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Strange Case of Adelia Godfrey Supports Suspicions
By Ruth Steinberger
Lakota Journal
published: Sept 27 - Oct 4 2002
Shirley Duggan is relieved to have her daughter home from Department of Corrections custody. However, she is very concerned about the girl's allegations of molestation while in the Heartland Behavioral Center in Nevada, MO.
Heartland Behavioral Center is one of the private out-of-state facilities used by the South Dakota DOC to house juveniles and Duggan believes that her hasty release from the facility may have been part of a cover-up. Although the girl spoke with police about an incident allegedly involving a male staff member, there is only passing mention of the charges in her record that was furnished to her attorney and the fact that she spoke with police is entirely absent from her file.
According to Duggan, the facility has refused to tell her the last name of the staff member facing the allegations, and his name is also missing from the file sent to her attorney, Mick Hogan of Sisseton.
Adelia Godfrey is a 17 year old Sisseton-Wahpeton youth who was in DOC custody for an incident stemming from a broken window in 2001. While in custody, Godfrey had been kept alone in a basement cell for over 30 days when she panicked while in custody, grabbing and discharging a fire extinguisher at Sisseton Police Officer Keith Butrum. Robert's County State's Attorney, Kay Nikolas immediately moved to have Adelia tried as an adult for the incident, charging her with two counts of aggravated assault.
If tried as an adult Godfrey could have faced 30 years in prison. Butrum testified that he broke out in a rash from the fire extinguisher powder.
Adelia was one of the youth subjected to "four pointing" and other bizarre methods of restraint used in the state run facilities at the time of the death of 14 year old Gina Score in July 1999. "Four pointing" refers to the placement of youth in restraints that were attached to a concrete slab in the floor after which time their clothes were cut off of them.
Civil rights activists cited a history of prosecutions that appeared to have been racially motivated by the Roberts County State Attorney's Office, as well as by other state attorney's offices throughout South Dakota. Private estimates are that nearly all youth in South Dakota who are transferred to adult court are Indians. When the Roberts County (sic) was contacted regarding the criminal charges they were seeking against Godfrey, that office was unable to cite any white youth who had ever been charged as an adult by that office, including when the crime had involved a death.
On April 19, 2002, Circuit Court Judge Jon Flemmer denied the motion by Nikolas to try Adelia Godfrey as an adult, saying, "I can't see anything beneficial coming out of transferring the case to adult court." During the trial an e-mail surfaced that revealed that Nikolas had expressed a desire to try Godfrey as an adult following a minor incident when she was 15.
Following her incarceration under Juvenile DOC, Godfrey was sent to Heartland. Duggan noted the high numbers of Indian youth detained there and she alleges that some children told herself and Adelia that they had been in the facility for several years. She cited the number of Indian children from South Dakota that wind up in private institutions across several states. Heartland is a part of a chain of (sic).
Shortly after she was transferred there, Duggan was told by her daughter that she had been put on 300 mg. of Thorazine a day. After Duggan complained to a staff psychiatrist the use of Thorazine was discontinued. According to Godfrey, she was told that if she refused the drug she would be put on the acute ward and the drug would be administered intravenously. Thorazine is a mind-altering drug used in mental institutions to calm and restrain patients. The shuffling walk noticeable in Thorazine patients is known as "The Thorazine Shuffle" amongst professionals at the mental hospital.
Duggan notes, "Adelia said that all of the girls she was in contact with were on Thorazine." Duggan noted that none of the girls had control over the drugs they were given.
Duggan told Lakota Journal, "On July 30, at 10:30 a.m., I requested a treatment plan and a list of medications she was on." The use of Thorazine was confirmed and at that time, Duggan alleges that she was told that Heartland would need permission from the State of South Dakota to put her on the medications she was on. At 10:47 a call came from a staff member who told her the drugs would be stopped. Duggan alleges, "I called Supervisor Cathy Adams at 3:30 to make arrangements to visit. At 7:40 that even Adelia called and was crying. She had gotten into a fight with another girl over being teased about her 'relationship' with the man who she alleges molested her."
At 8:00 the following morning, Duggan called the facility to complain about the molestation charges. She said, "All this time I was told there was no other facility that would take her." She called the girl's JCA (parole officer), Todd Stark to see what action he could take.
The Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe then agreed to pay for an attorney for Duggan. Around 15 minutes after Attorney Mick Hogan called for reports concerning any past history with the staff member that had allegedly assaulted Godfrey, a staff member called to say a placement for her in South Dakota had been found. Following a short stay at a state facility in South Dakota, she was released.
When Duggan tried to speak with Cathy Adams about the incident Duggan said Adams minimized the incident and Duggan alleges that Adams lied to her saying that Adelia said that the staff member had not touched her. She said, "I knew she was telling a lie. I had talked with Adelia before that and she said, Mom, he grabbed me." Duggan explained that once Godfrey was away from Adams she spoke with the police. She said that Adams said there is good staff at Heartland that care about the kids. Duggan said, "There's one staff member there that fell through the cracks and got to my daughter and that's what matters to me."
Duggan explained that her daughter was under DOC custody for reasons that would be handled in most places through means other than incarceration. She said, "At least they are supposed to protect my daughter. They never wanted to keep her in South Dakota, that [Heartland] is the place they wanted to send her and now not only has she been over medicated and over drugged, but she was assaulted by a staff member at Heartland. They are responsible for that. Adelia is not the only Indian child in this place." Duggan continued, "I told them that she has liver problems." Indeed, after Duggan protested the girl being placed on Thorazine and demanded testing, an enzyme test performed on August 3, 2002 revealed a damaged liver.
Like many other juveniles in South Dakota, the lengthy stays at out of state facilities were paid for through Title IXX funding, federal money that is given directly to the state, to pay bills submitted by the facilities that house the youth. This money makes the long-term placement of youth into a very lucrative business for the facilites and the use of this money for this purpose affects many Indian families in South Dakota. Heartland Behavioral Center charges more than $400 per day with the amount depending on which program the child is in. A Heartland intake worker acknowledged that placement is rarely covered by insurance and nearly all stays are paid for by public funds. Heartland programs have no termination date.
Mary Kahn of the Division of Medicaid in the Department of Health and Human Services Washington, DC confirmed that there is no federal cap or guidelines on the state spending per child per facility.
The Federal Medicaid program pays the bill submitted to them quarterly, in this case from state of South Dakota, with virtually no federal management of the billing. According to Kahn, the bill is not broken down by facility, by day, or by any other information that would reveal an overview of the use of this money. No treatment plan or medical verification of ongoing need is submitted to the federal government.
The money is paid in a lump sum to the state, to be disbursed to the service providers. Though Medicaid reimburses only 68.31% of the amount billed by the facility, there is not oversight if there is subsequently a discount offered to the contractor for the services, thereby leaving a portion of the money for the state. There is no federal oversight concerning connections between private investment in the facilities and placement within them. There is no additional federal oversight of the flow of funds through the two states that are in non-compliance with the JJDP code, specifically regarding how a child came to be in Department of Corrections custody, and what, if any, due process has been afforded the family.
The amount of money spent on juveniles as compared to adults is not recorded. No information regarding the number of Indian youth placed through this funding are kept. There is no oversight concerning if the length of stay is appropriate, nor is there oversight of a child being held for an extended time in the placement, even if that placement lasts for several years.
Former Representative Pat Haley (D-Huron) recently alleged that he was unable to get access to any audits involving the money that enters and leaves the South Dakota Department of Corrections. He told Lakota Journal that while he was in the legislature he asked for a full disclosure of the finances of the Department of Corrections (DOC).
He said, "I asked for access to the books because I believed there may have been some fishy dealings." Haley continued, "I believe that one of the primary tools for moving money around is in the DOC. I spent several years trying to access the books on the DOC and the Republican legislators, specifically their leaders, helped block access to this information."
The most recent South Dakota DOC Juvenile Monthly Statistics reveals that there are a total of 570 juveniles in the state of South Dakota DOC. Out of that number 420 are male and 150 are female. Of that number 148 males and 78 females are in "Private Placement, DOC Paid" which includes facilities like Heartland, as well as other types of facilities.
At rates exceeding $400 per day, with only 68.31% paid by the federal government, either the state is paying over $100 per day per child, or financial adjustments from the facilities are occurring. This would be among the information that Haley was unable to get from the state auditor while he was in the legislature.
