Twenty-Seven Kids Removed From Ranch for Kids! UPDATED and Now Lawsuit

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check out our 5 previous posts on Ranch For Kids here.

PoundPup Files on Ranch for Kids can be found here.

“In an unprecedented action, the state of Montana removed 27 children from the Ranch for Kids in Lincoln County on Tuesday morning after receiving multiple complaints of physical and psychological abuse and neglect at the private program for troubled youth.

Acting on an order from Lincoln County District Court Judge Matthew J. Cuffe, and with support of law enforcement, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services personnel took the children from the remote ranch outside Rexford, and suspended its license.

Officials said the children, boys and girls roughly ages 11 to 17, are safe, but they could not disclose specific information to protect their privacy. They believed all children were accounted for Tuesday.

DPHHS had received multiple reports of students being “hit, kicked, body-slammed and spit on,” DPHHS Deputy Director Laura Smith said Tuesday, just hours after the children’s removal. Reports included assault by staff members and “excessive discipline,” including 15- to 20-mile walks in harsh weather conditions on remote roads with inappropriate shoes at night. The agency also received reports of weapons on the property.

“The health, safety, and welfare of all children who live in Montana is paramount, and no child should have to experience what multiple sources have alleged has happened at the Ranch for Kids,” DPHHS Director Sheila Hogan said in a statement.

Multiple agencies including law enforcement authorities were involved in the removal of the children. Montana Department of Justice spokesman John Barnes said no arrests were made Tuesday but authorities would investigate pending interviews with the children.

“On a personal and professional level, knowing the pervasiveness of this abuse and neglect of these children and the allegations involving abuse and neglect, I am deeply, deeply relieved and grateful for our partnership with law enforcement on getting these kids safe,” said Smith, who called Tuesday’s action “one of the most complex child welfare and operational events we’ve had at our agency.”

No one answered a Tuesday afternoon call to the Ranch for Kids seeking comment.

The Ranch for Kids’ owners can request a hearing within 10 days to determine whether the license should remain suspended.

Although complaints about the Ranch for Kids had been made to an oversight board under a different state agency for years, those were not sent to the state health department. DPHHS had no regulatory power over Ranch for Kids until July 1, when new state laws passed during the 2019 legislative session went into effect, according to Smith.

With the new law pending, DPHHS began receiving complaints from several sources including former students and staff, law enforcement and U.S. Forest Service personnel about the program, which specializes in children adopted overseas, many from Russia. The program’s website said it focused on children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and Reactive Attachment Disorder.

Reported punishments included withholding food and prolonged isolation, Smith said. One report involved a nail gun being shot at a child. Runaways were not reported, she said. Reports also stated that medications were not properly administered or regulated, and that children did not receive medical attention when it was “critically needed.”

As of Tuesday, she said, “all 27 children are safe. … They are in a trauma-informed safe place.” Dr. Eric Arzubi, a Billings Clinic board-certified psychiatrist specializing in child and adolescent issues, is working with DPHHS on the cases, she said.

The agency was trying to reach the children’s parents and guardians, and set up a toll-free hotline — 1-888-200-8002 — for those people and others with information about the Ranch for Kids.

On Tuesday, the agency credited a 2019 Missoulian series — Troubled Kids, Troubled System — on private alternative treatment programs for adolescents, and the fact that the only oversight for those programs, most of them based in northwestern Montana, came from a board whose majority membership comprised programs’ owners and operators.

The series led to new laws being passed that dissolved the previous board and put regulation under DPHHS, instead of the state Department of Labor and Industry. That agency received 58 complaints about the programs during 12 years — including 10 complaints involving Ranch for Kids and program staff — but no program was significantly sanctioned.

On May 17, the Department of Labor and Industry board that previously oversaw programs proposed taking action against Ranch for Kids, based on a complaint filed in September 2017 by the parents of a former program attendee. The complaint alleged that the program physically, verbally and emotionally abused the student and other children in its care.

At the time, Bill Sutley, the executive director of Ranch for Kids, denied any unprofessional conduct in a response to the complaint, according to a notice to Ranch for Kids from the Department of Labor and Industry board. According to that notice, Sutley claimed the program did not employ punishment or behavior modification techniques that “lack dignity and respect.”

Sutley claimed the hours-long walks were “only to get out to get fresh air,” according to the notice, which said Ranch for Kids provided conflicting information about the purpose for the walks.

However, an investigation by the board previously responsible for program oversight, the Private Alternative Adolescent Residential or Outdoor Program (PAARP) Board, found “reasonable cause” that Ranch for Kids “failed to meet accepted standards of practice.” In the notice to the program, the board cited disciplinary measures that included 5- to 22-mile “therapy walks,” removing mattresses from participants who wet their bed, and withholding phone calls from parents.

