FOUR MORE JUVENILES ESCAPE FROM FIVE OAKS ACHIEVEMENT CENTER IN NEW ULM
Four more juveniles have escaped from Five Oaks Achievement Center in recent weeks.
On March 30th at 8:45 p.m., Austin County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a report of two juveniles that ran away from the Five Oaks Achievement Center located in New Ulm. The immediate area was searched with no success of locating the individuals that evening.
On March 31st at 10:57 a.m., Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to Fireman’s Park on Track Rd, where the 2 juveniles were located and returned to Five Oaks Achievement Center.
On April 12th, Austin County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a report of another two juveniles that had ran away from Five Oaks Achievement Center at about 5:35 p.m.
Sheriff’s deputies responded and later found the two juveniles in Colorado County. At 7:53 p.m. that day, the two juveniles were returned to Five Oaks Achievement Center.
Sheriff Brandes stated that the Austin County Sheriff’s Office is very concerned for the safety of the residents of Five Oaks Achievement Center and the citizens of Austin County.
Brandes says he will forward all information to the State of Texas Child Protective Service concerning this issue.
I’m not sure where you are quoting your licensing standards from, but that is total bull. If an individual is in imminent harm or is doing something to cause imminent harm to themselves or others, then you can lay hands on that person to prevent harm. I would think leaving a facility against a court ordered hold so you can run off into the woods, cross highways, trespass on private property, and also be without shelter from the elements overnight would be imminent harm, wouldn’t you? And I see that your volunteer work hasn’t made a dent in decreasing the runaway issue either, now has it? Go pray for them or do whatever you like. I’ll pray that no one gets shot and killed one day.
We appreciate Sheriff Brandes and his deputies for their hard work; though they make this seem like it only happens at our facility. The truth is, on any given year, 1.7 million children run away from home. Whether it be from regular families or foster care, they run. There is no cure for a child that wants to flee a difficult situation and go back to the ones who were abusing them in the first place. We want to assure the good people of Austin County that these are “special needs” children and not juvenile justice kids. All have been abused and neglected by our society. We are simply trying to give these children meaning in this world again. We are actively pursuing avenues to end their runaway behaviors.
Obviously the supervision is NOT adequate at this faciltiy. I also work at a state funded facility with special needs individuals including behavioral juveniles and only once in the past few years has one of these juveniles gotten out of the facility. And no, we don’t have a fence either. FIX THE PROBLEM AND QUIT TRYING TO SHIFT THE BLAME!
TJ
I agree with you on this matter. I worked at this facility before and it is the supervision. Though things have changed and improved at this facility it is not up to par. Usually when people run they are running for exercise or something. Since this isn’t a track meet, the question is what are they running from? The mistreatment of these individuals have occurred long enough and the facility need to be closed.
It’s sad that a disgruntled ex-employee would use this venue to throw stones. TJ, our supervision is greater than the State requires. You worked at a locked facility. That makes a big difference. Bottom line, these kids are trying to get back to people they know.
Our doors are not locked. I’m not exactly sure which facility you think I’m speaking of, because I don’t work at a prison or a detention center. Actually, it would be illegal to do so at our facility or to lock someone in against their will.
And if your supervision is “greater than the state requires”, then that still obviously isn’t enough now, is it? We too have kids who want to want to get back to their parents and family that they love at the facility I work. And if these individuals are a flight risk, that is developed into a behavioral plan with strategies to ensure that they do not have problematic departures and that our facility maintains adequate supervision of said individuals. Notice once again that I use the words ADEQUATE SUPERVISION.
I am a resident of Austin County that is getting pretty sick and tired of hearing that our sheriff’s officers are having to go out almost routinely every single weekend to round up your facility’s residents after you can’t maintain ADEQUATE SUPERVISION.
I’m sure it won’t be long before Five Oaks is closed. Unfortunately it will probably come at the demise of one of it’s residents, shot and killed by a neighbor to the facility who is sick and tired of these individuals trespassing on their property, destroying property, and getting loose from the facility almost now routinely every weekend.
Yes, it is a sad situation for individuals that need help from a behavioral facility. But obviously these individuals aren’t getting the right kind of help from Five Oaks if they can’t even maintain their individuals’ safety and ensure that they don’t leave the facility grounds without supervision.
Concerned??? My concern is that if you worked out at that facility and knew that there was mistreatment of these individuals, why is it that you didn’t tell the necessary people so that it could be stopped! However, you respond to Craig Bibb’s post, as an ex employee that feels the facility needs to be shut down, is ridiculous! Closing a facility that is apparently helping lots of these children is definitely not the answer! How many times have either of you been to visit that facility or volunteered at that facility? But yet you want to pass judgement on the people that are working there daily. I agree with Mr. Bibb in terms of children run and skip school etc. all of the time, but do you hear about them? Children of Austin County’s leaders get in trouble by drinking before their legal and drive, run away, etc but you don’t hear about that! You want to know what you, me, and others who care ought to do, probably not, but I am going to tell you anyway…… pray, volunteer, and love through service!
Exactly TJ it is against licensing standards to put hands on these children if they decide they want to leave the facility. So apparently supervision is not the only problem. So, I believe TJ that contacting your state representative in reference to the strict regulations they put on caregivers at these type of facilities! So I truly believe that unless you are willing to go that extra mile to volunteer your expertise at that facility, that you should not speak negative over it’s caregivers. I can imagine that there are many variables that play a role in these children consistently running. Let’s see from my experience these type of facilities deal with children that have been runners at every facility they’ve been to, have psychiatric issues, may have been involved in drugs or alcohol at some point in their young lives, are teenagers who may be sexually active….etc. local officers allow local people to drink and drive continuously without ever giving them a ticket or DUI OR DWI….SHOULD WE SHUT THEM DOWN FOR THEIR LACK THEREOF? TJ, I am almost positive they wouldn’t turn you away if you wanted to volunteer to share your expertise! I’ve volunteered there for many years and seen a lot of wonderful staff there who do a great job daily! People in glass houses with big rocks inside and all around it should not throw pebbles.