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1/You might have heard about Cornelius Fredrick, a 16-year-old boy who died this year in Michigan after staff in the treatment center where he lived pinned him to the floor for 12 minutes.
2/The incident sparked outrage across the country after Fredrick’s family released the video, which evoked the police killing of George Floyd. But there’s more to the story than this tragic incident at Lakeside Academy.
3/Today, with the help of @OPB’s @LaurenDake, @APMReports published the first comprehensive investigation of the company that ran Lakeside: Sequel Youth & Family Services. https://www.apmreports.org/story/2020/09/28/for-profit-sequel-facilities-children-abused
4/Sequel runs treatment centers all over the country. The residents include juvenile delinquents, foster kids and children with severe mental health problems—sometimes all in the same building.
5/For the past year, @APMReports has led a team of reporters in 10 states to pull together a complete picture of Sequel. We analyzed thousands of pages of documents, interviewed former staff, former residents, critics and regulators.
6/The company’s model was, as one former employee put it, “a recipe for destruction”: inexperienced, low-paid staff charged with caring for some of the most vulnerable and difficult-to-treat children in the country.
7/We found dozens of cases of abuse and neglect, including physical violence, sexual assault, filthy conditions, and improper restraints that led to numerous injuries in addition to Fredrick’s death.
8/Since the beginning of 2019, Sequel has shut down eight of its 36 residential treatment centers. Six closures happened under pressure from, or amid investigations by, state or local governments.
9/Disability rights groups in Alabama, New Mexico, Washington and Ohio have reported excessive use of restraints in the company’s facilities.
10/The group in Alabama this year also highlighted “unsafe, squalid living conditions and a disturbing cultural and programmatic environment that further traumatizes extremely vulnerable children.” https://features.apmreports.org/documents/?document=7216587-Alabama-Disability-Advocacy-Program-Report-on
11/The group from Ohio raised alarms about “pervasive and disturbing problems embedded in the treatment culture” at Sequel’s facility there. https://features.apmreports.org/documents/?document=7216589-Disability-Rights-Ohio-Report-on-Sequel
12/APM Reports documented 20 cases since 2010 in which government investigations concluded that Sequel staff engaged in sexual or romantic relationships with residents.
13/Reporters also compiled a database of more than 8,600 emergency calls from Sequel facilities in 18 states. The database includes more than 1,000 calls reporting residents running away from Sequel treatment centers since 2010.
14/Since 2017, police have been called to at least 7 riots among residents at Sequel treatment centers in Florida, Ohio, Michigan and this one in Utah:
15/At least 7 Sequel facilities have experienced Covid-19 outbreaks this year. At one point, every student and 86% of staff at Sequel’s New Jersey facility tested positive for Covid-19.
16/During the past two years, Sequel has come under newfound scrutiny in part because Oregon State @SenSaraGelser has embarked on a crusade to shed light on its operations.
17/As public criticism grew, the company promised to improve its operations — more cameras, better training, fewer restraints and increased oversight. And yet the problems seemed to get worse.
18/Sequel declined to make its leaders available for interviews. In response to a list of questions, Sequel issued a statement.
19/It said: “We know how many lives are at stake here and that without organizations like ours, vulnerable youth with the potential to live vibrant lives will continue to fall through the cracks and not receive the support they need to make that life a reality.”
20/Adding: "That’s why we can—and must—do better."
21/We also looked into the unusual network of nonprofit organizations that Sequel uses to gain access to kids from California, one of its biggest customers. https://www.apmreports.org/story/2020/09/28/how-sequel-wins-california-business
22/ @dustindwyer, who helped us with reporting from @MichiganRadio, produced this powerful story on the kids who ran away from Lakeside Academy following Fredrick’s death. At least eight are missing, and one is dead. https://www.michiganradio.org/post/its-still-not-right-investigation-lakeside-academy
23/ @tennesseejane did an amazing piece for @WYpublicradio looking at why Wyoming still licenses Sequel’s facility there even though it sends hardly any of its kids to the place. https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/wyoming-juvenile-facility-run-company-under-investigation-abuse#stream/0
24/We also got reporting help from @nominUJ in KS, @_AudreyKennedy in MN, @craftworksxyz in CA, @davidmfuchs in UT, @towneoneill in AL, @nsenjanovic in TN, @lathropd in IA
25/There is much more to this story. I hope you’ll read it all at: https://www.apmreports.org/story/2020/09/28/for-profit-sequel-facilities-children-abused