Despite the board’s proposed action against Ranch for Kids, the program still received its annual license renewal under the same board. On July 1, the oversight of private alternative residential programs was moved to the state health department.”

‘Hit, kicked … spit on’: Montana alleges abuse, removes kids from private youth program

[Missoulian 7/23/19 by Cameron Evans]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

Update: “An Oklahoma mother is demanding answers after the treatment center she sent her son to now faces allegations of abuse.

The center is now shut down and more than two dozen children are in DHS custody.

“You have to explain to your child you haven’t abandoned him,” Jennifer Brantley said.

Jennifer Brantley is stuck in Oklahoma while her child is confined in Montana.

Both are wondering what comes next.

“He’s back where he was before we got him,” Brantley said. “Back in the system.”

The Moore mother is a foster parent to four boys, all brothers coming from a broken home.

The oldest, Sergio, is diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), deemed homicidal, and has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

His condition is so severe he needed medical treatment when he entered his pre-teen years.

But that help here in our state is slim to none.

“I literally had a list and called every place in Oklahoma on the list and they could not take him due to the severity of his mental illness,” Brantley said.

Brantley forced to find help out of state when she came across Ranch for Kids in Montana, a facility that specifically caters to children overcoming illnesses like Sergio’s.

“Good faith that they were going to take care of our child,” Brantley said. “Researched and researched. The best of the best.”

Sergio spent months getting the counseling he needed at Ranch for Kids while Brantley spent $5,000 each month for the care.

But this week, authorities raided the ranch following allegations of psychological and physical abuse.

All 27 patients were placed into Montana state custody.

Sergio told his mom he too was a victim.

“He was told ‘you are 12 years old and you need to suck this up,’” Brantley said.

This verbal abuse just the tip of the iceberg.

The allegations range from “children being body-slammed” to being “spit on by staff,” even a “nail gun being shot at a child.”

Brantley is left stunned.

“If any progress had been made at the ranch, it’s now no longer,” Brantley said.

The ranch is firing back and denying all claims.

“Here`s the thing, our passion is to help these kids heal from trauma and now the state is saying we are traumatizing these kids?” the Executive Director for Ranch for Kids William Sutley said. “Well, that is just not true.”

But Brantley is trusting her son’s words.

“It’s real,” Brantley said. “It happened.”

Some patients have been reunited with their parents but Brantley is battling her own challenges.

She’s struggling to come up with the money to get Sergio out of DHS in Montana and into another rehabilitation center.

You can help Brantly and Sergio through the GoFundMe set up for the family. “

Oklahoma mother struggles to bring son home from out-of-state treatment center following abuse allegations

[KFOR 7/25/19 by Peyton Yager]

Update 2: “Imagine being locked in a closet for two days with no food or water, and only a bucket — that’s what some people say were the conditions at the Ranch for Kids in Rexford.

More than 20 children were recently removed from the ranch , and now several former students are coming forward with their stories.

Allegations of severe abuse had escalated in both frequency and severity in recent months, according to several accounts.

MTN News reached out to former Ranch for Kids student Dasha Springer who is now a successful property manager living in Salt Lake City.

However, life wasn’t always that way for Springer. She was adopted at age 10 from Russia and struggled to get along with her new adoptive family.

“I had a really hard time getting along with my family. I caused a lot of pain for my family and my mom and dad didn’t know what else to do. So they told me they were going to send me away to this horse ranch in Montana,” explained Springer.

Springer attended Ranch for Kids between 2007 and 2009 and says her parents paid between $3,000 and $4,000 a month for her to attend the facility.

Ranch for Kids executive director William Sutley told MTN News that the Lincoln County facility is specifically designed to help kids like Springer.

Sutley says Ranch for Kids specializes in children that super [sic] from Attachment Disorder and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

“We specifically work with adoptees, mostly international adoptees, who have fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and attachment disorder and that combination,” said Sutley.

Springer told MTN News that at first the Ranch for Kids was great for her and that the staff was incredibly welcoming and friendly.

“The moment that I got there the staff were super friendly, the staff that I had, she was amazing,” said Springer.

However, things quickly took a dark turn, according to Springer. She recalled that if she was assigned to work with Sutley, she’d spend eight-to-nine hours a day digging holes with other students — without shoes, water or food.

She vividly recalled one instance where she thought the Ranch’s discipline went too far.

