sequel youth services lawsuit

Sequel Youth and Family Services Lawsuit: Reports of Abuse, Independent Fundamental Baptist Resources, Disclaimer / Terms Of Service & Privacy Policy, 24/7 support with a caring legal staff dedicated to protecting your confidentiality, employees or "whistleblowers" of the facilities, Multiple children report being slammed to the ground and held facedown, One boy described his head being caught on a nail in the wall during a violent restraint, Reports of being called names, threatened, and comments such as "you gonna go to jail", Report of being in solitary confinement for 72 hours, with no access to a bathroom, Report of lack of access to medical treatment, dental treatment or eye care, Report of lack of access to clean drinking water, Lack of education, school work and career training, Filthy conditions and hazardous living conditions, Residents in inappropriate restraints without justification, and even the death of one resident at a Michigan facility. The Camp Lejeune Contaminated Water Lawsuit can apply to you, a family member, or a loved one who lived at Camp Lejeune (North Carolina) and suffered health effects from the decades of water contamination that occurred. Many of the children served by Sequel are victims with traumatic histories. Attorney for Cornelius Fredericks Files Civil Lawsuit against Youth Facility Where He Died. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Laurie and Tristan Broadrick are expecting their first child. Based on 511 reviews. The state investigation found no rule violations. Program, pp. With the goal of continuous improvement and our support, the company has consistently invested in quality and safety initiatives and in its staff to raise the bar and drive positive outcomes for thousands of individuals trusted to its care.. (866) 577-2786. Michigans governor ordered state agencies in June to never do business with Sequel. To learn more about how our law firm helps the injured, check out our Frequently Asked Questions Page. You can also sue facility staff members who are no longer working for Sequel. He returned to youth treatment in 1999, taking over a former YSI treatment center in Iowa. Tevins two months in Sequel Tuskegee would be a house of horrors. Washington, California, Oregon and Minnesota stopped sending kids to the companys treatment centers. MOUNT PLEASANT, Utah (AP) A company that runs treatment centers for troubled youth is closing a second Utah facility as officials investigate claims of sexual abuse, violence and several other . Sequel Youth & Family Services, once one of the nation's largest operators of treatment centers for children with behavioral problems, plans to close three more facilities, including its flagship academy, continuing the company's contraction in the past two years amid wide-spread reports of abuse.. Despite Oregons efforts to work with Sequel to meet our licensing and safety standards, it became abundantly clear that Sequel was unable or unwilling to meet Oregons mandatory reporting requirements, said Jake Sunderland, press secretary for the Oregon Department of Human Services. This was the first time experiencing a situation like this and Tor Hoerman law did an excellent job from start to finish. See Monitoring Report for Sequel Youth and Family Services of Courtland, Ala. Disabilities Advoc. They hope to raise awareness by speaking out. Ripley said that in 2015 Sequel Youth and Family Services revenue was more than $200 million and that its profits were between $30 to $32 million. Sequel Youth & Family Services has an overall rating of 2.6 out of 5, based on over 205 reviews left anonymously by employees. 80. Last August, Sequels Pompano Youth Treatment Center failed a state inspection that found a range of deficiencies at the 24-bed Florida treatment center. Members of our attorney team have first-hand experience with youth residential treatment facilities and abuse cases. Sequel declined to make Ripley available for an interview, and instead set up an interview with Birmingham, who handles compliance. TorHoerman Law is a personal injury law firm comprised of individuals who are dedicated to getting justice for those wrongfully injured by the tortious acts of others. And Sequels Capital Academy in New Jersey is now controlled by a local company called Willow Grove LLC. For more information about potential legal action, you can contact an experienced Sequel abuse lawyer at TorHoerman Law for a free, no-obligation case consultation. And when we identify circumstances in which we are not providing care to the par that we expect it to be provided, we intervene with it. Attorney Tommy James has a record of helping individuals file lawsuits for compensation against those who have harmed them. If you are representing the estate of a loved one who has died as a result of abuse, or as a result of self-harm from abuse, you may qualify