May 28, 2021 Sequel Youth and Family Services and the Troubled Teen Industry (Residential Treatment Program/Facility Abuse and Neglect) October 30, 2020 Tommy James Law Files Civil Lawsuit in LeBrawn Rankin Tragedy. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. 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. Fredricks' family filed lawsuits after his death against Lakeside Academy, school owner Sequel Youth & Family Services and employees. In a civil lawsuit filed Monday against Lakeside Academy and Sequel Youth and Family Services, the family said the teen screamed "I can't breathe" as staff members placed their weight on his . They hope to raise awareness by speaking out. The same facility will reopen under a new name with new services while an attorney prepares to file another lawsuit against the facility. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Since then, 17 of those centers . By clicking ACCEPT ALL, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Contact TorHoerman Law for a free, legal consultation today. 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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. 5. Kay Ivey, a Republican. Alamo Drafthouse revealed it is selling itself as the dine-in cinema chain filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday -- and one of its new co-owners is a private-equity firm that has been engulfed in a . When Tristan was 16, he tried to run away, and when he was caught, he said, Sequel employees put him in solitary confinement as a punishment. 38% of employees would recommend working at Sequel Youth & Family Services to a friend and 28% have a positive outlook for the business. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. The company kept growing by taking over other youth facilities and programs, fueled by investments from a handful of private equity firms. Alabama Sequel Facility a House of Horrors for Foster Child, Lawsuit Claims. 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. Multiple lawsuits have been filed in Alabama, alleging rampant abuse in Sequel's . Sequel Youth and Family Services, which operates numerous youth treatment and residential facilities in several states. 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. It also ran outpatient programs in a handful of others. SHERIDAN Normative Services Academy, Inc. will close its doors March 22 "after an evaluation of viability of the Normative Services program," according to a press release sent Wednesday morning by NSI Executive Director Clayton Carr. 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. Ohio recently revoked the license of a Sequel psychiatric facility in Columbus over multiple instances of violence. Tristan, now 18, was placed into foster care on his 12th birthday and bounced between group homes until 2018, when he landed at Tuskegee, an intensive psychiatric treatment 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. A lawsuit was filed Wednesday against Sequel Youth and Family Services, LLC in Macon County, Alabama Circuit Court, asserting claims of severe abuse and neglect of a 15-year-old boy at Sequel's . I just want people to be held accountable, Patricia said. Washington, California, Oregon and Minnesota stopped sending kids to the companys treatment centers. Potential defendants in the Sequel Youth and Family Services abuse lawsuit may include one or more of the following parties: To best determine potential defendants, consult with an experienced attorney. A 16 year-old resident named Cornelius Fredricks was killed at a Kalamazoo, Michigan facility run by Sequel. Ripley sold a majority stake in Sequel to private equity firm Altamont Capital Partners in 2017, shortly after his bid to take the company public fizzled due to insufficient investment. For children who qualify, Medicaid reimburses Sequel for medical and mental health treatment. Our team of attorneys include: Continue reading to learn more about the Sequel Youth & Family Services investigation. He watched through a window as children made their way to class. You can also sue facility staff members who are no longer working for Sequel. The operation housed a significant number of children from Oregon, which stopped sending them to Sequel treatment centers in 2020. It's privately held, so details about its financials are hard to come across. The sheriffs frustrations are similar to those expressed by local law enforcement about Sequel treatment centers in Ohio and Wyoming. You cut off the head. Sequel subsequently closed the facility. She said she regularly witnessed staff members putting girls into violent restraints, to the point where they struggled to breathe, allegations also documented by the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program and in NBC News interviews with other former residents. 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. Begin Your Path To Healing & Justice. After helping launch YSI, Ripley became the chief executive of Precision Tune Auto Care. 2.8. 