March 6, 2005
Utah
boarding school under fire
Group is seeking a federal
probe into abuse allegations
By
Dennis Romboy
Deseret Morning News
A children's
advocacy group is calling for a federal investigation into a northern
Utah boarding school it claims mistreats students, including restraining
them face down in manure.
Based on sworn
statements of four former employees, the California-based Emancipation
Project says the Majestic Ranch is unsanitary and unsafe for the
children living there.
Majestic Ranch
is a working ranch for troubled children near Randolph in Rich County.
It houses 55 children ages 8 to 14.
"We believe the
people of Utah will not put up with child abuse," said Thomas F.
Coleman, a civil-rights attorney who heads the Emancipation Project. "We
should not have to go to the federal government when we have hard
evidence like this.
Thomas and
Isabelle Zehnder, of Vancouver, Wash., distributed a report Zehnder
compiled about the ranch to state lawmakers and elected officials last
week. They also plan to send it to Congress and the U.S. attorney
general.
The 13-page
report outlines allegations of abusive practices, dirty living
conditions, lack of medical care and unhealthy foods. It also chastises
the state Division of Child Protective Services and local authorities
for not intervening.
Majestic Ranch
director Tammy Johnson said the report contained "serious
misrepresentations." She called the accusations "definitely a personal
vendetta" on the part of disgruntled former employees and even state
officials who want the program shut down.
"We're not
going to continue to sit back and let employees and the state attack
us," she said. "We really feel like we've been a bull's-eye target for
too long."
At
Majestic's behest, the Rich County Sheriff's Office is investigating
trespassing and theft allegations against former employees, Sheriff Dale
Stacey said. No charges have been filed.
Because
Majestic Ranch considers itself a boarding school, it does not need an
operating license under state law. But that will change.
The 2005 Utah Legislature passed a
bill that requires licenses for boarding schools.
"It allows us
to review basic health and safety conditions," said Ken Stettler, Utah
Department of Human Services' Office of Licensing director.
Licensure
also provides for employee background checks, unannounced inspections
and follow-up on complaints, he said.
Utah Division
of Child and Family Services caseworkers, state health and local fire
and police officials toured the ranch last month.
"The bulk of
the complaints were deemed to be not credible," the sheriff said, noting
there were a couple of minor fire-safety issues Child welfare officials
did not find any children in danger.
"While
(Majestic Ranch) may be doing things we don't like, there was nothing
that we considered abuse," said Carol Sisco, Department of
Human Services
spokeswoman. "There were allegations, but we weren't able to find that
any specific children were abused or neglected."
Farnsworth quit
her job as a Majestic Ranch house parent in January after three weeks.
I was unable to
stand it any longer," she said.
A former state
youth corrections worker, Farnsworth said she saw children punished by
having to stand outside on milk crates in sub-freezing temperatures or
forced to shovel manure with their bare hands.
Uncooperative
children were wrestled to the ground, sometimes face first in manure,
according to the affidavit of former worker Jared Quick.
Johnson said
workers do use a physical restraint hold on out-of-control children as a
last resort, but they can't choose the time or place it happens.
There was an
incident where a child swinging a pitchfork at another child was
restrained in a manure pile, she said.
"It's certainly
not malicious," Johnson said.
The food and water made children sick, and those on medication for
mental illnesses received the wrong dosages of medication,
Farnsworth
said. Also, she said an outbreak of scabies among some girls went
untreated.
Johnson said
children live in clean rooms, eat dietitian-approved meals and get
proper medical care.
Majestic Ranch
is one eight programs affiliated with St. George-based Worldwide
Association of Specialty Programs and Schools or WWASPS. Allegations of
abuse and neglect have been leveled against several of its facilities
the past few years, all of which company officials have denied.
California Congressm
an George
Miller has repeatedly called for the U.S. Department of Justice to
investigate WWASPS and similar programs.
E-mail:
romboy@desnews.com
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