“So, there was this little boy, five years old. He had a rubber band ball and he wanted to keep building the rubber band ball, so he stole a rubber band and one of the staff members caught him,” Springer said.

“And at the end of the schoolhouse there’s a closet so they stuck this five-year-old boy for two days with no food or water and just a bucket,” she added.

While Sutley is not a licensed therapist, he explained that the methods at the Ranch for Kids provides structure and discipline. He also responded to the abuse allegations being made.

“Most of the individuals who are the source of that information are probably suffering from some form of mental illness,” Sutley said of those making accusations against The Ranch for Kids. “We need to really look at the evidence, and not just the unsubstantiated claims.”

The Ranch for Kids co-founder Joice Sterkel — who has a nursing background and used to run an adoption agency — echoed similar sentiments to Sutley.

“Anybody that knows me, knows my family, knows my children would understand that we would never do something like this,” said Sterkel.

Sutley told MTN News that the ranch is still operating, even without funding or children — and he hopes to have his license renewed soon. He added that all he wants is his fair day in court and to have evidence presented from both sides.

Local law enforcement and the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services removed 27 children on July 23 and report they are currently in safe and secure locations.”

Ex-Ranch for Kids student speaks out, executive director responds to abuse allegations

[KPAX 8/1/19 by Maren Su]

Update 3: “Two weeks after the state health department removed 27 children from Ranch for Kids in Rexford due to allegations of physical and psychological abuse, the private therapeutic facility has officially appealed the suspension of its license.

Staff and Ranch For Kids Executive Director Bill Sutley face allegations that kids at that facility in the small remote town of Rexford were spit on, body slammed and forced to take walks on remote roads for miles as punishment.

Sutley told Montana Public Radio in a previous interview that kids would go on quote “therapy walks,” which could be up to 16 miles, in the middle of the night as punishment for running away. He maintains that the practice wasn’t abusive and says the children’s basic needs were met.

Sutley refutes other allegations that kids were physically or psychologically abused. The day after kids were removed from the facility, he said the ranch would appeal state health officials’ decision to suspend its license.

Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) spokesperson Jon Ebelt says the department officially received that appeal Tuesday. “The hearing date has not yet been set. That would be the next step, to respond to this written request and then move forward with a hearing date. So, that’s really where we’re at.”

The hearing and all documents related to the case are confidential. Ebelt was unable to say Tuesday whether the hearing date will be made public.”

Ranch For Kids Appeals License Suspension

[Montana Public Radio 8/6/19 by Aaron Bolton]

“The state is still caring for an unknown number of children removed from the Ranch for Kids in Rexford last month due to allegations of chronic abuse. Health officials removed 27 children from the private facility that said it provided therapy to children with severe emotional and behavioral issues.

The Montana Department of Health and Human Services (DPHHS) says it received allegations of abuse at the Ranch for Kids about a month before it gained regulatory oversight of the ranch and 13 similar facilities July 1. HHS says its subsequent investigation substantiated allegations that staff hit, kicked and body slammed children and forced them to go on 16-mile walks on remote roads in bad conditions.

Department spokesperson Jon Ebelt told MTPR in a recent interview that a portion of children taken into state custody are still waiting to be placed in other programs.

“And a majority of the 27 children have been reunited with their parents,” Ebelt said. “The ones that have not, we’re working with their parents and the court to place these children in the most suitable facility. It’ll be a case-by-case basis.”

In an emailed statement Friday, the DPHHS said the unspecified number of children were taking longer to place because they are “complex welfare cases.”

The state also suspended Ranch for Kids’ license to operate, something the Ranch is appealing. The appeal hearing itself and its date are confidential, but Ebelt says DPHHS will post the outcome on its website.

Ranch for Kids Executive Director Bill Sutley has denied allegations of physical abuse. MTPR reached out to Sutley for comment, but did not hear back in time for this story.”

Some Children Removed From ‘Ranch For Kids’ Remain In State Custody

[Montana Public Radio 8/16/19 by Aaron Bolton]

“Montana Health officials Friday released new rules for private therapeutic homes that previously fell under the authority of a mostly self-regulated board. This comes a month after the state health department removed two-dozen children from one of those facilities due to allegations of abuse.

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is asking the public to comment on 61 new rules that will govern 18 private therapeutic programs for kids statewide.

They cover everything from removal of children to staffing ratios. Some specifically touch on allegations health officials raised against Ranch for Kids, including bans on withholding food and excessive physical exercise. A law passed this year giving health officials oversight allowed for the removal 27 children from that facility last month.

State Sen. Diane Sands, who sponsored the legislation, told MTPR earlier this month that she expects DPHHS to take more action under the new rules it released Friday.

