Sequel Youth and Family Services, a Huntsville, Ala.,-based for-profit company, will run the center effective April 1, said Amanda Fortuna, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Juvenile . However, advocacy groups say that Sequels track record should be a red flag to states that send Sequel their most troubled children along with millions in taxpayer dollars. Former Students at Utah Troubled-Teen Centers Say Their Reports of Sex Abuse Were Ignored. They are supported by a dedicated team of staff that are as equally friendly and helpful. The report included photographic proof of the Dickensian conditions that the states most vulnerable children were forced to live in: broken doors, missing floor tiles, blood smeared on the walls and thin mattresses laid on top of concrete platforms. Contact TorHoerman Law for a free, legal consultation today. We're ready to be your ally. That's not what we saw.". Glenda Marshall, a program coordinator for Oregons state child welfare agency, wrote in a 2016 email to Shoemaker that the state had been struggling to find placements for foster youth. Sequel disputes the findings and the facility remains open. We encourage the following groups of people to step forward in confidence: An NBC News investigation sorted through more than 10,000 pages and records from 14 states, and interviews with former Sequel residents and parents showing how Sequel became one of the largest behavioral health youth facilities in the United States. 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. 137. My client lived in a house of horrors. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. I worked at Sequel Youth & Family full-time and the best day was my last! A 14-year-old boy with a bloody gash just beneath his hairline told her that staff members had shoved him headfirst into a wall, Johnson said. Today the Sequel brand has been removed from almost all its former treatment centers web sites. 97. All consultations are completely confidential and discrete. After their release, they stayed in touch and fell in love, they said. Published: May. 102. The sheriffs frustrations are similar to those expressed by local law enforcement about Sequel treatment centers in Ohio and Wyoming. In December 2021, Sequel closed both locations of its Forest Ridge Youth Services treatment program in Iowa. Since then, 17 of those centers . Her family couldnt afford private care options that cost up to $4,000 a month, but social workers determined Lauries needs were so great that she qualified for state care. Enjoy a rewarding career where you can gain new skills and build your career with the guidance of a mentor. Kate Snow is a national correspondent for NBC News. According to Daniel Sparkman, spokesman for Alabamas Department of Human Resources, the agency made unannounced visits to Sequel facilities in the wake of the advocacy groups report, but by then, most, if not all deficiencies had been addressed. The agency continues to send children to Sequel facilities. 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 . Jay Ripley speaks at the Merrick School of Business in Baltimore in 2015. 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 Confronts More Abuse Allegations amid Concerns about Its Finances. You may be eligible to file a Tylenol Autism ADHD Lawsuit / Acetaminophen Autism ADHD Claim if you or a loved one used Tylenol and/ or Acetaminophen during pregnancy, and your child was subsequently diagnosed with ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorder. Sequel's facility in Owens Cross Roads, Ala. Tristan Broadrick says he was kept for 72 hours a room similar to this "seclusion room" at Sequel's Tuskegee facility as punishment for running away. KALAMAZOO, MI -- A federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the family of Cornelius Fredricks, the 16-year-old who died after being restrained at a Kalamazoo youth facility, seeks more than $50 million. 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. She said that most allegations made by children, staff and advocates end up being unsubstantiated, but that the company has zero tolerance for abuse and immediately reports allegations of wrongdoing to state oversight agencies. 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. After helping launch YSI, Ripley became the chief executive of Precision Tune Auto Care. University of Baltimore Merrick School of Business, according to Kansas City public radio station KCUR. 5. Sequel Youth and Family Services was founded in the late 1990s by former employees of Youth Services International. 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. Dont' waste time, contact our law offices today. The latest Sequel treatment centers to close are in Idaho, Florida, and Iowa, all of which had been under government scrutiny in recent years. Michigans governor ordered state agencies in June to never do business with Sequel. 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. 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.. Thank you for everything. But some of Sequels operations are continuing under new ownership. 