How Could You? Hall of Shame-Chase Dakota Bridges case-Child Death UPDATED
This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.
From Tulsa, Oklahoma, “an 11-year-old boy who was killed in late December while attempting to cross an interstate highway was in state custody at a foster-care group home from which another juvenile had run away when he was killed in 2013 while also attempting to cross a busy highway.
The juvenile who died Dec. 28 — identified by the state Medical Examiner’s Office as Chase Dakota Bridges — was trying to get across Interstate 244 in west Tulsa.
A 2010 Subaru hit the boy on the highway near 31st Street, just north of the split at U.S. 75. At least one other vehicle reportedly hit the youth, according to a previous Tulsa World story.
Chase had been sitting on the inside shoulder of the interstate’s northbound lanes before getting up to cross west to east about 6 p.m. that day, according to a previous story.
Tulsa police confirmed that Chase was in the custody of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. He was a resident of Realation Community Services of Oklahoma, about two miles south of where he was killed, Realation owner Mark Jackson said.
“He went missing from care,” Jackson said. “He’d walked off campus that afternoon.”
Realation is a group home in west Tulsa that contracts with DHS to house abused and neglected youths. Jackson said the goal of the facility is to work with the youths so they can return to a family unit.
Chase is the second juvenile who has walked away from the facility and been killed by a vehicle while trying to cross a highway.
Christopher Seaton , 11, was killed in April 2013 while attempting to cross Interstate 44, according to Tulsa World archives. He and a 14-year-old resident were fleeing the facility with staffers pursuing them after climbing through a hole in the fence of a nearby business.
Three pickups struck Christopher after he jumped a concrete barrier and apparently tripped while crossing the median. One staff member at the group home resigned, and another employee was required to take additional training, according to a DHS investigative report released nine months after the incident.
Tosha Seaton and James Seaton, Christopher’s parents, filed a federal lawsuit against DHS and Realation in 2015. The Seatons allege in the ongoing litigation that the two institutions were negligent in the care for their son, according to court records.
Realation is categorized as a Level D facility, which is for children with serious emotional and behavioral health needs, and operates in two former hotels at 2026 W. Skelly Dr.
Sheree Powell, DHS director of communications and community relations, issued a statement Friday evening, saying that DHS’ Office of Client Advocacy “is investigating the circumstances of this child (Chase) leaving the group home to establish whether or not the facility followed protocols designed to prevent the child from running away short of locking children down, which we cannot do by state and federal requirements.”
“In addition to the investigation, and to ensure the safety of the children currently in the group home, we put an immediate safety plan in place that requires the group home staff to maintain line-of-sight supervision for all youth,” she continued.
“The group home director has advised us they have every intention of relocating their facility which would resolve the issue of being located near a busy highway. However, we still need to establish whether or not the provider agency staff appropriately handled the incident leading up to the child running away according to licensing protocols and agency policy.”
Jackson confirmed that the company is looking to relocate the facility to a rural area, partially in response to the two pedestrian deaths.
“Our kids, with what they’ve been through in their lives, have a lot of noise in their heads,” Jackson said. “And I think the rural setting would help to quiet that.”
A rural setting, he said, also would provide a considerable buffer zone between the facility and busy urban streets.”
Juvenile killed in December automobile-pedestrian collision was in DHS foster care[Tulsa World 1/7/07 by Harrison Grimwood]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update: “A troubled Tulsa group home for abused and neglected children will close June 30, its owner said Friday.
Realation Group Home, …, notified the Oklahoma Department of Human Services on Friday afternoon that it would be terminating its contract, owner Mark Jackson told the Tulsa World.
“Given the current situation, it’s with a heavy heart that we just feel it is in our best interest to terminate our contract at this time,” Jackson said, paraphrasing from a letter he sent to DHS.
Jackson declined to elaborate on the reason for terminating the contract.
DHS had stopped placing children at the facility while it investigates the death of a boy who died after running away from the facility. It was the second such death in four years involving a child who was fatally struck by a vehicle while fleeing the facility.
The facility currently has 21 children, with seven scheduled to step down in their treatment plan, a move toward placing them back with their families, DHS spokeswoman Sheree Powell said.
While the spokeswoman said the dwindling numbers were not indicative of the future of the group home, she did acknowledge that an ongoing investigation into the latest death had reached the review stage.
DHS contracts with two companies owned by Jackson, Realation Community Services of Oklahoma, licensed for up 16 boys, and Realation Health Care, licensed for up to 16 girls.
The facility is a D+ licensed group home that contracts with DHS to take children 8 to 18 years old, although most of the children are aged 10 to 14.
Realation employs 33 full- and part-time workers, Jackson said.
The company has been in business for 17 years, with the past 16 years at its current location on Skelly Drive.
Asked if he thought DHS was preparing to terminate the contract, Jackson said he had been having “positive conversations” with the agency and didn’t believe the contract was going to be canceled.
Earlier Friday, Powell confirmed the agency’s Child Welfare Services division had been in discussions with Realation.
“They’ve been in discussion with Mark Jackson about the future of his facility and the kids there. And there’s been no official decision yet,” Powell said.
Chase Dakota Bridges, 11, a resident of Realation, was hit and killed about 6 p.m. Dec. 28, while attempting to cross Interstate 244 in west Tulsa near 31st Street.
Chase had walked away from the facility earlier in the day, according to a previous story. Another resident from the group home, Christopher Seaton, 11, was killed in April 2013 while attempting to cross Interstate 44.
Part of Realation’s protocol for runaways is to notify police. Many of the runaway reports are residents who repeatedly leave the facility, according to a previous story.
Police responded to 158 calls for service to the facility in 2016, 115 calls in 2015 and 119 calls in 2014, according to Tulsa Police Department records.
In an effort to address the issue, Jackson said previously that he intended to move the facility into a rural, Osage County area.
The Department of Human Services’ primary goal in placing youth in a Level D-plus group home, such as Realation, “is to help youth cope with and control” emotional, behavioral disorders or problems the youth might have through counseling and treatment, Powell said in a previous interview.
Level D-plus facilities are paid a fixed rate of $134 per day per bed.
Jackson said some of the children would be transitioning out of his facility anyway with the end of the school year.
The remaining children would most likely find “positive placements.”
“I think the majority of the kids will be able to transitions in a really positive way,” Jackson said.
Jackson said he would most likely sell the property once the contract ends.”
Troubled group home where two runaways died in traffic to close
[Tulsa World 5/1/17 by Curtis Killman and Harrison Grimwood]
It seems to me that someone should address the issue of “Why are kids so desperate to get away from this facility that they’re willing to risk death crossing a highway?”