The Great Almost Escapes - Doing Anything to Get Away From Valley of the Moon Children's Home

Children at Valley of the Moon Children’s Home go to great lengths to escape the facility and from being locked in rooms. The range of behaviors are indicative of the desperate situation in which they are living.

Children who try to leave the facility are generally restrained, dragged back into the facility and locked in a room or hallway by either mechanical lock or staff barricade.

Crawling Out of Windows: When staff stand in the way of a child trying to escape through a door, children will often try to squeeze out of the window.

After trying to escape, being put in the locked Separation Room cell by use of repeated physical force, and released, Maya was told she would be subjected to increased monitoring and isolation as punishment. Maya tried to escape again, this time through the window.[1]

Breaking Windows: Children use trashcans, toys, and various other items to try to break the window in order to pass through the hole and escape the facility.

Gwendoline was afraid of being alone with a male staff member. She asked that he open a curtain so they could be seen by other residents. He refused. She tried to escape but he stood in front of the door. She tried to push out a window but he told her to stop. She went into the room, grabbed a garbage can and tried to use it to break the window out so she could escape.[2]

Faking Suicide Attempts: Children have faked suicide attempts when locked in a room for an extended period of time. An attempted suicide forces staff to open the door and the child make good an attempt to escape.

Maya attempted to crawl out of a window, and was restrained and placed in the locked Separation Room cell. She began to bang her head against the window, and, realizing that this was not enough, she started to tie her shoelaces around her neck. Maya was taken to the hospital for observation.[3]

Faking Mental Illness: Children know that certain kinds of mental illness symptoms cause staff to call the police for a psychological evaluation. As such, children use the symptoms to compel the staff to call the police so they can escape the facility.

Ygritte tried to be alone. When staff would not let her, she ticked all the boxes to indicate that she was suffering from voices in her head and wanted to hurt people. She reported to both the Valley of the Moon Children's Home staff and a police officer that she was indeed hearing voices, so she was transported to the hospital for evaluation. After arriving at the hospital, she said that she made up hearing voices, was not interested in hurting people so that she could get away from Valley of the Moon Children's Home, and the staff there.[4]

Faking Injury: While locked in a room, children try to convince staff that they are injured to force staff to open the door so they can take advantage and run out.

Jamie was locked in the locked Separation Room cell for 25 minutes. During that time she picked at her scabs so that she could smear blood on the walls to seem more injured than she was. Staff did not come in to check on her.[5]

Serendipitous Advantage: Children use a change in circumstance which take them outside the locked areas in order to escape. The most common example of this is running away between Valley of the Moon Children’s Home School and Valley of the Moon Children’s Home’s living area.

Levi was told to leave the classroom because he was misbehaving. When he got outside, he took the opportunity to escape.[6]

Climbing Fences or Gate: The fence which runs around the facility is locked by a mechanical lock. Children try to climb it to escape. Even after they are pulled off over and over again, they continue to attempt to climb.

Tommy told staff that he was going to get out of the facility one way or another. He ran for the fence and tried to climb. He was restrained to prevent him from escaping.[7]

Use of Bluster: Children throw items, scream, yell, and generally raise a fuss to force staff to move or back away, gaining access to an exit.

Madison was attempting to leave the gated area, but staff members blocked her path. In an attempt to get by them, Madison pushed and blustered at them to get them to move out of her way. As soon as she tried to climb the fence, the staff grabbed her and after a physical confrontation, she was locked in the Separation Room cell until she gave up.[8]

Protective Aggression: Generally children only devolve into protective aggression when other forms of escape were exhausted.

Nicole walked out of the school and sat under a tree. Two male staff members told her to get up and go to the facility with them. She refused. They repeatedly threatened to physically restrain her and force her back to the facility. She told them that if they did, she would call the police. They grabbed her and put her in a transportation restraint in order to take her to the Quite Room/Separation Room – a room with a locked door. Nicole immediately attempted to defend herself from the attack by kicking the staff. She was dragged into the room and not permitted to leave.[9]

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[1] Maya is the name we assigned this child. Incident report 5322­6390

[2] Gwendoline is the name we gave this child. Incident report 5787-6935

[3] Maya is the name we assigned this child. Incident report 5322­6390

[4] Ygritte is the name we assigned this child. Incident report 7065­8365

[5] Jamie is the name we assigned this child. Incident report 5833-7013

[6] Levi is the name we assigned this child. Incident report 5730-6875

[7] Tommy is the name we assigned this child. Incident report 6732-7989

[8] Madison is the name we gave this child. Incident report 5667­6814

[9] Nicole is the name we gave this child. Incident report 5804-6953

Running Away: Stacy and Adrian Could Not Leave

In seventy-seven of the incident reports for restraints we reviewed at Valley of the Moon Children's Home, children were restrained to prevent them from existing the building or facility or from running away.[1]

One of the most common reasons why children runaway from home is sexual abuse, or other abuses in their home. Running away is an indicator of sexual abuse.

