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The Christie administration will not renew its contract with the Somerset Hills Residential Treatment Center in Warren Township, which treats boys ages 11 to 15 with behavioral, social, emotional and psychological problems. The decision came as an inspection report was obtained by The Star-Ledger.

(Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON — When state authorities froze placements and removed some residents from one of New Jersey's private treatment facilities earlier this year, they made no announcement of the action and later declined to say what went wrong at an institution that has been taking in children for four decades.

But a report recently obtained by The Star-Ledger makes clear that the state found serious trouble inside Somerset Hills Residential Treatment Center. On Wednesday, two days after the newspaper inquired about the findings, the state disclosed it was cutting ties with the facility Dec. 31.

The report, released under the state Open Public Records Act, alleges a litany of alarming practices: children subjected to unwarranted physical restraint, incident reports with inaccurate and incomplete information, medical records missing documentation and deficient treatment plans.

State inspectors also said in the report that children at the treatment center had been confined to an office for "excessive periods of time" as punishment for acting out, a practice the state later demanded the center discontinue "immediately."

The state’s findings stemmed from an April inspection of the for-profit Warren Township center, which, though privately owned and operated, is paid by taxpayers to treat boys ages 11 to 15 with social, emotional, behavioral and psychological problems.

The Christie administration last year signed a two-year deal with the center worth a maximum $14.3 million. Then, in March, the Department of Children and Families temporarily suspended placements of children at the facility after complaints prompted a review.

State officials have declined to describe the nature of the complaints, citing confidentiality laws.

The suspension came to light last month after a Star-Ledger investigation found abuse of taxpayer money, nepotism, high salaries and questionable business deals at the state's private schools for special-needs students, including Somerset Hills School, which is tied to the center.

Last week, in response to questions about the inspection report, the department said it would not renew the center’s contract when it expires at the end of the year. The center generated $6.6 million in revenue in 2011, all of which came from the state, the latest available audit shows.

The number of state placements at the center had fallen to 26 as of Friday, down from approximately 71 in March, said Ernest Landante, a spokesman for the department. He said the state anticipated that all of the remaining children would be relocated as of Jan. 1.

Before being informed the contract would not be renewed, the executive director of Somerset Hills School and the treatment center, Ryan Kimmins, told The Star-Ledger the inspection report was "outdated" and the department had withdrawn some concerns.

"All of the ones which remained have been addressed to the satisfaction of (the department)," Kimmins said.

On Friday, after being told of the department’s decision, Kimmins said that after "begging" the department to discuss the future of the center, they met Nov. 7 and he was "told many encouraging things about the improvements in which we invested."

"Only two days ago did we get a terse letter from (the department) seeking to end the relationship with the treatment center on Dec. 31 without explanation," Kimmins said.

"We are conferring presently with attorneys and financial advisers to assess the immediate impact of (the department’s) decision," he said. "In the meantime, we will endeavor to honor all the responsibilities entrusted to the treatment center."

He added that the trouble facing the center, established in 1971, would not affect the school.

'VEIL OF SILENCE'

Advocates for children’s rights are asking why the Department of Children and Families did not tell the public what it had found until the newspaper inquired eight months after inspectors visited.

"I don’t understand what the big veil of silence is, and I don’t think there’s any excuse for it," said Peg Kinsell, policy director at the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network. "Public money should not be going to abuse our kids."

Kinsell said lawmakers should require that the department proactively make problems at these treatment centers public.

"They all need way more sunshine," she said.

Although the information was not released publicly, Landante said meetings were held with family members of children at the facility after placements were suspended, to discuss the situation with them and determine if they should leave.

"This process resulted in alternative treatment plans being created for some youth near the time that admissions were closed, while it was determined to be in the best interest of other youth to remain in Somerset Hills’ program," he said.

The executive director of Disability Rights New Jersey, Joseph Young, said there was growing interest within his organization to take a hard look at centers similar to Somerset Hills to analyze how well children are served.

"The use of restraint should be the major exception and should be stopped as soon as possible," Young said. "So the fact that this is raised here on an inspection report is the greatest item of concern."

But Megann Anderson Fischer, the executive director of the New Jersey Alliance for Children, Youth and Families, which advocates for treatment centers including Somerset Hills, said the state’s inspection report did not tell the whole story.

"A biennial inspection report executive summary summarizes an organization’s compliance with these standards over a two-year period," Anderson Fischer said. "It is not designed to provide a comprehensive account of the operations of these organizations."

SLEW OF PROBLEMS

The state’s inspection report homed in on improper restraint at the Somerset Hills center as a dual problem: There was the practice itself, and then there was the lack of records about its use.

The center, the state said, engaged in "inaccurate/incomplete documentation of physical restraint incidents and the unwarranted use of physical restraint."

Inspectors said "psychotropic medication consents and pre-treatment clinical assessments" were missing the required information, logs were missing documentation that medication was given and some medication labels were incomplete.

The report also noted "instances when residents were restricted to the Residential Services Office" for prolonged periods of time as a form of discipline when children got out of hand. The department demanded the center stop the practice at once.

In response to the findings, the center submitted an improvement plan to the state May 15. But in a letter to Somerset Hills dated Aug. 7, the department said it was still concerned about the center’s ability to provide "quality treatment."

"(The department) will not be lifting the suspension of referrals at this time," the letter said.

A week later, the center and the department signed an agreement requiring dozens of reforms at the facility.

The agreement mandated sweeping retraining for all staff members at the facility, including in the use of "verbal de-escalation" to avoid physical restraint, as well as on disciplinary policies and children’s rights.

The department required the center to comply with reporting procedures and training from its Institutional Abuse Investigative Unit. After agreeing to changes ordered by the state, the center asked the department to resume placements, but the department again refused.

The state’s "continued insistence on suspending our referrals has put Somerset Hills in complete financial peril, to the point where the continued existence of our programs is in doubt unless the suspension … is lifted immediately," Kimmins wrote.

"Such a highly punitive result is unfair to the children attending our facility as well as our dedicated staff," he said.

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