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The hardest part of the job was working long hours. Tommy James, an attorney representing the boy identified only as Hunter C., said his client lived at Sequel TSI of Courtland in 2018 and 2019, where . He has a bulging, bloody laceration on his forehead. HUNTSVILLE, Ala., June 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Sequel Youth and Family Services today announced that Chris W. Roussos has been appointed the Company's Chief Executive Officer. After Cornelius death, Sequel was forced to shut down facilities in 18 states and earmarked for further criminal investigations and civil lawsuits. Landers wrote that a former Courtland employee reported that there were 40 different residents/students that are consistently choked, body slammed, tortured, emotionally abused, football tackled, held up to the wall by their neck, dragged out of their beds, punch children in face, break their glasses, and encouraged to harass and fight other residents., Children are punished by not being allowed to go to the bathroom to the point where they urinate and defecate on themselves, Landers said the employee told her. All rights reserved. Attorney Tommy James has a record of helping individuals file lawsuits for compensation against those who have harmed them. 4. Many of Sequels behavioral health treatment centers are sold or closed following abuse allegations. 2, 2022 at 8:08 PM PDT. Local investigators found that the facility failed to . Sequel Tuskegee is a mental health treatment facility in Macon County where boys ages 12 to 18 receive therapeutic intervention after being adjudicated by the court. Tevin did not feel safe at Sequel Tuskegee. Sequel markets itself as a national leader in providing specialized care for at-risk youth. 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. In 2017, when a private equity firm bought a controlling stake in Sequel Youth & Family Services, it had 35 residential treatment centers in 16 states. Based on 511 reviews. Sequel Youth and Family Services received nearly $9 million in reimbursement payments from the state of Michigan in 2019, according to the state. Begin Your Path To Healing & Justice. Courtland was one of the last facilities Tristan Broadrick lived in before he aged out of the foster care system. A concrete slab at Sequel's Courtland facility where thin mattresses are placed for children to sleep. In a court filing last week in Alabama, it argued that the lawsuit should be moved out of state court because the Ripley family is based in Virginia and an intricate series of business entities that comprise and control Vivant are incorporated in Virginia and Delaware. Attorney for Cornelius Fredericks Files Civil Lawsuit against Youth Facility Where He Died. 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. 2. The other residents in the unit were 18 and 19 years old. The lawsuit alleges that Pike was placed in isolation as punishment, sometimes for days, during which he had no access to food and water and was forced to urinate in the corner of the segregation room. Theyre worth nearly $13 million. The company used marketing to secure state funding, despite government inspections flagging violations. That national corporation also owns Woodward Academy and Forest Ridge Youth Services in . In 2020, Emmet County Sheriff Mike Martens contacted the state to complain about the burden Forest Ridge was placing on his department. Marshall also traded messages with Sequels marketing staff monitoring Gelsers social media activity when the lawmaker toured Sequel facilities that year. It's privately held, so details about its financials are hard to come across. Toxic chemicals in Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF Firefighting Foam) have been linked to numerous types of cancer, including: AFFF Firefighting Foam lawsuits aim to hold manufacturers accountable for putting peoples health at risk. He and the other children at Sequel Tuskegee were treated like animals by staff. Sequel, a company with locations in 20 states that turned a $25 million profit in 2016, markets itself as a national leader in providing specialized care for at-risk youth. In February 2019, Courtland employees called Patricia to tell her that Hunter had tried to hang himself, she said. Sequel is a frequent presence at conferences for probation officers, judges, social workers, school safety professionals, attorneys and others involved in court cases. More than 40 States Have Sent Their Most Vulnerable Kids to Facilities Run by a for-Profit Company Named Sequel. Sequel shut down treatment centers where alleged abuse surfaced. Sequel settled a lawsuit from Fredrick's family in December. Personally, I am enraged when I find out that people have treated my kids that way, if that allegation turns out to be substantiated, she said. The treatment centers were run by Sequel Youth & Family Services, a "for-profit, $500-million company backed by Bay Area investors." . Its part of what we do, Jarrett Shoemaker, a Sequel marketing agent, wrote to a Washington state child welfare official in 2014. And Sequels Capital Academy in New Jersey is now controlled by a local company called Willow Grove LLC. Those contracts, which Ivey signed, allow Sequel to continue to run Courtland through September 2022. Laurie didnt know it at the time, but her future husband, Tristan Broadrick, was also struggling in Sequel facilities in Alabama. Sequel Youth and Family Services is the most notable operator of youth residential treatment facilities in the United States, and reportedly operates up to 80% of these establishments. 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