This is a staff list for Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch in MT
(we are working to acquire the complete records for ALL years)
We advise current and/or former staff to report any abuses you may have witnessed while working at Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch. For information on your rights and how to take action, visit www.heal-online.org/blowthewhistle.htm. If you were fired or forced to resign because you opposed any illegal and/or unethical practices at Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch, you have the right to take action.
If you were harmed (family or survivor) by Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch, please contact [email protected] if you remember the long-term employees and from which years. This will help! Also, if you recognize any of these staff as having worked at another program, please send in any information about their past or present employment at other facilities and/or cults.
Please do not place your child in this program and remove your child if currently enrolled.
|
Name |
Unit/Position |
Additional Information |
| Ronda Bales | Nurse | |
| Brian Lubberstedt | Psychiatrist | |
| Taylor A. Mayer | Counselor | |
| Philip A. House | Clinical Director | |
| Donna Dobson Tobin | Clinician | |
| Kelli Begley | Clinician | |
| Glenn McFarlane | CEO/Executive Director | |
| *(Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch, like many other programs in this industry, keeps a "tight lid" on any specific information regarding their staff, qualifications, and practices. Please contact us with the names of any staff of which you have firsthand knowledge or experience. Thank you for your help.) | ||
| This program does not provide program details or enrollment materials online or to the general public for review. To review the enrollment materials for similar programs in Montana, see http://www.heal-online.org/explorationsreview.htm. | ||
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Article/Press Release in Entirety Below (Source: majon.com, October, 2007)
14 YEAR OLD CHILD PLACED IN RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT |
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| Billings mother alleges sexual misconduct at local youth treatment center By Aja Goare - MTN News BioEmail Connect Biography [email protected] Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch is under fire (YBGR) BILLINGS - A Billings treatment center for at-risk youth is being sued by a Billings woman who claims her son was sexually harassed while in the center’s care. The Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch is the defendant in a case which was scheduled Friday to go to trial in Yellowstone County District Court in October 2016. In May, a Billings woman filed a complaint alleging her son’s reports of sexual harassment were not taken seriously and that he was damaged emotionally by how employees handled the situation. The boy was placed at the McVay Lodge at the Ranch for treatment of behavioral and emotional problems, according to court documents. The YBGR website states that its mission is: “Caring people preparing youth for life.” “YBGR uses a multidisciplinary team approach where psychiatrists, therapists, teachers, residential staff, nurses and families work together to coordinate treatment programs designed to address the specific needs of each youth,” according to the website. The boy’s mother, who is represented by Billings attorney Veronica Procter, claims that those problems were compounded when several male residents exposed themselves to her son. The residents accused are also minors. According to court documents, one male resident pulled his pants down in front of the boy and another resident. Both the boy and witness apparently reported the incident to YBGR staff, but nothing was done, the woman alleges. The witness and the same boy who exposed himself began making inappropriate sexual comments to the boy and would expose themselves to him while having an erection, the documents state. The boy reported that the two residents touched him inappropriately. The incident was reported to the YBGR staff, but the boy was told he was lying and to go back to bed, the complaint states. Instead of intervening, employees made the boys openly discuss the allegations in a group setting. The boy’s mother said this further compounded the trauma her son experienced. When she attempted to withdraw her son from the residential program, the woman said the staff refused to turn over her son’s prescription medications. After the boy was removed from the program, the boy’s mother said he suffered a major setback in his behavioral progress. The plaintiff alleges negligence and infliction of emotional distress on behalf of the YBGR and is seeking punitive damages. Court documents state that the specific amount will be determined at trial. Source: http://www.ktvq.com/story/29754623/billings-mother-alleges-sexual-misconduct-at-local-youth-treatment-center (August 10th, 2015) | ||
