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KidsPeace disciplined over injuries
to children September 21,
2007
By Kevin Amerman
The state has ordered KidsPeace
centers in North Whitehall and Salisbury townships to stop accepting
residents because the staffs' restraining techniques have
caused a "pattern of serious injuries" to children.
The Department of Public Welfare
also is making more unannounced visits to the campuses and
moving to end the use of physical restraints at the
organization's centers for troubled youth and facilities elsewhere
in Pennsylvania.
In a letter last Friday, the
welfare department said these seven injuries occurred between March
13 and Aug. 18: a left arm fracture, a fracture to a right arm in
the elbow area, a right ankle fracture, a displaced right upper arm,
a lower leg fracture, a fracture of the left upper arm and a
fracture to the right collarbone.
The letter was sent to Children and
Youth officials, probation officers, judges and others who send
juveniles to facilities, said Anne Marie Ambrose, director of the
Bureau of Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Services.
Two boys died at the North
Whitehall campus in the 1990s after being restrained. But
KidsPeace spokesman Mark Stubis said the organization has since
changed the restraining technique and employees no longer apply
pressure to children's and teens' respiratory systems.
Stubis said although workers try to
restrain youths safely, injuries can occur. He compared the
technique to an airbag in a car, saying it could cause an injury but
perhaps prevent more serious injuries. He said the young people,
many of whom have severe emotional problems, sometimes erupt.
"The first intent is to preserve
life, but even with an airbag, you could get a broken nose or a
bruised cheek," Stubis said. "Sometimes, because of the volatility,
there can be injuries."
He said the injury rate at
KidsPeace centers has dropped 32 percent since 2000 and that no
injuries were reported last year at the two campuses.
The seven injuries reported this
year are too many for the welfare department, which decided both
campuses can't accept new residents until they "put methods in place
to make sure the incidents that happened don't occur again,"
according to Ambrose.
She said there is a statewide
initiative to eliminate restraints in all facilities. She said
KidsPeace will be informed about other "de-escalation techniques"
such as verbal commands.
The welfare department also notes
in its letter that police have been called more frequently to
KidsPeace on allegations including "inappropriate sexual activity."
Stubis said workers are not
involved in those allegations. He said KidsPeace is discussing
installing more security cameras to cut down on sexual incidents
among residents and false claims of sexual abuse.
He said the welfare department's
order is "a good thing" for the two campuses because it will allow
them to focus only on the children they have and work on issues that
need to be addressed.
In 1998, 14-year-old Mark
Draheim of Pelican Island, N.J., died at the North Whitehall
facility after being restrained. His mother, Marsha Draheim,
received a $1.4 million settlement from KidsPeace after suing the
company over his death.
She also claimed that the facility
didn't prevent Mark from being repeatedly sexually abused by other
residents and ignored evidence he had been abused. State police had
determined that a report that the teen had been raped was
unsubstantiated, and no charges were filed.
Mark Draheim was the second boy to
die after being restrained at KidsPeace. Jason Tallman, 12, of
Barnegat, N.J., died in 1993 when he was restrained a day after he
arrived at KidsPeace. A counselor was charged, and a jury acquitted
him of involuntary manslaughter.
KidsPeace has also had other
problems. In 2004, it agreed to pay nearly $1.9 million to settle
claims that it overbilled Medicaid for services in the Lehigh
Valley.
The organization overcharged for
its afternoon treatment program, which helps avoid the need to
hospitalize children with emotional disorders. The services were
provided in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton.
The organization also improperly
billed Medicaid for services that federal officials do not
consider therapeutic. KidsPeace billed the federal health care
reimbursement program for time the children spent in recreational
activities or while they were being transported by KidsPeace to or
from one of its centers.
RESTRAINING DEBATE
The findings: Restraining
techniques led to ''a pattern of serious injuries'' to children in
the care of two local KidsPeace National Centers Inc. facilities.
Injuries included arm, ankle and collarbone fractures.
The action: The state
Department of Public Welfare has ordered KidsPeace to stop accepting
youths in its residential units in North Whitehall and Salisbury
townships.
kevin.amerman@mcall.com
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