California sent thousands of vulnerable children to out-of-state facilities run by a for-profit company. Reports of rampant abuse followed. Now, confronted with a Chronicle and Imprint investigation, the state is bringing every child home.

12/11/2020

Far from Home | Far from Safe

California sent thousands of vulnerable children to out-of-state facilities run by a for-profit company. Reports of rampant abuse followed. Now, confronted with a Chronicle and Imprint investigation, the state is bringing every child home.

Sequel facility closes amid abuse claims in New Mexico

12/15/2021

Yet Another Sequel-run Facility Closes Amid Abuse Claims, as the Private Company Settles with Family of Slain Foster Youth

A New Mexico residential facility for youth run by the for-profit Sequel Youth & Family Services will close following findings that staff physically abused children and failed to provide a “humane” environment.

Report Details Abuse at For-Profit Youth Residential Centers

12/18/2020

Confronted Over Abuse, California is Bringing 116 Kids Home from Far-Away Programs. Counties are Scrambling.

County officials across California are scrambling to find new homes for more than 100 children with mental health and behavioral issues, following the state’s landmark decision to stop shipping these young people to far-away facilities. The state’s abrupt shift came in response to an investigation by The San Francisco Chronicle and The Imprint, which detailed allegations of violent abuse at institutions certified by California.

1/14/2021

California Budgets $8 Million to Bring Youth Home from Troubled Facilities

California will spend more than $8 million to find safer homes for children returning from troubled out-of-state residential programs, in response to a Chronicle and Imprint investigation into rampant reports of abuse at the facilities.

1/28/2021

Amid Abuse Reports, Sequel-run Facility That Treated California Children Will Close

Sequel Youth & Family Services announced this week that it will close Wyoming residential campus Normative Services Inc. “after an evaluation of viability” of the program. Photo: Ashleigh Snoozy, Sheridan Press
A Wyoming treatment center where California had long sent troubled youth will shut down in March, following a Chronicle and Imprint investigation into violent abuse at its campus and others operated by Sequel Youth & Family Services.

2/8/2021

After Abuse Probe, Another Sequel-run Program that Housed California Youth Will Close

One of the nation’s largest youth residential treatment programs is shutting down after California officials, prompted by a San Francisco Chronicle and Imprint investigation into rampant abuse allegations, decided to stop sending vulnerable children there.

Report Details Abuse at For-Profit Youth Residential Centers

3/5/2021

California Leaders Grapple with How to Keep Troubled Youth From Being Sent Out of State

Josiah, 19, at Phoenix Green Park in Sacramento, California, on Thursday, December 17, 2020. Josiah spent one year at Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Photo: The San Francisco Chronicle
Answering for its yearslong failure to protect hundreds of young people housed at dangerous out-of-state residential treatment centers, the California Legislature is now tackling how to better serve its most troubled youth on probation and in foster care — closer to their homes, families and communities.

out-of-state residential facilities

6/25/2021

California Lawmakers Consider Permanent Ban on Sending Youth to Out-of-State Treatment Centers

Legislation pending in the California Legislature would permanently bar child welfare and juvenile justice authorities from sending troubled youth to out-of-state residential facilities.

7/19/2021

California Bans Out-of-State Treatment Programs After Reporters Investigate Abuse

California has banned the practice of sending foster youth and teens charged with crimes to faraway residential treatment programs, following an investigation by The Imprint.

Barred from Sending Probation and Foster Youth Out of State, California Officials Have Managed to Find Them Local Homes and Programs

9/2/2021

Barred from Sending Probation and Foster Youth Out of State, California Officials Have Managed to Find Them Local Homes and Programs

More than 130 children have been brought back to California and counties now have more than $100 million to develop in-state, locally based programs.