97. Enter your email below to receive notifications of new stories. Vivant is using the change of ownership to fight litigation against the treatment centers formerly owned by Sequel. 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. The company has secured hundreds of millions of dollars in government funding and tens of millions more from private equity firms to expand to new locations, while deploying a sophisticated marketing strategy to convince state officials to send more children, despite government inspections flagging violations at Sequel locations in at least nine states, the records show. Tevins two months in Sequel Tuskegee would be a house of horrors. Marianne Birmingham, Sequels compliance director, said in an interview that the company has worked with the state to improve conditions in its Alabama facilities. 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. IE 11 is not supported. According to Hunters adoptive mother, Patricia, the facility was supposed to get Hunter back on track with school, provide intensive therapy and immerse him in a Positive Peer Culture that teaches residents to support one another. Tyler Kingkade is a national reporter for NBC News, based in Los Angeles. No information will be shared unless you, as a client, first approve. We are passionate about what we do and delight in providing the individuals we are privileged to serve and instill permanent, positive change and propel them toward their best and full potential. Sequel Youth and Family Services was founded in the late 1990s by former employees of Youth Services International. Both Altamont and Sequel said the sale would help Sequel expand to serve more children. The advocacy organizations monitors interviewed about 100 children, some as young as 12, and documented their findings in a report this summer. Those contracts, which Ivey signed, allow Sequel to continue to run Courtland through September 2022. Laurie stayed at Owens Cross Roads twice before she reunited with her family. In a civil lawsuit filed Monday against Lakeside Academy and Sequel Youth and Family Services, the family said the teen screamed "I can't breathe" as staff members . Kids that are already damaged, been through enough in their life, to go somewhere thats supposed to help them, help them become productive members of society, and go there and then it just destroys them.. Edwardsville Daycare Injury & Abuse Cases, You were previously (or are currently) a U.S. military service member who used standard issue 3M Combat Arms earplugs; and, Physical abuse (including unnecessary restraint), Mingus Mountain Academy (Prescott Valley), Palm Beach Youth Academy (West Palm Beach), Pompano Youth Treatment Center (Pompano Beach), SequelCare of Florida (Pinellas Park, Port Richey, Port St. Lucie, West Palm Beach, and Vero Beach), North Shore Pediatric Therapy (Chicago, Deerfield, Des Plaines, Evanston, Glenview, Lake Bluff, Lincolnwood, and Naperville), Woodward Community Based Services (Urbandale), SequelCare of Maine (Bangor, Rockland, Searsport, and Yarmouth), SequelCare of Oklahoma (Antlers, Broken Bow, Durant, Hugo, Poteau, and Tulsa), Pine Cone Therapies (Keller, Missouri City, and Southlake), Auldern Academy, Siler City, North Carolina (2009 2021), Clarinda Academy, Clarinda, Iowa (1999 2021), Kingston Academy, Kingston, Tennessee (2009 2019), Lakeside Academy, Kalamazoo, Michigan (2007 2020), Lexington Academy, Lexington, Indiana (1996 2017), Mount Pleasant Academy, Mount Pleasant, Utah (2016 2019), Normative Services Academy, Sheridan, Wyoming (2003 2021), Northern Illinois Academy, Aurora, Illinois (2021), Red Rock Canyon School, St. George, Utah (2016 2019), Riverside Academy, Wichita, Kansas (2011 2019), Rose Rock Academy, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (2011 2016), Sequel Pomegranate Health Systems, Columbus, Ohio (2016 2021), Sequel TSI Madison, Madison, Alabama (2009 2019), Sequel TSI North Carolina, Pittsboro, North Carolina (2009 2010), Sequel TSI of Kissimmee, Kissimmee, Florida (2009 2016), Sequel TSI Paint Rock Valley, Trenton, Alabama (2009 2011), Sequel TSI Sierra Vista, Hereford, Arizona (2009 2011), Starr Albion Prep, Albion, Michigan (2014 2020), Union Juvenile Residential Facility, Raiford, Florida (2009 2019), Other losses as a result of abuse in a Sequel facility, Sequel Youth Facility and Family Services, Staff members who held management positions and failed to report abuse, Overseeing government agencies or representatives. Children were abused, neglected at house of horrors psychiatric facility, suit says. Jay Ripley speaks at the Merrick School of Business in Baltimore in 2015. Hindman had founded the Jiffy Lube chain of auto service centers, and Ripley worked for him. Lawsuit: Teen screamed 'I can't breathe' during restraint WEST . All of my questions were answered quickly and in a way I could understand. Turn to us when you dont know where to turn. 