stop admissions, often due to understaffing.(6)

Quality care cannot be provided in this kind of environment.

Often communities do not learn about UHS' business practices until it is too late. This report intends to educate communities on UHS' behavioral health practices, so they can make an informed choice about the kind of behavioral health care they want provided in their community. Additionally, we have provided recommendations to ensure that the most vulnerable in your community are protected.

II. Profits Before Patients: UHS' Behavioral Health Treatment Model

UHS Earns a Quarter for Every Dollar they Bill People Diagnosed with Mental Illness

UHS operates 103 behavioral health facilities in 30 states and in Puerto Rico,(7) including 79 behavioral health hospitals,(8) therapeutic schools and residential treatment centers, for a total of 6,640 beds.(9)

Last year, UHS reported net revenues of $3.9 billion.(10) UHS' Behavioral Health Division reported $774.1 million in net patient revenue in 2005, which represented 19.8% of the total net patient revenue for UHS.(11) In UHS' Report of Third Quarter Earnings issued in October of 2006, UHS reported an operating margin of 24.7% at their behavioral health facilities.(12) This means that UHS earns 24.7 cents in profit for every dollar they bill a consumer of behavioral health services.

UHS is actively expanding its existing facilities and entering new markets. From September of 2005 to September of 2006 UHS increased the number of behavioral health facilities it owns by 75.6%, going from owning or leasing 45 behavioral health facilities in September of 2005 to owning or leasing 79 facilities in September of 2006.(13) Steve Filton, Chief Financial Officer of UHS, claims that the company plans to add between 700 and 800 beds annually in 2006 and 2007.(14)

Unfortunately, UHS' profit-driven model of behavioral health care delivery creates conditions that are dangerous for people receiving behavioral health services at their facilities and for staff. The following are real life examples of what occurs in UHS behavioral health facilities across the nation.

III. UHS' Record of Patient Rights Violations

A) Closing Facilities to Protect Patients

In the last five years, six UHS facilities in four states have been forced by regulators to temporarily stop or reduce admissions into their facilities because patients were in imminent danger, often as a result of understaffing.(15) Because behavioral health patients are suffering from diseases which affect their ability to think clearly and rationally, it is imperative that there be an adequate level of trained staff available who can identify the barriers facing a patient's recovery and provide the care needed for the person to regain his/her social independence.(16)

In March of 2002, UHS' Westwood Lodge in Massachusetts was told to temporarily stop admitting new adolescent patients. This action stemmed from the facilitys failure to respond to a complaint that two staff members were sexually abusing a 15 year old patient.(17)

In the fall of 2002, state regulators forced UHS-owned Pembroke Hospital in Massachusetts to stop admitting children for two weeks. A mother of a six year old girl had complained that her daughter had been mistreated. According to a local newspaper, a state investigation found that the hospital had kept the 6 year old in the strictest restrictions for five days without justification. A letter written by the Commissioner of Mental Health in Massachusetts, Marylou Sudders, is quoted as saying, "current conditions present a serious risk to the health and safety of patients."(18)

In July of 2004 an inspection done by state regulators in Georgia found that the conditions at UHS' Peachford Behavioral Health System placed patients in immediate jeopardy. A patient had been admitted to the hospital with a severe headache and an opiate dependence. An RN reported to state investigators that on the night in question, there was one nurse and one mental health assistant caring for 17 acutely ill people. The patient was found dead the following morning from an overdose of methadone, which the patient had smuggled into the hospital. The state of Georgia found there was not enough staff to carry out the doctor's orders.(19)

In July of 2004, UHS-owned Glen Oaks Hospital in Texas was issued a 90-day termination notice from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid when an unstable suicidal person was transferred to a different facility without being evaluated or stabilized, and without notifying the receiving facility or sending the patient's records.(20)

In the Summer of 2006, the state of Connecticut temporarily stopped sending children to UHS' Stonington Institute, a substance abuse and mental health treatment center for adolescents. The Facility averaged two runaways a day. When the Connecticut Department of Children and Families visited the hospital in June they found that the program was not maintaining the staffing levels it had promised to maintain when its license was extended in November of 2004.(21)

In 2005, investigators recommended that a 90 day termination process begin on UHS-owned McAllen Medical Center Heart Hospital in Texas because a patient's rights were violated when s/he did not receive the care s/he required. A patient was under doctor orders to be closely supervised, which means that the person needed to be checked every 15 minutes. These orders were not consistently carried out, and the person hanged himself or herself.(22)

In July of 2006 Pembroke Hospital in Massachusetts is once again the subject of a state investigation. The investigation stems from a Patient's complaint, but the details have not yet been disclosed.(23)

B) Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

Many mental health patients enter a treatment facility feeling vulnerable and powerless due to trauma, loss, humiliation and degradation they have experienced before being admitted to a facility. When sexual misconduct occurs in behavioral health facilities and treatment centers, it works in "counteracting therapeutic benefits of treatment and furthering the humiliation and degradation of those victims."(24)

The pattern of sexual abuse seen at UHS-facilities and lack of response by the administration at those facilities is alarming. Despite UHS' Behavioral Health Division earning $774.1 million in net patient revenue in 2005,(25) UHS continues to make staffing decisions that place patients in unnecessary danger.

In 2003 at UHS-owned Glen Oaks Hospital in Texas, short staffing resulted in the facility's failure to prevent two adolescent patients from having a sexual encounter in the male adolescent's room.(26)

In 2002 at UHS-owned Coastal Harbor Treatment Center in Georgia, four adolescent patients were left unsupervised for two hours and inappropriate sexual behavior occurred between the patients. A physical examination of the patients indicated that the sexual behavior was not consensual for at least one of the patients involved.(27)

In 2003 in the Psychiatric Center at UHS-owned McAllen Heart Hospital, the State of Texas found UHS had not provided patients a safe environment to receive care. Investigators found two instances of inappropriate sexual contact between patients had occurred in a two week timeframe. In one instance, a patient had tested positive for syphilis, which placed the other patient involved in the sexual encounter at further risk.(28)

In 2002, UHS' Westwood Lodge in Massachusetts was investigated for allegations that two employees sexually abused a 15 year old female patient. UHS administrators did not believe the allegations made by the patient and did not report the allegations to officials or limit contact between the patient and the employees. The hospital kept the employees on staff and in contact with the patient for two months, even though the patient had talked about the abuse to multiple people, her family had reported their suspicions to the facility twice and the hospital had confirmed that the patient had the employees' private cell phone numbers. UHS officials also knew that the patient had written about the abuse in a diary and had said that the employees had promised to help the patient escape the facility in return for sexual favors. The patient did escape the hospital on one occasion, and was returned to the facility by police. UHS eventually transferred the two mental health aides to a male unit in order to "minimize" the contact between the employees and the patient, but the employees were allowed to monitor the patient on two occasions after she had attempted suicide. Administrators from UHS-owned Westwood Lodge still did not report the allegations to state officials. State officials were not informed until a doctor from a different hospital reported the allegations after treating the teenager for sexual abuse.(29)

In 2003, a charge nurse from UHS-owned Pembroke Hospital in Massachusetts wrote a letter to hospital administrator regarding an incident involving teenage patients that occurred one week after state regulators lifted a freeze on the admission of children. The incident is described in the letter as, "(one patient) started punching and kicking herself violently in the face...(another) was curled on the floor rocking, crying and scratching her wrists saying that she needed to see blood to make herself feel better." The charge nurse reports in her letter that only one worker was available to watch both of these teenagers because another worker was caring for a third out of control patient. The boys' unit was also out of control, with patients throwing furniture and breaking overhead light fixtures. No therapy groups were held that weekend, there were no outside trips, and the children were not even able to go to the cafeteria. The nurse wrote in the letter to hospital administrators, "Those children did not receive one bit of psychological therapy all weekend... all because we did not have the appropriate staff and things were too out of control." The licensing survey that resulted from the investigation done by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health is reported to say, "Senior staff confirmed the belief that decisions are driven by finances with little consideration given to the impact of systematic quality of patient care."(30)

In 2002 at UHS-owned Laurel Heights Hospital in Georgia, the facility did not document whether it had investigated allegations by an adolescent patient who claimed to have been physically abused and raped.(31) In addition, the child's treatment plan did not explain why the patient was regularly put into the seclusion room.(32)

C) Runaways at Risk

As the incidents below indicate, inadequate staffing and supervision can lead to patients running away. Those who run away do not receive the behavioral health treatment they need while being faced with an increased risk of, "...poor nutrition, inadequate sleep, exposure to the elements, a host of medical problems, physical assault and theft, substance abuse and dangerous sexual behavior including exploitation. Some turn to survival sex, theft, and panhandling to live."(33)

In 2003, at UHS-owned Laurel Heights Hospital in Georgia, five patients had run away from the hospital in a six month period because of inadequate supervision. In one instance where a patient ran away, hospital policy set the staff to patient ratio on the unit at 1:4, but when one staff person responded to an emergency the ratio went to 1:6, and when another staff member had to escort an aggressive patient to a connecting unit, the ratio went to 1:11, and a patient ran away.(34)

In the Summer of 2006, the state of Connecticut found that UHS' Stonington Institute, a substance abuse and mental health treatment center for adolescents, averaged two runaways a day when the facility's staffing levels were not in compliance with its licensure requirements.(35)

D) Failure to Protect Patients from Controlled Substances

In addition to failing to prevent patients from running away from some of its facilities, UHS has also failed on occasion to protect patients from access to controlled substances. This puts patient's recovery at risk at UHS-owned facilities, many of which specialize in the treatment of patients with dual diagnosis, a co-occurring substance abuse and behavioral health diagnosis.

