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HAPPY THOUGHTS OF YOU IN THE FALL FLOOD MY MIND, MY SON, I THINK OF YOU AND THE APPLE TREES AND WHEN IT WAS TIME TO RAKE. OH YOU DID NOT LIKE IT, BUT WHAT WAS FUN WAS SEEING ALL YOU WOULD DO TO GET OUT OF IT OR MAKE IT A JOKE. LIKE RAKE UP THE LEAFS AND JUMP IN THEM OR DUMP A BUNCH ON YOUR SISTERS HEAD. WHAT FUN YOU WHERE CALEB. I MISS YOU SO MUCH!!!
This memorial website was created in the memory of our loved one, Caleb Jensen who was born in Washington on September 11, 1991 and passed away on May 02, 2007 at the age of 15. We will remember him forever!
My Son Caleb was in a wilderness program that the Juvenile Justice services from Salt Lake City Utah sent him to. It is located outside of Montorse County in Colorado. He was expected to be home by may 28th. 2007
Wednesday May second at 7:30 at night I am sitting at my computer eating my dinner. I get a phone call I answer and the Man on the other side of the phone tells me he is Jim something from AYA. He goes on to say Caleb was life flitted out of the program Caleb is dead. I said what did you just say???
Did you say Caleb is dead I repeated this three times I fell to the ground and began crying and screaming. Oh God how could this man be so heartless. How could he on the phone tell me my son is dead? Why didn’t they show me the some common curtsy that would be shown some one’s family that was in a car accident? Some one should have come to my door. No one would even talk to me.
I had no answers no one told me anything no one said how or why he died just that he died. Every hour seemed like an eternity to me, every minuet was an hour. Just waiting with no explanation as to why or how my son died. I called all my family. The family that lives here in Utah came to me as fast as they could.
The church I was in years ago the Pastor came. We sat out side for the longest time. My oldest daughter Heather had not been told my youngest daughter Marie was trying to hold it together for me. She was on the phone to her oldest Brother Brian and other family and friends in other states.
We were so worried about telling Heather because she was three months pregnant and I was worried she would freak so bad and it might hurt the baby. We were looking all over for her. Finally she called she said what is going on Mom what is going on tell me Mom. I said come home honey and the Pastor took the phone he said your Brother Caleb has died. Oh man I wanted her to be home when she was told.
Earlier when I had found out I handed the phone to Eddie. I fell to the ground and Eddie walked out side on our patio to hear what the Man was saying. I followed him in despair. I fell on the patio and I was so weak I was so hurt; I began to cry and scream. No, No, NO, not my baby. I was so lost I felt such diaper as I have never felt in my life. It took so long to get answers I still don't have them all.
I have found out that Caleb had a staff infection that went untreated. As to the details I can not share that at this time. What I can say is Caleb sufered so horribly. His young body was riddled with infection.
It is now June 2009 and no one has yet to be held accountable for my childs death!! It is my wish to see to it that no child and no Family ever suffers like this again. If you read this and you are a praying person, a true believer in the power of prayer, Please pray with me and believe with me that God will bring justice for Caleb, That no other child suffers like Caleb did.
CALEB WAS NOT ALONE
The Children-in-Treatment Memorial Website was created in memory of all children who have died "in treatment" and "at the hands of those who were supposed to be there to help them" - like Caleb.
These children were children like all others. They loved kitties and puppies, playing, jumping, running, hugging, and just being kids.
As it says on the Children-in-Treatment Memorial Website, some had special needs, some did not. But they all had one need in common - the need to be loved. Their lives were taken from them in ways unimaginable to most. Many died at the hands of those who were there to help them.
If a child is in trouble or needs help, help him. If a child needs compassion, give her your time. If a child needs love, give him a hug. If you know a child is being abused, don't be afraid to speak up and seek help.
It is time people take accountability for these needless and wreckless deaths of innocent children. Parents seeking help for their children should not have to worry that their child might be abused or neglected, or worse, that their child could die.
If you would like to help CAICA fight against institutionalized child abuse, please take a moment to sign our International Petition to End Institutionalized Child Abuse. The children will thank you.
http://ipetitions.com/endchildabuse/petition/.
Let us be the voice of children who no longer have a voice. We will remember them forever. May they not have died in vain.
Isabelle Zehnder
Founder and President
The Coalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse (CAICA)
Website: www.caica.org
This was one of our last moments with you, we charish it.
Caleb was born in Vancouver Washington September eleventh of 1991. Shortly after the family moved to Arizona, they lived there for three years.
After that time Dawn and her four cildren moved back to Washington in the Kelso, Longview area that was 1994. They attended the Longview United Pentecostal Church. Dawn Caleb's Mother remarried Charels Edward Boyd on July 1996. They had been seeing one another so to speak from 1994 on but married July 12th 1996. The children knew and loved eachother already and were so exited for the new life they where stepping into. Now there were 8 Children between the two of them. Charels raised Caleb from the age of five as his own. Here at the Longview church is where Caleb gave his life to Jesus and received Gods spirit.
