Lawsuit: Youth Villages

“There are more allegations of abuse involving the non-profit Youth Villages.

Wednesday civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump announced he’s taking on his second case in two weeks involving the non-profit.

This time it includes a set of twins who say they were abused when under Youth Villages’ care.

“I was a foster child. I grew up without knowing my real parents,” said 19-year-old Latrice Johnson who says she and her twin Lawrence Johnson have been in foster care since they were 12-years-old.

Both are now college students, but said while they were living in various Youth Villages facilities in the city they were abused.

“I was beaten, knocked unconscious,” said Lawrence Johnson.

“I was refused my meals at nighttime. You’re supposed to get up every morning and wash your face, brush your teeth they would send us to school without doing any of that,” said Latrice Johnson.

The Johnsons say when they saw the Crump-led press conference last month about the death of 17-year-old Alegend Jones they decided to tell their story.

Jones’s mother alleges her daughter was told to take off her clothes in front of two male counselors before being body slammed to the ground, an allegation that a spokesperson for Youth Villages denies.

Youth Villages told Action News 5 last month, “The young person was brought to the health department by two female staff and was never alone with male staff or asked to disrobe.”

“They have the answers to what happened. They have the video. Show the video!” said Crump.

Crump says they are calling on an investigation by Child Protective Services.

He is also asking elected officials to stop funding the non-profit until they get some answers.

Youth Villages responded to the latest allegations involving the siblings but said in part they could not respond to individual cases due to confidentiality laws.

“Child abuse and neglect are not tolerated under any circumstances. Allegations of abuse or injury are taken very seriously and reported directly to Child Protective Services. Any allegation is thoroughly investigated by third parties,” said a Youth Villages spokesperson.

Here is the Full Statement:

We have been deeply saddened and alarmed by all allegations of inappropriate conduct and abusive behavior at Youth Villages facilities.

Child abuse and neglect are not tolerated under any circumstances. Allegations of abuse or injury are taken very seriously and reported directly to Child Protective Services. Any allegation is thoroughly investigated by third parties.

Due to confidentiality laws involving children who receive mental and behavioral health care, we cannot discuss the details of individual cases and the health issues related to youth receiving help in our programs. However, we can confirm that many of the statements and comments circulating continue to be inaccurate and misleading.

For nearly 40 years, we have provided care to children and youth with the most serious or severe emotional, behavioral and mental health issues on our residential campuses.

The care and well-being of the young people we help is always our most important concern.

Youth Villages sets strict hiring standards for those who work in our facilities. Every potential hire must pass extensive background checks before becoming a Youth Villages employee.

All Youth Villages’ staff are mandated reporters, meaning all our staff are obliged to report any suspicions, evidence, or hearsay of child neglect or abuse to the appropriate authorities and regulatory agencies as required by law. Youth Villages also provides all children ways to report grievances or improper treatment through readily available grievance forms. All grievances are thoroughly investigated and may involve CPS reporting.

At Youth Villages, we provide trauma-informed, intensive therapy and care to children and youth who have the most severe emotional, behavioral and mental health issues in our psychiatric residential treatment facilities. Youth Villages’ residential treatment facilities maintain strict staffing standards to provide a high staff-to-youth ratio to ensure the safety and well-being of those in our care. The young people in our care at our intensive residential treatment facilities are continually supported by physicians, nurse practitioners and nursing staff.

Our staff are trained in behavioral interventions and follow strict protocols when working with the young people we serve. Specifically, our staff are highly trained in the Crisis Prevention Institute’s (CPI) techniques and safety training, which emphasize prevention, intervention, and nonphysical methods of managing disruptive behavior. In addition to this intensive training before working with our youth, our staff receives regular ongoing CPI training to learn the latest, most effective methods for helping children in crisis. All interventions are reviewed internally, and, if necessary, are subject to third-party review.

We continue to work closely and transparently with all relevant public safety and health authorities in response to the incident that occurred on Nov. 16 and are awaiting the official medical reports. We are also fully cooperating with the official investigations. This has included providing surveillance camera footage of the incident to all relevant public safety and health authorities. Due to confidentiality and privacy laws, we do not share surveillance camera footage of our facilities publicly. For more information, see our update from Dec. 1: https://youthvillages.org/general-update-12-01-2023/.
-Youth Villages”
New abuse allegations surface as Youth Villages remains under fire
[Action News 5 12/14/23 by Kelli Cook]

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