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KidsPeace lays off 79 employees
$20 million budget cut prompted by state's decision to halt new
admissions October 20, 2007
By Matt Assad
KidsPeace Corp. has laid off 79
workers and slashed its 2008 budget by $20 million, following the
state's decision last month to halt new admissions because youths
had been injured while being restrained.
Most of the workers who were
shocked with pink slips Thursday afternoon worked at the
organization's national headquarters in North Whitehall Township.
Another 64 positions now empty will not be filled, according to
KidsPeace Vice President of Communications Mark Stubis.
The Department of Public Welfare
last month cut off new admissions until KidsPeace, which treats
troubled youths, changes policies that this year resulted in
injuries to the seven youths, including broken bones. ''With every
kid that gets better, our census drops because the state has put a
hold on new admissions,'' Stubis said. ''That has forced us to lay
people off. This is a very sad day at KidsPeace.''
KidsPeace is a $170 million-a-year
operation that has been treating youths in crisis for 125 years. It
now has 5,000 children and teenagers in 50 centers in 10 states, and
in foster care programs. Its North Whitehall campus has 330
residents, and 80 more live at its center in Salisbury Township.
Before its troubles this year, KidsPeace had quietly become the
Lehigh Valley's 13th largest employer with 1,600 local workers.
The 79 employees with lesser tenure
were asked to pack up and leave with only the contents of their desk
and a two-week severance.
Since KidsPeace's doors were closed
to new youths, the number of residents in its Pennsylvania programs
has dropped from 500 to 450, and unless admissions are reopened,
they'll fall by another 100 youths by year's end, Stubis said. With
the average reimbursement for each youth about $275 per day, that
reduction adds up to the loss of $1.2 million in revenue per month.
Stubis said 80 percent of the
layoffs were administrators and their staff, with most counselor
positions preserved to keep programs strong.
Stubis did not escape unscathed.
His New York office has been closed, largely because his two-person
staff was laid off. He now works from his home.
''The cuts are painful, but we
believe they'll keep us strong until we can work with the state to
reopen admissions,'' Stubis said. ''Obviously, this has been very
difficult for our staff, our kids and our families.''
State officials are taking no blame
for that.
''We had to take action to protect
the kids'' said Anne Bale, deputy press secretary for the Department
of Public Welfare. ''Any action they've taken in response is on
them.''
In early September, DPW officials
stepped in and cut off new admissions until KidsPeace adds policies
that better protect its young residents.
Though state officials say several
aspects of the KidsPeace operation are now under closer scrutiny, at
the heart of the state's concern is the seven injuries that
residents suffered, including broken legs, arms and ankles, while
being restrained by KidsPeace staff this year.
Because some of the youths have
been abused and are severely emotionally disturbed, it is sometimes
necessary to restrain a youth who is trying to harm themselves or
someone else. According to KidsPeace, roughly 2,000 of the 5,000
youths it treats are either suicidal or prone to self-injury.
KidsPeace counselors are trained in
a specific method, called Professional Crisis Management, that first
tries to calm a youth, but as a last resort calls for three staff
members to use a series of wrestling holds to restrain an
out-of-control teen. KidsPeace is trying to alter those methods to
reduce not only the number of times it has to restrain youths, but
the number of injuries that occur when it does.
''We're working through this
process and KidsPeace has been very cooperative in working with
us,'' Bale said. ''But right now, there is no timetable on when
admissions may be reopened.''
KidsPeace is hoping that changes
soon.
''We're trying to look at this from
a positive view,'' Stubis said. ''I'd expect to be accepting kids
again by the end of the year. If not, well, I'd rather not think
about that.''
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1_4kidspeace.6100105oct20,0,1501611.story
matthew.assad@mcall.com
610-861-3617
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