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DHS finds 'serious safety risks' to children at OnTrack Department of Human Services is moving 20 families from OnTrack housing because of "deplorable conditions." Mail Tribune / Jamie Lusch Wednesday Jan 25, 2017 at 11:45 AM Jan 25, 2017 at 6:40 PM Damian Mann Mail Tribune @reporterdm A scathing report by the Oregon Department of Human Services into OnTrack Inc. found children in the Medford-based organization living in "deplorable conditions," prompting immediate referral of new clients to a different addiction recovery service. DHS has required that 20 families at OnTrack crisis housing in Medford be moved out and into other living situations after finding instances of child abuse and neglect. "The investigators found serious safety risks to children and deplorable living conditions in the treatment and crisis housing programs," DHS Director Clyde Saiki said in an email to the Mail Tribune. "The issues were serious enough that the investigators made calls, as mandatory reporters, to the local child abuse/neglect hotline to report the conditions in which the families were living." Saiki said DHS sent a team of four investigators to look into reports about the safety of children. The Oregon Health Authority also sent four investigators. "Over the past months, DHS has received numerous complaints and reports of concerns from a variety of sources inside and outside DHS and OHA," Saiki said in the email. Based on the problems found by the investigators, DHS filed hotline reports with Child Protective Services and the Office of Adult Abuse Prevention and Investigations, a division of DHS that looks into abuse of seniors older than 65. DHS has given OnTrack until Monday to come up with a corrective action plan. Without describing what DHS found, Saiki said, "Any one of these issue is unacceptable and poses a serious and immediate danger to children and families." Families that remain in OnTrack crisis housing waiting to be moved will receive daily visits from local DHS caseworkers and a case manager to ensure their safety. Jim Maize, president of the OnTrack board of directors, said he was unable to discuss many of the details of the DHS findings or other matters with OnTrack that might shed more light on recent developments. In a short email response, Maize said, "The OnTrack board cares deeply about the children in the agency's care and is acting swiftly to address the safety issues raised by the Department of Human Services. We will submit a corrective action plan as requested no later than Jan. 30." DHS named the Teen Program and the Mom's Program as having licenses from DHS as well as with the Oregon Health Authority. OHA regulates other OnTrack facilities. OHA spokeswoman Michelle McClellan confirmed the agency did participate in visits to OnTrack facilities. "We are working with the Department of Justice on a communication to OnTrack related to the investigation but that is in process and we do not yet have anything to share," she said in an email response. Last year, the OHA found a "substantial failure to comply" with state laws at the Dad's Program, a 10-bed residential treatment facility in Medford. The Health Authority in November determined that OnTrack had improved and had addressed most of the issues, which included abusive behavior by staff. In one case, a father holding his child tripped over torn carpeting and fell down the stairs. OnTrack Executive Director Rita Sullivan was placed on paid administrative leave in November, prior to the current DHS action. Sullivan receives $120,000 annually. At the same time that Sullivan was put on leave, the 39-year-old organization hired an investigator to look into allegations of bullying and harassment. Local agencies, including Community Works, also found safety issues at OnTrack, including one instance in which a baby was burned by a heater. Dee Anne Everson, executive director of United Way of Jackson County, said in an email Wednesday that her board of directors has frozen funds granted to OnTrack effective immediately until a full report on the status of services is received and reviewed. United Way provides $16,058 annually to the OnTrack teen program. Joe Wilson, communications coordinator at ARC, an addiction recovery service, said his organization is aware of the situation at OnTrack but hasn't been approached yet by DHS to handle any of OnTrack's clients. "We're also aware that it has the potential to shift services provided in the Rogue Valley," he said. ARC has a caseload similar to OnTrack's and serves 4,000 clients a year, though the clients aren't referred to ARC from drug court as they are with OnTrack. Wilson said ARC has fully equipped homes as well as men's and women's transitional housing, though they are generally full. "We stand ready to serve in any way that we are called upon," he said.  Dan Horton, an architect who has been involved in various projects for OnTrack, said that since Sullivan has been placed on paid leave, the organization has not done as well as it could have under her watch. "When she left, everything was good," Horton said. He said Sullivan's leadership at OnTrack has received a lot of community support over the years. Horton, who made repairs at the Dad's Program after the OHA called out problems with torn carpeting and other issues, said the problems cited by DHS have nothing do with Sullivan's work and took place after she left. Peter Sage, a former county commissioner and friend of Sullivan's, has started a "Friends of Rita Sullivan" Facebook page. He said that Sullivan has agreed not to discuss her situation at OnTrack with the media until the issues are resolved. In the more than two months since Sullivan was placed on leave, Sage said, the program that had been working well has gotten itself into real trouble. "I hope they bring Rita back to work promptly," he said. "My understanding is that the routine problems that Rita dealt with swiftly and deftly when she was there have become big problems in Rita's absence." Sen. Alan DeBoer, R-Ashland, said he thinks OnTrack is providing a valuable service to the community and is run by people who care about helping people recovering from addiction. "It has a lot of good people, and everybody is trying to do the right thing," he said. "We can always do things better and communicate better." — Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected]. Follow him on www.twitter.com/reporterdm.