Did Parmadale Family Services go too far in restraining Faith Finley?

[Nell]

http://i39.tinypic.com/2zs358x.jpg

A disruptive girl who died last month while being restrained by staff members at a church-run treatment center suffocated and choked, the Summit County coroner said Monday in ruling the death a homicide.



Faith Finley, 17, of Barberton, died Dec. 13 while restrained by staff members of Parmadale Family Services.


Police records showed that a Parmadale staff member told an emergency operator that the teenager was unresponsive and had shallow breathing. A second staff member then called 9-1-1 and said another staffer was giving the girl CPR.


The residential center in Parma is run by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Cleveland and treats youngsters with behavior, developmental and drug problems.


Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank P. Miller said the girl suffocated while restrained and choked when she inhaled her vomit. The ruling of homicide, or death at the hands of another individual, wasn't meant to imply anything sinister, the coroner said.


Miller turned the case over to Parma police, who are still investigating, according to Detective Marty Compton. Any findings will be discussed with the prosecutor's office, he said.


Catholic Charities said it was cooperating with the investigation and would let the legal process move forward. "We continue our prayers and support for the young woman and her family," Catholic Charities CEO J. Thomas Mullen said in a statement.


The teen's mother, Antoinette Finley, said she wasn't surprised by the ruling. She added that authorities ought to look closer at Parmadale's training and procedures.

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20090106/UPDATES01/90106010

[Athena]

While I don't think anyone intended to kill her, I find it hard to believe they would be unable to restrain a 17 year old girl of that size (assuming she was still that size) without choking her. It sounds like a matter of sub-par training. Considering they deal with unruly children on a consistent basis, this definitely poses a potential for similar deaths down the road, if steps aren't taken to correct the issue.

[KiKi]

I think they deffinitely went too far. If they are used to dealing with disruptive children, then they should have known how to handle this girl without killing her. I agree with Athena, I don't think that they intended on killing her, but it happened...how would they not know that she was suffocating...it sounds like whoever was restraining her finally got fed up with her and took matters into their own hands. Sad.

[TheMorningStar]

"We continue our prayers and support for the young woman and her family," Catholic Charities CEO J. Thomas Mullen said in a statement.

Um...the young woman is dead, you killed her. Nice support.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Depriving a troubled Barberton teen of her music triggered the confrontation with treatment center workers that led to the girl being restrained and ultimately suffocated, prosecutors allege.

Three workers at Parmadale Family Services were indicted today on involuntary manslaughter and child endangering for the December death of 17-year-old Faith Finley.

Cynthia M. King, 32, of Warrensville Heights, Lazarita Menendez, 28, of Bedford Heights, and Ebony N. Ray, 33, of Broadview Heights, were charged in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.

In addition, Menendez is also charged with felonious assault and inciting violence, the latter for her taking Finley's CD player as punishment for her unruliness, prosecutors said.
[...]

The women are scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 17. Each faces 10 years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter charge. The endangering charge carries an additional five years.

Maureen Clancy, an assistant county prosecutor, said the CD player was identified by Finley as her coping mechanism when she was admitted to the facility in July 2008 and was not to be used as a punishment tool by Parmadale workers.

Children placed at the center for behavioral issues are typically asked to identify an item that helps soothe them in times of emotional turmoil.

Clancy said Menendez broke from Parmadale policy when she denied Finley the player, which triggered more anger from Finley and caused the workers to restrain her.

''At Parmadale, the coping mechanism is not to be used as a consequence or taken away from them. In this particular case ...Menendez did use it as a consequence,'' Clancy said. ''[Faith] then became irate and destructive. She became very violent in her room, threw her clothes around and continued to ask for her CD player.''

When Menendez refused, Finley attacked her, choking and punching the worker, Clancy said.

At this point, the two other workers came to help and restrained Finley on the floor with the women on top. During all this, Finley was crying that she could not breathe.

Prosecutors are unsure of exactly when Finley stopped breathing.

''Once the girl calmed down and was not flailing anymore and was no longer combative, they left her [face down] on the floor,'' Clancy said.

Afterward, no one checked on Finley's condition, a violation of the center's restraint policy, Clancy said.

Instead, King told Menendez and Ray to leave while she grabbed a blanket, covered herself and went to sleep in a chair.

Meanwhile, Finley's injuries went unnoticed for nearly two hours until another child noticed fluid dripping from her mouth.

''These child-care workers know what they're in for when they take on a job,'' Clancy said. ''These workers are trained to deal with these situations and they're trained on how to do a restraint and they're trained on what to do after a restraint.

''And none of those protocols were followed from the beginning to the end of this case. ...There was no reason or excuse for letting her lie on that ground without checking her. She was screaming during the restraint that she couldn't breathe, she couldn't breathe and she still was just left on the ground.''
[...]http://www.ohio.com/news/56765582.html