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SummitQuest announces policy
changes November 15, 2007
By Andrea Johnson
Though SummitQuest Academy has had
its share of problems in the last year and half, changes are being
made to this Ephrata-based behavioral health facility.
Confusion surrounding restraint
policies caused a ripple effect into the community and the Ephrata
Police Department after a slew of client elopements, or "walkaways,"
in the last year and a half.
Public information meetings between
officials began in July with the goal of solving the problems at
hand and to seek guidance and clarification from government
officials.
Now, when a client elopes from the
nonsecure facility, it is considered "imminent danger" and staff are
permitted to use physical restraint if necessary.
The recent clarification came
months after SummitQuest reached a high point of 19 police calls to
the facility for elopements in the month of July alone. Since
officials began addressing the problem, the number has begun a
steady decrease with only six in August, four in September and three
in October.
Richard Gold, deputy secretary of
the Officer of Children, Youth and Families contacted officials from
the Department of Health and Office of Mental Health and Substance
Abuse Services to discuss a plan for the elopement problem after the
Sept. 5 meeting held in Akron Borough Hall.
"It was made clear (from them) with
one voice to SummitQuest– they're right to stop a child from leaving
the facility," Gold said to the panel of officials and community
residents who met at the Wednesday, Nov. 7 meeting, later adding,
"In fairness to SummitQuest, they were (previously) given mixed
messages from the state government."
Since February 2006, the amount of
police calls had been draining police services due to a relatively
new government mandate that restricts residential behavioral
facilities, like SummitQuest, from restraining clients unless the
client displays "imminent danger," or ongoing, aggressive behavior
toward himself or others. This evidently had led to the dramatic
increase in the number of clients who elope.
Lt. Tom Shumaker, Ephrata Police
acting chief said SummitQuest has been responsible for 1.4 percent
of the department's total call volume with 186 radio calls for
various reasons. Runaways in 2007 totaled 53 through Oct. 30.
"In 2006, the numbers changed, in
my opinion, significantly," said Shumaker. "It jumped from 18 to 48
(elopements) in a 10-month period."
Since government officials have
stepped in to correct the problem, Steve Palmer, SummitQuest
administrator said he thinks the facility is on the "right track,"
though their goal of having no elopements has not been reached yet.
"We feel the impact has been
positive," said Palmer. "We feel confident in the services we are
offering. They (officials) helped reassure things we were unclear
about. Our goal is zero and we will do what we can to get to that
goal."
Gold said when his staff first
conducted client interviews at SummitQuest, 87 percent of the
children were under the impression that they could do what they want
because staff could not touch them.
"In the last two weeks, they're
saying 'something is happening, it's clear we can't leave,'" Gold
said.
The strides taken to reduce the
elopements and various other police calls to the facility include
unannounced weekly visits from the Office of Children, Youth and
Families that began in September, free state of the art training,
staff scheduling changes and monthly visits with the Office of
Children, Youth and Families, Department of Health and Office of
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services with SummitQuest.
"Part of every monthly meeting is
this team walking around the whole campus, getting a feel from staff
and kids whether they're changing the cultural dynamic of who's in
charge," said Gold. "We made very clear in meeting with SummitQuest
that these children and youth should not be a danger to the
community and should not just think they can come and go freely."
SummitQuest's clientele has also
decreased from 89 to 79 residents since September. Dave Berk,
clinical director, said two of the three individuals who repeatedly
eloped from the facility were discharged to a higher level of care.
Palmer and Berk explained that the
primary reason for elopements usually stems from clients who feel
frustrated in the treatment process, or have family issues.
"The treatment process is difficult
for these guys," Palmer said. "Those are the kinds of things we hear
back from clients."
Vic Richard, Ephrata Borough
council member who sat in the audience, asked what specific changes
in addition to what had already been said early on in the meeting,
have been made at the facility.
Palmer said that the biggest change
is staff confidence.
"That confidence piece is a big
part of it. When you are questioning what you can and can't do, it
creates hesitation, doubt, concern, employees fear for their job if
they do something incorrectly when they're not supposed to ... just
that support and clear direction now has given our staff that
confidence that they now know what is expected," Palmer said.
Richard also asked if the recent
allegation of sexual assault involving an employee having an ongoing
sexual relationship with a client had affected the boys'
relationships with the staff.
Berk said that it had caused "some
ripples" but SummitQuest is trying to make it a "glass house" with
investigative agencies, parents and residents, calling the
relationship unfortunate.
However, the incident has not
deterred the boys from building or maintaining relationships with
staff members. Gold said that the training is helping staff relate
to the children and understand what makes them upset. This will give
clients the option of choosing who to vent their frustrations to if
they prefer not to talk with their therapist about it.
"If they build a relationship with
another person at SummitQuest, instead of running away out of fear,
they might run to this person. It's a very effective process," Gold
said.
The next meeting will be held at 7
p.m., Feb. 13, 2008 at the Akron Borough Hall. Acting chief Shumaker
will keep track of police calls made to the facility to monitor
SummitQuest's progress. In addition, an open invitation still stands
to any member of the community to tour SummitQuest academy. Anyone
interested may call Steve Palmer at 859-4100.
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