| Group home for youths in Lewistown to close Kristen Cates, GreatFalls 5:49 p.m. MST January 5, 2016 State news(Photo: GRAPHIC) 86 CONNECTTWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE Citing budgetary constraints, the only group home for youths located in Lewistown is closing its doors. The Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch, headquartered in Billings, will close the therapeutic group home and day treatment services in February and March, said Christi Beals, chief development officer for YBGR. “We were challenged with recruiting staff,” Beals said. “We had to make the difficult decision.” The group home, which was opened in 1997, currently serves four children. It is licensed to house up to seven. There will be 11 staff members impacted by the closure of both the home and the day services program, but there are currently four openings in other services YBGR offers in Lewistown. Beals said YBGR will continue to offer therapeutic youth mentoring, home and support services, case management and school-based programs in Lewistown. As for the children currently living in the group home setting, none are from the Lewistown area. The four children remaining are either in the process of transitioning back to their homes or will be placed in other group homes or foster care providers across the state. “Our ultimate goal is to partner with other agencies,” she said. Source: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2016/01/05/group-home-youth-lewistown-close/78329682/ | ||
| Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch is an organization for troubled children. Prosecuting attorney Veronica Procter questions a witness during a trial of alleged negligence by the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch following claims of sexual abuse at Yellowstone County Courthouse on Thursday. A residential program for troubled youth failed to keep one 10-year-old safe from sexual abuse by other residents, even after staff assured his mother it wouldn’t happen, according to plaintiffs. The civil trial got underway Thursday in the 13th Judicial District Court in a negligence case against the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch. The allegations include that one other 10-year-old boy exposed himself to the alleged victim and to another boy, and also cornered the alleged victim and sexually assaulted him. According to the complaint, another 10-year-old boy masturbated while standing in the alleged victim’s doorway. The alleged victim lived at the ranch for seven months in 2013 and 2014 and had his own room, his mother testified. The ranch denies it was negligent and says it handled the complaints according to policy. The mother of the alleged victim had researched the ranch prior to enrolling her son and been assured it did not accept residents who were aggressive perpetrators of sexual offenses, she testified on Thursday. “I trusted he’d be safe,” she said, crying. “I promised him.” The Billings Gazette is not naming the mother to avoid identifying a potential victim of sexual abuse. The mother’s brother had been molested at a youth residential facility when he was young, she said. While considering a residential program to treat her son’s growing behavioral problems, one of her primary concerns was that her son would fall victim to the same type of sexual abuse that her brother had experienced. The mother said in court Thursday her brother’s past abuse continued to affect him as an adult, and that he’d turned to drugs and had difficulty maintaining a job or healthy relationships. Judge Gregory Todd presides over a trial of alleged negligence by the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch following claims of sexual abuse at Yellowstone County Courthouse on Thursday. She also testified that after she removed her son from the ranch and filed the lawsuit against it, she one day noticed a photo of her smiling son on the website of the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch Foundation. "I was appalled that after everything that had happened ... that they would still use his face to raise them money," the mother said. The foundation took down the photo after the mother contacted them. In opening statements for the ranch, attorney Mary Duncan said staff responded appropriately once notified about the allegations. “And the minute that there is a mention of something that could be deemed sexual behavior toward him, it prompted, within their system, their reaction, their professional reaction, that they had trained for,” she said. Defense attorney Mary Duncan prepares to cross examine a witness during a trial of alleged negligence by the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch following claims of sexual abuse at Yellowstone County Courthouse on Thursday. That included notifying other staff members, filing an incident report and conducting an internal investigation, Duncan said. Duncan said the ranch is a mental hospital with a home-like feel that houses youth aged 7-18. Staff are passionate about helping kids, she said. Duncan told the jury it was important to assess the level of severity in sexually deviant behavior, and that the two residents in question did not rise to the level of “aggressive perpetrators of sexual offenses,” a type of behavior the ranch has prohibited, according to its admissions policies. It was appropriate for all of the boys involved in the case to have been placed at the ranch, Duncan said. “There’s a difference