Listen in as host Serena Vasudeva talks about Alegend Jones, who died in November during a two month stay at Rose Center. Alegend was placed in a restraint before she was rushed to the hospital. Youth Villages, the organization that owns Rose Center, has claimed that no abusive actions took place. Her family is currently being represented by Attorney Ben Crump. 

This story is developing and updates will be posted as more information is released. If you have any information about Alegend Jones or would like to voice your opinion, please reach out to exfostervoice@gmail.com.

Read about Cornelius Fredrick- https://www.10tv.com/article/news/investigations/10-investigates/ohio-sends-children-to-out-of-state-treatment-facilities-with-histories-of-alleged-abuse/530-028d21dc-452b-4c79-bb1d-e80c3bad28ec 

Read CPI’s blog post- https://www.crisisprevention.com/Blog/physical-restraints-as-a-last-resort#:~:text=CPI%20teaches%20that%20restraints%20are,a%20strong%20de-escalation%20plan.

Read the Youth Villages statement as well as this episode’s sources here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TU2B_rwT0RUEm8auyWznNAy0x8dR_klt?usp=sharing 

Listen in as “Taylor” talks about her experience doing restraints in an adult residential facility. Though she never worked with children, her interview gives insight to the restraint training process and how restraints affect those who carry them out. 

“Taylor” believes that a hospital setting can affect the need for restraints and suggests that facilities should be made into more livable places. “Taylor” and Serena talked about the need for an apology when a restraint goes wrong. 

Names have been changed to protect the identity of patients. “Taylor” has decided to remain anonymous out of fear of social and economic consequences. 

Read about reducing restraints here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20857886/#:~:text=Restraint%20and%20seclusion%20are%20associated,identified%2C%20implemented%2C%20and%20reported. 

Host’s note: Excuse the squeaky chairs! This episode marks the end of season 1, which was produced as an undergraduate honors thesis at MTSU. Season 2 will pick up and be produced in January independently of the thesis process. The hiatus is so I can focus on school and work as the semester ramps up. I will still be responding to emails.

Listen in as Adrienna Irick shines a light on the conditions inside four different Youth Villages Placements: Inner Harbour, Dogwood, Wallace Group Home and Rose Center. In more restrictive placements such as Inner Harbour, Rose Center and Dogwood, residents are considered too high risk for public school. Instead, they attend facility schools run by Youth Villages. Adrienna described the schools as inadequate and lacking ACT preparation. 

In facilities where cottages and courtyards can have many residents, Adrienna felt staff were too busy with others to address her emotional needs. Her testimony offers feedback for staff wishing to make a positive impact on foster teens in residentials and group homes. 

Adrienna came out in foster care and alleges staff at her facilities made negative comments about her sexuality. These comments came from the same staff hired to help her manage her mental health and empowered to restrain her. 

Host note: At times during this episode, Rose Center is referred to as G-Cert. Rose Center’s old name was Girl’s Center and was colloquially known as “G-Cert” during part of our stay in Youth Villages. Rose center also has courtyards, not cottages. This mix-up comes from my familiarity with Bartlett, which has cottages. 

Excuse the poor audio quality on this episode- Adrienna was unavailable for a re-recording.