It's true they left kids in isolation, the quiet room for months and months. They withheld bedding and food. My son was at Toledo for a few years. He was in isolation for 9 months straight. It was a block room with little tiny high windows, like a prison cell. You had to earn a mattress, pillow and blankets. You were given a minimal amount of food because enough to eat was considered a priveledge. He lost 15-20 pounds. This is true. I had to live seeing my son suffer. I thought they knew what they were doing. I know there are many others this happened to.
cathy - 10 years ago
My daughter was currently living in the toledo facility until they moved her friday. She was close to comlpeting the program and now across the state from me, she has to start over. I now only get to talk to her once a week when she is used to talking to me everynight.She sees this as a punishmet as she was doing well. Within 24hrs of being in her new placement she has self-harmed and been in 2 restraint. The staff at toledo was always concerned with her as well as our whole family. For the alegations against the home regarding isolation room being used for that long all i have to say is where are the parents or gaurdians. Like i stated before i called my daughter every night. There are not enough places for our children in the state if Iowa. We should not ship our children out of state. Thats too far away for one and two who will pay for that. Wish my daughter was back in Toledo!!!!
Chelsea Reasoner - 10 years ago
I was a youth at this facility for 3 years. I have been to every other facility in iowa except 2! If the problem is seclusion and restraints why dont you go check out mhi where they strap kids to beds and shove shots of medicine in their thighs, or bremwood where the local colllege staff are completely unqualified, or clarinda where they tell you upon intake they will tackle you for even dirty looks or rolling your eyes. The staff members at ijh are heros and angels and it takes a special kind of person to do this job! These staff are amazing and put up with being abused by the children of the facility to help out and still come to work the next day. There is very limited options as to how you help a kid whose screaming at the top of their lungs, punching, biting, kicking, and everything else these staff members. Seclusion is used as temporary deescalation techniques until a youth can process effectively back into the group setting. These staff members shaped me into the successful woman i am today, and i think you should all go check out the keep IJH open facebook PAGE before you vote because youre making a decision on someones life so you should make an informed one!!!
Katie - 10 years ago
Facilities such as this were designed to help teach children skills they did not have. Do you have any idea how many of these kids have never walked away from a situation, slammed their bedroom doors, and calmed down. do you know how many have never had a bedroom? Yes.... kids were in isolation against their will. these rooms were designed to separate them from communities when they poised a threat to themselves. its a quiet place to calm down, or to be angry, throw a fit, exhaust themselves, without prying eyes. The kids who have gotten to the point where they can ask to use isolation undoubtedly learned to use it appropriately because weeks, months, or years before, they were placed in isolation as a safety threat. As far as the reports of the girl in their for a year, here is my question... to the best of my knowledge, after a certain number if hours, a DHS worker needs to be notified, and approve the situation. I worked for an organization where there were different time frames to notify different personnel (program supervisor, casworker, nurse, etc) and I dont know if that was by law or by our own PSAP but I'm sure the outside notifications are required, so WHERE ARE DHS'S RECORDS? someone else should have been looking out for this girl... why aren't they being held accountable IF this is all true?
George - 10 years ago
It is quite apparent this situation has not been handled in a transparent, ethical way in which the communities, employees and girls were informed of what was going on with the investigations. It is also quite clear that the consideration for the girls in the closing of IJH has not been considered. Having complex psychiatric problems the move to another facility could have dire consequences. IJH is their home, where they are comfortable and secure. To undo this could and most likely would result in huge ramifications. There seems to be an agenda in progress and we need to stop it as I hear Eldora may be the next target.
Amber Gartin - 10 years ago
IJH saved me from myself very many times! They helped me change my out look on life and be more positive especially towards myself, respect authority and how to be responsible and of course many many other things. I am proud to say that I have not been in any trouble since I completed the program(I'm 26 now) I have 2 beautiful daughters, I earned my GED and I am currently in college studying Criminal Justice. It would be a huge mistake closing IJH and moving these girls, it will mentally hurt them,IJH is there home right now!! THANK YOU IJH!
Rock On! - 10 years ago
It's apparent our Governor has other motives. If he were truly concerned about their well being, he would have visited the facility to get information and visit with the youth himself. It has become extremely apparent that his ulterior motives outweigh the positives many of these youth have shared in their stories.
Tori Sprague - 10 years ago
I think that it is completely asinine that the media continues to print only the negative side of the story & even that has been twisted by the media & Governor about the Iowa Juvenile Home. Why don't you go to the Keep IJH Open Facebook page and educate yourself on the tons of success stories that come out of that building. For many residents this is their HOME and only stable environment they know. The stuff you are printing is crap there is no factual information to any of it. Still to this day no one has shown any proof of one allegation of abuse that has been founded by DHS. And then the article in today's paper that is related to the juveniles saying that they're not walking away with many diplomas is completely false. Why don't we discuss how many credits the children walk into IJH with compared to what they walked out of IJH with... I'm guessing that you will find the number is a great deal higher that they do achieve while they're there and often times more than not these children returns the community and complete your diploma and go to college. I'm thinking the media needs to do some more research and get a little better at printing factual information rather than sucking the governor's butt. Better yet how about some of you crawl out from behind your desk jobs and go work with these troubled youth and get to know the system before you pass judgement because my guess is most of you would not be able to last a day when you seen the mental anguish and instability that these residents possess when entering the home. However, the rewarding part, and I'm speaking from experience as a psych nurse, is seeing the end result of these residents making progress showing stability and regaining their lives.
Jean - 10 years ago
There will be huge ramifications from this heavy handed move that will not be known until it is too late. These children, staff, and community should not have had their futures decided by one man. NONE of the recommendations from the task force included shutting down this more recently inadequately funded facility. With proper funding this could have been a facility to be proud of, keeping these children close to their only support systems. It’s clear to me that Governor Brandstad places his priorities ahead of the wellbeing of children.