“Some of these facilities are probably fine, and we will find that out as the department goes in and has the authority to look at what is their training and certification for people who are providing the kinds of therapies that these children are in need of.”

The new rules also prohibit programs from cutting off communication between participants and their parents or legal guardians, and call for formal agreements between programs and parents detailing what services and care will be provided. Parents would be required to sign-off on formal plans setting goals and measures of progress for their children as well.

DPHHS is still overseeing programs under current regulations. The department declined to comment on its proposed regulations Friday, saying that it will provide comment closer to a public hearing on Sept. 12.

Sands, who had some input on the rule-making process, expects the rules to be approved mostly as is.

“Because they are exactly consistent with what the requirements are for the other programs the state currently licenses that deal with kids with serious emotional or behavioral problems.”

MTPR called all 18 programs that would fall under the new rules. Some were unaware they had been released and others were still thumbing through the 55-page document. Most programs did not answer or were not available for comment.

Public comments on the new rules are due Sept. 20.

Send your comments to:
Gwen Knight
Department of Public Health and Human Services, Office of Legal Affairs
P.O. Box 4210, Helena, Montana, 59604-4210
fax (406) 444- 9744;
e-mail dphhslegal@mt.gov

Comments must be received no later than 5:00 p.m., September 20, 2019.”

State Health Department Crafts New Rules For Private Therapeutic Homes
[Montana Public Radio 8/23/19 by Aaron Bolton]

The rules can be seen here.

Update 4: “A lawsuit filed Monday alleges a child at a private therapeutic home that was closed this summer amid abuse allegations was also forced to work on employees’ personal property.

According to the complaint, Rachel Limewood of Washington state sent her child, referred to by the initials D.O., to the Ranch for Kids to get treatment for reactive attachment disorder. The Ranch’s website says it specializes in treating Russian adoptees with that and fetal alcohol syndrome.

Court documents allege that D.O. was forced to perform maintenance and repair work at the defendants’ properties for eight hours at a time. The suit argues that meets the definition of an employee under Montana state law.

The suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Missoula, names Ranch for Kids, Executive Director Bill Sutley, his mother and Vice President Joyce Sterkel, brother and Presiding Officer Daniel Sutley as well as 10 unnamed individuals.

Allegations laid out in court documents also say D.O. was subjected to physical and mental abuse as well as periods of isolation that could last “weeks on end.” State health officials made similar allegations when they removed kids from the Ranch and suspended its license this summer.

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services says it’s still working through Ranch for Kids’ appeal and will announce the outcome of the process on its website.

The family is also alleging that the Ranch was deceptive in its advertising practices, amounting to fraud. The complaint calls for the defendants to pay $75,000 in damages, attorney fees and back wages for D.O.’s work. Documents also call for a trial by jury.

Calls to Ranch for Kids were not returned by deadline and the law firm representing the family, Reep, Bell, Laird & Jasper, was not available for comment.”

Ranch For Kids Faces Additional Abuse Charges

[Montana Public Radio 10/8/19 by Aaron Bolton]

Update 5: “Two new lawsuits filed against an already embattled program in northwest Montana for troubled children allege those attending the Ranch for Kids for treatment were exploited to work on a ranch, a pizzeria and a movie theater.

The new filings against Ranch for Kids brings the total to three civil lawsuits since state regulators suspended the program’s license and removed 27 children from the Rexford facility in a July raid with state and local law enforcement.

The new lawsuits carry the same allegations of abuse and neglect as described by state investigators and which served as the basis for the first lawsuit filed against Ranch for Kids and owner Bill Sutley in October. What has expanded in the lawsuits, according to Rob Bell, whose firm represents the families in all three civil actions, are the plaintiffs’ claims that their children were exploited for free labor.

“We knew they were being required to work on Sutley’s properties,” Bell said. “But what we’ve learned since is that these kids were also being required to work at businesses that were owned by Sutley and family members.”

In a Thursday morning phone call with the Missoulian, Sutley refused to comment on the lawsuits.

The plaintiffs in the two new lawsuits, both filed in the past week, allege their children were put to work at Sutley’s ranch, as well as Fire and Slice, and the Majestic Theater, two businesses located in nearby Eureka. The Missoulian is attempting to reach them for comment.

All three lawsuits, filed by families from Washington, Virginia and Montana, include claims of physical and emotional abuse, practices of hiring unqualified staff, and treatment methods that set children further back, rather than improving their conditions.

Ranch for Kids billed itself as a therapeutic boarding school for children who were adopted from overseas. Its “expertise” included treating children with Reactive Attachment Disorder and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, although no employees there were certified for such treatment methods.

