Re residential treatment in SD.
Some residents are placed by DSS paid from by Medicaid and other funding, some due to school behaviors and the district pays, some placed by DOC again Medicaid and other funding, and some by parents (adopted or otherwise) and funded by insurance, Medicaid, and/or self pay. I can't remember specifics but it is expensive.
Average stay both where I worked and at BHCH as well as CHS' residential treatment in Sioux Falls is 12-14 months. That can increase or decrease mostly on how fast a child completes their treatment plan.
We had a school on site that was part of the local school district. We also had a day school program for kid not in residential but also not allowed to attend one of the public schools. Some of our residents did attend local public schools. Most had IEPs with the schools.
My understanding is BHCH is similar in that there is a school on site, they have a day school program. I have been told though that the school is a private school and not part of the public school system there. I do not know that as fact though.
Where I worked it was a locked entrance. You needed a FOB or to be let in. The doors exiting the living areas had alarms. The windows had alarm sensors. At night, all bedroom doorways had alarm sensors turned on and the rooms with 2 beds also had sensors so staff was alerted if they were crossed. The ER fire exit had a 5 second delay. To get to the front part of the building you had to use a FOB. Our building exits could not be locked. Many resident facilities are not. It all depends on regulations, licensing, accreditation, laws, etc. Our intensive program had a locked door on their unit. Alarming the center exit doors would mean the alarms going off consistently as those doors were used by day school students and their parents, EAs, teachers, visitors, deliveries, staff, kids leaving the center, DSS workers, etc. Most of those do not have FOBs and most were not escorted out of the building. Ideally, maybe but it it wouldn't be practical because there is not always a staff available to walk down the hallways to let visitors out. It was almost always possible to stand in the unit doorways to watch people exit though.
We also were not allowed to use monitoring devices when I worked there. Keep in mind anything that singles kids out could get them picked on. Plus kids are quick to figure ways around it. We didn't permit our residents to have cell phones either. Most had a very limited list of contacts they were permitted calls with. Residents having cell phones would be a nightmare and increase the risk to them. We would have no idea who the were talking to, would make running easier as they could arrange a pick up, etc
We used to be able to take shoes and coats of kids on run risk but that had to change too. Kids only having socks actually reduced runaways but we were told by those outside our agency that it was no longer permitted. We had to at least give them flip flops. Not always are rules made by those that work with the kids. These kids also have rights. They are not inmates at residential centers. Yes, they are in a restricted environment but many do not fit the guidelines to be in a locked facility (where they are locked in.) Most kids had other interventions before being placed in residential. Least restrictive is usually the start in most cases. Even locked facilities have runaways. Locking them in won't stop kids from running but it does slow them down usually.
Most of the kids in places like BHCH and where I worked have been abused or neglected. Many have mental health issues, all have some sort of behavioral issues - truancy, self harm, running away, defiance, assaulting staff or others, stealing, vandalism, drinking, drugs, etc. We also have some kids on the spectrum but they were higher functioning and verbal. Many have been in multiple foster homes or placements. Some have parents or adopted parents. Many had parents whose rights were taken away due to abuse. Some had other family but there were a few kids that had no one besides their workers.
We didn't have kids that smeared feces and such but the intensive unit did. BHCH has kids ages 4 to 14 so they had younger kids than the ones I worked with. I know from others that used to work at the SF residential home location that they had similar type kids but also other issues relating to ages and such. They may also take more intensive cases that I am not aware of.
None of this is to say that BHCH is innocent of wrongdoing or that they couldn't do better. I am assuming that changes have already been made and that more will happen as all the investigations conclude. I know when we had incidents, everything was evaluated to see where we could make improvements. I assume they have similar type policies or I don't think they would still be around. CHS (BHCH's parent organization) has great reputation overall. This may impact them but I also don't see them being closed over this. Sad fact is, kids runaway and there is no foolproof why placements can stop them, even parents are limited but the can do more overall than placements. A death while sad and horrible wouldn't be "their fault" if she did indeed run and succumb due to weather as long as BHCH followed policies, procedures, regulations, and laws. We don't know if they did or didn't and likely won't unless a lawsuit gives us access to that info. So much is confidential regarding these types of facilities. HIPAA and other laws impact the release of information to the public.
I have personal feelings and thoughts as to this situation but my big thing is that delay in calling 911. Even if staff was searching themselves, that is a long time to wait in that location with the pending weather. I don't understand why they waited so long. While a runaway is an incident at these types of facilities, it wouldn't be a major issue with powers that be (agencies outside CHS) unless BHCH was already on probation for having so many runaways or not having proper safety procedures in place. Which of course we don't know. Serenity not being found would be a much bigger issue in my opinion. We had runaways but all were located so I can't speak to that for sure.
This whole situation is heartbreaking!
One case reminds of the other.
