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A call for change, for Angie
Ten months after a 7-year-old died from being restrained at a Rice
Lake clinic, the case has inspired a campaign to enact stiffer laws
and raise awareness about the risks of restraints.
March 11, 2007
By Kevin Harter
 Ten
months after 7-year-old Angellika "Angie" Arndt died, those
responsible will be sentenced Monday in a Wisconsin court. But few
who knew Angie, or came to know her plight after her death, feel she
will ever get justice.
"Her case is extremely disturbing,"
said Isabelle Zehnder, president of the Washington state-based
Coalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse. "And it never
should have happened."
Angie died May 26, the day after
the brown-eyed, 56-pound girl was held down at Northwest Counseling
Centers' Rice Lake facility until she was blue and listless and had
lost all body functions, according to court documents.
After her death, the Rice Lake
clinic was cited by the state, had its license suspended and
ultimately was shut down. The girl, who had attended the clinic's
day treatment center five days a week for a month for behavioral
problems, had been restrained on at least nine occasions, according
to a state investigative report.
Staff member Bradley A. Ridout, 29,
of Rice Lake, was charged with negligent abuse of a patient causing
bodily harm. He pleaded "no contest" to the misdemeanor and faces up
to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine at sentencing.
The Frederic, Wis.-based
corporation that owned and operated the center and still operates 11
others also pleaded no contest to one felony count of negligent
abuse of a resident. The maximum punishment is a $100,000 fine.
"The punishment doesn't fit the
crime," said Rick Pelishek, the Rice Lake-based regional director of
Disability Rights Wisconsin. "Usually a felony results in jail time,
but you can't put a corporation in jail."
While sentencing will not bring
justice, he said, changing the system would help.
Angie, who was born in Milwaukee,
became a ward of the state after her parents relinquished their
rights. She had been in and out of foster care before Donna and
Daniel Pavlik took her in to their Ladysmith home in early 2005.
The couple said they never
restrained her and believed they were making progress with the girl.
According to a state report, Angie had been diagnosed with a
reactive attachment disorder, a mood disorder and an attention
deficit with hyperactivity disorder.
The Hennepin County medical
examiner ruled her death a homicide caused by "complications of
chest compression asphyxiation" leading to "cardiopulmonary arrest
while restrained by another person."
Those rallying for Angie want three
things: maximum sentences for those responsible, greater public
awareness of the danger of restraints, and better training and laws.
A letter-writing campaign — led
nationally by Zehnder and locally by Pelishek — urged Barron County
Circuit Judge Edward Brunner to give the maximum sentences
allowable, which advocates said still won't be enough.
"We need to look at the big issues
of children's mental health services and use of restraints,"
Pelishek said. "People around the country are watching to see what
Wisconsin does."
"We want to change laws in
Wisconsin. Laws are not written well. Statutes do not protect
children," Zehnder said. "A misdemeanor? That's disturbing. These
people should be in jail."
Wanda K. Mohr, a University of
Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey professor of psychiatric mental
health nursing, agreed.
"We need to get people's attention
on this. Essentially, they are getting a slap on the wrist," said
Mohr, who shows a photo of Angie and tells her story while making
keynote addresses on the use of restraints.
While Mohr said she is not an
expert on how to amend laws, she said improved education, training
and accreditation are needed.
"What happened to Angie is
outrageous," Mohr said. "Restraints are not benign."
The state, however, has no plans to
make any major changes.
"It doesn't appear a change in
state code or law is necessary," said Stephanie Marquis, state
Department of Health and Family Services spokeswoman. "This is a
tragic situation where a center didn't follow policy and center
staff weren't properly trained."
Clinic officials, according to
court documents, failed to adequately train staff members on how to
restrain patients and consult medical records.
"From the time of her admission to
the time of her death, there had been numerous acts and omissions by
employees of the facility that had compromised Angie's safety," John
Knappmiller, chief investigator for the Wisconsin Department of
Justice, said in charging papers.
The state continues to monitor
Northwest Counseling and Guidance to ensure that it is following
orders, including improving training to prevent conflict from
escalating to the point of restraint, which is to be used only when
a patient is a danger to him or herself or others.
Lawyers for the company and Ridout
could not be reached for comment.
Two clinics in Hudson and New
Richmond that have a similar name — Northwest Counseling Services —
are not affiliated with the company that ran the Rice Lake center.
Kevin Harter can be reached at
kharter@pioneerpress.com or 800-950-9080, ext. 2149
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