Police visit new youth home often

In its two weeks of operation, officers have been called to Brown Schools at least a dozen times.

By BILL VARIAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 20, 2000

LECANTO -- Brown Schools has been open for business nearly two weeks at its new Citrus County home, and sheriff's deputies already have become pretty familiar with the residential center for emotionally disturbed adolescents.

Citrus County deputies have responded to at least a dozen calls at the former Heritage Hospital facility off County Road 491 just north of County Road 486, Sheriff's Office records showed.

Several of the calls involved false fire alarms, at least one of which was weather related. Many of the other calls for service were labeled as unfounded child abuse complaints filed by phone by some of the nine residents who have been housed there so far.

One resident, a 16-year-old girl, was arrested Friday and accused of striking a teacher for the second time. Three other girls have been taken into custody by deputies under the Baker Act for mental health evaluation.

Assistant State Attorney Jeffery Smith said Wednesday that his office has probably received more than a dozen calls from state agencies, many relating alleged abuse complaints. He said the calls are not necessarily surprising, as the residents are considered emotionally disturbed.

Due to the number of calls, Smith said he plans to tour the center at 2804 W Marc Knighton Court at 1:30 p.m. today, along with representatives of the Sheriff's Office. He said the meeting was called with Brown Schools officials to get a better sense of how the place works.

"This way in the future I can know what I'm actually reading about," Smith said.

The Sheriff's Office described the meeting in similar terms Wednesday.

"The meeting appears to be just an opportunity to sit down with all the parties involved," said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Ronda Hemminger Evan.

Brown started housing emotionally troubled adolescents after the Fourth of July holiday, said Donna Burtanger, spokeswoman for Brown. The Texas-based company houses the adolescents under contract with the Department of Children and Families.

The first six children came from another facility. After that, three more adolescents arrived one at a time. After the two Baker Act cases last week, the facility was down to seven residents at the beginning of the week, Burtanger said.

More are scheduled to arrive at the center, which ultimately may house as many as 84 boys and girls.

"It will be ones and twos," Burtanger said. "This will be a very slow, planned process in order to stabilize the milieu."

It is not uncommon for the type of adolescents housed in the Brown Schools program to make abuse claims or other allegations, Burtanger said. Under state law, staff must allow them access to phones to lodge complaints to the state abuse hot line.

She said she was not aware of the number of calls to authorities. Smith said reports to his office were channeled to the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Juvenile Justice.

"It's not unusual for a Sheriff's Office to be at our facility, maybe not on a frequent basis maybe, but on a regular basis," Burtanger said. "I can see that being part of our normal procedure."

Residents who live in the area have protested the Brown Schools opening. Homeowners in Black Diamond challenged a decision allowing the center to open without the property being rezoned from a designation that allowed Heritage to operate as an adult psychiatric center.

Clark Stillwell, an attorney who represents Black Diamond and its homeowners association, said the law enforcement activity does not inspire confidence in Brown Schools.

"That's not a good success ratio," he said.

Stillwell has asked Citrus County officials to revisit the zoning decision that allowed Brown to open without undergoing a more formal review process that included public hearings. He also has challenged the DCF's decision to issue Brown a license for the Citrus facility.

- Staff Writer Jim Ross contributed to this report.

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