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 . Responsible for the recommendation of all admissions, transfers, and discharges of . Youth Counselor Supervisor (Former Employee) - Courtland, AL - August 17, 2022. Contact the Elmiron Lawyers from TorHoerman Law. 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. No information shared in consultations is shared unless first approved by our clients. The facilities at the heart of the issue are run by Sequel Youth and Family Services. In February 2019, Courtland employees called Patricia to tell her that Hunter had tried to hang himself, she said. In wooing states, Sequel has an advantage: It offers to take children with the most severe challenges, who are hardest to place. Our experienced team of child sexual abuse lawyers represents victims across a number of different case types, including in cases similar to the Sequel Youth & Family Services lawsuit. Before they got out, the two crossed paths at a psychiatric hospital, where they were sent after trying to harm themselves. After her mother received a terminal cancer diagnosis, she became depressed and defiant, and struggled with suicidal thoughts. Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Emotional & Psychological Abuse. 80. Video Shows Fatal Restraint of Cornelius Frederick, 16, in Michigan Foster Facility. Very nice people! "My client lived a house of horrors," Tommy James said. Both before and after Cornelius Fredricks death, Sequel closed a number of their operations for a variety of reasons, ranging from understaffing and financial troubles to abuse allegations and criminal charges. According to Tristan, and confirmed by state records and accounts from advocates and four former foster children, the staff regularly used seclusion, sometimes for days, at Tuskegee and Owens Cross Roads. Captured on silent surveillance camera video, the death of Cornelius Fredrick Jr. was compared by some to the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police that same year, and the public pressure on Sequel increased. Most of the former Sequel treatment centers that remain open are now controlled by Vivant Behavioral Healthcare, which was founded in 2021 by Jay Ripley, one of three people who founded Sequel in 1999. Despite that, the facilities passed regular inspections and public dollars continued to flow. The state pays Sequel Youth and Family Services about $330 per day, per child, the lawsuit states. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. An NBC News investigation based on more than 10,000 pages of records from 14 states and interviews with former Sequel residents, their parents and attorneys, probation officers and watchdog groups reveals how Sequel became one of the biggest behavioral health youth facility operators in the country. Fredericks went into cardiac arrest April 29. Tevin and the other children were physically, verbally and emotionally abused., Pikes attorney stated at the time the complaint was filed: A culture of violence and abuse pervades throughout Sequel facilities across the country. Those included sexual abuse by staff, bullying by residents, inappropriate physical restraints and employees sleeping on the job, according to records. 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 use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. If you do not feel comfortable discussing your situation with a member of our team, you can use our chatbot below to receive a free, instant online case evaluation. Laurie and Tristan Broadrick are expecting their first child. 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. 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. The State of Iowas placing some of these young people in this unrestricted environment is frankly absurd.. No parent would ever want their child to spend even one hour in a Sequel facility.. Five years ago, Sequel Youth & Family Services ran a chain of treatment programs that took in and tried to help troubled kids from all over the United States. 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. The treatment centers were run by Sequel Youth & Family Services, a "for-profit, $500-million company backed by Bay Area investors." . 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. Sequel declined to comment on Lauries and Tristans cases. Story continues. 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. In response to questions about allegations of abuse and negligence at Sequel facilities, Altamont said in a statement: We conducted significant due diligence prior to our initial investment and are confident that Sequel Youth and Family Services is one of the best operators in the industry. Sequel shut down treatment centers where alleged abuse surfaced. That is our motto and that will always be our reality. 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