Michigan, Oregon, Washington, and California have also either shut the facilities or are ending their relationships with Sequel Youth and Family Services in wake of concern around the abuse. 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 . Former Students at Utah Troubled-Teen Centers Say Their Reports of Sex Abuse Were Ignored. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. I dont want any other kid to have to go through that, Tristan said. Today, Sequel has all but vanished. There were feces on the floor, stuck inside the doorframe, stuck around the window.. 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. Falcon Ridge Academy, where these crimes occurred, is meant to house teenage girls with behavioral issues usually resulting from trauma. Nobody joins our industry, you know, unless they're actually here for the kids, she said. 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. Pros. Our team is what has made TorHoerman Law a very special place since 2009. SOURCE: The list of residential treatment facilities run by Sequel was assembled from public records and information from Sequel's websites. Websites for three former Sequel facilities in Utah and Tennessee indicate that they are now run by Rite of Passage, a company based in Nevada. 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. Both options are completely confidential and completely discrete. 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. The state did not end its relationship with Sequel. Get a free online case evaluation and find out if you qualify for compensation instanly. After their release, they stayed in touch and fell in love, they said. If you have been abused at a Sequel Youth and Family Services facility, or a similar facility, contact our experienced team of attorneys today to learn more about your legal rights. Sequel markets itself as a national leader in providing specialized care for at-risk youth. 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. 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 chest for nearly 10 minutes. No information shared in consultations is shared unless first approved by our clients. Employee at Teen Behavior Facility Arrested for Sexual Battery, Showing Porn to Minors. Sexual abuse has also been reported in Sequel facilities and is just as unreported and undocumented as physical abuse. 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. In 2020, a lawsuit filed on behalf of a 14-year-old against the Sequel facility in north Alabama alleged that the teenager suffered long-term abuse at the hands of staff and other children residing at the facility. Posted 6:12:41 PM. Work/Life Balance. Program, pp. 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.. You can also sue facility staff members who are no longer working for Sequel. The company used marketing to secure state funding, despite government inspections flagging violations. Sara E. Teller, Alabama father brings lawsuit against Sequel facility alleging staff abused his son, LegalReader.com, Jan. 1, 2021 (available at https: . The advocacy organizations monitors interviewed about 100 children, some as young as 12, and documented their findings in a report this summer. He was physically restrained by workers putting their full body weight on his torso, leading to a cardiac arrest and his death two days later. Sequel subsequently closed the facility. 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 . No information will be shared unless you, as a client, first approve. The level of abuse is staggering and very disturbing. Begin Your Path To Healing & Justice. Nineteen-year-old Tevin Pike filed a civil lawsuit against TSI Sequel of Tuskegee and several other entities Wednesday, alleging that he was abused and treated with negligent care during his . We're ready to be your ally. Government regulators and the media took notice. The attorneys and staff at THL worked hard, communicated every step of the process, kept me well informed at all times, and exceeded all expectations! 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. They severely underpay their staff! The facility, which Sequel operated under a contract with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, shut down the following month. But nobody came. Christy Johnsons heart dropped in February when she first stepped into a facility for children with serious mental and behavioral health issues in Courtland, a few miles from the Tennessee River in northern Alabama, run by Sequel Youth & Family Services. In June, Sequel announced it was shutting down its 60-bed treatment center in Mountain Home, Idaho, a city of 16,000 people located about 40 miles southeast of Boise. The closure was voluntary, but it came at the end of a difficult period for the program. Many of Those Kids Were Abused There. Sequel Youth & Family Services: Second Lawsuit Settled in Death of Teen at Sequel Lakeside Facility January 12, 2022. 137. You may be entitled to financial compensation for your injuries and damages. 1. Look no further, call now! 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. You may qualify to participate in a 3M Combat Arms Earplugs Lawsuit if: Over 140,000 Exactech hip, knee and ankle implants have been recalled due to packaging errors that can lead to the breakdown of parts vital to the devices function. Toys litter the floor at Sequel's Courtland facility. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. All of my questions were answered quickly and in a way I could understand. 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. This rating has decreased by -5% over the last 12 months. Children also reported being slapped and choked by staff members. If you have been exposed to Paraquat and diagnosed with Parkinsons disease may be eligible to pursue compensation, and entitled to participate in the paraquat lawsuit. As recently as November, Sequel garnered attention when it announced the sudden closure of its Bernalillo Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which treated youths with behavioral and developmental challenges. You think you're making progress, and then it just comes back stronger, Gelser said. Sequel Youth & Family Services is now in the national spotlight after NBC Nightly News ran an investigative report on the company Wednesday night. 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 . Headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama, the company currently operates youth behavioral centers in 17 states, totaling 34 establishments. Courtland was one of the last facilities Tristan Broadrick lived in before he aged out of the foster care system. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. 