In 2002 at UHS-owned Turning Point Hospital in Georgia, a facility that provides substance abuse treatment,(36) a state investigator found the door to the medication room propped open and the medication cart unlocked with no licensed personnel in the vicinity.(37)

In 2001 at UHS-owned Peachford Behavioral Health System, a second facility in Georgia that specialized in the treatment of children, adolescents and adults with psychiatric and addictive diseases,38 a regulator for the state of Georgia found five predrawn syringes containing Lydocaine (an anesthetic) were left out on a tray in the open, with no label on them and no personnel in the vicinity. In addition, thirteen pre-drawn syringes containing Brevital, a controlled substance, and 13 pre-drawn syringes of Anectine (a muscle relaxer) that were not labeled with the strength of the medication, the date the syringe had been filled or the initials of the staff member who filled the syringe.(39)

E) Patient Care and Recovery at Risk

As stated in a white paper written by New York State's Consumers, Patients, Survivors, and Ex-Patients and used in developing New York's Statewide Comprehensive Plan for Mental Health Services, when a mental health consumer's symptoms are not addressed in his/her treatment plan, "...a roadblock to recovery is created. We become victims to static, hopeless 'programs' and exhibit little or no growth. We lose out self esteem and hope is shattered."(40)

Documented failures at UHS facilities to identify and treat all of the symptoms that patients are struggling to overcome include:

In 2004 at UHS-owned Anchor Hospital in Georgia, a patient died four days after being admitted, after not receiving the proper treatment because his/her medical condition was not properly monitored. The person had been admitted with auditory and visual hallucinations, major depression with psychotic features and a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease and hypertension. Doctor orders indicated that the patient was to have his/her blood pressure monitored and be given a potassium supplement medication to treat his/her Parkinson's disease and hypertension. The patient made one trip to the emergency room because of an altered mental state and low potassium. S/he was sent back to the hospital with instructions that her potassium levels and blood pressure needed to be closely watched. The patient's blood pressure was very low, but there was no documentation on the patient's chart that the nurse or physician were notified or that a reassessment of treatment was done. The person became incontinent and was drooling excessively and drowsy in a wheelchair, but no reassessment of the patient's condition was performed. The investigation done by the State of Georgia found critical patient care information missing from this patient's medical records, as well as from the medical records of other patients who had been transferred from Anchor Hospital to the emergency room.(41)

In 2002 at UHS-owned Anchor Hospital in Georgia, a patient was admitted complaining of hearing voices that were telling him/her to kill someone. In addition, the patient was diagnosed with coronary heart disease and complaining of chest pains. The patient's treatment plan did not address treating the auditory hallucinations or the coronary artery disease. A doctor had ordered that vital signs be taken on the patient to monitor the coronary artery disease, and there was no documentation that the patient's vital signs had been taken. A second patient was hearing voices and paranoid, but his/her treatment plan did not address these symptoms. Skin tests for tuberculosis had been ordered for two patients, but there was no documentation that the tests had been done. Still another patient with diabetes had been administered an incorrect dosage of insulin. In addition, patients had not received notice of their right to request discharge after being transferred to voluntary status, which is a violation of the law in the State of Georgia.(42)

In 2006 at UHS-owned Rockford Center in Delaware, a patient was admitted with open wounds, but the care for those wounds was not included on the initial care plan for the patient. The plan was not updated for six days. As a result, the patient did not receive care for his/her wounds, including medication that was prescribed by a doctor during those six days.(43) In a second inspection done at the UHS-owned Rockford Center in Delaware, inspectors found that patients were missing doses of their medication or being given more medication than prescribed, and the errors were not being recorded on the treatment plan. In addition, nurse and/or physician assessments were incomplete for four patients, including a patient that needed a psychogeriatric assessment.(44)

In 2004 in the Psychiatric Center at UHS-owned McAllen Heart Hospital in Texas, a patient died three days after falling at the facility. The investigation found that, although the doctor had noted in the patient's record that the person seemed "confused," and a nurse noted that a new medication made the person "drowsy," no assessment for fall precautions had been done for the patient, and no fall precautions were in place to protect the patient.(45)

In 2003 at UHS-owned Laurel Heights Hospital in Georgia, an outbreak of patient illness had occurred in a children's unit of the hospital.(46) A statement from a nurse stated that the residents on that unit had been sick, but there was no documentation that indicated that Medical Director had been informed of the outbreak of an apparent respiratory illness. One resident had been feverish for several days and on bed rest. On the morning of 4/6/2003 the child was unresponsive with blue lips and labored breathing. The patient's condition was observed by nursing staff at 8:25am, but the patient was not brought to the emergency room until 10:10am. There was no evidence that the patient's condition was assessed before being brought to the emergency room or that the patient was assessed and monitored while being transferred. When the child arrived at the emergency room, s/he was in an altered mental status, did not have a gag reflex and his/her skin was cool and pale. The resident was diagnosed with pneumonia upon his/her admission to the emergency room. The investigation conducted by the State of Georgia also found that the UHS-owned facility had not done a clinical review of the incident to ensure that patients would not be placed in that kind of danger again.(47)

In 2006 at UHS-owned Rockford Center in Delaware, a patient was diagnosed with bedsores and 7 days passed from the date of diagnosis without any record of care of the bedsores in the nursing plan. There was no record of the patient's progress or response to treatment of his/her bedsores.(48)

In 2003 at UHS-owned Peachford Behavioral Health System in Georgia, a patient was suffering from bedsores and the state inspector found no documented plan of treating the patient's bedsores or any documented evidence that treatment had been provided.(49)

In 2003 at the UHS-owned Rockford Center in Delaware, the hospital was cited for not fully implementing their hospital-wide Quality Assurance program. UHS failed to comply with its policy for a Healthcare Peer Review Occurrence Reporting System, which is done when an unusual event with a potentially harmful outcome occurs that is not consistent with routine care or desired operations. These forms were not being filled out by staff and there was no corresponding occurrence form found in patients' files.(50)

In Georgia, UHS facilities were cited for omissions or incomplete documentation on Patients' medical records in 12 separate inspections from 2001 to 2005.(51)

In 2003 at UHS-owned Timberlawn Mental Health System in Texas, a patient's treatment plan acknowledged his/her Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression, but did not include care for his/her eating disorder, although the patient's extreme weight loss had been documented by a doctor and the patient had discussed it with staff at the facility.(52)

F) Inadequate and Ineffective Discharge Planning

Discharge planning is a critical component in mental health treatment and recovery. Discharge planning is intended to be an individualized plan that assists patients in accessing the medical care and social support services patients need in order to be successful in recovery.(53)

A discharge plan may address a patient's continuing mental health or substance abuse care needs, medication, housing assistance, assist in applying for Medicaid or other social support programs, education and transportation needs.(54)

Inadequate discharge planning is known to contribute to homelessness among people with severe mental illnesses and/or substance abuse disorders.(55)

Discharge planning is a critical piece of suicide prevention. Research has shown that a person who has attempted suicide has a higher risk of later dying from suicide.(56) In order to prevent this, patients and their families need to take steps to reduce the risks of self-harm and suicide, such as removing alcohol and guns from the home, and create a safety plan that will help patients and their families to detect, prevent and effectively respond to future attempts at suicide or self-harm.(57)

This makes discharge planning critical for a person's survival.

Below are several reported incidents in which UHS-owned facilities' failed to provide patients with effective discharge planning.

