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Brown releases plan to improve
By JIM ROSS © St. Petersburg Times, published January 9, 2001 LECANTO -- The Brown Schools isn't wasting time. Stung by a negative review from state regulators, Brown has promised to do better. The company is improving its core procedures, such as the way it develops treatment plans for the young people it serves. The company also has revised its operating program and shored up its admissions process. The state report already has prompted Brown to increase staff size and fix structural problems at its home base, the old Heritage Hospital building off County Road 491. In short, Brown is trying to show the state, and any skeptical Citrus residents, that it is working hard to improve. The company's effort is detailed in a thick corrective action plan it delivered late Friday to the Department of Children and Families office in Wildwood. Children and Families employees will read that report and continue to keep an eye on Brown, as they have promised to do. Children and Families officials had not read the entire report Monday. A spokeswoman, Renea Smith, said her agency had no comment. "I think the plan is very comprehensive. I think it shows a very quick response," Brown spokeswoman Donna Burtanger said. "A great deal of it has already started, and it is to be completed very, very quickly." Brown operates a residential treatment facility for adolescents who suffer from severe emotional problems. Some of those youngsters have been sexually abused. Others have been accused of criminal wrongdoing but are in Brown's care because the court deemed them incompetent, because of emotional or developmental problems, to proceed with their cases. Children and Families is obliged by state law to help these clients. It has hired Brown, among other companies, to do the job. The agency refers children to Brown and then follows up to make certain the for-profit company is performing properly. The Lecanto facility can accept children from throughout Florida. Brown's first state report card was poor. Children and Families inspectors found all sorts of problems, from inadequate staffing to slipshod admission practices to excessive and inappropriate use of seclusion for unruly residents. Brown immediately improved staffing, matching the level (one staffer per four children during day hours, one staffer for every six students during sleep time) that Children and Families wanted. The company also fixed some structural problems, hopefully preventing another escape like the one in early December, when authorities say two young men dislodged a window, slipped out, stole a car and made off to Lee County. The corrective action plan goes into further detail. To handle admissions problems, Brown has audited all charts to make certain residents' paperwork is in order and to ensure each child has undergone the necessary screenings. The company also has prepared a form letter it will send to Children and Families districts that have not sent the proper paperwork when sending a resident to Brown. "I think it's indicative that we're taking this very seriously," Burtanger said. Brown had 39 residents on Monday, 13 of whom were in the "incompetent to proceed" juvenile program. The company said all 13 meet admission standards, but said it will enact a new system to ensure that need for services is properly demonstrated and documented. PREVIOUS COVERAGE:Report finds problems at Brown Schools Incidents at facility increase concerns Officers catch Brown Schools' boys Facility zoning faces challenge Police visit new youth home often Brown Schools await zoning review
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