Shelter Running Without License When Teen Hung
Himself
June 30, 2000
Suicide try leads to check of facility in Oakland Park
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
cmarbin@herald.com
An Oakland Park shelter for runaways where a 15-year-old boy was
allowed to remain hanging until police arrived to cut him down has
not been licensed by the state since 1996.
And Lutheran Services Florida, a not-for-profit agency that runs
the shelter, may have some difficulty obtaining a license, officials
say. In March, a Department of Juvenile Justice inspection faulted
Lippman Family Center staff for failing to complete required first
aid and emergency resuscitation training.
``If we went out and found the staff did not have CPR or first
aid [training], then they would go under corrective action,'' said
Jennifer Chang, a family services specialist with the Department of
Children and Families in Broward County. ``If we found out [staff
was not properly trained], they would not [get] licensed.''
The center, named after former state Rep. Fred Lippman, is one of
four runaway shelters in the state without a required license, said
Children and Families spokeswoman Page Jolly. Another unlicensed
shelter is run by the Center for Family and Child Enrichment in
southwest Miami-Dade County.
Officials with the Florida Department of Children and Families
discovered the licensing problems Wednesday, when the agency began
looking into the circumstances of Anthony Dumas's June 12
near-death. Dumas remained tethered to his black leather belt
several minutes after shelter workers discovered him.
PROBE UNDER WAY
The incident is under investigation by the Juvenile Justice
Department's inspector general, the Broward County Sheriff's Office
Child Protective Investigations Unit, the Broward State Attorney's
Office and an investigator hired by Lutheran Services.
Late last week, the juvenile justice department, which houses
youths at Lippman under a state contract, placed a moratorium on new
admissions to the 28-bed shelter. About eight to 10 youths remain at
the shelter, at 221 NW 43rd Ct., said Catherine Arnold, a juvenile
justice spokeswoman.
Anthony's parents, desperately searching for answers to the
tragedy, were astonished to learn the shelter lacked a license.
Walter Dumas and Shirley Finley agreed to place Anthony in the
shelter, they say, after law enforcement officials told them placing
the rebellious boy in ``the system'' was the only way to get him
help.
``How could the government put my child into a facility that
isn't licensed?'' asked Dumas, 34, of Pompano Beach. Anthony remains
in a coma at Broward General Hospital.
Howard Finkelstein, the chief assistant public defender in
Broward, blamed the incident on the effort of state social service
officials to move more and more child welfare programs into the
hands of private agencies not accountable to taxpayers.
``What are these people doing?'' asked Finkelstein, also a
well-known mental health and children's advocate. ``At least if
there were a license, somebody other than the people contracting
with [the shelter] could make sure that minimum quality standards
are observed.
``Now they've got the devil dancing with himself,'' said
Finkelstein, who added that juvenile justice authorities had reasons
to keep the shelter open.
LICENSE NOW SOUGHT
Phyllis Scott, who took over the reins of the Children and
Families' Broward County administration about nine months ago, said
her agency asked Lutheran Services to apply for a license as soon as
officials learned the shelter was operating without one.
``I can only say that as soon as this was brought to our
attention, we expeditiously moved to license them,'' Scott told The
Herald Thursday. ``We are hoping that they are just as anxious as we
are to make sure the license [application] is in as soon as
possible.''
By law, the children and families department must license runaway
shelters and other ``child caring'' agencies to ``protect the
safety, health, and well-being of children,'' said Chang.
``The bottom line is they are operating without a license,''
Scott said. ``We regret that we have a facility in the county that
is not licensed.''
Said Washington Sanchez, the agency's deputy district
administrator: ``This is indeed an unfortunate incident. It's always
that way when someone is injured.''
Arnold, the juvenile justice spokeswoman, said she was unaware
her agency was placing troubled youths in an unlicensed facility.
``I'm sure that is an item that our internal investigation will
look at,'' Arnold said.
Officials at Lutheran Services, which has been in business in
Florida since 1982, say they were told they did not have to be
licensed to continue housing runaways and other troubled children at
the Lippman Center.
CHARGES DENIED
Joy Margolis, a Lutheran Services spokeswoman in Tampa, said her
agency received a letter from the Department of Children and
Families in 1996 saying Lippman operators no longer needed to apply
for a license. She could not, however, provide a copy of the letter
Thursday.
``The letter says it is not necessary to obtain licensing,''
Margolis said Thursday.
Margolis said that two of three ``youth care specialists'' on
duty the night Anthony attempted to kill himself had met all
juvenile justice requirements for first aid training, and the third
worker was too new to have completed all required courses.
Sandra Trotter, the worker police say took Polaroid pictures of
the youth rather than cut him down, is a certified nurse's aide
trained in first aid, Margolis said. Trotter, who could not be
reached for comment, and the other two workers have been suspended
by Lutheran Services because of the investigation.
But according to the March juvenile justice inspection, only one
of four ``direct care'' workers whose files were reviewed had
completed the required 40 hours of annual training. Only one of the
four full-time workers whose files were reviewed had documented
completing first aid and CPR courses.
``Although there was documentation that the required training was
being offered and that there were a number of staff receiving the
training, this could not be supported by reviewing the individual
training files,'' the report stated.
``That would be an indicator of concern,'' said Arnold, the
juvenile justice spokeswoman.
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