In 2002 at UHS-owned Turning Point Hospital in Georgia, state investigators found that the responsibility for discharge planning was not designated to qualified staff.(58)

In 2004 at UHS-owned Pembroke Hospital in Massachusetts, a teenager spent six days hospitalized, with three of those days being a holiday weekend. Four days after being released from the hospital the teenager hanged herself at her parent's house. Her mother has complained that the teen was discharged despite her parents' protests that it was too early. The mother also reports that she received no explanation as to why her daughter was discharged, nor was she told all of the symptoms described in her daughter's medical record, including the teenager's repeated description of her plan to hang herself.(59)

In 2003 at UHS-owned Timberlawn Mental Health System in Texas, a majority of patient records reviewed by the State were missing discharge summaries with a description of the patient's hospitalization and recommendations for appropriate services and follow-up care.(60)

In 2003 at UHS-owned Peachford Behavioral Health System in Georgia, a homeless person, without a support system, tested positive for cocaine was admitted to the facility. The patient's treatment and discharge plan did not include goals for addressing these significant barriers to discharge.(61)

G) Inappropriate Use of Seclusion and Restraints

Seclusion and restraints are not a treatment intervention, but a last resort response "to violent behaviors that creates extreme threats to life and safety."(62) Staff of a behavioral health facility should be trained in de-escalation techniques and interventions that can be used at the earliest sign of a crisis so the use of seclusion and restraints is never necessary.

The report, Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America, submitted by The President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, states, "An emerging consensus asserts that the use of seclusion and restraint in mental health treatment settings creates significant risks for adults and children with psychiatric disabilities. These risks include serious injury or death, re-traumatizing people who have a history of trauma, loss of dignity, and other psychological harm."(63)

The report goes on to say, "It is also inappropriate to use these methods instead of providing adequate levels of staff or active treatment."(64)

Research has shown that seclusion and restraints are used dramatically less when there is an increase in staff to patient ratios and staff receives training and support from hospital management.(65)

UHS has a record of providing behavioral health care that routinely uses seclusion and restraints, without taking the proper steps to prevent or avoid these extreme interventions.

In June of 2006 at the UHS-owned Rockford Center in Delaware, a geriatric patient was unnecessarily placed in a mechanical restraint (a gerichair) without a physician order and without documentation that less restrictive interventions were first tried. The patient developed a skin breakdown (bed sores) while s/he was at the Rockford Center. Seven days passed from the date the bed sores were diagnosed before any care was provided for the bedsores and recorded in the nursing plan. There was no record of the patient's progress or response to treatment of her bedsores.(66)

In 2004 at the UHS-owned Rockford Center in Delaware, state regulators found that the hospital failed to establish a system that would protect patients from abuse and that hospital staff used a "non-therapeutic unapproved escort method," after a child complained that he/she had been "thrown to the floor" and forced to the seclusion room by an employee. The child had a fresh blood injury on the right side of his/her face and bruises around his/her eye. During the investigation, the state also found that the Rockford Center's policy on financial exploitation and mistreatment did not conform to state law and the facility's definition of abuse and neglect were too broad and lacked specificity.(67)

In 2002 at UHS-owned Laurel Heights Hospital in Georgia, a staff member caused a child resident to break his/her arm by the utilization of an improper behavioral management technique. A different staff member did not follow proper procedures while administering an enema to the child resident.(68)

In 2004 at UHS-owned Spring Mountain Treatment Center in Nevada, a 14-year old resident was admitted to the UHS facility with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, psychosis and oppositional behavior disorder. While the child was in seclusion, she defecated on the floor of the seclusion room. The child resident told the state investigators that she had repeatedly requested to be taken to the bathroom, but her requests had been ignored by staff. The investigators found no evidence the child was continuously monitored while she was in seclusion and the facility was cited for failing to provide adequate documentation to establish that treatment interventions were safe, proportionate and appropriate to the severity of the child's behavior. In a separate incident, a 15 year old female patient was restrained by five members of staff and forcibly administered Thorazine. There was no documentation that the parent's of the resident were notified or that the staff or the patient were debriefed.(69)

In 2003 at the UHS-owned McAllen Medical Center in Texas, a patient was kept in soft restraints for 35 hours without a doctor order. A doctor then ordered that s/he be kept in restraints for an additional 24 hours without first assessing the patient face-to-face to determine that restraints were still necessary.(70)

In 2005, UHS-owned McAllen Medical Center and Heart Hospital in Texas was cited for keeping a patient in restraints for two days without a doctor's order.(71)

H) Disregard for Patient Rights and Protections

UHS facilities are regularly cited for patient rights violations ranging from not informing patients of their right to discharge to failing to institute a grievance process for investigating and responding to complaints.

In 2003 at UHS-owned Peachford Behavioral Health System in Georgia, UHS violated patient right's law when a patient advocate was never notified and the patient's concern was not resolved. The patient submitted a grievance to the facility and a decision was made by the facility, but there was no documentation that the person who submitted the grievance was ever notified.(72)

In 2002 at UHS-owned Anchor Hospital in Georgia, UHS was cited for failing to document that patients had received a notice of their right to request discharge.(73)

In 2003 at UHS-owned Peachford Behavioral System in Georgia, UHS was again cited for violating patient rights when a patient was not informed of her rights or educated about her medications.(74)

In 2004 at UHS-owned Spring Mountain Treatment Center in Nevada, UHS was cited for not providing the parents or guardians of their adolescent patients with the facility's policy on the use of seclusion and restraints.(75)

In 2002 at the UHS-owned Rockford Center in Delaware, the hospital was cited for failing to create a grievance process that dictated a specific time frame for investigating, acting on and responding to patients' complaints. Rockford Center was also cited for failing to provide a written notice of the facility's determination regarding the grievances of some of the patients at the facility.(76)

In 2004 at UHS-owned Peachford Behavioral Health System, patient rights were not displayed in all locations frequented by patients.(77) In addition, the facility failed to ensure that there was an effective system in place to protect patients' right to confidentiality. A staff member disregarded a patient's written instructions and discussed confidential medical information with a family member without the patient's consent.(78)

In 2003 at UHS-owned Timberlawn Mental Health System in Texas, patient confidentiality was violated when the biological mother of an adolescent patient was allowed to have contact with the child and access to information about the child's treatment, despite the child’s guardians refusing to sign a release to allow the biological mother access to the child. The adolescent's guardians were concerned that contact with the mother would cause the child's illness to become worse.(79)

In 2004 at UHS-owned Spring Mountain Treatment Center in Nevada, UHS failed to report all serious injuries or other reportable incidents to the State Protection and Advocacy Organization and to Medicaid. In addition, the UHS-owned facility did not post the contact information for the State Protection and Advocacy Organization where patients and their families could see it.(80)

In 2002 at UHS-owned Laurel Heights Hospital in Georgia, UHS was cited for lacking documentation that it was complying with policies related to patient restrictions.(81)

In 2004 the State of Delaware cited the Rockford Center for charging patients an exorbitant amount of money to obtain a copy of their medical records, thereby creating a potential to frustrate efforts by individuals to access their medical records.(82)

I) Failing to Provide a Safe Patient Environment

In addition to not investing in adequate staff, UHS also has a record of failing to provide clean and safe physical environments for people diagnosed with mental illness. UHS' propensity for allowing their facilities to be dirty and fall into disrepair shows a disregard for the basic right of people struggling with mental health issues to be cared for in an environment that is safe and free from contamination.

Since 2001, seven inspections done in UHS hospitals in Georgia and Delaware have found that UHS has failed to maintain the building and treatment areas in a manner that ensures patients' safety and is free from contamination and soil.(83) Violations range from a dirty nebulizer being used by patients at Laurel Heights in Georgia,(84) to air conditioners in patients' rooms with broken or missing covers or the control buttons missing, water fountains covered in a brown slime-like material, smoke detector covers missing with loose wires exposed and baseboards coming off walls at Coastal Harbor Treatment Center in Georgia.(85)

In 2004 at UHS-owned McAllen Heart Hospital in Texas, a patient used a piece of protective housing from an air handling unit as a weapon to administer a self-inflicted wound in an apparent suicide attempt.(86)

In a 2006 inspection of the UHS-owned Rockford Center in Delaware, holes in the walls of patients' rooms were found, along with 33 out of 36 windows in patients' rooms soiled with stains, dust and water marks. A seclusion room was soiled with dust and reddish brown stains in the corner, a wet ball of tissues, a thermometer probe cover and a chicken bone on the floor. Stains were also found on the floor in the seclusion room on the children's unit.(87)

In 2001 at UHS-owned Peachford Behavioral Health System in Georgia, the facility was cited for failing to provide meals that met patients' needs for patients over the age of 65.(88)

In 2005, staff members from Peachford transported a suicidal patient to the wrong hospital in a vehicle that did not have safety locks and allowed the patient to sit in the front seat with access to the vehicle's doors.(89)

J) Patient Dumping

Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal law that provides that a person that presents with an emergency medical condition who is unable to pay cannot be treated any different than a person who has health insurance.(90)

The law outlines when a person can be refused treatment and when a person with an unstable medical condition can be transferred from one hospital to another hospital.(91) The purpose of EMTALA is to prevent hospitals from refusing to treat patients or transferring them to public hospitals because they are unable to pay or are covered by Medicare or Medicaid.(92)

UHS-owned facilities have been cited for EMTALA violations.

