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| Cornelius Fredericks A typical Medicaid cost reimbursement situation in foster care |
Cornelius got lucky because he no longer has to scream.
Ricky Holland got lucky, too.
This is what Black Lives Matter is covering up, the children, because slavery was never abolished.
Gretchen knows well of the horrors of the Michigan Child Welfare System.
She got desensitized by the screams because the screams of children is an industry.
Someone needs to go ask her about her history with the Michigan Catholic Conference and the Archdiocese of Detroit, because Cornelius died by Medicaid Fraud in Child Welfare.
I am quite sure the facilities carry indemnification insurance coverage....and a life insurance policy on Cornelius....
#maytheheavensfall
Michigan teen died after screaming 'I can't breathe' while being restrained by staff member, lawsuit claims
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) - A civil lawsuit filed Monday following the death of a 16-year-old in a Michigan youth facility says he screamed "I can't breathe" as at least one staff member placed their weight on the Black teen's chest for nearly 10 minutes.The lawsuit filed in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court names Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo and Sequel Youth and Family Services as defendants.
Cornelius Fredericks died May 1 after going into cardiac arrest April 29. At the time, authorities said he was being restrained by staff after throwing a sandwich.
His death came nearly a month before George Floyd died May 25 in Minneapolis with a white police officer's knee pressing his neck to the ground.
Floyd's dying words, "I can't breathe," have become a rallying call for people protesting police violence against Black people and racial injustice during demonstrations across the U.S.
"The excessive use of restraints and the lack of concern for Cornelius's life draw an eerily similar comparison to that of George Floyd's death," according to the lawsuit, which alleges negligence and says Lakeside staff improperly and wrongfully used restraints on Fredericks.
Authorities have not provided details of the race of the staff member or members involved.
"Video from Lakeside Academy even shows a staff member placing his/her weight directly on Cornelius's chest for nearly ten minutes as Cornelius lost consciousness," the lawsuit states. "Cornelius's scream of `I can't breathe' was not enough to get the staff members to stop the excessive restraint."
Detroit attorney Jon Marko, who filed the civil rights lawsuit, said he has yet to view the video, but that he spoke with the mother of another child in the facility.
That child "claims to have heard Cornelius scream `I can't breathe,"' Marko said, adding that a state Health and Human Services Department report confirmed that account.
The lawsuit seeks damages allowed under the Michigan Wrongful Death Act. No financial amount was specified.
The Associated Press left a message Monday seeking comment from Lakeside Academy.
Sequel Youth and Family Services told The AP in an email that it cannot comment on pending legal matters, but that it has terminated all staff involved and removed the former executive director of Lakeside.
"We have been in regular contact with law enforcement and state officials to help ensure justice is served and have accelerated the work that was already underway across our organization to move to a restraint-free model of care," the company said. "We take our obligation to meet the significant behavioral health needs of all our students incredibly seriously and remain focused on our mission of providing the absolute best care and treatment possible."
The foster care system or parents placed youths in Lakeside Academy, a residential treatment facility about 140 miles west of Detroit, to receive behavioral health services after being abused or neglected.
Fredericks was a ward of the state, Marko told reporters Monday.
His aunt, Tenia Goshay, is named in the lawsuit as the representative of Fredericks' estate. The teen's mother is dead. His father and rest of the family were not in a position to care for him, Marko said.
Fredericks had been at Lakeside Academy about two years, Goshay told reporters.
"I want to know what happened to my nephew," she said.
The state last week terminated its contracts with Lakeside for youth in Michigan's foster care and juvenile justice systems and said all 125 youth at Lakeside were placed in other "settings based on their individual needs."
The facility also had its license to operate suspended.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has told the department to cut ties with Sequel Youth and Family Services, which provided staffing to Lakeside Academy.
After Fredericks' death, Lakeside Academy officials said what happened didn't reflect the institution's mission to "serve and care for our clients with excellence."
But Michigan's Health and Human Services department has conducted more than 30 investigations since 2016 on maintenance, staff qualifications, discipline, behavior management, resident restraint and staff sufficiency at Lakeside Academy, the lawsuit said.
Six months prior to Fredericks' death there were six separate violations pertaining to improper use by staff of deescalation techniques, including improper restraints, according to the lawsuit, and at least eight employees had been fired since 2016 due to improper use of restraints, failure to use proper deescalation techniques or improperly supervising youth.
Michigan Health and Human Services officials have said an investigation of the for-profit academy found 10 licensing violations, including a failure to follow rules related to resident restraint and discipline.
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Foster care teen's death prompts state to pull Michigan group home's contract, license
LANSING, Mich. — Prompted by the death of a teen who was wrongly restrained by staff, a Michigan facility for teenagers with behavioral problems on Thursday lost its contract with the state to care for youth in the state’s foster care and juvenile justice systems and its license to operate.The termination of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ contract with Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo came in the wake of the death last month of Cornelius Frederick. The 16-year-old went into cardiac arrest while being restrained on April 29 by Lakeside Academy staff. He died May 1. At the time, authorities said the teen was being restrained by staff after he threw a sandwich.
In announcing the termination of its contract and suspension of the operating license, Health and Human Services said an investigation of the for-profit Lakeside Academy found 10 licensing violations, including a failure to follow rules related to resident restraint and discipline. The agency contends the revocation of the license of a child caring institution is rare and occurs when there are serious licensing violations that make closure necessary to protect children.
More: Foster care teen's death draws scrutiny to group home outbreaks: Who is looking out for these children?
Lakeside Academy officials did not immediately return calls for comment.
“MDHHS continues to mourn the loss of this young man’s life, which came needlessly to an end at the hands of those meant to care for him” said JooYeun Chang, executive director of the MDHHS Children’s Services Agency, in a prepared statement. “We are committed to protecting children and will not accept the completely unnecessary death of a youth who is deprived of the opportunity to grow up, complete his education, begin a career, and start a family.”
Kalamazoo County Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Getting said Thursday his office is reviewing completed investigations to determine if criminal charges are authorized in Frederick’s death.
"If charges are brought, my office will be prosecuting the cases,’’ Getting said.
At the time of Frederick’s death, Lakeside Academy officials said in a statement the incident didn’t reflect the institution’s mission to ``serve and care for our clients with excellence.”
However, Assistant Chief David Boysen of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety has said in the weeks leading up to Frederick’s death there were numerous calls for false fire alarms, runaway students and assaults. In addition, three chaotic days followed the boy’s death, as students fought and fled the facility.
Just before Health and Human Services announced its moves, the Legal Rights Center in Minneapolis called for Hennepin County, Minnesota, to stop placing children in Lakeside Academy for juvenile delinquency matters.
The county removed all Minnesota children from the facility after Frederick's death. However, center officials said that was is enough. They contend it is time to end the practice of removing children from local communities and confining them in correction facilities "under the pretense of providing therapeutic treatment."
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Lakeside Academy was ‘out of control’ prior to student death, police say
In the weeks leading up to the incident, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety received an increase of calls for false fire alarms, runaway students and assaults, Assistant Chief David Boysen said.
No one ever listens to the silent screams.
Slavery was never abolished.
Slavery was never abolished.
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