WCCO NEWS

Wis. Clinic Where Girl Died Closed

August 1, 2006

(AP) Rice Lake, Wis. The Wisconsin clinic where a 7-year-old girl was fatally injured while being restrained will lose its state certification and close for at least six months.

The state told Northwest Counseling and Guidance Clinic officials in a letter Friday that the clinic failed to adequately address shortcomings cited by the state following the death of Angellika Arndt in May. The certification will be pulled Aug. 15 and the clinic, in Rice Lake, will lose all county and state funding.

The letter to Northwest President Denison Tucker said the facility did not meet requirements outlined in a plan of correction and failed to address a psychiatrist's recommendations that the clinic severely limit its use of restraints.

The clinic can appeal but the suspension will be in effect during that process. The state told the clinic it must help the 11 youths currently at the center find other facilities. None of the 12 other centers operated by Northwest will be affected.

Tucker said officials had not yet decided if they would appeal. But he said officials will work "to do the things we need to do to restore their trust in the Rice Lake center."

"We are committed to that mission and our goal is to address their concerns as quickly and practically as possible," Tucker said.

Angellika had attended the clinic's day treatment center five days a week for a month for behavioral problems. She had been restrained on nine separate occasions, according to the state report released June 22.

She died May 26, the day after she was injured while being restrained at the center.

The Hennepin County medical examiner in Minneapolis ruled her death was a homicide caused by "complications of chest compression asphyxiation" leading to "cardiopulmonary arrest while restrained by another person."

A criminal investigation into the girl's death by the Rice Lake Police Department, Barron County District Attorney and the state Justice Department is expected to be finished in the coming weeks.

The state gave the center 30 days to file a plan to correct multiple violations of state law, including the law governing physical restraint of clients.

The facility was required to submit a plan by July 21 that would outline how it would correct the violations and make sure they weren't repeated.

The Health and Family Services Department also advised clinic officials to make use of recommendations by consultant Dr. Randall Cullen, who recommended that officials severely limit their use of restrains.

Department spokeswoman Stephanie Marquis said the clinic's certification will be restored in the changes are made in six months. But the facility will remain close if the changes aren't made, she said.

The state could make no other comments because of the criminal investigation, she said.

Disability Rights of Wisconsin, an advocacy group, had called for the center to be shut down several weeks ago. The group cited concerns for the other children in treatment.

Angellika, according to a state report, had been diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder, mood disorder and attention deficit with hyperactivity disorder. She was born in Milwaukee and became a ward of the state after her parents relinquished their rights.

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