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. Hindman had founded the Jiffy Lube chain of auto service centers, and Ripley worked for him. Our firm is about people. Sequel Youth & Family Services has an overall rating of 2.6 out of 5, based on over 205 reviews left anonymously by employees. Lawsuit: Teen screamed 'I can't breathe' during restraint WEST . Falcon Ridge Academy had the highest rate of sex crimes reported in the state of Utah. KRQE News 13 reached out may times to Sequel Youth and Family Services, which has seen similar closures and allegations in its other nationwide facilities recently. 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. 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. Those treatment programs were also shut down in recent years. 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 the company vowed to reduce the use of physical restraints on children. If you or a loved one suffered injuries or other damages as a result of abuse suffered while under the protective care of a Sequel youth facility you may qualify for legal action. A concrete slab at Sequel's Courtland facility where thin mattresses are placed for children to sleep. The family of Cornelius Fredericks, a 16-year-old boy in foster care who died after being improperly restrained by youth facility staff, filed a 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. For children who qualify . The attorneys at THL were extremely helpful with the legal aspects of setting up my small business. You deserve to be heard and we believe you. I just want people to be held accountable, Patricia said. 97. At that point, I was so depressed I didnt know what to do, Laurie said. Learn more about hospital sexual abuse lawsuits from our team of attorneys. Sequel Youth & Family Services has also faced criticisms. I was extremely impressed with their professionalism and ability to react quickly. The treatment centers were run by Sequel Youth & Family Services, a "for-profit, $500-million company backed by Bay Area investors." . Some girls tried to harm themselves just to get out of the facility, Laurie said, including herself. For 72 hours, staff members left him in a small room outfitted with a thin mattress and a camera on the ceiling, he said. Kate Snow is a national correspondent for NBC News. Sequel formerly ran the following facilities: Multiple lawsuits have been filed against Sequel Youth and Family Services, alleging abuse of all sorts and negligent behavior of staff and management. The Team Leader (Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic) CCBHC is a part of the managementSee this and similar jobs on LinkedIn. 2.8. Marshall also traded messages with Sequels marketing staff monitoring Gelsers social media activity when the lawmaker toured Sequel facilities that year. One of the children placed at Courtland in early 2018 was a 15-year-old boy named Hunter, a former foster child with post-traumatic stress disorder whod been abused. 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. A lawsuit filed against a Courtland psychiatric youth treatment facility in the Lawrence County Circuit Court System claims a teenage boy suffered abuse and neglect during his stay at the facility. On multiple occasions later in 2019, when Oregon state Sen. Sara Gelser emailed state officials demanding information about oversight of Sequel programs, government agents promptly forwarded the messages to Sequel employees for help responding. Legal action is being strategized by our attorneys for Horizon Therapeutics failure to properly warn patients of potential hearing loss side effects. The defendants, Lakeside Academy and Sequel Youth and Family Services the company that supplied the academy with management services and staff members declined to comment on the lawsuit . Sequel Confronts More Abuse Allegations amid Concerns about Its Finances. Plus, you will join a work environment where collaboration and support come naturally. Sequel is a privately-owned, for-profit operator of behavioral healthcare facilities for children and youth in the United States. Can I sue a Sequel facility that is closed? 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. 95. Nearly all of Sequel's programs run on government funding: States pay Sequel $275 to more than $800 a day per child to provide residential and therapeutic services. 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. When Johnson and her colleagues visited, the children recounted how staff encouraged them to kill themselves and made vulgar comments; one child said staff members make fun of my name, which upsets me because it is my dads name and he passed away.. Most notably, the estate of Cornelius Fredricks filed a $100 million lawsuit against Sequel for his death. Local investigators found that the facility failed to . 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. Fredricks' family filed lawsuits after his death against Lakeside Academy, school owner Sequel Youth & Family Services and employees. Ripley started Sequel in 1999 with Adam Shapiro, a lawyer, initially just to run Clarinda Academy, a youth facility in Iowa where Shapiro had been executive director. Posted at 1:38 PM, Jun 21, 2020 and last updated 2020 . Responsible for providing leadership to the program. 5. Laurie stayed at Owens Cross Roads twice before she reunited with her family. University of Baltimore Merrick School of Business, according to Kansas City public radio station KCUR. (Sequel said the free trips are not standard practice.). We dont want anything like this to happen to any other kids. (866) 577-2786. All rights reserved. Hunter is now receiving psychiatric treatment at a hospital, she said. 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. I highly recommend this law firm! A walkway to enter the school at the Courtland facility. 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. Sequel shut down treatment centers where alleged abuse surfaced. A nonprofit organization in Kansas will take over a Sequel treatment center there, according to Kansas City public radio station KCUR. Both Altamont and Sequel said the sale would help Sequel expand to serve more children. They described physical abuse by staff, Johnson said, and being denied medical care. You can also call us at (205) 843-5086 or fill out an online contact form to schedule a free consultation. Posted at 1:38 PM, Jun 21, 2020 and last updated 2020 behavioral Health Clinic CCBHC! Academy, where these crimes occurred, is meant to house teenage girls with behavioral issues usually from... Operated under a contract with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, shut the! My small business one of the foster care system the use of physical restraints on children ; Justice end... Facilities for children to sleep former treatment centers where alleged abuse surfaced, I was impressed... $ 100 million lawsuit against Sequel for his Death evaluation and find out if you for! 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