In January of 2005, a UHS-owned facility in Texas, Timberlawn Mental Health System, was cited when an unstable suicidal patient was transferred without being evaluated or stabilized and without notifying the receiving facility or sending the patient's medical records. One of the reasons indicated for transferring the patient was that the person's insurance was not accepted at Timberlawn.(93)

In 2004, another UHS facility in Texas, Glen Oaks Hospital, received a 90-day termination notice from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare for a similar incident that occurred in 2004.(94)

In March of 2005 at UHS-owned Peachford Behavioral Health System in Georgia, a person came to the facility and reported that s/he had taken an overdose of Xanax and consuming cocaine and marijuana. The person had come to the facility because s/he was having suicidal and homicidal thoughts and had attempted suicide a few days earlier. Arrangements were made for the patient to be transferred to an appropriate facility for medical treatment, but the person was dropped off at the Emergency Room at a different hospital. A Peachford Hospital official admitted that the hospital had not done anything to prevent a miscommunication like this from happening again. The person had been transferred in a vehicle that did not have safety locks and had been allowed to sit in the front seat with access to the vehicles door, putting the patient at risk. The facility was cited for an EMTALA violation.(95)

IV. Putting Profits above the Interests of the Community

UHS' profit driven model has forced communities to use their own resources to respond to the emergencies that are created by UHS' practice of understaffing and to fill in the gaps when UHS eliminates services.

In May of 2003, the Pembroke Police Chief met with the chief executive officer of the UHS-owned Pembroke Hospital in Massachusetts to express his concern that the hospital lacked adequate security staff needed to prevent and deter assaults. Police had had to respond to a number of emergency calls from the facility. The meeting occurred after an incident in which six female teenagers that were receiving care at the facility attacked a female worker by throwing stones at her and threatening to kill a mental health aide. A month earlier, police had responded to an incident where a 79 year old patient had been knocked to the ground and kicked several times by another patient. A few months prior to the meeting, a doctor at the hospital had been severely beaten by a person receiving care at Pembroke Hospital.(96) During the previous year, a nurse had been severely beaten by a patient and hospitalized for more than a week(97) and an ex-patient had been charged with assault after punching a worker at Pembroke Hospital in the face.(98) During the year before that, a nurse had been knocked unconscious and severely beaten by a person receiving care at the hospital.(99) In September of 2005 a patient was charged with attempted murder after he allegedly attempted to choke a nurse.(100)

In 2004 in the midst of a mental health crisis, UHS' Valley Hospital Medical Center closed its profitable geropsychiatric unit, leaving the Las Vegas Valley with only 18 beds to care for elderly persons with mental disorders. The decision was called a "business decision," by the chief executive officer of Valley Hospital, who agrees that there is a need for geropsychiatric services, but, "the profit margin just isn't there" for a small unit. This leaves public hospitals and emergency rooms left to care for the elderly who need psychiatric care. One nurse correctly asked, "How much profit is enough when you are also supposed to have a social responsibility?"(101)

V. Recommendations to Protect your Community from UHS

These documented violations highlight the dangerous consequences of UHS' profit-driven business model of delivering behavioral health care. In 2005, UHS reported net revenues of $3.9 million.102 UHS reports a profit margin of 24.7% for their behavioral health facilities,103 meaning that UHS is earning 24.7 cents in profit off of every dollar billed to people diagnosed with mental illness, while providing substandard care to people who struggle with mental illness.

The systematic violations of behavioral health care standards documented in UHS facilities across the U.S. have real life consequences for the people who receive care in UHS facilities. In several instances, understaffing at UHS facilities has led to physical or sexual assaults, the exploitation of people diagnosed with mental illness and, at times, death. Quality behavioral health care cannot be provided in this kind of environment.

Before allowing UHS to take control of a behavioral health center in your community, we urge you to investigate their record of understaffing and protect your community by instituting enforceable safeguards and other conditions to ensure that children, adults and elderly people who struggle with mental illness and their families receive the quality care they deserve. The following are some steps you can take to ensure that the most vulnerable members of your community are protected.

Carefully review all Certificate of Need requests. Investigate the level of quality care that UHS provides in its behavioral health facilities across the country. Talk to mental health advocates and community members to learn about their experiences with the provider and the impact that poor quality health care has on their lives and the lives of their families. Critically examine the documents that UHS submits for review to ensure that they are disclosing their plans for fulfilling staffing needs and quality measures in their proposed facility.

Require staffing ratios for licensure. Impose enforceable staffing ratios on UHS facilities to ensure that they maintain appropriate levels of staff in their facilities.

Require documented training and certification of UHS employees. To ensure that UHS employees are receiving the education and support they need to provide safe and effective behavioral health care, require that employees receive semiannual trainings in issues that impact behavioral health care delivery, with an emphasis on crisis management and the use of seclusion and restraints.

Require that patients be involved in developing their recovery plan. Require that patients and their families or members of their support system be actively involved in developing the patient's treatment and discharge plan, or recovery plan. Require documentation, such as written identification of what they feel are the barriers to recovery by the patient and members of the patient's support system, to ensure that the patient is having his/her needs addressed and is actively involved in the development and assessment of his/her recovery plan.

Require that patients and family members sit on the board of UHS facilities. Require that members of the mental health community, both patients and family members, sit on the board of behavioral health facilities. The patients and family members who sit on the board should be appointed by advocates, such as the local chapter for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

Require transparency in the behavioral health care that UHS provides. Require quality measures, such as the frequency that seclusion and restraints are used; the number of events which lead to patients or staff members being abused, endangered or significantly harmed; and staffing levels be made publicly available and easily accessible to mental health consumers. Hold UHS facilities publicly accountable for the care they provide to patients, family members and the community.

Require that UHS facilities provide care to the uninsured. Require that UHS facilities provide a set amount of charity care to members of the community and have the facilities report the amount of charity care they provide.

Actively involve mental health advocates, patients and family members when reviewing a UHS Certificate of Need proposal and setting conditions. Mental health advocates, members of the mental health community and family members are experts in navigating the behavioral health system and protecting the civil rights and human rights of people diagnosed with mental illness. Use their expertise to create conditions for UHS facilities that will effectively protect the rights of mental health consumers in your community.

Involve consumers in annual evaluations of services provided by UHS facilities. Develop teams of consumers to operate satisfaction assessment teams at UHS facilities.

Require a public review process when UHS is planning to change the existing behavioral health services provided at its facilities. Patients, consumers, family members, workers and advocates should be actively engaged in the public review process.

Track the use of seclusion and restraints. Develop a mechanism to report deaths and serious injuries resulting from the use of seclusion and restraints. Investigate these incidences and actively track seclusion and restraint use.(104)

# # #

Here are the footnotes for the above "Failure to Care (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405416#p405415)" report:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