34% of runaway youth (girls and boys) reported sexual abuse before leaving home and 43% of runaway youth (girls and boys) reported physical abuse before leaving home. 80% of runaway and homeless girls reported having ever been sexually or physically abused. [2]

Adrian, after being told to sit for dinner, decided to leave the facility, and exercising his right not to be locked in the facility. He ran outside, climbed the locked fence, and started running toward the highway. He was grabbed by a male staff member, and then dragged back to the facility by three staff members.[3]

Stacy made an attempt to climb the fence to run away. While attempting to climb the fence, she was restrained and taken to the Separation Room, a room with a lock.[4]

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[1] 77 does not include the missing 2011 documents. We estimate the number is closer to approximately 85 running away incidents.

[2] Molnar, B., Shade, S., Kral, A., Booth, R., & Watters, J. (1998). Suicidal Behavior and Sexual / Physical Abuse Among Street Youth. Child Abuse & Neglect. Vol. 22, NO. 3, pp. 213-222 via http://www.1800runaway.org/learn/research/third_party/

[3] Adrian is the name we assigned to this child. Incident Report 5619­6769

[4] Stacy is the name we gave this child. Incident Report 5774­6921

Phoenix and Fear of Being Alone in Bedroom with Staff

One of the most potentially sexually exploitative areas in a home is the bedroom. As such, we should expect to see children who are experiencing imminent fear of being sexually abused, react strongly to being alone in bedrooms with staff.

As a matter of policy, staff commonly drag children to their bedrooms as punishment and a method of control. Children at Valley of the Moon Children’s Home were locked in their bedroom by use of force, threat of force, barrier or other threat of harm 95 times. In 68 of the incident reports, children tried to escape their bedroom while trapped inside. Grace, a small girl tried to escape over twenty times but was not allowed to leave.[1]

When staff use force to drag a child into a bedroom and to keep the children in their bedroom, they are putting children at high risk of sexual exploitation and children react as they would if they expected immediate sexual aggression. Children use physical violence once they are trapped in the room to make themselves an unattractive target for abuse, or to prevent staff from entering, or to get staff out of the room. This act of protective aggression is usually what staff use to justify another series of restraints against the child.

Phoenix was told by a female staff member to take a time out in his bedroom. As soon as he got to his room, he began to throw things around his room; blustering to make himself an unattractive target. He ran out of his room and left the building. He made repeated attempts to climb the locked fence but staff pulled him down. He was put in a more restrictive restraint until he submitted to staff’s demands. [2]

Children of all ages and sexes have had exaggerated reactions to being alone with staff. Protective aggression across gender through five years indicates a widespread fear, not an issue with a particular child.  It is a pervasive, long-lasting fear created by the situation children face at Valley of the Moon Children’s Home.

It is possible that this reaction is not because staff are exploiting a child’s abuse history, but that it is a response to ongoing sexual abuse in the Valley of the Moon Children’s Home. A child would not have to act out with protective aggression against only the staff member who is sexually abusing her in order for her protective aggression to be a warning sign of sexual abuse. A child would only have to have knowledge that a staff member is willing to use sexual abuse in order to be afraid of any other staff member. 

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[1] Grace is the name we gave this child. Incident Report 5622-6772

[2] Phoenix is the name we gave this child. Incident Report 5045-6076

Gwendoline and Fear of Being Alone with Staff

When a child demonstrates an unexplainable fear of being alone with a person, it can be a warning sign of sexual abuse. This fear can be of a specific person, or an entire group of similar people[1]; like all staff.

One hundred-seventy-nine times, isolation with staff caused sudden, acute changes in children’s behavior or increased distress which often devolved into the use of restraints by staff.[2] Children often tried to talk, yell, bluster, or runaway, before they used protective aggression.

