A Michigan state task force convened to discuss new rules that would ban the use of restraints on children living in group homes.
Officials expect the new regulations to go into effect after a required May public hearing.
Following the death of 16-year-old Cornelius Frederick, Michigan officials say his death was preventable and are working on re-evaluating and changing how children are cared for in youth facilities.
On April 29, seven Lakeside: Sequel Youth and Family Services male staff members held the young boy on the floor for over 10 minutes, putting weight on his legs and torse. Frederick’s former caseworker, Meghan Folkerson, tried to revive him by using a defibrillator, but he died two days later at a hospital.
He was accused of throwing a sandwich at another child.
“I’m still angry,” said Folkerson, director of case management at Lakeside, which closed last June. “I think that everyone is allowed and going to be angry at this death. Because it was preventable, it was uncalled-for.”
The task force hopes to propose new rules to help protect children living in group homes like Lakeside. It recommends making changes to the state’s child welfare system, including several measures to lessen the number of children sent to group homes and strengthen the oversight of children in its care, NBC News reported.
“The state is entrusted with the care and safety of kids after they’ve been abused and neglected,” said Stacie Bladen, director of children’s services at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. “We have an absolute responsibility to keep them safe while they’re in our care and custody.”
Sequel operates dozens of programs in 19 states across the country for vulnerable youth. There have been many allegations of neglect and abuse, including the improper use of restraints on minors at the facilities.
In 2020, California, Michigan, and Washington cut ties with Sequel.
“We regret that some states, influenced by political and activist pressure, have prioritized perception over the best possible care for the individual,” the company said in a statement. “We remain steadfast in our mission to provide compassionate, therapeutic care knowing that the overwhelming majority of state child-serving agencies in the United States continue to find our services to be essential and operating at, or exceeding, their highest standards.”
Sequel’s spokesperson said staff members are only supposed to use restraints as a last measure—when a child is a threat to themselves or others. In 2019, the company said it would employ a program to eliminate the use of restraints across its facilities.
However, Folkerson, who is speaking publicly about Lakeside for the first time, said that isn’t the case. During her last two years with the company, she witnessed staff members increasingly using inappropriate restraints on children and said in some cases as punishment. This included painful and dangerous “supine” and “prone” restraints—when a child is restrained while lying on their back or stomach.
Records revealed Cornelius was restrained at least 10 times in the six months before his death.
“It became kind of a power struggle,” Folkerson said. “You know, ‘You’re going to respect me,’ or ‘You’re going to comply.’”
“Unfortunately, if you had asked a majority of our staff six months prior, we probably could have told you that this was going to happen,” she added.
Other children came forward to tell police that Lakeside staff members had used painful restraints on children if they did so much as talkback, and one added that they would restrain children “however long they feel like it.”
Cornelius’ death was ruled a homicide, and three former employees of the center have been charged with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse.
All three have pleaded not guilty. Among the three is former Lakeside nurse Heather McLogan, who waited 12 minutes before calling 911.
“They came off his legs, they came off his arms, and he just laid there,” she told police, according to body camera video obtained by NBC News. “And initially it, it — I was like, he, we thought he was just faking.”
After Cornelius died, Michigan ordered emergency rules placing a ban on restraints in group homes and announced it would no longer contract with child care facilities that use Sequel. Officials then started a task force consisting of child welfare officials and private child care providers to propose rule changes to improve care for children in state custody.
“Cornelius was the catalyst for the urgency of making these reforms and the depth we went to,” Bladen said. “We did not leave a stone unturned when looking at how we can improve safety and care.”
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