Caleb had many fun days there being raised with seven other siblings. There were his natural siblings Brian Burgess, Heather Burgess, Marie Burgess. There was his step Brothers and sisters, Jason Boyd, Chad Boyd, Cari Boyd, and Candice Boyd.
All of the children were inseparable in there young ages. Particularly Caleb and Candice. They were like Tweedledee and Tweedledum, or as his mother would say "peanut butter and jelly".
Caleb has always been such a clown he loved to hit people’s nerves. He would sing, “It’s the song that never ends it goes on and on and on my friend". He would sing it over and over again.
He loved veggie tales he would sing songs from it like "where is my hair brush". Caleb loved to draw he was learning to draw cartoons and he was real good at it.
Caleb was involved in many different church activities and plays. Caleb was quite the character he loved to dress up and play the part. Each week he was a different character. One day he may be a pirate, the next a star wars character, an army man or bible character.
In June 2004, the family made another move to Salt Lake City, Utah and that is where they currently reside. Caleb went away for a time from his beliefs in the lord, with all my heart I know he called on Him at the end. I also know he was going to be an awesome Man of God one day. Caleb will be greatly missed and always loved by His MOMMY his sisters and brothers his Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles and many others.
Sister Seagraves poem for Caleb:
A candle in our hearts to brighten up the day,
A candle in our hearts that brings a song along the way;
A light to see your smile, that twinkle in your eyes;
A candle in our hearts -- where love abides.
(The spirit of man is a candle of the Lord, Proverbs says.)
I DREAM OF HOLDING YOU IN MY ARMS!!!
This Letter was writen two weeks before Caleb passed away.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE ART WORK AND CARD'S CALEB RECEVED AN DID OVER THE YEARS....
He made this in head start
This was also from head start.. That is his lil 5 year old hand print.
This was a card from his baby shower.
Here are some things Caleb liked over the course of his very short life.
Buggs life was a movie Caleb liked.
.
Caleb had a big tub full of all his toys,
One thing I remember the most is his
Mr Potato head he liked it alot.
Caleb really liked the Movie ET. He would walk around with a finger in the air saying "ET phone home". He was such a clown.
He really liked Garfield He used to read Garfield comic
books all the time. He would laugh so hard. Caleb loved
Garfield’s personality. In allot of ways he had some of
Garfield in him.
Caleb Loved scooby doo.
He liked the cartoon a lot
This was a Movie, he really liked. He would walk around singing Hakuna Matata, means no worries for the rest of your life. Hakuna Matata, NO WORRIES NOW BABIE, NOT FOR YOU.
This picture of tweety would have cracked
Caleb up. I could see him wanting
this as a poster on his wall.
Caleb loved his snacks.
For the first year of Caleb's life we lived in a travel
Trailer like this. Oh boy fun year with toddlers and an infant cramped in that small thing. It was nice freedom when I moved in a big house.
When my children were little our yard was huge we had 5 apple trees and 4 pear trees. We lived in that same house from 1996 to 2004. We had grape vines goose berries raspberries black berries and a huge garden where we grew cucumbers pumpkins all kinds of squash, corn and much more. While Mom was in cooking and canning big batches of apple sauce and pears stuff and pies, the kids job was to pick up the pears and apples. Caleb thought eating the apples and pears was a good way to help out. So he would hide and eat. My husband built the kids a tree house in the biggest apple tree in the yard. It’s also the one he put a huge sand box around. So if you were looking for Caleb that tree is the first place to go. Because if he is not playing in the sand box, witch was his favorite thing to do he was up in the tree fort. He would pretend in it a lot and he would hide to eat apples. Oh and if he was feeling a little naughty he would pitch apples at his brothers and sisters who were down below doing what they were asked to do. Caleb would laugh and laugh at his antics. As brothers and sisters would go after him. He was our family clown.
We were very involved in Church as Caleb grew up. One thing he wanted to be a preacher he loved to act like he was a preacher. One day we had some friends over two boys. Germy and Justin. Caleb and Germy loved to be the Preachers SO one day they took over the house they were having church.
They set the house up as a church they planed the way the service would go and the special speakers were Germy and Caleb. They invited our Pastor and his wife. And they preached. Oh I wish I would have got it on Video. They had so much fun.
Caleb was so funny, when you poked him on
his side he would make the dough boy
giggle, so we called him the dough boy..
He and his brothers and sisters loved
Monsters INC. His big sis Heather would
always say do you have to pick on the
little guy with the one eye. I can hear Caleb
laughing now, as I remmber how this made him laugh.
Oh Man how all of his siblings liked veggie tales but not as much as him. He sang all the songs mostly the hair brush song...