Gwendoline[3] was alone with a male staff member. She asked to open a curtain into another room where other children were present. The male staff member refused. Gwendoline began to bluster and threaten to runaway. She became increasingly more distressed. She put on her shoes and tried to escape through a broken window. When that failed, she went into the living room, grabbed a garbage can and tried to throw it through the window. The male staff member put Gwendoline in a restraint and dragged her to her bedroom. A supervisor arrived to the bedroom. Gwendoline told the supervisor that she was afraid of male staff member.

Gwendoline sought a non-violent way to escape being alone with the male staff member by opening the curtain. She took action to run away. She was not misbehaving, she was expressing terror at being alone with a staff member.

This is not to say this staff member sexually abused Gwendoline but Gwendoline is experiencing fear of being alone with staff and that is a warning sign of sexual abuse.

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[1] Committee for Children http://bit.ly/1mwRRwd

[2] 179 does not include the missing 2011 documents. We estimate the number of isolation related incidents is approximately 195.

[3] Gwendoline is the name we gave this child. Incident Report 5787-6935

Luke and Fear of the Shower

Children who are being sexually abused often actively resist taking off their clothes, even for appropriate activities like bathing. They demonstrate avoidance behaviors, including misbehaving and attempting to redirect. Such behaviors are detectable warning signs of sexual abuse.

A demand by staff that a child take a shower was a common precipitators of restraints at Valley of the Moon Children’s Home. Twenty-nine times, physical restraints followed after a child being told to take a shower or bath because a child had an extreme reaction to the order to shower.[1]

After being asked to take a shower, the children quickly devolved. In some cases, they would run around the facility, try to run away, throw things at staff, and erect barricades made of toys or other materials. When the passive actions did not work, the child resorted to violence to prevent taking a shower.

Luke, a seven year old boy, was told by a female supervisor to take a shower. [2] Luke walked away and tried to avoid taking a bath. He tried to convince staff to let him play foosball. When he was told no, he said “I’m not going to take a fucking bath.” He escalated. He ran outside and tried to escape the facility but children are locked in using a locked gate. He tried climbing the locked gate. Eventually Luke re-entered the facility and jumped up on a counter. Staff pulled him down, accidently dropping him on his face on the counter, injuring him. He had to go to the hospital.

It seems Luke was just one of many children who were so terrified of taking a shower or bath, they took vehement measures to escape it.

 

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[1] 29 does not include the missing 2011 documents. We estimate the number of shower or related restraints is approximately 33.

[2] Luke is the name we gave this child. Incident Report 5928-7089

Alicia and her Sexual Abuse Red Flags

Children at Valley of the Moon Children’s Home have expressed warning signs of sexual abuse for years; warning signs which went unrecognized by Valley of the Moon Children’s Home and Community Care Licensing staff.

Children from abusive homes are targeted for abuse because it is easy to dismiss warning signs of sexual abuse as signs of previous abuse. Children who have been abused are often seen as less credible if they report abuse because of their previous abuse history. Predators exploit this masking and marginalization of victims to victimize them more.

Valley of the Moon Children’s Home’s history of explicit sexual abuse and undetected sexual abuse make it negligent to dismiss the sexual abuse red flags of children in the home.

Common signs of sexual abuse include inappropriate sexualized dress, inappropriate sexual behavior, incontinence, bed wetting, extreme reactions to being alone in a sexually compromising position, and running away.

Three-hundred-seventy-five sexual abuse warning signs were identified in the physical restraint reports. Warning signs included refusing to take a shower, extreme behavior when alone with staff, attempts to escape being alone with staff, running away, and children expressing that they are afraid of staff as warning signs of sexual abuse.[1]

Alicia: Alicia, a small child, wet her bed.[2] She moved furniture in front of the hallway door to prevent staff from entering her room. She was naked from the waist down and was being supervised by a male supervisor. When female staff member arrived, Alicia was rubbing the genital area on a doll and dancing naked on a counter. The female staff member instructed Alicia to take a bath and she complied, but during the bath Alicia continued to show signs of distress, using self-soothing techniques like talking to herself.

After the bath, the female staff member told Alicia to go get dressed. She refused to leave the great room and go to her bedroom alone with staff. She ran about the facility, talking to herself, and laughing indiscriminately. When she ran into another child's bedroom the female staff member followed.