between a kid who randomly does something kind of weird that might have a sexual tinge to it and someone who is looking for it, for their own gratification, or to hurt someone,” Duncan said. Duncan said jurors would hear from experts about developmentally appropriate childhood behaviors “that sometimes do include sexual curiosity,” and how staff at a residential facility should respond. While state law requires the ranch to maintain a one-to-eight ratio for adults per children, the ranch in fact staffs one adult for every five kids during the daytime, Duncan said. It keeps a one-to-eight ratio for nighttime supervision. The two sides went to mediation in March but failed to reach an agreement. Prosecuting attorney Veronica Procter listens as a witness is cross examined during a trial of alleged negligence by the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch following claims of sexual abuse at Yellowstone County Courthouse on Thursday. In a statement of damages, attorney for the plaintiff Veronica Procter said the request could meet or exceed $500,000. Source: https://billingsgazette.com/news/local/youth-treatment-center-in-billings-failed-to-protect-boy-from/article_d84ab644-a1ce-5bbc-a0f6-50b3a1d7a144.html | ||
| Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch must pay $300K in boy's sexual abuse case, jury says PHOEBE TOLLEFSON [email protected] Phoebe Tollefson Justice Reporter Jul 18, 2018 Facebook Twitter Email Subscribe for 17¢ / day Buy Now Defense attorney Mary Duncan prepares to cross examine a witness during a trial of alleged negligence by the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch following claims of sexual abuse at Yellowstone County Courthouse on Thursday. BETHANY BAKER, Billings Gazette Facebook Twitter Email Print Save A jury awarded $300,000 in damages to the mother of a child who says he was sexually abused by other residents at the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch, a residential treatment center near Billings. The center said it is considering appealing the award. The civil trial ended Wednesday after four days of testimony and roughly five hours of deliberation by the jury. The mother of a now-14-year-old boy said the ranch failed to protect her son from sexual abuse during his seven-month stay four years ago. The Gazette is not naming the mother to avoid identifying a victim of sexual abuse. Jurors awarded $200,000 on a claim of negligent supervision of youth and $100,000 for a negligent misrepresentation claim, after the plaintiff said an admissions employee misled her about what types of children were accepted into the program. The mother testified that an admissions employee assured her the ranch did not admit sexually abusive youth. The mother said her brother as a youth had been sexually abused while in residential treatment and continued to struggle because of it. She relayed these concerns to staff before enrolling her son, she said. Jurors declined to uphold the plaintiff's third claim of negligent hiring, training or retention of staff. The victim in the case said one 10-year-old boy exposed himself and "humped" him. He said a different 10-year-old boy masturbated while standing in the victim's doorway. At trial, witnesses for the ranch said the behavior constituted “acting out” in a sexual manner, but not sexual abuse. Advertisement Play Current Time 0:00 / Duration Time 0:00 Remaining Time -0:00 Stream TypeLIVE Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% 00:00 Fullscreen 00:00 Unmute Playback Rate 1 Subtitles subtitles off Captions captions off Chapters Chapters The victim, also 10 at the time, said he told staff about the inappropriate behavior but they didn’t believe him and told him to go to bed. The ranch documented several instances of sexually inappropriate behavior by one of the boys alleged to have abused the victim and gave consequences for each, defense attorney Mary Duncan said. But staff said the boy did not notify them about the allegations until the weekend he was pulled from the program by his mother, according to defense attorney Mary Duncan. They then investigated, Duncan said. The mother, represented by attorney Veronica Procter, cried after the verdict was read. “It’s been an uphill battle this whole time and I felt like we were so little, going against something so big,” she said. In a prepared statement, Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch CEO Mike Chavers said the ranch has been providing comprehensive, holistic care to mentally ill youth since 1957, in accordance with state and federal laws. “We took the allegations made by (the plaintiff) seriously, completed a thorough investigation through which we determined that we did not violate the standard of care,” Chavers said, in part. “In other words, in spite of this verdict, we believe that we provided excellent treatment to and conscientious supervision of (the plaintiff’s) son and all the other youth in our residential facility in accordance with our mission, vision and values.” Chavers declined to comment further. Source: https://billingsgazette.com/news/local/yellowstone-boys-and-girls-ranch-must-pay-k-in-boy/article_eb2af9ce-17ad-5f9d-a511-ec586d08f3e1.html | ||
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