County settles lawsuit with Hesperia group home operator
The county has settled a lawsuit with the operator of a Hesperia juvenile group home for $2.7 million in order to avoid a trial.
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday is expected to approve a payout from the county's general fund that will go to Tucson-based VisionQuest, the parent company that operates the Fred D. Jones Youth Center.
The county, under orders from the state to reduce overcrowding at San Bernardino Junvenile Hall, entered into a 10-year, $95 million contract with Lodgemakers of California Inc., a subsidiary of VisionQuest, in January 2002 to house wards at the youth center. Under the terms of the contract, the county was supposed to refer 72 juvenile wards to the group home on a monthly basis, said David Wert, county spokesman.
In 2006, a dispute arose between Lodgemakers and the Probation Department over the number of wards being referred to the facility, or lack thereof. It was the county's contention that the number of youths to be referred to the group home was not clearly defined in the contract, Wert said.
A spate of unfortunate incidents that occurred at the facility didn't help matters.
The state investigated the facility in 2006 following allegations of at least two instances of sexual misconduct between female staffers and boys in their care. The same year, a riot erupted at the facility involving about 50 boys.
In 2005, 82 wards were reported to have run away from the group home, and from mid-April to Mid-July 2006, the Hesperia sheriff's station responded to more than 50 calls for service there.
"The facility just ended up not being very well run, and the county started reducing the number of youths it sent there and eventually canceled the contract," Wert said.
VisionQuest President Mark Contento declined to comment today, saying he wouldn't do so until after the Board of Supervisors' action on Tuesday.
Lodgemakers sued the county in April 2007 for $5 million, alleging the county hadn't provided the appropriate number of wards as agreed to in its contract.
On Feb. 3, the day before the county was set to go to trial with Lodgemakers, the county settled.
"The county feels there was a real enough risk it could lose the lawsuit, and that it just made sense to settle," Wert said.
In 2003, the West Valley Juvenile Detention and Assessment Center opened its doors for up to 182 wards. Two years later, the $31 million, 200-bed High Desert Juvenile Detention and Assessment Center in Apple Valley opened, alleviating the overcrowding problem with juvenile wards in the county, said Michelle Scray, chief probation officer.
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