Heartland Behavioral Center was asked to comment on the allegations by Duggan about the handling of the situation. Specifically, Heartland was asked to comment on their refusal to release a copy of the police complaint to Duggan and their refusal to tell her the name of the alleged perpetrator and to leave that out of the girls file which was sent to her attorney. Additionally Heartland was asked to comment on the normal channels used to handle this type of complaint and whether a parent or guardian would normally be apprised of a situation involving a police report made by a child. Despite being asked detailed questions, no Heartland spokesperson returned phone calls.
Doug Herman of the South Dakota DOC did not return phone calls.
Gary Herstein of the Nevada (Missouri) Police Department could not discuss any details of a case involving this type of case and said that the mother would have to contact the Department of Family Services of MO, who would have given the information to the South Dakota DOC. He explained that her attorney would have to request copies of any records. However, because Godfrey was released from DOC custody, Attorney Mick Hogan is no longer retained.
Haley commented on the experience Godfrey has been through and on the out-of-state placements that extend for years with no oversight of the flow of money. Calling the money that flows through the DOC, "Big business," he said that a look at the books could tell a big part of the story. Haley added, "There needs to be tracking of the cash flow. I have been asking for the past six years to do that. I haven't been in the legislature for the past two years, but other legislators have asked on my behalf and have not been able to get the information."
Haley said, "We had a variety of out patient programs that Janklow closed down and the programs have been replaced with institutional programs. He continued, "The longer this goes on the further and further from home the kids are sent and the information on how this is working is not even granted to legislators. South Dakota had made good progress and Janklow slammed the door and went in the opposite direction. Not only did he stop development in those programs, but he shut down what had already been achieved and went the other way."
He added that obviously the outpatient programs were far less expensive to operate, and the effort to go to more private programs while refusing to open the books highlights serious questions.
Activist Alfred Bone Shirt has remained involved with Godfrey's situation and organized earlier efforts to pressure the court to try her as a juvenile. Nothing the numbers of Indian children that have been placed in Heartland and other facilities in several states, Bone Shirt said, "This is not about one child." He noted material on running Christian youth groups for Indian youth at Heartland and said, "That reveals the high number of Indian children winding up there. There are not large numbers of tribal people around Nevada, Missouri." Bone Shirt cited the federal monies that accompanies the placements.
Noting the current budget shortfall in South Dakota, Bone Shirt continued, "It is hard to imagine the benefit to the state in placing more and more children in custody and sending them to private out-of-state placements like this unless there was an income from it. If there is not an income from this, how could the state afford to lose the thousands of dollars that it would cost to incarcerate and hospitalize kids that would not even be incarcerated in other places and to do this for years of the child's life?"
Duggan said, "I believe Adelia. I don't care what they say about all the good staff at Heartland, this happened to my daughter. We have other Indian kids there."
Duggan said, "This is the nightmare journey of my own child who could be any one of a countless number of Native children now held under the iron fist of the DOC in the state of South Dakota." Duggan said, "This could be any Indian child. My daughter was an intelligent, hopeful young child when she entered the DOC. This is not to say she is not intelligent and hopeful, to this day much to her credit and unwavering faith in her traditional beliefs she has struggled on, much as do other kids still held hostage by the state of South Dakota. These are documented facts, believe me she is not the first Native child to go through this with the DOC and she will not be the last. The killing fields of South Dakota are different only from those of Cambodia, Romania and Nazi Germany in that their tactics are more devious and covert. The end result is the same it will surely bring about the total physical, spiritual, and mental death of our people. This is genocide. If we remain invisible by remaining passive we will have had a hand in our own destruction. We cannot be swung around by the invaders and those of our people who buy into the rhetoric of reconciliation. What is it we have to reconcile? Reconcile that we weren't driven into extinction and that our land and resources were stolen by deception and that we were relegated to the level of animals; reconcile that this country throughout history committed mass murder of our people. Still there are those among us that would bend over backwards to please the leaders of this country. We should be demanding restitution for the atrocities committed against us. There is a sleeping giant who is waking now. There are nations who are not afraid of the military might of this government and more are joining forces. Some day the United States of America will have to stand in the light of true justice."
Duggan expressed that she will be eternally grateful to the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribal COuncil that agreed to assist her in paying for an attorney for Adelia. She said, "It is time for all tribes to take action."
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