to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Sequel or at-fault parties. Today, youth counselors at Sequel facilities start off making $12 to $15 per hour, depending on the location. He named his new business Sequel because it was his second foray into the industry. Despite that, the facilities passed regular inspections and public dollars continued to flow. The facilities at the heart of the issue are run by Sequel Youth and Family Services. Can I sue a Sequel facility that is closed? They also did a nice job keeping us updated with the case throughout the process. Fredricks' family filed lawsuits after his death against Lakeside Academy, school owner Sequel Youth & Family Services and employees. The company collected over $200 million in annual revenue at the time, he said, and turned about $30 million in profit, which he attributed to keeping staffing costs low. lawsuits and interviews with former residents, staff . They helped me when I needed expert legal representation! Both of his eyes are black; one is swollen shut. Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Emotional & Psychological Abuse. Ratings by category. Yet, at these facilities, children have been sexually and physically assaulted by staff members. Fredericks went into cardiac arrest April 29. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. In Alabama, the Alabama Department of Youth Services and the Alabama Department of Human Resources place at-risk children in the Sequel facility to receive medically required mental health care. Nearly all of Sequels programs run on government funding: States pay Sequel $275 to more than $800 a day per child to provide residential and therapeutic services. The series focused particular attention on the state of Florida, which has become emblematic of a nationwide trend in which growing numbers . Courtland was one of the last facilities Tristan Broadrick lived in before he aged out of the foster care system. The company has offered all-expenses-paid trips to state employees to tour the companys facilities. University of Baltimore Merrick School of Business, according to Kansas City public radio station KCUR. The Training Manager is responsible for directing, planning and implementing the training program.Also, takes the lead with staff training and personnel development. Falcon Ridge Academy had the highest rate of sex crimes reported in the state of Utah. Local investigators found that the facility failed to . Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. CORRECTION (Dec. 16, 2020, 5:17 p.m. We dont want anything like this to happen to any other kids. Theyre worth nearly $13 million. January 24, 2020 How Our Alabama Law Firm Investigates Nursing Home Abuse. Last year, Tennessee, which had paid Sequel up to $608 a day per child, suspended admissions to Kingston and the states Medicaid agency terminated its contract with Sequel. Sequel was established to operate Clarinda Academy in Iowa, but soon expanded to operate dozens of youth residential treatment facilities around the country. Lawsuit: Teen screamed 'I can't breathe' during restraint WEST . In Alabama, where Sequel is headquartered, records reveal that reports of troubling conditions in the companys facilities have been made to state agencies for years, including mandatory child abuse and injury reports and whistleblower accounts by former Sequel employees. majority stake in Sequel was bought by Altamont Capital, established Vivant Behavioral Healthcare in order to buy a majority of Sequel, article from APM Reports analyzing Riverside Academy in Kansas, closed because of reported abuse by staff, and improper restraints were highlighted in news reports surrounding the closure, 16 year-old resident named Cornelius Fredricks was killed at a Kalamazoo, Michigan facility run by Sequel, employee at a Sequel facility in Utah was arrested for sexual battery, highest rate of sex crimes reported in the state of Utah, estate of Cornelius Fredricks filed a $100 million lawsuit against Sequel. The state did not end its relationship with Sequel. Following a barrage of abuse scandals and media attention, including a 2020 investigation by APM Reports, the company has shut down close to half of its treatment centers and sold most of the rest to a new company called Vivant Behavioral Healthcare. Sequel TSI in Owens Cross Roads emailed a statement reading "TSI . Its part of what we do, Jarrett Shoemaker, a Sequel marketing agent, wrote to a Washington state child welfare official in 2014. Records show that the problems at Sequel facilities go beyond Alabama. Cornelius tragic death has been a watershed moment for the fight against abuse in these facilities. He complained that Forest Ridge was admitting children they were not qualified to care for, were allowing children to prey on one another, and were failing to keep children safe by allowing them to leave the facility unsupervised., The report also includes