(1) Reinert, Sue. "Hospital ordered to stop taking in children; Suspension ended last year, but state again investigating." The Patriot Ledger. April 15, 2003. The information in these government reports is based on information reported in the Patriot Ledger. SEIU Local 1107 has requested the documents pursuant to the State's Open Records Law, but the documents have not yet been turned over.
(2) Ibid.
(3) Ibid.
(4) State of Nevada Department of Health and Human Services Division of Healthcare Financing and Policy, Nevada Hospital Quarterly Reports, Fiscal Year 2005 Summary Utilization Report, Table 1 "All Beds," http://www.unlv.edu/Research_Centers/chia/NHQR/Green (http://www.unlv.edu/Research_Centers/chia/NHQR/Green) Book/Utilization - Done/Utilization - F05.xls, retrieved June 27, 2006.
(5) Universal Health Services Inc 10K, March 15, 2006. http://ccbn.10kwizard.com/csv.php/40322 ... ge=4032277 (http://ccbn.10kwizard.com/csv.php/4032277.xls?action=showtablexlsall&ipage=4032277), retrieved on 10/31/2006.
(6) Reinert, Sue. "Westwood to halt some admissions." The Patriot Ledger. March 11, 2002, p. 2; Reinert, Sue. "Hospital order to stop taking in children: Suspension ended last year, but state again investigating." The Patriot Ledger. April 15, 2003; Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. State of Georgia, Peachford Behavioral Health System, July 12, 2004; Poitras, Colin. "State halts treatment center admissions; concern for safety of children prompts move." Hartford Courant. August 3, 2006; Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Texas, McAllen Medical Center Heart Hospital, September 14, 2005; Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Texas. Glen Oaks Hospital, August 23,2004.
(7) Universal Health Services, Inc. http://www.uhsinc.com/hospitals.php?type=behavioral (http://www.uhsinc.com/hospitals.php?type=behavioral), retrieved on 10/23/06.
(8) Universal Health Services, Inc. Reports Third Quarter Earnings. October 26, 2006. http://www.uhsinc.com/news_item.php?id=92 (http://www.uhsinc.com/news_item.php?id=92) Retrieved on October 31, 2006.
(9) Ibid.
(10) Universal Health Services Inc 10K, March 15, 2006. http://ccbn.10kwizard.com/csv.php/40322 ... ge=4032277 (http://ccbn.10kwizard.com/csv.php/4032277.xls?action=showtablexlsall&ipage=4032277), retrieved on October 31, 2006.
(11) Universal Health Services, Behavioral Health Division, 10K for year ending 31/12/05. Retrieved from Certificate of Public Review Application Narrative, Submitted to the Office of Health Planning, State of Delaware.
(12) Universal Health Services, Inc. Reports Third Quarter Earnings. October 26, 2006. http://www.uhsinc.com/news_item.php?id=92 (http://www.uhsinc.com/news_item.php?id=92), retrieved on October 31, 2006.
(13) Universal Health Services, Inc. Reports Third Quarter Earnings. October 26, 2006. http://www.uhsinc.com/news_item.php?id=92 (http://www.uhsinc.com/news_item.php?id=92), retrieved on October 31, 2006.
(14) Fair Disclosure Wire. "Event Brief of Q2 2006 Universal Health Services Earnings Conference Call - Final." July 28, 2006.
(15) Reinert, Sue. "Westwood to halt some admissions." The Patriot Ledger. March 11, 2002, p. 2; Reinert, Sue. "Hospital ordered to stop taking in children; Suspension ended last year, but state again investigating." The Patriot Ledger. April 15, 2003; Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Medicare & Medicaid. State of Georgia, Peachford Behavioral Health System, July 12, 2004. Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Texas. Glen Oaks Hospital, August 23, 2004; Poitras, Colin. "State halts treatment center admissions; concern for safety of children prompts move." Hartford Courant, August 3, 2006; Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Texas. McAllen Medical Center and Heart Hospital, September 14, 2005.
(16) American Psychiatric Nurses Association. "Position Paper on Determining the Staffing Needs on Inpatient Psychiatric Units." http://www.apna.org/resources/positionpapers.html. (http://www.apna.org/resources/positionpapers.html.), retrieved on October 30, 2006.
(17) Reinert, Sue. "Westwood to halt some admissions." The Patriot Ledger. March 11, 2002; Reinert, Sue. "Sex Abuse at Hospital Suspected." The Patriot Ledger. March 6, 2002, p.1. The actions by the state is based on information reported in the Patriot Ledger. SEIU Local 1107 has requested the documents pursuant to the State's Open Records Law, but the documents have not yet been turned over.
(18) Reinert, Sue. April 15, 2003.
(19) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Medicare & Medicaid. State of Georgia, Peachford Behavioral Health System, July 12, 2004. Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction, Georgia Department of Human Resources, Office of Regulatory Services for Peachford Behavioral Health System, July 28,2004.
(20) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Texas. Glen Oaks Hospital, August 23,2004.
(21) Poitras, Colin. "State Halts Treatment center Admissions." The Hartford Courant. August 3, 2006. The information in these government reports is based on information reported in the Norwich Bulletin. SEIU Local 1107 has requested the documents pursuant to the State's Open Records Law, but the documents have not yet been turned over.
(22) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Texas. McAllen Medical Center and Heart Hospital, September 14, 2005.
(23) Reinert, Sue. "Pembroke hospital under investigation by state." The Patriot Ledger. July 22, 2006.
(24) Mental Health Association in New Jersey. "Public Policy Statement Regarding Sexual Harassment, Abuse or Assault of Mental Health Consumers." http://www.mhanj.org/Policy_Paper_Sex_Harass_0753.htm (http://www.mhanj.org/Policy_Paper_Sex_Harass_0753.htm), retrieved on 10/30/06.
(25) Universal Health Services, Behavioral Health Division, 10K for year ending 31/12/05. Retrieved from Certificate of Public Review Application Narrative, Submitted to the Office of Health Planning, State of Delaware.
(26) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Texas. Glen Oaks Hospital, February 7,2003.
(27) Quattlebaum, Peggy. Complaint Investigation Memorandum. Complaint #205550. State of Georgia. Coastal Harbor Treatment Center, July 7,2002.
(28) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Texas. McAllen Heart Hospital, June 26, 2003.
(29) Reinert, Sue. "Sex abuse at hospital suspected." The Patriot Ledger. March 6, 2002. The information in these government reports is based on information reported in the Patriot Ledger. This organization has requested the documents pursuant to the State's Open Records Law, but the documents have not yet been turned over.
(30) Reinert, Sue. "Hospital ordered to stop taking in children; Suspension ended last year, but state again investigating." The Patriot Ledger. April 15, 2003. This letter was sent anonymously to the newspaper, with the nurse's signature blacked out.
(31) Howell, Scott. Complaint investigation memorandum, Complaint #206123. State of Georgia, Laurel Heights Hospital, July 3, 2002.
(32) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia. Laurel Heights Hospital, June 20, 2002.
(33) Child, Inc. The Problem of Run Away and Homeless Youth.
http://www.childinc.com/runaway.htm#The%20Problem (http://www.childinc.com/runaway.htm#The%20Problem), retrieved on November 1, 2006.
(34) Oglesby, Bonnie. Complaint Investigation Memorandum, Complaint #GA00009016. State of Georgia. Laurel Heights Hospital, October 16, 2003.
(35) Poitras, Colin, "State Halts Treatment Center Admissions." The Hartford Courant. August 3, 2006; Preiss, Amy Beth. "Stonington Center gives state plan." Norwich Bulletin. July 28, 2006, p. 3B.
(36) Turning Point Hospital. http://www.turningpointcare.com/ (http://www.turningpointcare.com/), retrieved on October 30, 2006.
(37) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia. Turning Point Hospital, September 19, 2002.
(38) Peachford Behavioral Health System, "What we offer," http://www.peachfordhospital.com/what.htm. (http://www.peachfordhospital.com/what.htm.), retrieved on October 24, 2006.
(39) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia. Peachford Behavioral Health System, June 14, 2001.
(40) 2005-2009 Statewide Comprehensive Plan for Mental Health Services. Appendix 4: Infusing Recovery based Principles into Mental Health Services, a White Paper by People who are New York State Consumers, Survivors, Patients and Ex-Patients. New York State Office of Mental Health. September 2004. http://www.omh.state.ny.us/omhweb/state ... endix4.htm (http://www.omh.state.ny.us/omhweb/statewideplan/2005/appendix4.htm),
retrieved on October 30, 2006.
(41) Quattlebaum, Peggy. Complaint Investigation Memorandum, Complaint #GA00015699. State of Georgia. Anchor Hospital: July 19,2004.
(42) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia, Anchor Hospital: August 15, 2002.
(43) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Delaware, Rockford Center: April 26, 2006.
(44) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Delaware, Rockford Center, January 11, 2006.
(45) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Texas. McAllen Heart Hospital, January 30, 2004.
(46) Quattlebaum, Peggy. Complaint Investigation Memorandum, Complaint #GA00003940. State of Georgia. Laurel Heights Hospital, April 16, 2003.
(47) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia, Laurel Heights Hospital, April 10, 2003.
(48) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Delaware. Rockford Center. June 23, 2006.
(49) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia. Peachford Behavioral Health System, January 8, 2003.
(50) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Delaware. Rockford Center. July 22, 2003.
(51) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia, Office of Regulatory Services. Anchor Hospital: July 12, 2004; August 15, 2002; Coastal Harbor Treatment Center: January 13, 2005; Laurel Heights Hospital: April 10, 2003; November 14, 2002; June 20, 2002.; Peachford Behavioral Health System: January 8, 2003; June 14, 2001; July 12, 2004; Turning Point Hospital: September 19, 2002; Talbott Recovery Campus: April 24, 2003. Kersey, Margaret. Complaint Investigation Memorandum, Complaint #205158. State of Georgia. Coastal Harbor Treatment Center, July 1, 2002.
(52) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Texas. Timberlawn Mental Health System, January 31, 2003.
(53) New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. "Discharge Planning for Children who are Hospitalized for Mental Health Treatment in New York State." March 2004. http://www.ftnys.org/Dischargeplanning.pdf (http://www.ftnys.org/Dischargeplanning.pdf), retrieved on October 30, 2006.
(54) Ibid.
(55) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Report and Recommendations of the Working Conference. "Exemplary Practices in Discharge Planning." June 1997. http://www.nhchc.org/discharge/Document ... ctices.doc (http://www.nhchc.org/discharge/Documents/IVB_ExemplaryPractices.doc), retrieved on October 30, 2006, p.2.
(56) National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. "Suicide: Taking Care of Yourself and Your Family After an Attempt." http://www.sprc.org/library/providers_guide2.pdf (http://www.sprc.org/library/providers_guide2.pdf), retrieved on October 30, 2006.
(57) National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. http://www.sprc.org/library/providers_guide2.pdf (http://www.sprc.org/library/providers_guide2.pdf), retrieved on October 30, 2006.
(58) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia, Turning Point Hospital, September 19, 2002.
(59) Goldberg, Carey. "Behind Kaitlyn's suicide family questions antidepressant's role in teen's death." The Boston Globe. June 27, 2004.
(60) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Texas. Timberlawn Mental Health System, October 9, 2003.
(61) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia. Peachford Behavioral Health System, June 14, 2001.
(62) National Mental Health Association. "The Rights of Persons with Mental Illness." June 11, 2000. http://www.nmha.org/position/ps1.cfm (http://www.nmha.org/position/ps1.cfm), retrieved on October 30, 2006.
(63) The President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. "Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America." July 22, 2003. http://www.nami.org/Content/NavigationM ... Freedom_Co (http://www.nami.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Inform_Yourself/About_Public_Policy/New_Freedom_Co)
mmission/FinalReport.pdf, retrieved on October 30, 2006.
(64) Ibid.
(65) Smith, Gregory M., Robert H. Davis, M.D., Edward O. Bixler, Ph.D., Hung-Mo Lin, Ph.D., Aidan Altenor, Ph.D., Roberta J. Altenor, M.S.N., Bonnie D. Hardentstine, B.S. and George A. Kopchick, M.S. "Special Section on Seclusion and Restraint: Pennsylvania State Hospital System's Seclusion and Restraint Reduction Program." Psychiatric Services, November 2005. American Psychiatric Association. http://www.psychservices.psychiatryonli ... ,retrieved (http://www.psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/56/9/1115,retrieved) on October 30, 2006.
(66) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Delaware, Rockford Center, June 23, 2006.
(67) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Delaware, Rockford Center, June 4, 2004.
(68) Howell, Scott. Complaint Investigation Memorandum, Complaint #206014. State of Georgia. Laurel Heights Hospital, June 21, 2002.
(69) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Nevada, Spring Mountain Treatment Center, September 15, 2004.
(70) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Texas, McAllen Medical Center, March 19, 2003.
(71) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. Department of Health and Human Services and Center for Medicare & Medicaid. State of Texas. McAllen Medical Center Heart Hospital. August 2, 2005.
(72) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia. Peachford Behavioral Health System, January 8,2003.
(73) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia, Anchor Hospital, August 15, 2002.
(74) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia, Office of Regulatory Services. Peachford Behavioral Health System, September 11, 2003.
(75) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Nevada, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Spring Mountain Treatment Center, September 15, 2004.
(76) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Delaware, Rockford Center, December 12, 2002.
(77) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia. Peachford Behavioral Health System, April 14, 2004.
(78) Ibid.
(79) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Texas. Timberlawn Mental Health System, July 17, 2003.
(80) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Nevada, Spring Mountain Treatment Center, September 15, 2004.
(81) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia. Laurel Heights Hospital, November 14, 2002.
(82) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Delaware. Rockford Center, August 23, 2004.
(83) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Delaware: Rockford Center, January 11, 2006; May 31,2005; December 12, 2002; State of Georgia: Laurel Heights Hospital, November 6, 2003; KeyStone Savannah, Inc, June 21, 2001. Peachford Behavioral Health System, October 7, 2004. Coastal Harbor Treatment Center, June 27, 2002.
(84) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia. Laurel Heights Hospital, Georgia, November 6, 2003.
(85) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia. Coastal Harbor Treatment Center, June 27, 2002.
(86) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Texas. McAllen Heart Hospital, January 30, 2004.
(87) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. Department of Health and Human Services & Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. State of Delaware. Rockford Center, January 11, 2006.
(88) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia, Peachford Behavioral Health System, June 14, 2001.
(89) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia. Peachford Behavioral Health System, March 30, 2005.
(90) Emtala.com. "Frequently Asked Questions about the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)." http://www.emtala.com/faq.htm (http://www.emtala.com/faq.htm), retrieved on November 1, 2006.
(91) Ibid.
(92) Ibid.
(93) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Texas. Timberlawn Mental Health System, January 3, 2005.
(94) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Texas. Glen Oaks Hospital, August 23, 2004.
(95) Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction. State of Georgia. Peachford Behavioral Health System, March 30, 2005.
(96) Reinert and Daly. "Police: Hospital should increase security." The Patriot Ledger. May 21, 2003.
(97) Reinert, Sue. "Pembroke earns higher score, accreditation." The Patriot Ledger. January 4, 2002.
(98) Reinert, Sue and Tamara Race. "Ex-patient charged in hospital worker attack, 2nd assault in 6 months on Pembroke employee." The Patriot Ledger. July 13, 2002.
(99) Reinert and Daly, May 21, 2003.
(100) Patriot Ledger Staff. "Pembroke patient charged with murder try." The Patriot Ledger. July 22, 2006.
(101) Harasim, Paul "A Loss of Caring," Las Vegas Review Journal, August 16, 2004.
(102) Universal Health Services Inc 10K, March 15, 2006.
http://ccbn.10kwizard.com/csv.php/40322 ... ge=4032277 (http://ccbn.10kwizard.com/csv.php/4032277.xls?action=showtablexlsall&ipage=4032277), retrieved on October 31, 2006.
(103) Universal Health Services, Inc. Reports Third Quarter Earnings. October 26, 2006. http://www.uhsinc.com/news_item.php?id=92 (http://www.uhsinc.com/news_item.php?id=92), retrieved on October 31, 2006.
(104) President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health: Report to the President. Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America. Goal 2- Mental Health Care is Consumer and Family Driven. http://www.mentalhealthcommission.gov/r ... ort-03.htm (http://www.mentalhealthcommission.gov/reports/FinalReport/FullReport-03.htm), retrieved on October 31, 2006.

