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del.icio.usLakeside staffers say they saw abuse
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
Three current or former staff members at a Goddard juvenile offender facility say they have seen staff members abuse boys in recent weeks.
According to the accounts, some new staff members grabbed boys roughly, slammed them into walls and yelled or cursed at them in their faces.
The Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office and two state agencies are investigating the facility, called Lakeside Academy.
After being told by The Eagle of the employees' allegations, Camelot of Kansas, which operates the facility, issued a statement Thursday night saying it has fired two staff members and suspended several others pending an internal review. The fired staff members violated policies "against the use of inappropriate de-escalation measures," the statement said.
Camelot also said it is cooperating in the investigations and is retraining its staff in "methods of non-harmful intervention."
The allegations made by former and current employees, if true, involve actions that would violate the state Juvenile Justice Authority discipline policy, JJA spokesman Bill Miskell said.
The discipline policy is part of the contract between the state and Camelot, which last month took over operation of the 45-bed juvenile offender facility for boys age 10 to 18. The facility, near Lake Afton and formerly known as King's Achievement Center, serves counties statewide.
The incidents, the employees say, have occurred since Camelot, a national company based in Texas, took over in April.
Under a contract with the state, Camelot receives $126 a day per boy at Lakeside. At that rate, if the facility were at maximum capacity throughout the year, the state would pay Camelot about $2 million.
'Live what they learn'
JJA's discipline policy prohibits actions against boys such as shoving or cursing, Miskell said. "That kind of response has to be investigated. It is absolutely modeling the wrong kind of behavior....
"Kids live what they learn," he said. "And when they learn that kind of response, that's what they live."
JJA staff and its contractors are supposed to hold boys accountable but in a way that is respectful, Miskell said.
Anyone "who fails to comply with that expectation will not be working with youth in the custody of the Juvenile Justice Authority," he said.
The agency's discipline policy says: "Disciplinary acts that cause pain, such as hitting, beatings, shaking, cursing, about the youth or family are not acceptable."
The policy says that the state won't buy services from contractors who "use discipline that is not positive."
Still, there are ways to correct such a situation without canceling a contract, Miskell said.
Last month, the state, working with Camelot and the boys' case managers, temporarily relocated about 18 boys from the facility to help ease the transition for Camelot, Miskell said.
The three current or former employees said the incidents they witnessed involved boys who were handled forcibly even though they did not pose a threat.
In the statement released Thursday, Lakeside executive director Heather Littleton said the facility "has a zero-tolerance policy for failure to observe" proper procedures. "All staff members who violate the proper de-escalation procedures have been or will be terminated."
Some of the juvenile offenders at the facility have substance abuse or anger problems.
All have been convicted of crimes and are in JJA custody. Lakeside is a community-based residential alternative to a juvenile correctional facility.
Multiple reports
Two state agencies and the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office are investigating allegations involving Lakeside, officials say. The Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, which investigates reports of child abuse, and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, which licenses youth residential facilities, are investigating child abuse allegations involving Lakeside.
SRS spokeswoman Michelle Ponce said the agency has received multiple reports of abuse at the facility, but she declined to give details.
SRS also has begun an investigation involving another Camelot-operated facility, Riverside Academy in Wichita's Riverside neighborhood, Ponce said. She wouldn't elaborate. The Riverside facility is a residential center that treats youths with psychiatric problems.
Staffers' accounts
One of the accounts of alleged abuse at Lakeside comes from Steve Berninger, who said he quit his job there on April 17 because under Camelot he would have had to accept less pay and a lower position. Berninger, 35, said he had worked at the facility for about 6 ½ years before Camelot took over. He had been a floor supervisor, dealing with boys with a range of behavior problems.
"We always tried to teach the kids anger-management skills... because it's a lot of what got them into trouble," Berninger said. One of the responses the students there had been taught, under previous management, was to walk away and "cool off" to keep their anger from escalating, he said. A staff member would walk behind.
Around April 10, a 16- or 17-year-old, apparently trying to calm down, was walking out of the dining hall, Berninger said. He said he saw a Camelot staff member grab the teen by his arm. When the teen jerked away, a second staff member grabbed him. "And next the thing I know they have him hands up behind his back" and forcibly escort him to Lodge 1, one of the two residential buildings, Berninger said.
He gave this account: Some staff members pressed the teen against a wall, then put him onto the floor. "The kid was calm... and they were cussing at him."
As the boy remained on the floor, he said he needed his inhaler, which he was given.
The restraint continued too long, Berninger said. "This restraint, from beginning to end, was probably 15, 20 minutes."
Under the former operator, a restraint would be allowed only if a boy was being violent, and the restraint wouldn't last more than about two minutes, he said.
Other accounts of alleged abuse come from two Camelot employees. Both asked that their names not be used; they said they feared reprisals for speaking out.
One of the two employees gave this account of an April 21 incident involving a smallish boy:
A new staff member grabbed the boy by his collar, lifted him off his feet, pushed him out of a classroom and slammed him into a wall. The new staff member stood close to the boy and yelled at him.
The employee reported the incident to SRS "because I saw everything" and "because I considered it abuse."
The boy, the staff member said, was "not a physical threat."
A third employee gave this account of an incident around April 22:
A new supervisor grabbed a smaller boy who was crying and was standing with his hands behind his back. The supervisor took the boy from a standing position into a fast walk and slammed him into a wall several feet away. The boy's head struck the wall.
"There was a big thud," the employee said.
Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 or tpotter@wichitaeagle.com.
