By AMY BETH HANSON
Associated Press
February 24, 2006
HELENA - The Swan Valley Youth Academy, a private residential treatment center for teen boys, has closed two weeks after agreeing to correct numerous state licensing violations.
"This wasn't an option that they discussed with me and I did not know that they were considering closing the facility," Julie Fink, an investigator with the Department of Public Health and Human Services, said Friday. "They said it was a corporate decision."
The military-style facility, north of Condon, closed Thursday afternoon when the final cadet left. It was investigated by DPPHS after a Montana Advocacy Program attorney, representing a former academy resident, alleged residents were subject to physical and verbal abuse.
"Although we strongly support having facilities in Montana for Montana children, any program that inflicts harm on the children in the state should not continue to operate," MAP attorney Andree Larose said Friday.
Fink's report documented 19 licensing violations. It said teens were often degraded and yelled at by staff members and many have vomited when forced to do excessive exercise and drink large amounts of water during intake. The facility also failed to report a suicide attempt.
The academy was also accused of keeping teens in seclusion too long, some for several days. The report said the academy lacked a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist and concluded several staff members were not qualified to work in group child care.