# #

Frustration with how things appear to be run at the Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health facility ... has led the Post and Courier to dig up some recent dirt on other UHS facilities in the region...

This piece was published alongside the above posted article, "Cops no stranger to Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405278#p405154)," which contained a link to the oh-so-telling "Failure to Care" report (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405431#p405414) on UHS facilities.

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The Post and Courier
Universal Health Services facilities under scrutiny (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/may/15/universal-health-services-facilities-under/)

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Youth treatment centers operated by Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services have run into problems in other states, as well. Below are some examples:

The Keys of Carolina

North Carolina inspectors threatened to pull the license of The Keys of Carolina treatment center in Charlotte last year following a series of violent incidents.

State inspectors moved in after a 2009 incident in which a 15-year-old was stabbed in the eye with 3 1/2-inch nail by a fellow resident. The attack occurred after one teen teased and gossiped about the other having been raped by a relative as a toddler.

He gleaned that confidential information from staff notebooks that had been left unattended, according to state documents.

The facility failed to report the incident to the state as required when a hospitalization occurs, state officials said.

Follow-up visits uncovered a host of additional problems, including training deficiencies, improper restraint techniques and failure to follow treatment plans, according to state reports.

Inspectors also documented an escape and incidents of violence, including a patient requiring staples to close a gash in his head that occurred while he was reportedly "horse playing" with a staff member.

The state eventually reached a settlement with The Keys in October that allowed the center to keep operating. The center, which admitted no wrongdoing, agreed to pay a $26,500 penalty and conduct more training for staff.

• Initial Keys complaint (http://http://media.charleston.net/2011/pdf/Keys_initial_complaint.pdf)
• Keys settlement (http://http://media.charleston.net/2011/pdf/Keys_settlement.pdf)[/list]

The Pines

Virginia officials moved on April 25 to freeze admissions to The Pines Residential Treatment Center, which operates three facilities in Norfolk and Portsmouth for children with psychiatric and behavioral problems.

The state Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services also issued a provisional license for The Pines, a step taken before a license is revoked, said Meghan McGuire, a department spokeswoman. The Pines, owned by Universal Health Services, is licensed to care for 424 children.

McGuire said the moves "are not related to any one incident, but are the result of ongoing performance issues that must be corrected to ensure safety and effective treatment for the troubled children there."

The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk reported that the action occurred after state investigators determined that The Pines failed to report and document an allegation of sexual abuse at one of its facilities.

• Virginia letter to The Pines (http://http://media.charleston.net/2011/pdf/The_Pines.pdf)[/list]

Old Vineyard Youth Services

North Carolina regulators required Old Vineyard Youth Services in Winston-Salem to correct deficiencies last year after investigators found evidence of improper sexual contact between two male teen residents, documents show.

