Reagan: Restrained Until She Passed Out, Then Locked in a Room

Reagan, an 8 year old girl, was told by a male to go to her bedroom after a minor incident. She refused to go in her room and effectively be alone with the staff member.

She walked down the hall. She threw a foam decoration at another child.

The male staff member grabbed her, restrained her and dragged her into her bedroom.

Once in the room, she seemed to become instantly terrified. She tried to kick and punch her way out of the room. She used her hits and kicks to move the staff member out.

The staff member restrained her again. Reagan tried to defend herself. It did not work.

Eventually Reagan went limp and was unresponsive. Tried to shake her awake. It didn't work.

When she regained consciousness, she attempted to defend herself using protective aggression again.

In response to her attempts to defend herself, a male supervisor gave permission to lock her in the Separation Room. Both the male supervisor and the male staff dragged Reagan to the Separation Room where she was locked inside.

She was not taken for medical care even though she lost consciousness and later complained of pain in multiple areas of her body.

This is how children die in restraints. Reagan nearly died.

Other children have been so scared of being alone with staff, they used violence or bluster to try to not be alone with staff.

Valley of the Moon Children's Home was cited for locking children in rooms when an advocacy group brought the locking in rooms to the attention of the state which had previously approved the practice.
Restraints can only be performed if the child is in, or presents an immediate danger. If throwing foam is an immediate danger to these staff, they must find other work as they are too fragile to work with children.

Decision makers: David Rabbitt for Supervisor Shirlee Zane Efren Carrillo Susan Gorin James Gore Erin Brianne Carlstrom Julie N Combs

Even After Being Cited for Locking Children in Rooms, Staff Still Think They Can Exercise That Option

Valley of the the Moon Children’s Home was cited by the state for using mechanical locks to lock children in rooms, called separation or quiet rooms, on February 25, 2011.

On March 4, 2011 a child we call Nicole was restrained and taken to the Quiet Room. Staff member Antonio Campos’ written report of the incident reads, “Resident was able to stay in the quiet room without having staff to lock the door.”

The only logical inference from Campos’ comment is that circumstances exist under which the door would have been locked and in order for a door to be locked the door has to be equipped with lock.

Just days after being cited for locking children in rooms, staff were able to exercise the option to lock children in rooms.

Why was Nicole locked in a room? She sat under a tree. Staff threatened to "go hands on" which is a threat to use a restraint if she did not comply. She said she would call the police if they did because they can't use restraints in that situation. She was right.

Restraints can only be used when the child presents an immediate danger. Sitting under a tree - that is not an immediate danger.

She was restrained because she refused to go with the staff. They grabbed her and dragged her to the locking room. They say they didn't have to lock her in because she didn't try to leave.

Convicted Pedophile Confesses to Police to Sexually Abusing More than Twenty Children at Valley of the Moon Children's Home. No Charges Brought.

A convicted pedophile confessed to molesting over twenty children at Valley of the Moon Children's Home while employed as a staff member, according to the Santa Rosa Police Department. Santa Rosa Police Sergeant Terry Anderson explained that the convicted child molester confessed to the abuses to detectives in the Santa Rosa Police Department in the year 2000. In the wake of the confession, no charges were brought and no victims were identified.

In an email to a mandated reporter about contemporary abuses in Valley of the Moon, Anderson outlined the confessions and the number of children abused.

“In 1997 the Petaluma Police investigated and arrested McCall for child molest which occurred in their city. During their investigation they learned McCall admitted to a third party he had molested children at the Valley of the Moon Dependent Unit. This information was provided to the dependent unit, and to a Santa Rosa Police detective. It appears the dependent unit stated there had been no disclosures made by any children, however due to the length of time that has gone by I am unable to determine what our detective did to investigate the incident.In 2000 during an initial sex offender registration, McCall told a different Santa Rosa Police detective that he had molested approximately 20 children while working at the Dependent Unit. The detective’s report included the following; 'McCall stated he did not expect any of those crimes to be reported as these victims were either asleep during the molests or were too young to know what was happening'. In 2010, our department received a suspected child abuse report from a therapist about McCall’s disclosure of molesting children at the dependent unit in 1996. A note on the SCAR [Suspected Child Abuse Report] from Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Snetsinger stated 'info already investigated in 8/2000 by Musgrove-victims not identified'.

Based on this information it appears the incident was investigated by our department on at least one occasion, and possibly initially in 1997. Because both of the two detectives (from 1997 and 2000) have long since retired, I have no way of knowing details about their investigation,” read the email from Anderson to the advocates.

The pedophile  was arrested for molesting a child outside of Valley of the Moon Children's Home.

Charges were never brought for the victims at Valley of the Moon Children's Home. Some of the children who were abused may still be still young enough that they can bring criminal charges. Anyone born in 1986 (age 28) or later who was abused can still bring charges.

It is unclear what happened with the 1996 disclosure of abuse.

Even after confessions of sexual abuse by a staff member, Valley of the Moon Children's Home failed to background check all of its employees. On April 3, 2013 Valley of the Moon Children's Home was cited by Community Care Licensing for failing to perform criminal background checks on all of its employees.

Foster Change Coalition is working with local non-profits to get help for the victims of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse at Valley of the Moon Children's Home. Any person, adult or child, who needs help because of abuse they suffered at VOMCH can contact Foster Change Coalition. We can be reached at (707) 780-2363 or fosterchangecoalition@gmail.com.

Valley of the Moon Children's Home is an emergency shelter for children who have been so severely abused or neglected that they could not stay in their homes. Their license forbids them from taking children who are a danger to themselves or others. It is owned and run by Sonoma County Department of Human Services. It is fully staffed by Sonoma County Department of Human Services employees. Community Care Licensing, a state agency, is charged with overseeing its safety.