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RICE LAKE (AP) - The 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
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 restraints.
Department spokeswoman Stephanie
Marquis said the clinic's certification will be restored if the
changes are made in six months. But the facility will remain closed
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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