County Probes Orangewood Child Shelter

Both the county Juvenile Justice Commission and the grand jury are investigating reports that children have been verbally, mentally and physically mistreated at the Orangewood Children’s Home, the county facility established to shelter abused and neglected children.

Investigators are looking at specific incidents involving a male staff member who allegedly “walked in” on adolescent girls while they were dressing and undressing and who forcibly removed a girl from a bathroom, injuring her hand, officials say.

Also being reviewed are allegations that children are routinely humiliated, physically restrained and sedated, and that staff members at the facility are untrained to care for the children, many of whom are already emotionally and physically traumatized when admitted.

Robert Theemling, director of Orangewood, acknowledged the investigation but said he is confident his staff will be cleared of all charges.

“Our practices are regularly inspected. . . . There are a lot of people looking at what we do,” Theemling said. “Our biggest worry is that people will rush to do Orangewood-bashing. We have people here who have worked a long time to make this facility successful, and I would hate to see them hurt by this.”

Gene Howard, director of Children’s Services for the county, also defended Orangewood and said an internal investigation conducted by the department found “nothing to substantiate the allegations.”

“We talked with staff, reviewed incident reports and other records and found nothing significant that needed to be addressed,” Howard said.

“Regular reviews of operations at Orangewood (by the Juvenile Justice Commission) have been positive,” he added.

The allegations were made in a complaint filed by a foster parent who had been caring for two homeless children, ages 10 and 11, and subsequently arranged for them to be placed in Orangewood. She said she complained after visiting the children and hearing them describe conditions there.

Many of the allegations were supported by at least two former staff members at Orangewood, one of whom has provided a detailed written account of alleged mistreatment to the Juvenile Justice Commission and has asked to appear before the grand jury.

“In general, Orangewood is run like a military base,” wrote Dave Beck, a former group counselor at the facility, who said he was fired after a year there because of disagreements with his superiors about how to treat the youths in his care. “The children are put into a structure and made to conform to set rules and schedules that seem unnatural for children, especially children that have come from horrendous experiences and backgrounds.”

The other former counselor resigned after working there for five years.

Bruce Malloy, administrator of the Juvenile Justice Commission, which is responsible for oversight at Orangewood, confirmed that the facility has had a clean record. “We have never come across anything that related to these kinds of allegations.”

But he said the commission is taking the charges “very seriously” and coordinating its inquiry with a committee of the grand jury.

The initial review of the allegations was upgraded to a “formal inquiry” this week after members of the commission met with the complaining foster parent, Malloy said. He estimated that, thus far, the county has spent more than $100,000 sifting through medical records, talking with nurses, administrators, volunteers and in some cases even re-enacting events.

Besides specific allegations of mistreatment, the commission is also studying whether Orangewood needs to make institutional improvements, such as hiring more staff, providing better training and more thorough background checks, and improving grievance procedures and communication between staff and administration.

Malloy said the commission should complete its investigation within 30 days and will present a report and any recommendations to the presiding judge of Juvenile Court, C. Robert Jameson.

The allegations came as a shock to many of those involved with Orangewood because the facility has garnered a reputation as a well-run emergency shelter for the county’s battered and abused children. When the 166-bed facility was completed in 1985--funded mostly by private donations--it was hailed by then-President Ronald Reagan as the most successful public-private venture in the nation.

Its success in providing a homelike atmosphere for the children--who range from toddlers to young adults aged 18-inspired similar efforts in several other California counties.

The executive director of the Orangewood Foundation, a nonprofit corporation founded to raise money and support the children’s facility, expressed concern Friday that Orangewood’s reputation could be damaged by the charges, even if they subsequently prove to be unfounded.

“Any quality-of-care issues would be of significant concern,” said William G. Steiner, former director of Orangewood and now the foundation’s executive director. But he added: “The foundation has a big stake in Orangewood and has always had an oversight responsibility. As executive director, I have seen nothing to shake our confidence.”

Steiner said he has nearly day-to-day contact with the facility and its staff and has seen no harsh or punitive treatment of children. “All of the feedback that I get as well as my own observation is that the children get competent care,” he said.

However, at least two former counselors have publicly expressed concern about the military-like regimentation of the children and alleged abusive behavior.

Beck, the former group counselor who was fired, cited several incidents in which counselors acted like drill sergeants, screaming and yelling and marching children around a playground “for at least a half-hour to punish them” for minor infractions, such as not standing still.

He said girls were “trained to be like monkeys” and made to perform as “gofers” and servants for the staff to curry favors.

Beck also described physical restraint actions--alluded to by the staff as “make him eat the carpet”--in which counselors would literally jump on children to subdue them for inappropriate behavior. “This would work but it was also physical abuse,” he said.

Beck also said many of the children were heavily sedated to control their behavior but that the staff often felt “uninformed about the changes in medication, the effects on the kids, and were surprised at the unusual behavior changes the kids went through.”

Laura Prater, who worked at Orangewood for five years before resigning in 1989, contended in an interview that administrators are consumed with protecting its public image, to the detriment of caring for the children.

She said many members of the staff--especially old-timers who had also worked at Juvenile Hall before coming to Orangewood--retain an “institutional” attitude of dealing with children.

Prater described incidents in which children not favored by counselors were humiliated and mocked. In one instance a counselor rearranged the hairdo of a little girl and exhibited her to the rest of the children in a “mocking way because they didn’t like her.”

Prater said she once was asked to help restrain a teen-age boy who had refused to go to his room but “stepped away” when she realized that the other counselor was deliberately hurting the boy’s leg.

Both Prater and Beck expressed general support for Orangewood but said the system must become more focused on the children.

“Right now the staff is treated as if they are there to be policemen and watchdogs, but they are much more than that,” Prater said. “They are there to give children back self-esteem and love; to help children realize there are people in the world who care about them.”

Theemling confirmed that both Prater and Beck were former counselors, but did not comment on the circumstances under which they left. “I know there have been staff members who have left of their own volition or as a result of personnel action who were not satisfied we were doing all we should for the children,” he said.

“I don’t want to describe Beck as a disgruntled employee,” he said, “but he may have been uncomfortable at Orangewood.”

As for the foster mother’s allegations, he said the complaint presents only one side of the story and characterized it as an attempt to paint conditions with a broad brush.

Citing confidentiality of personnel matters, Theemling would not respond to specific allegations of abuse. But he said that while Orangewood does have rules and guidelines for the children, punishment is not excessive. Counselors are required to make a report whenever they are physically involved with a youngster and children are restrained only if they pose a danger to themselves or others.

Theemling said children with mental health problems are prescribed drugs only to stabilize their conditions. “But no one ties them down and forces them to take drugs. They often refuse,” he added.