Residents in Rexford, roughly 100 people in the total population, told the Missoulian in July they had witnessed abuse of the children there by staff, and expressed frustrations with the inability to secure the children at the facility. State law enforcement said after the 27 children were removed that allegations of abuse and neglect dated back a decade.

In previous interviews, Sutley denied any allegations of abuse and neglect. The Ranch for Kids operators have appealed the suspension. The state health department has not yet issued a final ruling.”

Suits: Children used for free labor at Ranch for Kids
[Missoulian 1/9/2020 by Seaborn Larson]

Update 6: “The ranch lost its license permanently in December of 2020.”

“A conservator on behalf of one of 27 children removed from the Ranch for Kids has filed a federal complaint against an adoption agency for not completing post-adoption reports and not investigating the child’s treatment at the ranch.

The following information is according to U.S. District Court documents.

The plaintiff, Kristin Mayer, is the conservator for a boy who is now 18 years old. To protect his identity, the Tribune will refer to him as John Doe.

Doe was born in China, and the Chinese government assumed his care after he found abandoned as an infant.

Dr. Patrick and Tari Butler received permission to adopt Doe in 2015 when the boy was about 13. The Butlers are a married couple living in Illinois.

The adoption organization was Madison Adoption Associates.

The Butlers brought Doe to the U.S. from China in March 2015 and completed the adoption process, making Doe an American citizen.

Not long after the adoption, the Butlers decided they no longer wanted custody of Doe. Four months after bringing him over from China, the Butlers sent Doe to Idaho with the goal of “rehoming” him with another family.

For unknown reasons, that process was not completed in Idaho.

In December 2015, Doe was sent to the Ranch for Kids near Rexford in Montana.

At the time, the ranch billed itself as a “Christian home for ‘at risk’ adoptees who may be experiencing difficulties in their new families in the U.S.A.” Parents would board adopted children at the ranch, sometimes for years.

On July 23, 2019, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services issued a statement that the State of Montana had removed 27 children from the ranch due to allegations of long-term child abuse and neglect, including physical and psychological abuse.

The specific alleged abuses of children aged 11-17 included staff disciplining children by sending them on 15- to 20-mile walks on remote forest service roads in harsh conditions, with improper or no shoes.

The ranch was also accused of withholding food; shooting a nail gun at a student; prolonged isolation; lack of medical attention; withholding and improper storage of medications; and failure to report runaways, even in winter.

The state immediately suspended the facility’s license. The ranch lost its license permanently in December of 2020.

The Montana Department of Justice led the investigation into the ranch. After the DOJ turned over its findings, the Lincoln County Attorney on March 10 determined there was not enough evidence to file criminal charges in the matter and the file was closed.

A half-dozen complaints were filed by parents and guardians of children who were at the ranch, including two in federal court that were settled on April 15.

Mayer’s complaint goes on to call the ranch a “de facto prison camp” and states that Doe was strangled at least twice by staff, once until unconscious. The complaint says the ranch did not seek medical attention for Doe after an accident involving a horse, he was involved in several “forced marches” and received psychological abuse and poor education.

When the Montana Department of Health and Human Services (DPHHS) removed him from the ranch, the State of Montana took custody of him because the Butlers reportedly did not want him back.

Court documents say Doe is unable to care for himself and is now in a group home.

The complaint states that the China Center for Children’s Welfare requires six post-placement reports over five years after the adoption is complete.

The adoptive agency is responsible for reports at 6 months, one year and two years, and Madison Adoption Associates (MAA) policy requires an additional visit by the agency after 30 days, according to its website.

Reports, according to the MAA website, require an essay and multiple photographs of the child and the adoptive family.

The federal complaint alleges that MAA completed no post-adoption reports for Doe.

Further, MAA did not investigate Doe’s placement after the Butlers sent him away, per the complaint.

Although the complaint says MAA did have discussions with both the Butlers and Ranch for Kids, it claims MAA relied on Ranch for Kids’ representation of Doe’s progress.

MAA allegedly believed Ranch for Kids when staff told the agency that Doe would soon be removed from the ranch and would likely be forced into a lockdown facility such as a psychiatric hospital.

The complaint says MAA did not adequately investigate whether placement at Ranch for Kids was in Doe’s best interests or whether it was a safe place for him.

For allegations of negligence, the complaint seeks unspecified damages, court costs and other relief as the court system deems just.”

Montana Complainst Against Adoption Agency has ties to Ranch For Kids
[Great Falls Tribune 4/19/21 by Traci Rosenbaum]