A long road to a safe place
This series received the 2012 Anna Quindlen Award for excellence in journalism on behalf of American children and families.
In Pennsylvania as across the United States, thousands of abused and neglected children removed from their families by the government are sent to live in private institutions rather than foster homes. In 2011, after years of efforts to make these state-licensed facilities safer, 361 incident reports obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette showed that institutionalized children continued to face danger at the hands of staff members and peers. There were at least 264 injuries to children living in Western Pennsylvania programs between 2005 and 2010, including 17 bone fractures, four broken bones and 18 lacerations deep enough to need stitches.
This series examines the toll this trauma takes on children and staff members, and why government efforts to reduce injuries have met mixed results. It also includes the stories of Giovanni — a teenager who died after being physically restrained in a residential facility — and Danny, a 13-year-old foster child shuffled from facility to facility.
This series received the 2012 Anna Quindlen Award for excellence in journalism on behalf of American children and families.
In Pennsylvania as across the United States, thousands of abused and neglected children removed from their families by the government are sent to live in private institutions rather than foster homes. In 2011, after years of efforts to make these state-licensed facilities safer, 361 incident reports obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette showed that institutionalized children continued to face danger at the hands of staff members and peers. There were at least 264 injuries to children living in Western Pennsylvania programs between 2005 and 2010, including 17 bone fractures, four broken bones and 18 lacerations deep enough to need stitches.
This series examines the toll this trauma takes on children and staff members, and why government efforts to reduce injuries have met mixed results. It also includes the stories of Giovanni — a teenager who died after being physically restrained in a residential facility — and Danny, a 13-year-old foster child shuffled from facility to facility.
 Danny, four days after he was injured during a physical restraint at a juvenile facility (Photo: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Part 1: 361 incident reports obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette show that despite years of efforts, children in residential facilities continue to face danger at the hands of workers and peers. Link
Part 2: Staff members at youth facilities also face injury, working long hours for meager pay. As a result, morale in the industry is low, and turnover is high -- undermining efforts to keep children safe. Link Part 3: One year in the life of Danny Link Full Guide, including sidebars: About the series (methodology) Part 1 "A long road to a safe place: Children in state-licensed residential programs still face risk of injury" Sidebar: "Teen dies after being restrained; policy changed" Sidebar: "State statistics on injuries incomplete" Sidebar: "Change difficult in tight economy" Sidebar: "Programs trying to reduce restraints have mixed results" Part 2 "Staff turnover at youth homes makes job more perilous" Sidebar: "When staff stay longer, a safer place" Part 3 "After difficult year, Danny still has no place to call home" |