Fornits

Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora
An open discussion about the troubled parent industry

Mrs. Condo and her husband, Jerry, formed One Way Farm about six years ago as a place for "trouble kids," where they could find refuge, either from their own families, jail or sometimes even from themselves. Since then, it has become something of a haven, not only for the youths, but for Butler Country Juvenile Court authorities who need to find some tough-love for their young offenders.

Tough-love is what the Condos specialize in. "You can teach kids who are full of hate," Mrs. Condo says. "I teach them some responsibility, and don't let them get by with things. If they're cons at 13, they'll be cons their whole lives, unless something changes. Here, they're productive. And loved. I'm blessed to be able to put that philosophy to use. It's my gift to the world."

Okay, it's a Program. As such places go it may not be as bad as some others. There's a certain degree of protection that comes from having mail and phone privileges and going to public schools, and having unsupervised time away from campus, but the mentality appears to be largely the same.

It's that quote above "sometimes even from themselves" that I think irks me the most. There's a huge difference between being nurtured and guided on the one hand and being manipulated and trained like a circus animal on the other. There's a fine line between doing things for people and doing things to people.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/day ... 03384.html

Teen remains critical after assault at group home

Suspect has no prior history of violence, Warren County Children Services says

By Hannah Poturalski, Staff Writer Updated 1:13 PM Friday, December 23, 2011

FAIRFIELD TWP. — A 16-year-old boy assaulted Monday night at a group home remains in critical condition at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, a hospital official confirmed today.

The Fairfield High School student was brutally beaten between 7:30 and 8 p.m. Monday at One Way Farm on River Road and has been hospitalized since late Monday after police received reports of the assault three hours later around 11:30 p.m., said Fairfield Twp. Police Chief Richard J. St. John.

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

“We called it a fight but it really wasn’t much of a fight,” St. John said. “The arrestee just basically assaulted the victim.”

St. John said Thursday the teens, both residents at the group home, “were fighting over a flashlight that each one claimed was his.”

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

Patricia Jacobs, director of Warren County Children Services, said the suspect in this case had been placed at One Way Farm at the end of November and that he had no prior history of violence. Prior to placement, the teenager was living with his family in Warren County and had no prior involvement with children services.

Jacobs said the suspect was the only youth placed at the facility by Warren County Children Services, which has occasionally placed children at One Way Farm over the course of many years.

“We try to make placements tailored to the needs of the child,” Jacobs said. “We try to constantly be assessing those placements because sometimes it’s not a good fit.”

Jacobs said the length of a youth’s stay in a group home such as One Way Farm is based on regular assessments of the child, reports from the treatment providers, and activities of the parents. She said it’s harder to place older teenagers that might have developmental problems.

“It’s kind of the nature of teenage boys, they have fights,” Jacobs said. “Places like One Way Farm don’t have kids with typical upbringings.”

Greg Elam, board president of One Way Farm, said fights of this severity are “rare events” at the facility. St. John said officers are called fairly often to One Way Farm, but mainly on reports of runaway juveniles.

St. John said Fairfield Twp. police have been dispatched to One Way Farm a total of 92 times since Jan. 1. In 2010, police responded 166 times to the facility. St. John said he’s unable to distinguish calls to the facility based on type of call.

St. John said he doesn’t have any information on the victim’s home life and where he is from. He did say the victim’s grandmother is his legal guardian.

St. John said the investigation is ongoing but no interviews are planned for Friday in the investigation. Detectives have interviewed witnesses and staff of the facility, St. John said.

St. John doesn’t anticipate any change in the charge against the suspect.

“Should the circumstances change as far as the condition (of the victim) we will consult with the prosecutor,” St. John said.

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

Jody Canupp, development director at One Way Farm, said the agency accepts children from nine Ohio counties, including Butler, Warren and Hamilton counties, but she declined to release the names of the other counties. According to the facility’s website, each of the male and female shelters have 20 beds available but Canupp also declined to release how many beds are currently filled.

When asked about the agency’s protocol for responding to fights, Canupp said, “I don’t care to answer that question,” and referred further comment to Fairfield Twp. police detectives.

Canupp said it is not state regulation to have medical staff on-hand. Canupp said about 30 people are employed at One Way Farm, an amount she said is above state regulation.

According to the agency’s financial statements, total income is about $1.5 million with more than $560,000 coming from children services agencies for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2179 or [email protected].

I listened to the radio interview. It was good. Thanks for posting the link.

I'm probably going to regret getting involved in this.

Eric, I didn't know who you were when you first posted above in this thread. Now I do. I've read your account of being trapped in a Mormon Gulag. It's an amazing story. I'm sorry you had to live through that and you've done a great job of exposing the abuse that goes on (went on) there.

Wayne, I've read your story too as well as some of the controversy that seems to have sprung up around you. I don't know what the truth is about your and Danny's history at Elan. But that place was terrible and I'm glad you both survived.