an email Martens sent the state last April: It is time for a change of how business is conducted. Sequel Youth and Family Services was founded in the late 1990s by former employees of Youth Services International. Many of Those Kids Were Abused There. Is responsible for the overall direction, coordination, and evaluation of the facility. The company later said in an email that in cases where a child's safety is threatened, "we take all necessary actions from employee termination, to policy and process changes, to staff-wide retraining to ensure we live up to our high standards of care for the youth we serve.". After Cornelius death, Sequel was forced to shut down facilities in 18 states and earmarked for further criminal investigations and civil lawsuits. Tax dollars are being used ultimately to abuse and mistreat children who are in need of serious therapeutic services, and weve sent them to these services for that, said K. Ricky Watson Jr., head of the National Juvenile Justice Network, which has advocated against for-profit juvenile detention. Multiple lawsuits have been filed in Alabama, alleging rampant abuse in Sequels Courtland and Tuskegee facilities. The level of abuse is staggering and very disturbing. If you are representing a victim who is under the age of 18 and falls under your legal care, you may qualify to file a lawsuit. They did not return our calls . Sequel received little public attention before Altamont took control of it in 2017, but state regulators reported serious problems at its facilities before the private equity firm took control. Sequel Youth & Family Services has also faced criticisms. Ohio recently announced it was forcing Sequel Pomegranate to relinquish its license to operate its residential treatment facility. The lawsuit states the boy "had a propensity to engage in . You may be eligible to file a Hair Straightener Cancer Lawsuit if you or a loved one used chemical hair straighteners, hair relaxers, or other similar hair products, and subsequently were diagnosed with: Over one million people, who were present at Camp Lejeune (North Carolina) between 1953 and 1987, may have been exposed to toxic substances in the water. For children who qualify, Medicaid reimburses Sequel for medical and mental health treatment. For what theyve done, and what theyre not doing. Kay Ivey, a Republican. It also ran outpatient programs in a handful of others. No information will be shared unless you, as a client, first approve. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Lawrence County Circuit Court claims Sequel TSI of Alabama has a history of staff physically abusing children at its facilities, encouraging fights among children and . Contact the Elmiron Lawyers from TorHoerman Law. Instead, these children are suffering from abuse, and from the reports, Sequel isn't taking responsibility. California, Maryland, Oregon and Washington have also stopped placing children in programs run by the company. Visit our website or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to find local attorneys in you state who may assist you with your claim against Sequel. In December 2021, Sequel closed both locations of its Forest Ridge Youth Services treatment program in Iowa. Three employees of the facility were charged criminally in . Kate Snow is a national correspondent for NBC News. If you or a loved one suffered from abuse at a Sequel facility, camp, boarding school, or treatment center, consider contacting TorHoerman Law for legal help. More than 40 States Have Sent Their Most Vulnerable Kids to Facilities Run by a for-Profit Company Named Sequel. At Courtland, where conditions had nauseated Johnson, state agencies received dozens of incident reports from 2018 to this summer detailing troubling allegations, including that children there had sustained injuries, such as a broken toe, a fractured ankle and a concussion, because of restraints. The company used marketing to secure state funding, despite government inspections flagging violations. Jay Ripley speaks at the Merrick School of Business in Baltimore in 2015. Children were abused, neglected at house of horrors psychiatric facility, suit says. Oregon state Senator Sara Gelser has spent years demanding accountability for Sequel, and she is continuing the crusade against Vivant. . Anytime that our clients are not getting the highest quality care that they deserve is an opportunity for improvement.. Tristans mother died when he was 2, and he said his father was addicted to drugs. Laurie Broadrick, 19, arrived at Owens Cross Roads, a residential treatment facility for girls in northeast Alabama, in 2016. An Altamont press release said Ripley would "remain involved with the business as chairman of the board through its next phases of growth." He mentioned how "you can make money in this . Legal action is being strategized by our attorneys for Horizon Therapeutics failure to properly warn patients of potential hearing loss side effects. The statute of limitations for each state determines the amount of time that a victim has to file an abuse lawsuit. A walkway to enter the school at the Courtland facility. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. Sequel subsequently closed the facility. Sequel, and similar for-profit companies that run youth behavioral health centers, can be paid up to $800 a day per child they take into their facilities, turning a profit of millions each year. Red Rock Canyon School, another Sequel-ran facility, closed in 2019 after reports of abuse surfaced and a riot among residents ensued, resulting in area SWAT teams responding. After NBC News presented Sequel with a list of questions this month, Birmingham visited two of the companys Alabama facilities, and said she found that The kids were very happy. She said she encourages staff members to report any concerns about misconduct to a company hotline so Sequel can ensure no child is abused in its care. Birmingham said that seclusion which the company refers to as controlled observation and physical restraints are supposed to be last resorts and are not meant to be punitive. All consultations are completely confidential and discrete. 1 (July 2, 2020) (hereinafter "ADAP"). Mr. Roussos brings nearly two decades of experience building and leading healthcare organizations with vibrant service-oriented . Clockwise from top, the latest operations to close: Mountain Home Academy in Idaho, Forest Ridge Youth Services in Iowa, Pompano Youth Treatment Center in Florida. We focused on public pay because we figured kids are always going to have issues and they're always going to get in trouble, and again, the government has to figure out a way to take care of them, Ripley explained, according to a video recording. In February 2019, Courtland employees called Patricia to tell her that Hunter had tried to hang himself, she said. Without our team, we wouldnt be able to provide our clients with anything close to the level of service they receive when they work with us. What we do is we strive every day to provide the best care we can for kids in these facilities, Birmingham said. Though their marketing and public statements espouse an aura of care and reverence for the well-being and progression of the residents they house, their company has been named in lawsuits that allege rampant physical, sexual, and mental/verbal abuse. That means sending out marketing agents to get more states to send children to its facilities. By clicking ACCEPT ALL, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. She was taken to a psychiatric hospital, where, she said, you get emotional help that you would actually need, rather than just four walls and people screaming at you and a very hostile environment.. Sequel marketing agents contacted state officials in Oregon before and after a story aired on NBCs Nightly News last year detailing allegations of sexual and physical abuse at Clarinda Academy. Sequel declined to comment on Hunters case and his familys lawsuit. In Alabama alone, Sequel received nearly $25 million in Medicaid payments from 2018 to this August. 2-3, and app. But some of Sequels operations are continuing under new ownership. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Officers frequently were called to investigate peer-on-peer assaults, sexual assault allegations, staff-on-resident misconduct, and runaways, the state report on Martens complaint noted. You may be eligible to file a Tepezza Lawsuit if you or a loved one took Tepezza and subsequently suffered permanent hearing loss or tinnitus. A 16-year-old Michigan boy went into cardiac arrest and died after several staff members of the residential treatment facility he stayed at restrained him, according to a lawsuit filed Monday. They may be trying to drum up business, but ultimately, Birmingham said, Sequel employees care about the children. . Since 2016, the company has secured contracts worth more than $68 million from the states Department of Human Resources. In an article from APM Reports analyzing Riverside Academy in Kansas, a former Sequel operation, it was found that: In the four years before it closed, the facility had been cited 38 times by Kansas officials for problems including excessive force by staff, poor supervision, under-qualified medical personnel, neglect and bullying by residents, according to state licensing records.. We can for kids in these facilities, children have been sexually physically! Records show that the problems at Sequel facilities go beyond Alabama Birmingham said, Sequel closed both of... What we do is we strive every day to provide the best we. The series focused particular attention on the state did not end its relationship with Sequel leading. Cookies on your website also ran outpatient programs in a handful of others lawsuit... 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