The following situation is purely imagined for the purpose of this course.  Unfortunately, I am guessing these things have happened in real life.

New Horizons for Children is a group home in the suburbs of Indianapolis called Notown.  It was founded to provide support and care for children with autism and their families.  Its mission, vision, and values are as follows:

Our Mission:

Giving children a childhood and future by protecting them, teaching them by providing strong communities and support to their families.

Our Vision:

A community where children with autism and their families come first.

Our Values:

• Integrity
• Collaboration
• Knowledge
• Diversity
• Commitment
• Quality

Jill Cooper founded New Horizons in 1990.  Her nephew, Brian, had severe autism.  He was unable to communicate, never toilet trained, frustrated, and, as a result, violent.  Jill watched her sister, Susan, struggle for years.  Susan barely slept as Brian wouldn’t and when he did, Susan had to tend to the other aspects of her life.  Brian would attack and bite Susan.  Susan had to place Brian in a long term care facility when he was 14 as she could no longer handle him.  The care facility where Brian was place was not ideal.  It had the look and feel of an institution.  Brian did not thrive, lost massive amounts of weight, it was not good.

Jill watched her sister and nephew struggle.  She was a healthcare manager; she knew there had to be a better way.  Jill wrote grants, made appeals to the community, she got it done.  She founded New Horizons.  While a group home, it was vibrant.  It was clean and pleasant.  The staff were positive and innovative.  The children who resided there were happy and making strides.

Jill was also aware how lucky she was.  Her children, Michael and Melissa, were good students and accomplished.  They were good kids.  She felt it was important for them to realize how blessed they were and wanted them to make a positive contribution with their gifts.  She started a program called Face to Face.  Jill worked with the local school districts to reach out to teenagers from the community who then applied to the program and were vetted on the basis of scholarship, leadership, and past community service.  The teens then entered New Horizons and worked with the children in the home.  They worked on socialization and communication with the children.  They did art projects, played games. Face to Face provided many benefits for all stakeholders in the situation.  The teens from the community got a better appreciation for their gifts.  They were taught American Sign Language to better communicate with the non-verbal residents.  Teens earned volunteer hours to report for the purposes of obtaining scholarships, being accepted into honor societies, and for college applications.  The staff of New Horizons got a break.  The time the community teens spent interacting with the residents allowed them time to catch up on paperwork and other tasks.  For the residents, it was fun.

New Horizons had established itself as a pillar of care for youth with autism.  Families needing this type of care for their children sought out New Horizons.  The residents of Notown were proud of the facility.  It was beautiful, programs cutting edge, the outcomes for the residents were good.  Jill had done something amazing.

Sometimes bad things happen in the middle of the good.  The Face to Face program was established and well run leading into the events of 2015.  It was so smoothly run that it was almost ignored.  In 2013, Brittany Gibson was hired to run New Horizon’s outreach programs including Face to Face.  She did well the first year then some issues occurred in her personal life.  Brittany was not happy with her life, felt she wasn’t paid enough, just didn’t care.  She got very lax in the vetting of the community teens who were to work in the Face to Face program.  She pulled in teens based sole on the recommendations of friends and neighbors.

Kyle Purcell got into the program under Brittany.  They were cousins in fact.  Kyle was 18 and a senior.  Kyle was a rough teen.  His two main interests were sports and girls.  He was a frequent flyer at the principal’s office at school.  His parents wanted him to go to a good college, knew his lackluster academic performance and troubles would inhibit this.  They also knew the power of having hours in the Face to Face program at New Horizons.  They appealed to Brittany.  She pulled him into the program.

Kyle did not want to be at New Horizons.  He was the antithesis of the teen the program sought to include.  He grumbled to his family when he had to go.  He complained the entire time he was at New Horizons.  Kyle incessantly made fun of the residents.  Then Kyle met Jacob.

Jacob was very much like Jill Cooper’s nephew Brian.  He was non-verbal.  Clothes irritated him, he was always trying to pull them off his body.  He was not toilet trained.  He was 14 when he met Kyle and was small for his age.  He was anxious, would burst into tears, and have the occasional violent outburst.  He was funny about his food.  Jacob’s care provider, Jenna, worked hard to make things smooth sailing for Jacob.  She recognized Jacob would be more successful if his anxiety were kept at a minimum.

Kyle found a victim in Jacob.  He took all of his dissatisfaction with his situation out on Jacob.  He did everything he could to heighten Jacob’s anxiety.  Jacob had a couple of toys that were dear to him.  Kyle hid them to make Jacob cry.  Kyle would tighten Jacob’s clothing.  Kyle would take food from Jacob and eat it in front of him.  Kyle spent six hours per week with Jacob unattended.

Jacob’s mother, Christie, was very attentive and intuitive when it came to Jacob.  She and Jenna notice Jacob regressing.  He was losing weight and his poor behaviors were becoming more frequent.  They both noticed it was worse after Kyle’s visits.  One of Christie’s neighbors, Allison, was also a teen in the Face to Face program.  She asked Allison to keep an eye to the situation.

A week or two later, Allison reported to Christie that she knew exactly what the problem was.  She reported Kyle’s bullying behavior to Christie.  Christie hit the roof.  After the age of three, special needs children fall under the umbrella of the public schools.  Christie had worked hard with the special education administrator to get Jacob into that facility.  Christie’s husband owns a construction company, the couple is well connected in the community.  Christie saw to it that everyone who would listen knew what was happening at the school.  The situation at New Horizons became public.  Christie also felt stuck when it came to Jacob.  He had made progress under Jenna.  Until Kyle entered the picture, Jacob was happy and making progress.  Christie loves Jacob beyond compare, but he has two siblings at home and his behavior at home was becoming increasingly disruptive and violent.  Christie felt stuck.

Jill Cooper was reaching retirement age.  That last thing she wanted was a home she had worked so hard to establish and make successful be run into the ground due to the mismanagement of program director and an ill-behaved student from the community.  She felt what she needed to do to resolve this situation and repair the reputation of New Horizons.