Face of Nation : The removal of 27 children at a private facility for adopted children in Montana this week was the culmination of years of efforts to effectively regulate private youth treatment programs — and it “may just be the tip of the iceberg,” the lawmaker who spearheaded the reform effort said Thursday.
The children were removed on Tuesday from the Ranch for Kids in Rexford, in Lincoln County along the Canadian border, in response to what state officials called frequent and severe allegations of physical and psychological abuse. Some have already been reunited with their parents, state officials said.
The crackdown by the state Department of Public Health and Human Services came only three weeks after a new law to regulate facilities like Ranch for Kids went into effect on July 1. At least 12 previous regulatory measures had failed until The Missoulian newspaper of Missoula published the results of a yearlong investigation in January detailing critical failures in oversight at some of the state’s so-called alternative adolescent residences.
Among other shortfalls, the Missoulian investigation found that unlicensed counselors cared for children with serious disorders and that children were often isolated from their parents for months with no way to report abuses.
State Sen. Diane Sands, a Democrat from Missoula who led efforts to enact the law, told NBC News on Thursday that she hadn’t expected the Health Department to move so quickly. The rules are still being written, she said, but “when the tip came in and the information was of such a serious nature, there was enough evidence to go directly to a judge.”The Missoulian, meanwhile, quoted Sutley as denying some of the allegations and saying others were blown out of proportion to discredit the facility. He acknowledged that children were sometimes sent on long walks as a form of discipline, but he said that never happened under improper conditions, the newspaper reported.
For years, alternative adolescent residences were overseen by a board under the state Department of Labor and Industry, not the Health Department. The majority of the members of the Labor Department board were industry representatives; faith-based or religious programs were exempt from any regulation or licensing. That changed on July 1.
Many of the previously unregulated facilities are in the isolated, rural northwestern part of the state, far even from major highways, much less regulatory institutions. “This area up there has a long history of these churches that are created,” Sands said. “They change their name and are just a vehicle for all kinds of people to do all kinds of things.”
In its publicity materials, Ranch for Kids describes itself as “based on Christian principles.” In state registration and federal tax documents, it says it is an adjunct ministry of Epicenter International Missions Ministry, and in 2012, it argued that it was exempt from licensing regulations under the religious exception.
The following year, a state judge agreed with the Labor Department oversight board’s contention that Ranch for Kids had falsely claimed religious affiliation to avoid state regulation, noting that Epicenter had no building, no congregation and no ordained clergy. The ranch then registered with the industry-dominated state board.
No contact information for Epicenter International was listed in publicly available state records. “We are an economic benefit to our community,” she said at the time. “Our students provide community service here locally, and on a rotating basis we provide food and meals at our local soup kitchen.”
In its federal tax filings, the ranch says it is “a spinoff of Global Adoption Services Inc. for the purpose of providing respite care services for special adoptees from foreign countries making transitions to the United States.” Global Adoption Services, based in Bel Air, Maryland, is an organization accredited by the U.S. State Department to provide foreign adoption services.
Global Adoption Services didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Ranch for Kids was ever affiliated with it and under what circumstances it left the organization.
