Garcia Wilburn: Pierceton Woods investigation shows need for accountability

Thanks to a recent investigation by IndyStarand ProPublica into a residential care facility that abused its position of power and trust over children, a question has arisen: How do we treat the young people under public care properly and make amends when they have been mistreated?

I am a woman of faith, and it is my faith that led me to enter a helping profession. This call has led me to often meet people in their most vulnerable times — those rehabilitating from life-altering injuries, learning how to manage chronic disease and helping young people navigate the complexities of recovery from trauma and illicit drug use. My focus is to always help people feel empowered in times of perceived powerlessness.

Now, as a state lawmaker, I am continuing my work by advocating for vulnerable communities in the Indiana General Assembly. Earlier this year, the residential care facility I mentioned above attempted to mislead lawmakers and escape accountability for their harmful actions. It’s important to understand the stakes of these events and why it is critical that state law maintains robust civil liability protections. State regulators must also increase their oversight of contractors who work with children.

Lasting Change is a faith-based nonprofit that operates Pierceton Woods Academy, a group home for boys needing the most complex mental and behavioral healthcare. Based out of Fort Wayne, Lasting Change is a contractor for the Indiana Department of Child Services. Lasting Change is DCS’ highest-grossing contractor and has received $250 million in taxpayer dollars since 2017.  

A representative of Lasting Change testified to lawmakers this past session that they needed civil immunity because their insurance premiums had risen exponentially in response to one "nuisance" lawsuit (their words, not mine). As it later came to light, these lobbying efforts — and the higher insurance premiums — were in response to flagrant staff misconduct at the Pierceton Woods facility.

Members of the Pierceton Woods staff allegedly sexually abused the teenagers under their care. Indy Star and ProPublica's investigations indicate that this misconduct was routinely dismissed or covered up by Lasting Change management. When presenting their case for immunity to lawmakers, Lasting Change failed to disclose this culture of abuse and negligence. 

Let Indiana be a cautionary tale with these cover-ups. No one is above the law for egregious offenses, including faith-based operations. Lasting Change is one of the last entities in our state that should receive civil immunity protections. 

Lasting Change chose not to hold staff and management accountable. Instead, they sought to evade consequences by getting lawmakers to bail them out of legal liability for future instances of misconduct. Luckily for Hoosiers, with my help, this bill was stopped this year. But I fear it will rear its ugly head once again in future legislative sessions. Hoosiers must understand the full consequences of a weakened civil liability system.        

Consider the generational impact of what the victims of Pierceton Woods experienced. Who is paying for the mental and behavioral health treatment that they will need because of this misconduct? Research shows that trauma can impair the body and mind for years and takes significant time, energy and professional interventions to heal. I am disgusted by what happened to the young residents of Pierceton Woods and pray they are receiving the necessary treatment to heal. Apologies and fired staff are not enough compensation for what they endured — our legal system is set up to assign financial value to damages done to the injured party.      

In addition to holding the line on our current civil liability laws, I plan to author legislative language this upcoming session to address the regulatory shortcomings revealed by these investigations. DCS investigations should happen whenever an individual — regardless of their current age — come forward with allegations of abuse or misconduct. DCS contractors should be required to report all allegations of abuse directly to DCS, not handle it internally as Pierceton Woods did. DCS must investigate all reports of abuse at residential facilities — not just those that meet the statutory definition of child abuse or neglect. 

Finally, I take issue with the fact that DCS only paused referring children to Pierceton Woods for 11 days and has since sped up those referrals. The legislature should consider a "three strike" rule — if a DCS contractor fails to meet the reporting timeline three times, then they should undergo a referral pause until certain requirements are met and DCS is able to confirm that their staff and management will follow protocol once referrals resume.

By voting against legislation to grant DCS vendors civil immunity, I and the rest of Indiana's democratic state representatives preserved the ability of future victims in situations like this one to seek recovery for harm that has been done to them. This is just one small part of standing up for kids and families — and this is a fight we are always willing to fight.

Victims, children and families must always come first. If the General Assembly follows this principle, then I hope we can begin making things right for the victims of Pierceton Woods and all future residential care facility residents.   

State Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn (D-Fishers) is an assistant professor in Graduate Health Professions in the School of Health and Human Sciences at Indiana University Indianapolis, whose work on trauma-informed care has trained many future healthcare professionals.