A 14-year-old boy accused his 17-year-old roommate of forcing him to have oral sex and trying to rape him while staff members were preoccupied with a disturbance in the unit, a state report show. Investigators reviewed video footage that showed the boys engaged in sex acts, records show, but prosecutors reportedly determined that the evidence did not warrant criminal charges.

The facility, which did not admit wrongdoing, agreed to improve monitoring procedures and training for staff.

Several other problems were uncovered during 2009 visits, including medication errors and an allegation that a patient had engaged in oral sex with a staff member, reports show. The facility worked to correct the problems identified and fired the staff member in question, records show.

A "professional" troll? Or consumer ideologue? The same username posted a similar comment (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&start=45#p405248) to the (2nd) previous and accompanying article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405278#p405154) as well...

Comment (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/may/15/universal-health-services-facilities-under/) left for the above article, "Universal Health Services facilities under scrutiny (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405465#p405431)" (May 15, 2011; Post and Courier):

concerned professional · 10:03 PM on 5/15/2011

My coworkers son was in treatment at Old Vineyard after being exposed to the inadequate state mental health system. The staff who cared for him were very professional and he continues to do well a year later. It is very easy to pull isolated cases, and yes, they are severe, but you fail to take into the account those patients and family members who have benefitted from the private facilities when there is nowhere else to turn. There is always room for improvement. But be objective and give credit where due.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

From the (2nd previous) above article, "Cops no stranger to Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405278#p405154)":

Palmetto officials said they are talking with state legislators about ways to further improve security. They also announced last week that a new executive director had been named for the Summerville facility.[/list][/size]
My guess is that would be Doris Singleton, judging from the following excerpt... Note that she isn't exactly new to Palmetto Behavioral Health! It looks like they just shuffled her over from their sister facility in the area:

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The Post and Courier
Executive Items (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/may/23/executive-items/)
Monday, May 23, 2011

· · ·

Health care

Doris Singleton has been named executive director for Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health. Previously, she was executive director of the residential treatment program at Palmetto Lowcountry Behavioral Health and has more than 20 years of experience in management and residential treatment. She has a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in counseling.

· · ·

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Not too surprisingly...

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The Post and Courier
Two more teens escaped from Summervile treatment center (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/jun/14/two-more-teens-escaped-summervile-treatment-center/)

By Glenn Smith · [email protected]
Originally published 01:43 p.m., June 14, 2011
Updated 07:04 p.m., June 14, 2011

(http://http://postandcourier.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2011/05/14/leadpalmetto_t180.jpg)
Four teens have escaped this year from the Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health facility. All were later caught. Staff

SUMMERVILLE — Police today revealed that two more teens recently escaped from a local treatment center for troubled youths that has been criticized for lax security.

The June 5 escape occurred less than two months after four Washington, D.C., teens with violent pasts escaped from Palmetto Behavioral Health's Summerville facility while being treated for behavioral problems. At least one of the teens involved in the June 5 incident also appears to be from D.C., according to a police report.

Staff called police to the Midland Parkway treatment center shortly before midnight that day when two "committed patients" escaped from the back of the facility, a report stated. The escapees were 18-year-old Stephon Jordan and a 16-year-old who police didn't identify because of his age.

The report states that police tried to reach the boys' parents, state juvenile justice workers and D.C. mental health officials to notify them of the escape. Police rounded up the teens within 90 minutes and returned them to the facility.

Palmetto Behavioral Health released a written statement tonight insisting that the center is committed to improving security. Palmetto plans to install a 12-foot chain link fence designed to prevent climbing and is in the process of installing additional security cameras.

Center officials also met recently with Summerville police to discuss ways to improve communication, the company stated.

Palmetto would not reveal why the two teens were being housed at its facility, citing patient confidentiality. The center treats victims of neglect, physical abuse and other trauma as well as those who suffer from other types of disorders. But no patient housed at the center has been charged with a violent offense, Palmetto officials stated.

"Palmetto Summerville remains fully dedicated and committed to its mission of providing the highest quality of care for children and adolescents with special, and sometimes difficult, mental health needs," the company's written statement went on to say. "It is important to remember these youth are in 'treatment' for mental health issues, not due to criminal offenses."

D.C. officials did not immediately respond to questions about the incident Tuesday from The Post and Courier. Last month, D.C. officials said they had suspended further placements at Palmetto while the treatment center reviewed its security practices.

The 60-bed treatment center on Midland Parkway and its sister facility in North Charleston have long been on the radar of area police agencies. Officers have been called to the complexes dozens of times in recent years for reported escapes, assaults and other disturbances.

The company's Lowcountry facilities had attracted little attention from the general public. But that all changed when four Washington teens escaped from the Summerville center on April 20.

Though the teens were later caught, Palmetto has come under intense scrutiny for accepting out-of-state kids with criminal histories at a complex guarded by little more than a privacy fence.

Some state lawmakers are now calling for a ban on the practice after learning that one of the D.C. teens had been charged with attempted murder. And the district agency that sent the teens to Summerville said last month it had suspended further placements at Palmetto while the treatment center reviews its security.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

From the just above article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405834#p405830), emphasis added:

Palmetto Behavioral Health released a written statement tonight insisting that the center is committed to improving security. Palmetto plans to install a 12-foot chain link fence designed to prevent climbing and is in the process of installing additional security cameras.

Center officials also met recently with Summerville police to discuss ways to improve communication, the company stated.

Palmetto would not reveal why the two teens were being housed at its facility, citing patient confidentiality. The center treats victims of neglect, physical abuse and other trauma as well as those who suffer from other types of disorders. But no patient housed at the center has been charged with a violent offense, Palmetto officials stated.

"Palmetto Summerville remains fully dedicated and committed to its mission of providing the highest quality of care for children and adolescents with special, and sometimes difficult, mental health needs," the company's written statement went on to say. "It is important to remember these youth are in 'treatment' for mental health issues, not due to criminal offenses."[/list][/size]
The entirety of that press release from Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health follows below... For some reason the online version is not always viewable, so here's also the alternate link for a .doc download (1 page): Press Statement (http://http://postandcourier.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/news/documents/2011/06/14/Palmetto_Summerville_Press_Statement_06142011.doc)

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Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health
Press Statement (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/documents/2011/jun/14/press-release-palmetto-summerville-behavioral-heal/?print)[/list]

Every patient admitted to Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health (Palmetto Summerville) has a specific psychiatric diagnosis indicating a severe mental health disorder. Our facility is a mental health/behavioral health based on a medical model, not a correctional facility. Many of the youth placed with us have been the victims of neglect; physical abuse and other trauma as well suffer from other types of disorders. Our goal is to provide therapeutic interventions that can assist these youth in becoming productive members of society. No patient served at Palmetto Summerville has been charged for violent offenses.

Since the day of the elopement, the management and staff of Palmetto Summerville have cooperated fully with all the authorities concerned with this investigation. Both adolescents were located within a short period of time and returned to the facility without incident. Due to strict patient confidentiality and privacy laws, the facility is precluded from discussing the specific details of individual patient cases with others outside law enforcement and regulatory agencies.

Palmetto Summerville continues to increase security features at the facility to prevent any future elopements. Recently, Palmetto Summerville received approval from Summerville city officials to install a new 12 foot chain link fence that is designed to prevent climbing. A contractor has been identified to begin installation of the fence. The facility currently has surveillance cameras located throughout the facility but we are currently in the process of installing additional cameras. Management from Palmetto Summerville recently met with officials from the Summerville Police Department to discuss ways to improve communication.

Palmetto Summerville remains fully dedicated and committed to its mission of providing the highest quality of care for children and adolescents with special, and sometimes difficult, mental health needs. It is important to remember these youth are in "treatment" for mental health issues, not due to criminal offenses.