Alicia became extremely agitated and used protective aggression to escape being alone. She kicked and hit at staff to get her to back out of the doorway. Another female staff member arrived to assist. Instead of leaving Alicia alone, she was put in a team restraint for 10 minutes. When she was released, she lashed out at the staff who restrained her by throwing books. The male supervisor authorized locking Alicia in the Separation Room. Alicia was restrained again, this time an escort restraint, and put in the Separation Room. The lock was engaged. She remained there for an extended period of time.

Alicia exhibited at least seven warning signs of ongoing sexual abuse. Her story not unique and it is irresponsible to ignore the warning signs. 

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[1] At the time of this report, the restraint incident reports from August 27, 2011 – December 2011 are missing. Foster Change Coalition spent over a year attempting to gather all the reports but Community Care Licensing has yet to provide them. 376 does not include estimates from the missing 2011 documents. With the August 27 – December 31, 2011 the total sexual abuse red flags is estimated at 410.

[2] Alicia is the name we gave this child. Incident Report number 5837-6984

Direct Accusation Against Supervisor

A male supervisor was directly accused of rape in the incident report for Stella.[1]

Stella tried to escape and was restrained. She was locked in the Separation Room with the male supervisor. She said directly, the supervisor "is a rapist.” She tried to kill herself.

This was written into the restraint incident report which was eventually submitted to Community Care Licensing. No staff at Valley of the Moon Children’s Home, nor at Community Care Licensing filed a report or contacted the police after this direct accusation. It went uninvestigated. One of our advocates contacted the District Attorney’s office about this incident by phone, and post and never heard back.

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[1] Incident report is for Stella 5330-6399 and incident report  5318-6386 is the same child, same day, events leading up to this incident.

Exit Interview Rape Accusation

Exit interviews are to children before they leave to a placement to evaluate the facility. Interviews are performed in person or the child fills out a form. They are performed by staff at Valley of the Moon Children’s Home or given to staff when completed. In one exit interview, a child made a rape accusation and named the rapist. Our copy was redacted, so we do not have the name of the child, nor the rapist.

The Santa Rosa Police Department contends that the rape disclosed does not rise to a criminal activity and refuse to investigate without ever seeing the exit interview. They believe Community Care Licensing is the best agency to investigate the rape accusation disclosed in the report.

Strip Searches

At some point, it became official Valley of the Moon Children’s Home policy to strip search every child who entered the facility.  Strip searches have been confirmed stretching back to 1995. Searches were performed by non-medical staff under the guise of identifying injuries. Staff were ordered to check children’s genitals, breasts, and buttock areas of every child entering Valley of the Moon Children’s Home upon removal of their family of origin.

Strip searches occurred in different rooms in the facility, including the shower, bedrooms, and bathrooms. The non-medical searches were called by numerous names including observation checklist searches, intake searches, and bruise searches.

Searches to check for injuries and undetected abuses should have been completed by medical professionals, in a medical setting. Subjecting children to strip searches send the message that children have no bodily autonomy, staff had the right to inspect every inch of their person whenever staff felt it necessary, and they were powerless to stop it.

Strip searching children was approved by Community Care Licensing in its program statement. Community Care Licensing approved strip searching in either the 2001 program statement or in the revised program statement in 2005. Since we have been able to confirm the abuses by child accounts all the way back to 1995, we believe it is reasonable to conclude it was contained in the 2001 program statement submission.

Non-medical staff strip searches of all children entering Valley of the Moon Children’s Home was facility’s official policy until 2013. A complaint by Foster Change Coalition forced an end to the strip search policy.

Community Care Licensing staff spoke with children in the home and none of the children revealed being subjected to sexually assault by strip search. No former residents were contacted. Valley of the Moon Children’s Home asserted that they stopped strip searching prior to the complaint.

Community Care Licensing cited Valley of the Moon Children’s Home for the policy they approved and for working off the terms of their license by changing the intake procedure without asking for permission.

A victim of sexual assault at Valley of the Moon Children’s Home contacted Community Care Licensing but was never interviewed by anyone at Community Care Licensing. Had Community Care Licensing contacted the resident, they would have learned the victim was subjected to exactly this brand of sexual abuse. Just minutes after being admitted into Valley of the Moon Children’s Home, a staff demanded the resident take a shower. Once naked in the shower, the staff demanded that the resident open the shower curtain during a shower to “check for bruises”. The former resident reports still having nightmares about this and other abuses experienced or witnessed while at Valley of the Moon Children’s Home.