It's true they left kids in isolation, the quiet room for months and months. They withheld bedding and food. My son was at Toledo for a few years. He was in isolation for 9 months straight. It was a block room with little tiny high windows, like a prison cell. You had to earn a mattress, pillow and blankets. You were given a minimal amount of food because enough to eat was considered a priveledge. He lost 15-20 pounds. This is true. I had to live seeing my son suffer. I thought they knew what they were doing. I know there are many others this happened to.
My daughter was currently living in the toledo facility until they moved her friday. She was close to comlpeting the program and now across the state from me, she has to start over. I now only get to talk to her once a week when she is used to talking to me everynight.She sees this as a punishmet as she was doing well. Within 24hrs of being in her new placement she has self-harmed and been in 2 restraint. The staff at toledo was always concerned with her as well as our whole family. For the alegations against the home regarding isolation room being used for that long all i have to say is where are the parents or gaurdians. Like i stated before i called my daughter every night. There are not enough places for our children in the state if Iowa. We should not ship our children out of state. Thats too far away for one and two who will pay for that. Wish my daughter was back in Toledo!!!!
I was a youth at this facility for 3 years. I have been to every other facility in iowa except 2! If the problem is seclusion and restraints why dont you go check out mhi where they strap kids to beds and shove shots of medicine in their thighs, or bremwood where the local colllege staff are completely unqualified, or clarinda where they tell you upon intake they will tackle you for even dirty looks or rolling your eyes. The staff members at ijh are heros and angels and it takes a special kind of person to do this job! These staff are amazing and put up with being abused by the children of the facility to help out and still come to work the next day. There is very limited options as to how you help a kid whose screaming at the top of their lungs, punching, biting, kicking, and everything else these staff members. Seclusion is used as temporary deescalation techniques until a youth can process effectively back into the group setting. These staff members shaped me into the successful woman i am today, and i think you should all go check out the keep IJH open facebook PAGE before you vote because youre making a decision on someones life so you should make an informed one!!!
Facilities such as this were designed to help teach children skills they did not have. Do you have any idea how many of these kids have never walked away from a situation, slammed their bedroom doors, and calmed down. do you know how many have never had a bedroom? Yes.... kids were in isolation against their will. these rooms were designed to separate them from communities when they poised a threat to themselves. its a quiet place to calm down, or to be angry, throw a fit, exhaust themselves, without prying eyes. The kids who have gotten to the point where they can ask to use isolation undoubtedly learned to use it appropriately because weeks, months, or years before, they were placed in isolation as a safety threat. As far as the reports of the girl in their for a year, here is my question... to the best of my knowledge, after a certain number if hours, a DHS worker needs to be notified, and approve the situation. I worked for an organization where there were different time frames to notify different personnel (program supervisor, casworker, nurse, etc) and I dont know if that was by law or by our own PSAP but I'm sure the outside notifications are required, so WHERE ARE DHS'S RECORDS? someone else should have been looking out for this girl... why aren't they being held accountable IF this is all true?
It is quite apparent this situation has not been handled in a transparent, ethical way in which the communities, employees and girls were informed of what was going on with the investigations. It is also quite clear that the consideration for the girls in the closing of IJH has not been considered. Having complex psychiatric problems the move to another facility could have dire consequences. IJH is their home, where they are comfortable and secure. To undo this could and most likely would result in huge ramifications. There seems to be an agenda in progress and we need to stop it as I hear Eldora may be the next target.
IJH saved me from myself very many times! They helped me change my out look on life and be more positive especially towards myself, respect authority and how to be responsible and of course many many other things. I am proud to say that I have not been in any trouble since I completed the program(I'm 26 now) I have 2 beautiful daughters, I earned my GED and I am currently in college studying Criminal Justice. It would be a huge mistake closing IJH and moving these girls, it will mentally hurt them,IJH is there home right now!! THANK YOU IJH!
It's apparent our Governor has other motives. If he were truly concerned about their well being, he would have visited the facility to get information and visit with the youth himself. It has become extremely apparent that his ulterior motives outweigh the positives many of these youth have shared in their stories.
I think that it is completely asinine that the media continues to print only the negative side of the story & even that has been twisted by the media & Governor about the Iowa Juvenile Home. Why don't you go to the Keep IJH Open Facebook page and educate yourself on the tons of success stories that come out of that building. For many residents this is their HOME and only stable environment they know. The stuff you are printing is crap there is no factual information to any of it. Still to this day no one has shown any proof of one allegation of abuse that has been founded by DHS. And then the article in today's paper that is related to the juveniles saying that they're not walking away with many diplomas is completely false. Why don't we discuss how many credits the children walk into IJH with compared to what they walked out of IJH with... I'm guessing that you will find the number is a great deal higher that they do achieve while they're there and often times more than not these children returns the community and complete your diploma and go to college. I'm thinking the media needs to do some more research and get a little better at printing factual information rather than sucking the governor's butt. Better yet how about some of you crawl out from behind your desk jobs and go work with these troubled youth and get to know the system before you pass judgement because my guess is most of you would not be able to last a day when you seen the mental anguish and instability that these residents possess when entering the home. However, the rewarding part, and I'm speaking from experience as a psych nurse, is seeing the end result of these residents making progress showing stability and regaining their lives.
There will be huge ramifications from this heavy handed move that will not be known until it is too late. These children, staff, and community should not have had their futures decided by one man. NONE of the recommendations from the task force included shutting down this more recently inadequately funded facility. With proper funding this could have been a facility to be proud of, keeping these children close to their only support systems. It’s clear to me that Governor Brandstad places his priorities ahead of the wellbeing of children.