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Girl's Death in Duluth Group
Home is Probed
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
8/20/1996
By Lerner, Maura
Officials at the Department of Human Services
are investigating the death of an emotionally disturbed 17-year-old
girl at a children's home in Duluth last week.
The girl, who had a history of violent
outbursts, had been held down for 3 1/2 hours by staff members at
Northwood Children's Home before she died of cardiac arrest
Thursday, police said.
Police say there is no evidence of a crime. But
last year, state officials threatened to revoke the home's license
because of alleged child neglect, and they're now investigating
whether the girl's death was linked to any violation of state rules.
The home is still on probation, according to licensing officials
with the Department of Human Services.
The girl, a ward of the state, has not been
publicly identified, and officials declined to discuss details of
her history. Initial published reports said she was in restraints
when she died, but police and home officials said Monday that that
was untrue.
They said the girl, who was 5 feet 4 and
weighed 235 pounds, was being held down by three to four staff
members when she stopped breathing.
"She was fighting the entire time," said Sgt.
Mike Moyle of the Duluth Police Department. "Her heart just gave
out."
Officials at the home, a residential treatment
center for emotionally disturbed children, called her death a
tragedy.
They also said they do not use restraining
devices as a matter of policy at the home, which serves a total of
200 children in inpatient and outpatient programs. Use of restraints
is also prohibited by state regulations, except when patients are
being transported. When asked if home officials were concerned how
this might affect their license, Dean Grace, the program director,
replied: "Obviously we're concerned, but obviously the important
issue is that we had a student die. That's considerably more concern
to us right now than the relationship we have with the Department of
Human Services."
Larry Burzinski, the state's supervisor of
licensing, said the home was notified last summer that its license
was being revoked after seven children were injured during a winter
outing near Duluth. They suffered from frostbite and hypothermia
when they were taken into the woods in below-zero temperatures
without proper clothing, according to Julie Reger, unit manager in
the licensing division. One child's shoes froze to the feet.
The home reached a settlement agreement with
the state in September that allowed it to keep its license,
promising to adopt new training and safeguards for the staff and
children. Since then there have been no troubling incidents, Reger
said.
She and Burzinski said the state conducts
investigations whenever a death or injury occurs at a licensed
facility. But they said they could not comment on the investigation
of the girl's death.
Grace, the Northwood official, said staff
members were following the standard practice in holding the girl
down, although he said it was unusual to do so for so long.
Officials would not say what prompted the
incident, but the police report said three to four adults were
needed to control her. Officials would not discuss why the girl, who
was originally from Douglas County, had become a ward of the state.
A news story distributed by the Associated
Press and published in Sunday's Star Tribune incorrectly said the
girl was in restraints at the time. Police said the error was based
on an apparent misunderstanding of the police report.
State investigators will try to determine
whether the home violated any licensing rules, according to James
Loving, another official with the Human Services Department. He said
the home had a responsibility "to make sure the children they're
caring for are going to be safe. That means safe from injuring
themselves or others."
An official for the children's home said he
could not discuss details of the case.
COPYRIGHT 1996 Star Tribune Co.
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