State and federal courts concluded such strip searches are gross violations of children’s rights to be free of abuse and Fourth Amendment right to be free of unreasonable searches.[1] There are four important cases to note.

Darryl H. v. Coler in 1986, mentioned earlier regarding Marian. [2]

Eddings v. Oklahoma in 1982:

“That plaintiffs are children under the age of eighteen is also a factor we must consider. Children are especially susceptible to possible traumas from strip searches. As the Supreme Court has noted, '[y]outh is more than a chronological fact. It is a time and condition of life when a person may be most susceptible to influence and to psychological damage.'" [3]

Doe v. Renfroe in 1981:

“It follows that a nude search of a child is an invasion of constitutional rights of some magnitude.” “Violations of a person's 'cherished personal security,' _ whether engaged in by violent antisocial elements of our society or by overzealous, insensitive police, must be equally condemned. Both should be dealt with in accordance with legal consequences that foster deterrence.”[4]

Franz v. Lytle in 1993:

The police conducted strip searches of a child to check for child abuse injuries. The Court refused to allow strip searches because the searches would be to “balkanize the Fourth Amendment” even if they were performed to out of concern for the children.[5]

The courts have repeatedly called strip searches of people by social service staff a violation of their dignity, a humiliation, and a violation of their Fourth Amendment right. We assert it is sexual abuse. While staff may not have wanted to have sex with the children, the strip search policy of rape victims and assault victims was created sexual terror in the children which was used to coerce their compliance. It is not clear if this was the initial intent of the policy, but it was exploited to that end. In the minds of both the staff and the children; staff have an absolute right to demand nakedness of the children at anytime and children are not free to say no without consequence.

We do not know how many children were sexually assaulted in this way but we estimate that the number is probably in the thousands.

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[1] See strip search section at the end of this document for supporting court cases.

[2] 801 F.2d 893 (7th Cir. 1986)

[3] (455 U.S. 104, 115, 102 S.Ct. 869, 877, 71 L.Ed.2d 1 (1982)) Thank you to San Diego Foster Children Subject to “Body Check”, Bill Grimm, National Center for Youth Law

[4] 631 F.2d 91, 92-93 (7th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 1022, 101 S.Ct. 3015, 69 L.Ed.2d 395 (1981) Thank you to San Diego Foster Children Subject to “Body Check”, Bill Grimm, National Center for Youth Law

[5] 997 F.2d 784 (10th Cir. 1993) Thank you to San Diego Foster Children Subject to “Body Check”, Bill Grimm, National Center for Youth Law

Terror of Sexual Assault as Coercion and Sexually Abusive Monitoring

It is not necessary to make physical contact with a child to inflict sexual abuse.[1] The American Psychological Association, the Incest Survivors Resource Network[2], and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network[3] all acknowledge non-touching sexual abuse. The American Psychological Association website says, “Child sexual abuse is not solely restricted to physical contact; such abuse could include noncontact abuse, such as exposure, voyeurism, and child pornography.”

Any sexual conduct, or threat of sexual conduct harmful to a child's mental, emotional, or physical welfare is sexual abuse. Violating a child’s reasonable expectation of bodily privacy, like watching on them in the shower or bedroom or bathroom or in states of undress, is sexual abuse.[4] [5]

Exploiting the fear of sexual abuse to coerce behavior is sexual abuse.[6] A child cannot discern if the threat of sexual exploitation is just a hollow threat or if it is a precursor to an attack.

A facility owned by the agency responsible for identifying child abuse, and caring for abused children cannot claim ignorance to children’s perception of potential sexual exploitation. Staff at Valley of the Moon Children’s Home exploit sexual terror in order to coerce compliance of the children in their care. Ygritte was one such child.

After an emotionally exhaustive afternoon dealing with the death of both of her parents, Ygritte attempted to be by herself in her room away from staff.[7] She closed the door and sat with her feet on the door, trying to assure her privacy. Two male staff members pushed their way in her bedroom.

Ygritte left her room and went into the bathroom. One male staff member held the bathroom door open while Ygritte was in the shower stall. A female staff member visually “checked on” Ygritte while she was in the shower stall with the curtain drawn. A male staff member entered the bathroom but quickly left with the second male staff member.

