Local youth home probed for abuse

Our local media has a history of covering up abuse in programs for young people, but I guess even the Cincinnati Enquirer has decided they've had their fill of it. (I stopped using the Enquirer as a source for this blog when they began deleting website comments to appease a local school system, but I'm making an exception for this piece.)

Campbell Lodge Boys' Home in Cold Spring is a home for troubled boys aged 10 to 18. When I attended Cline Middle School, I had numerous classmates who lived at Campbell Lodge, but I didn't really know what Campbell Lodge was. I didn't know it was like the teen programs I've tried to have shut down. Now Campbell Lodge is being investigated by the state of Kentucky for mistreatment.

According to the probe, Campbell Lodge failed to provide 3 square meals a day. If kids got too rowdy, staffers force-fed them ADHD drugs that they hadn't been prescribed. The facility improperly disposed of medical records in violation of federal privacy laws. Staffers also forced children to wear dirty clothes to school and physically abused them to such a degree that they received rug burns and black eyes. Kids were even forced to drink water from the same cup, and one of the youngsters said an employee kept harassing him about his weight. (Some of the above problems were also known to exist at the CPH concentration camp in Covington, which to my knowledge has not been investigated yet.)

Children abused at Campbell Lodge complained to the home's officials, but their complaints were brushed off.

Now - because of the investigation - all residents have been moved out of Campbell Lodge. But the facility is threatening to resume its operations if state officials let it.

Later reports reveal that Campbell Lodge was actually exposed by 4 employees who reported the facility to authorities.

(Source: http://nky.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20120614/NEWS0103/306140136)