# # #

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/jun/14/two-more-teens-escaped-summervile-treatment-center/) left for the above article, "Two more teens escaped from Summervile treatment center (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=405830#p405830)" (by Glenn Smith; June 14, 2011; Post and Courier):

tpinthehouse · 2:30 PM on 6/14/2011

Ahhhh jank. They at it again. These little teen pervs are wigglin their way out of that place. Cheap security and bad fencing that a 6 year old could get over. Watch out Summerville, this is gonna keep on happnin until someone gets this place shut down. What does SC look like, a place to dump troubled Northern inner-city youth? Shut this dump down.scdiver · 2:46 PM on 6/14/2011

Shut that place down and keep those D.C. scum off our streets!sand lapper · 2:50 PM on 6/14/2011

scdiver · 4:32 PM on 6/14/2011

I know! It's not like razor wire costs much either!greendiamond · 7:13 PM on 6/14/2011

Keep it open, the snobby sows that live in Summerville need some excitement....[/list]
cwl922 · 3:01 PM on 6/14/2011

Do they need me to show them how to contain their criminals? It is so simple, although the criminals would hate my plan. There would never be another escape.

just sayin' · 4:56 PM on 6/14/2011

Great teaser......are you gonna tell us?[/list]
ooh_really · 3:15 PM on 6/14/2011

Why is an 18 year old in a facility like this instead of a jail cell?

sdc970 · 6:01 PM on 6/14/2011

Crimes committed under 18 and if they were committed they would be kept in juvenile detention until 21![/list]
nitrat · 4:36 PM on 6/14/2011

darkangel · 4:54 PM on 6/14/2011

funny as sheet.......They don't have an F'n clue.shutit · 5:46 PM on 6/14/2011

Until the last year or so, they didn't even have fences at all. If you do a search for sexual predators, you'll see many of them have the same address... it's this place.[email protected] · 6:02 PM on 6/14/2011

This is just a natural day with the state and fed government. Any body that works for the state and fed government are nothing but dead beats and cant get a job any where else. They are so slack and the big problem is everybody knows they are slack, and nobody does anything about , because the supervisors are bums too. So what do you expect?

mat catastrophe · 7:13 PM on 6/14/2011

[/list]
harpo · 8:19 PM on 6/14/2011

Nice sharing.
Sorry guys i don't want to give any statement for that...
I think people can know better than me that what should they doing.

The following day's coverage provides more detail:

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The Post and Courier
2 more youths fled Palmetto Behavioral Health facility (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/jun/15/2-more-youths-fled-facility/)
Summerville treatment center had vowed security crackdown

By Glenn Smith · [email protected]
Wednesday, June 15, 2011

(http://http://postandcourier.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2011/06/14/leadpalmetto_t180.jpg)
Two teens fled on June 5 from Palmetto Behavioral Health’s Summerville facility — less than two months after four other teens escaped from the same center. File/Staff

SUMMERVILLE -- One local lawmaker predicted a "day of reckoning is coming" for a youth treatment center here after reports surfaced of yet another escape at the facility amid criticism of lax security.

State Sen. Mike Rose made the prediction Tuesday after police released a report detailing how two teens bolted from Palmetto Behavioral Health's Summerville facility on June 5.

The escape occurred less than two months after four Washington teens with violent pasts escaped from the same center while being treated for behavioral problems. At least one of the teens involved in the June 5 incident also appears to be from the nation's capital, according to a police report.

Staff called police to the Midland Parkway treatment center shortly before midnight that day when two "committed patients" escaped from the back of the facility, a report stated. The escapees were 18-year-old Stephon Jordan and a 16-year-old who police didn't identify because he is a juvenile.

The report said that police tried to reach the boys' parents, state juvenile justice workers and D.C. mental health officials to notify them of the escape. Police rounded up the teens within 90 minutes and returned them to the facility.

Rose, a Summerville Republican, said Palmetto changed management at the treatment center and pledged to make other security improvements after the earlier escape, on April 20. The escapees in that incident included one teen who had been charged with attempted murder, authorities have said.

"This shows that the problems there obviously haven't been remedied and that's unacceptable," Rose said. "They have had an opportunity to fix it and it clearly isn't fixed."

Town Councilman Walter Bailey was among various local and state officials who toured the 60-bed treatment facility after the April escape.

He said he was "appalled" to learn that another escape had occurred despite Palmetto's assurances that they would do better. "Evidently, the same thing that happened before is happening again," he said.

Palmetto Behavioral Health released a written statement Tuesday night insisting that the center is committed to improving security. Palmetto plans to install a 12-foot chain link fence designed to prevent climbing, and is in the process of installing additional security cameras.

Center officials also met recently with Summerville police to discuss ways to improve communication, the company said.

Palmetto would not reveal why the two teens were being housed at its facility, citing patient confidentiality. The center treats victims of neglect, physical abuse and other trauma, as well as those who suffer from other types of disorders.

No patient housed at the center has been charged with a violent offense, Palmetto officials stated.

"Palmetto Summerville remains fully dedicated and committed to its mission of providing the highest quality of care for children and adolescents with special, and sometimes difficult, mental health needs," the company's written statement went on to say. "It is important to remember these youth are in 'treatment' for mental health issues, not due to criminal offenses."

D.C. officials did not respond to questions about the incident Tuesday from The Post and Courier. Last month, D.C. officials said they had suspended further placements at Palmetto while the treatment center reviewed its security practices.

Summerville police Capt. Jon Rogers said he had no additional details on the teens' ailments or how they managed to escape from the center.

The treatment center and its sister facility in North Charleston have long been on the radar of area police agencies. Officers have been called to the complexes dozens of times in recent years for reported escapes, assaults and other disturbances.

Since February 2006, Summerville police have been called to the Midland Parkway facility at least 129 times. In that time, there have been at least 12 missing-person calls and eight reports of runaways, according to police records.

The company's Lowcountry facilities had attracted little attention from the general public until the April 20 escape.

Though those teens were later caught, Palmetto has come under intense scrutiny for accepting out-of-state kids with criminal histories at a complex guarded by little more than a privacy fence.

Some state lawmakers have called for a ban on the practice. Rose said he also thinks it is unfair that local taxpayers should bear the cost of rounding up out-of-state patients who escape.

While the budget and other issues have kept lawmakers busy in recent months, Rose said he expects that they will turn their attention soon to Palmetto's problems.

Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Comments (http://http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/jun/15/2-more-youths-fled-facility/) left for the above article, "2 more youths fled Palmetto Behavioral Health facility (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37649&p=406640#p406636)" (by Glenn Smith; June 15, 2011; Post and Courier):

21
harpo · 12:32 AM on 6/15/2011

sid · 2:57 AM on 6/15/2011

SHUT THE PLACE DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

blackcoffee · 9:04 AM on 6/15/2011

The area needs jobs. Escapes are job creating activities.[/list]
sand lapper · 6:05 AM on 6/15/2011

coldbeer · 6:42 AM on 6/15/2011

beemcgee · 7:42 AM on 6/15/2011

Today is the 15th and this is the first I am reading about this incident that took place on the 5th. Did I miss a story in between or is this the first time they have mentioned this?jose · 7:50 AM on 6/15/2011

jose · 7:57 AM on 6/15/2011

Glenn, this whole mess calls for an old -fashioned Woodward and Bernstein type press investigative approach and expose'. I agree , they need close state and local scrutiny. I will call you and be happy to be a "deep throat. " The whole thing is sickening and the non -management staff and patients at their facilities are the true victims.starcar · 8:19 AM on 6/15/2011

This place needs to be closed down immediately!capt elaine · 9:02 AM on 6/15/2011

Someone who attempts MURDER isn't violent? WHAT? The people running this place are deluding themselves and endangering the public... these young people sound dangerous to me... and WHY are they 'escaping'? If this facility is all nicey, nice treatment, why would they want to ESCAPE... are they patients or INMATES? If they are inmates, lets get some bars on the doors and LOCK THEM IN AT NIGHT! or whenever adult supervision isn't possible.blackcoffee · 9:02 AM on 6/15/2011

Wass ah matter with the bozo legislatures. They can't even control themselves. So what makes people think they can control this?blackcoffee · 9:03 AM on 6/15/2011

Let illegal mexicans run this place. They have better experience at dealing with escapes from one country into another.irateinpalmettostate · 9:12 AM on 6/15/2011

mostlysilent · 9:55 AM on 6/15/2011

slick50 · 11:45 AM on 6/15/2011

wOw...I had no idea Mike Rose was still around. Now that we have local "big wigs" involved, what is the solution to the "escape" problem? Should we all get a CWP to protect ourselves from the felons? Maybe attempted murder isn't a felony in DC.outforjustice · 12:55 PM on 6/15/2011

Why aren't these criminals not is jail in D.C.? If these two have the minds & ability to committed some violent crimes then they need to be placed in jail in D.C & not in at a behavioral center in South Carolina, what can the behavioral center do for these two . These two surely have more than behavioral problems and they need to in the house where the real criminals & stop trying to babysit these two who have criminal minds.dick tater · 1:27 PM on 6/15/2011

Any pictures of the escapees?jose · 1:41 PM on 6/15/2011

tide2 · 2:02 PM on 6/15/2011

scpdblue · 2:40 PM on 6/15/2011

This place should be built on the same grounds next to DJJ and Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville... Not in a public area...scpdblue · 2:42 PM on 6/15/2011

Palmetto Behavioral Health released a written statement Tuesday night;a 12-foot chain link fence designed to prevent climbing will be installed. What about the razor wire on top?

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Are they EVER going to close that hellhole down?

Fornits

Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: Oscar on August 14, 2011, 04:11:12 PM