Princeton House reaches settlement in negligence case w family of girl who died in facility's care

[proverbialwisdom]

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2014/07/princeton_house_reaches_settlement_in_negligence_case_with_family_of_girl_who_died_in_facilitys_care.html#comments

Princeton House reaches settlement in negligence case with family of girl who died in facility's care

Jenna Pizzi | Times of Trenton By Jenna Pizzi | Times of Trenton
on July 11, 2014 at 8:09 AM, updated July 11, 2014 at 4:17 PM

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS2XL2IIJ74dZcBMzNDko_Hg7rmSwygoaOaMvIze_TDxqedN7Gg29zmJkE
From left, Richard Wohl, President of Princeton House Behavioral Health Care and Neal Schofield, M.D., Chairman, Department of Psychiatry. (Michael Mancuso/The Times of Trenton)

PRINCETON — The family of a girl who died in 2009 while she was being treated at Princeton House Behavioral Health have reached a settlement with the facility to dismiss a malpractice suit claiming staff negligence led to the girl’s death.

According to court records the settlement was reached in February and the case was officially closed in early March.

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The civil suit was filed in Ocean County Superior Court, where Fahey and his family live.

Attorneys representing Princeton House did not respond to a message seeking comment and information about the agreement.

Princeton House is also the target of another civil suit filed in Mercer County where Michael Leal, who is charged with murdering his roommate in 2010 while at the facility, alleges that the staff at the facility failed to protect him. Leal was at the facility for psychiatric treatment. Leal allegedly told police he attacked his 69-year-old roommate because he felt guilty for having sex with the man.

The murder charges against Leal were dropped after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity by a criminal court judge in 2012. He has since been committed to a mental health facility, but the civil case against Princeton House remains pending.

[proverbialwisdom]

1. This is in a blue state in 2014, so it's all good, and besides they're just tryin' to help.

REPORTED YESTERDAY:

"not a danger to himself or others" but "high risk" according to psych hospital officials
"K-9 units and a police air unit" deployed
"Human Services Police" instead of township police

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2014/08/police_searching_for_missing_psychiatric_patient.html

State authorities searching for psychiatric patient who ran from Ewing courtState authorities searching for psychiatric patient who ran from Ewing court

By Keith Brown | Times of Trenton
on August 07, 2014 at 11:19 AM, updated August 07, 2014 at 2:59 PM

EWING – State Department of Human Services Police continue to look for a psychiatric patient who bolted from Ewing municipal court this morning and into a patch of woods, police said.

Ewing Police were called to assist around 9:38 a.m. after Oliver Grason, 28, a resident of the Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, ran from his hospital escort he was with for an appearance at Ewing Municipal Court, Sgt. David LeBaw said.

Witnesses saw Grason run across Scotch Road and into a patch of woods near Kyle Road, LeBaw said. Scotch Road was briefly closed during a search, which included State Police K-9 units and a police air unit, LeBaw said.

Ewing Police are no longer involved in the ongoing search, which is being headed by Human Services Police, LeBaw said.

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Grason is considered a “high risk’’ patient by Trenton Psychiatric Hospital officials, LeBaw said, but he is not considered a danger to himself or others.

NJ Human Services Police? Designed to sidestep 'due process' disputes and other lawsuits? NJ.COM site search?

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/04/human_services_replaces_its_po.html

N.J. Human Services replaces its police director

By Susan K. Livio | The Star-Ledger
on April 15, 2013 at 5:04 PM, updated April 15, 2013 at 7:55 PM

TRENTON — The head of the state Human Services Police Department was replaced on Friday, a spokeswoman confirmed today.

Donald Haynes, who earned $101,048 as Deputy Director of the 103-member police force, is no longer a state employee, Human Services spokeswoman Nicole Brossoie said. She declined to elaborate on why he was removed, saying he did not have civil service protection and such "at will" employees may be dismissed at any time.

Glenn Talavera, the department's director of Investigations in the Office of Program Integrity and Accountability, has been named interim Director. He earns $98,000, Brossoie said.

The 103-member police force is assigned to accompany child welfare workers to potentially dangerous homes and guard the state's four psychiatric hospitals and seven developmental centers. Despite his deputy director title, Haynes was the police department's highest ranking official, and had been employed there since 2003, Brossoie said.

Haynes could not be reached for comment.

The police force's leadership has undergone a lot of turmoil in recent years.

Two years ago, Human Services ousted Raymond Brennan, the department's 84-year-old chief of police for insubordination and a litany of other offenses, including "notoriously disgraceful conduct" and "conduct unbecoming a public employee." Brennan accused officials of age discrimination. He died in November 2011.

A state grand jury indicted Human Services Police Capt. Brian Brady last year on charges that he faked time sheets and misused police databases.

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/03/chris_christie_takes_mental_health_commitment_law_statewide.html

Chris Christie takes mental health commitment law statewide

on March 18, 2014 at 6:30 AM, updated May 01, 2014 at 11:35 AM

TRENTON — Five years after passage of a controversial mental health law that gave judges the authority to order those severely ill and potentially dangerous into treatment, the Christie administration has dedicated an additional $4.5 million to expand the program into all 21 counties, the state Department of Human Services announced Monday.

Since last year, only five of the state’s 21 counties — Burlington, Essex, Hudson, Ocean, Warren and Union — have offered the involuntary outpatient commitment program, which assigns patients intensive case management to make sure they have a place to live, are working or looking for work, and are in therapy.

If patients fail to comply and are deemed by their treatment team to be a danger to themselves, others or property "in the foreseeable future," a judge can order them committed to a psychiatric hospital until they are stable.

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Related Coverage:

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/02/for_seriously_mentally_ill_peo.html
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/08/nj_will_put_on_hold_enforcemen.html

Ah, NJ, this may constitute other lawsuits just waiting to happen. The science doesn't support the legislation.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/2013/antipsychotics-taking-the-long-view.shtml
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-e-levine/schizophrenia_b_4093287.html
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303442704579361333470749104
http://www.bazelon.org/Where-We-Stand/Self-Determination/Forced-Treatment/Outpatient-and-Civil-Commitment.aspx
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/22266-psychiatry-now-admits-its-been-wrong-in-big-ways-but-can-it-change