Children finally are fighting back against the county. They brought a lawsuit and are banding together in a class action. This from the Press Democrat.
"Filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the suit seeks an end to policies and practices it contends are unconstitutional, as well as punitive and compensatory damages.
So far, the case involves just five plaintiffs, but attorneys are seeking approval to form a class-action suit that could take in hundreds more, they say.
“It’s hard to put a number on it,” attorney Paul H. Masuhara said. “We won’t really know until we get records.”
Named as defendants in the suit are Jerry Dunn, director of Sonoma County’s Human Services Department; the county’s Family Youth and Services director, Nick Honey; and Stacie Kabour, manager of the county-run children’s home.
County Counsel Bruce Goldstein denied any policy at the children’s home of strip-searching or physically restraining children. He said similar accusations have surfaced in the past and were unfounded.
Goldstein said the facility is carefully regulated by the state Community Care Licensing agency, local courts and child welfare advocates. None were made aware of the complaints, he said.
“On its face, many of the allegations seem quite far-fetched,” he said Monday.
The suit is based on the experiences of five girls who are now adults and one male, a minor, who left the home late last year.
One of the women who was at the facility several times from 1995 to 2005 alleges she was subjected to more than 20 strip searches upon returning to the facility from school or family visits.
Another woman who was at the home for three months starting in 2012 said staff members searched her bra, requiring her to pull it away from her body, exposing her breasts.
Similar claims are made by the other two women, who were at the home in 2011. One said she was forced to “shake out” her bra during a search, leaving her feeling “shamed and humiliated.”
The boy, now 17, complained that over an 11-year period ending in December he was locked in his room, placed in restraints and had a cellphone confiscated. The suit also said he was subjected to extreme psychological abuse.
The suit maintains state regulators have investigated and cited the children’s home for a number of practices. In addition, it said incident reports established the use of unjustifiable restraint 610 times in five years, 41 times leading to injury, as well as incidents of sexual abuse and assault.
Goldstein said it may be true that children were injured over the past five years but he said it was unlikely due to restraints or attacks. He said the facility is obligated to report all incidents that could be considered serious to the state.
And he denied any practice that would involve children’s undergarments when they returned to the facility.
“That is not allowed and I don’t believe it happened,” Goldstein said. “It would be inconsistent with policy over at least the past five years.”
You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or
paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne."
This from the Press Democrat, Sonoma County's primary newspaper.