This thread started out as a seemingly simple request by Eric seeking opinions regarding his list of lawyers who represent programs. Wayne made what I thought was a reasonable point by saying basically that everyone is entitled to legal representation and that we should be careful about making baseless accusations. I understood Eric's reason for calling the lawyers pedophiles. It was a bit of hyperbole of the type people often engage in in conversation, but Wayne's point was still valid.

I don't understand why this reasoned debate denigrated into personal attacks. Both of you guys have valuable contributions to make here and I wish we could keep our discussions focused on the issues rather than attacking each other.

Best Wishes and Happy Holidays.

I seriously wasn't expecting to put a fucking four-day-old baby in the Pile.

It's a rather morbid, but important, role you play in the saga of the TTI. Do you not have a website where you list and give details of all of the kids killed in program?

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

Severity of beating prompts removal of teens from group home

Police confirm Thursday he is still alive.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2179 or [email protected].

Program Home page link:

http://www.onewayfarm.org/

I saw this story earlier. Very sad. Thanks for providing a link to the program homepage.

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

http://www.onewayfarm.org/about.php

http://www.onewayfarm.org/programs.php?id=youth

The One Way Farm Children's Home is a non-profit organization located in Fairfield, Ohio, caring for the abused, abandoned, neglected, troubled youth, and children with disabilities and developmental disabilities in the State of Ohio without regard to race, color, sex, or national origin. The One Way Farm Children's Home is state-certified and provides the following services:

    Temporary/emergency housing for abused, abandoned, neglected or troubled children, many in need of medication/pharmaceutical administration.
    Meeting the needs of special education children.
    Long-term independent housing.
    Placement of children by the Juvenile Courts, Job and Family Services Department, and other placing agencies.
    An alternative to institutionalization for mildly troubled children, developmentally disabled and the physically challenged.
    Animal Education Therapy Program.

The children of One Way Farm Children's Home are abused, abandoned, neglected, or troubled and sometimes have other disabilities. One Way Farm Children's Home tries to reunite child and family whenever possible and coordinates family counseling if it is indicated. The One Way Farm Children's Home's primary objective is to break the present cycle of abuse or disruption and help every child to a normal and fruitful life.

We provide a warm and loving shelter for children who have been abused, abandoned, neglected, and troubled. One Way Farm Children's Home houses a maximum of 20 youth, providing both emergency and long-term housing for children in crisis. Our agency provides Animal Education Therapy to further the healing of our children, a very unique program. We have served thousands of children since our beginning over 32 years ago. We are a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation and are located in Butler County in southwestern Ohio. Our continuing goal is to provide for the best interest of the child.

http://www.onewayfarm.org/about.php?id=admissions

The residents of One Way Farm of Fairfield, Inc. have access to the following schools and educational programs:

    Alternative School
    Fairfield West Elementary School
    Fairfield Middle School
    Fairfield Freshman School
    Fairfield High School
    Butler Tech
    Hope Academy
    St. Aloysius
    Fairfield Intermediate

Otherwise, it seems that kids here have better protected rights and more freedom than those placed in the kinds of programs usually discussed on fornits. Per their admission forms:

http://www.onewayfarm.org/about.php?id=admissions

ADMISSION INFORMATION  (PAGE TWO)

Rule 5101:2-9-16
VISITATION:
   Youth may have contact with the following:

Father____  Mother____  Sisters____  Brothers____

Grandparents____  Aunts/Uncles____  Prev. Foster Family____

Friends____  Other____

List Names:___________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

VISITS:     on-grounds____  off-grounds____  Supervised____  Unsupervised____

Friday____  Saturday____  Sunday____  Overnight____  Day Only____

How Often?_____________________________________________________

List persons with whom youth is to have NO contact:
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

Rule 5101:2-9-12
Youth can go on overnight with friends?    Yes ?  No  ?
If on level 5,  can go on unsupervised on-grounds:   Yes  ?      No   ?
Amount of time:  1 hour____  2 hours____  3 hours____

If on level 4 or 5, can have unsupervised activities OFF-GROUNDS:   Yes  ?      No   ?
Can walk out for:  1 hour____  2 hours____

Can go to school functions (unsupervised by One Way Farm Staff):  ball game____
School dances ____  sports____  shopping____

Religious preference:  Catholic____  Protestant____  Jewish____  Other__________________

PLACEMENT AGREEMENT

NAME OF YOUTH:_________________________________PHONE;______________
LEGAL ADDRESS:__________________________________DATE:_______________

CLIENT CLAUSE:  I understand the rules and regulations of the One Way Farm and I agree to follow them.  I understand that I am able to go on home visits after I have been a resident of One Way Farm for at least two weeks and that visits may vary depending on situations in the home.  I do understand that I may send as well as receive mail from family and friends and that I do have phone privileges as long as  I don’t misuse the privilege.  I will work on trusting the staff and other residents as much as possible and I will be honest about my feelings.  With the help of the staff.  I will realistically explore what alternatives I have and will make the most responsible decision regarding my future.

                  ___________________________________
                     Client Signature