Ygritte left the bathroom, turned around, walked back into the bathroom, and locked the door to the bathroom. A male and female staff member tried to unlock the door but were unsuccessful. They called for a key. Ygritte opened the door but did not exit. Male staff member again obstructed Ygritte’s attempts to lock the door to the bathroom and regain her privacy in the bathroom. Ygritte tried to push the male staff member out of the way and kick his foot out of the way so she could close the door to the bathroom.

 

When Ygritte’s multiple attempts to escape sexually vulnerable and exploitative situations by staff failed, she left the bathroom and attempted to leave the facility by walking out the outside door. Two male staff members followed and restrained her. She told them to stop touching her but they refused. The police arrived and Ygritte told them that she was hearing voices and wanted to hurt people. The police took Ygritte to the hospital for psychological evaluation. She was released from the hospital one hour later. Ygritte was not kept in the hospital because it was determined that she was not a danger to herself or anyone else.

When Ygritte returned, she spoke with her mental health care provider Behavioral Health Clinician Nina Roynoso. According to Supervisor Mark Regan’s written account, “She [Ygritte] expressed to Nina that she had no intention of hurting herself, and that she was wanting some space away from DCS [Direct Care Staff], and to be left alone.”

Ygritte was not a danger to herself or anyone else. Ygritte was in potentially sexually exploitative position with four staff members; three men, and one woman. She took extreme measures to assure the police would be called and she would be taken away from the facility.

All children at all facilities have an expectation that they will be allowed to take a shower or use the bathroom without staff demanding to view their naked body or enter the shower while they are naked or could be naked. Any child in the shower stall should be assumed to be naked, even when the water is not running.

Staff were commended for their professionalism in this incident. According to Supervisor Mark Regan’s written report, “On 12/19/13 a debriefing was held with all involved DCS and Supervisor Regan. The DCS all felt supported during the incident. They were all acknowledged for their professionalism and utilizing their dynamic risk assessment."

Inciting fear of sexual abuse and ignoring fear of sexual abuse in order to coerce behavior is no different to the child than a person expressly threatening to rape them if they do not comply. Entering a shower without reason is a sexually abusive and exploitative situation which cannot be unknown to staff.

Staff justified their behavior by stating that she tried to kill herself approximately a month before this incident when she was living at another group home. Valley of the Moon Children’s Home’s license forbids them from taking children who are a danger to themselves or others. If Ygritte was in immediate danger of harming herself as was suggested in this report, then the Sonoma County Department of Human Services deliberately endangered her life by placing her in a facility which cannot take such children.

Either Valley of the Moon Children’s Home knowingly violated the terms of their license by housing a child they knew was a danger to herself or they lied to justify the use of sexual abuse exploitation as coercion.

Based on the mental health care professional’s assessment, Ygritte was not a danger to herself or others. Any justification to watch her in the bathroom or shower was summarily disproven by the mental health professionals who determined her mental state and potential danger to herself.

As punishment, Ygritte was placed on intensive monitoring which included increased observation of her in her bedroom, bathroom and shower; exploiting the terror of sexual abuse in order to coerce her behavior.

 

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[1] Utah Safe Adopt “Child sexual abuse does not always involve physical touching. It can include any experience or attitude imposed on a child that gets in the way of the development of healthy sexual responses or behaviors.” http://bit.ly/SVz1GG

[2] “The erotic use of a child, whether physically or emotionally, is sexual exploitation in the fullest meaning of the term, even if no bodily contact is ever made."

[3] “Sexual abuse can include both touching and non-touching behaviors. … Non-touching behaviors can include voyeurism (trying to look at a child’s naked body), exhibitionism, or exposing the child to pornography. Abusers often do not use physical force, but may use play, deception, threats, or other forms of coercion to engage children and maintain their silence.”

[4] “Violations of bodily privacy - Forcing a child to undress, spying on a child in the bathroom or bedroom” HealthyPlace.com

[5] Parents Protect! http://bit.ly/1wu8hwn

[6] “Parents who are physically abusive may believe that their children need to fear them in order to behave, so they use physical abuse to ‘keep their child in line.’ However, what children are really learning is how to avoid being hit, not how to behave or grow as individuals.” Healthguide.org

[7] Ygritte is the name we assigned the child. Incident Report 7065-8365