Lawsuit: Valley of the Moon Children’s Home

“A group of former foster children alleging abuses at the Valley of the Moon Children’s Home dating back to 20 years ago has filed a lawsuit against the facility.

The lawsuit was filed earlier this month in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The civil rights suit seeks an end to policies and practices it contends are unconstitutional, as well as punitive and compensatory damages.

The allegations include children being strip-searched, locked in their rooms and having possessions taken away.

County Counsel Bruce Goldstein has denied the allegations and says similar accusations have been disproved in the past. He says it may be true that children have been injured over the past five years, but it was unlikely due to restraints or attacks.”

Former Foster Kids Suing Santa Rosa Children’s Home For Alleged Abuses [CBS San Francisco 5/19/15 by Associated Press]

“The Valley of the Moon Children’s Home has been hit with a federal civil rights lawsuit by a group of former foster children alleging abuses at the facility dating back to 1995.

Among the allegations are that children awaiting adoption were strip-searched, locked in their rooms and had possessions such as cellphones taken from them, in violation of the state Welfare and Institutions Code and federal Civil Rights Act.

Filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the suit seeks an end to policies and practices it contends are unconstitutional, as well as punitive and compensatory damages.

So far, the case involves just five plaintiffs, but attorneys are seeking approval to form a class-action suit that could take in hundreds more, they say.

“It’s hard to put a number on it,” attorney Paul H. Masuhara said. “We won’t really know until we get records.”

Named as defendants in the suit are Jerry Dunn, director of Sonoma County’s Human Services Department; the county’s Family Youth and Services director, Nick Honey; and Stacie Kabour, manager of the county-run children’s home.

County Counsel Bruce Goldstein denied any policy at the children’s home of strip-searching or physically restraining children. He said similar accusations have surfaced in the past and were unfounded.

Goldstein said the facility is carefully regulated by the state Community Care Licensing agency, local courts and child welfare advocates. None were made aware of the complaints, he said.

“On its face, many of the allegations seem quite far-fetched,” he said Monday.

The suit is based on the experiences of five girls who are now adults and one male, a minor, who left the home late last year.

One of the women who was at the facility several times from 1995 to 2005 alleges she was subjected to more than 20 strip searches upon returning to the facility from school or family visits.

Another woman who was at the home for three months starting in 2012 said staff members searched her bra, requiring her to pull it away from her body, exposing her breasts.

Similar claims are made by the other two women, who were at the home in 2011. One said she was forced to “shake out” her bra during a search, leaving her feeling “shamed and humiliated.”

The boy, now 17, complained that over an 11-year period ending in December he was locked in his room, placed in restraints and had a cellphone confiscated. The suit also said he was subjected to extreme psychological abuse.

The suit maintains state regulators have investigated and cited the children’s home for a number of practices. In addition, it said incident reports established the use of unjustifiable restraint 610 times in five years, 41 times leading to injury, as well as incidents of sexual abuse and assault.

Goldstein said it may be true that children were injured over the past five years but he said it was unlikely due to restraints or attacks. He said the facility is obligated to report all incidents that could be considered serious to the state.

And he denied any practice that would involve children’s undergarments when they returned to the facility.

“That is not allowed and I don’t believe it happened,” Goldstein said. “It would be inconsistent with policy over at least the past five years.””

Valley of the Moon Children’s Home hit with civil rights lawsuit over alleged abuse [The Press-Democrat 5/18/15 by Paul Payne]

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