There's actually two things this reminds me of, One is how Caleb
loved to dress up, I know they are supposed to be singing the YMCA song but look past that at how they are dressed. The next thing is how when Caleb was a baby I sang the toe piggy song to him. You know this little piggy went to, so on ... Caleb my little guy would giggle and giggle.
My husband bought the kids a moving Basket Ball hoop for Christmas one year. Caleb loved to shoot hoops with his brothers and sisters.
Caleb was real good writing rhymes. He wrote a lot of cool stuff. I wish I had copies of all the stuff he wrote but I don’t know what happened to it. This is one I could find that he wrote..
Dance to the beat and don’t you stop dance to the beat that funky hip hop*2
Yo it’s like a massive scheme my rhymes go up quicker than burning gasoline
It’s like a miracle yo, yet a lyrical flow,
Its like a Simi automatic, that pops and pops and these holes keep getting bigger and I just flow and flow tell you let go of the trigger, these rhymes keep getting sicker
These rhymes keep on coming off the top of my head, and like iv already said its like a never ending story that never get glory its like Fantasia my rhymes are major they go from America to Europe to Asia
Where some Japanese fool starts beat boppin and every one around him tries to stop him but rhymes is to powerful and this full aint no cowered yo
Dance to the beat and don’t you stop dance to the beat that funky hip hop*2
Caleb's favorite drink Mountain dew and one of the candies he loved starburst . Starburst was the last candy he ever asked me for.
This just reminded me of Caleb's silly personality.
THIS IS CALEB AND ALL HIS BROTHERS & SISTERS TOGETHER BIG BROTHER JASON IS NOT IN THESE PIC'S
THIS IS ALL CALEB'S BROTHER'S and SISTER'S, GRANDMA REESE HOLDING his NEPHEW DAYLIN, HIS MOM, TOGETHER TO SAY GOOD BY TO OUR LITTLE CALEB. WE WILL NEVER BE COMPLET NOW THAT WE LOST OUR LITTLE CALEB!!!
Baby I think of you in a beautiful peaceful place.
This photo was taken when Caleb was in preschool. He really enjoyed preschool. He had his favorite Teacher ever there, Teacher Carol. He came home singing this song one day, and he sang it all the time. He loved the little songs he learned at school. Have you ever been swimming on a bright and shinny day, All the little fishies swimming up and down the bay. With their hands in their pockets’ and there pockets in their pants. All the little fishies doing the boogie woogie dance.
My Loving Son
My heart aches like frostbite on a cold winters night
you died in a treatment center,
No one wants to explain to me why?
My Loving Son
Tears of pain just keep flowing like the pouring rain, you were only fifteen,
only a young teen,
No more 'I Love You’
No phone calls, God is this all true!
No more visits and no more hugs,
No more kisses or soft tugs,
My Loving Son
My broken heart will never mend
Until I meet you again!
I know you now have wings
And your Halo is made of Gold...
You are smiling and so happy
A smart boy who was so bold
Where you are in heaven there is no more pain
I only hope your death will not be in vain
Words cant express how much we miss you
Only our heavy heart know the truth
No goodbyes my son, wait there for me
We will rest in Gods home eternally!
Don't tell me
Don't tell me that you understand,
don't tell me that you know.
Don't tell me that I will survive,
How I will surely grow.
Don't tell me this is just a test,
That I am truly blessed.
That I am chosen for the task,
Apart from all the rest.
Don't come at me with answers
That can only come from me,
Don't tell me how my grief will pass,
That I will soon be free.
Don't stand in pious judgment
Of the bonds I must untie,
Don't tell me how to grieve,
Don't tell me when to cry.
Accept me in my ups and downs,
I need someone to share,
Just hold my hand and let me cry,
And say, "My friend, I care."
A Mother's Grief
by
Kelly Cummings
You ask me how I'm feeling,
but do you really want to know?
The moment I try telling you
You say you have to go
How can I tell you,
what it's been like for me
I am haunted, I am broken
By things that you don't see
You ask me how I'm holding up,
but do you really care?
The second I try to speak my heart,
You start squirming in your chair.
Because I am so lonely,
you see, no one comes around,
I'll take the words I want to say
And quietly choke them down.
Everyone avoids me now,
Because they don't know what to say
They tell me I'll be there for you,
then turn and walk away.
Call me if you need me,
that's what everybody said,
But how can I call you and scream
into the phone,
My God, my child is dead?
No one will let me
say the words I need to say
Why does a mothers grief
scare everyone away?
I am tired of pretending
as my heart pounds in my chest,
I say things to make you comfortable,
but my soul finds no rest.
How can I tell you things
that are too sad to be told,
of the helplessness of holding a child
who in your arms grows cold?
Maybe you can tell me,
How should one behave,
who's had to follow their childs casket,
watched it perched above a grave?
You cannot imagine
what it was like for me that day
to place a final kiss upon that box,
and have to turn and walk away.
If you really love me,
and I believe you do,
if you really want to help me,
here is what I need from you.
Sit down beside me,
reach out and take my hand,
Say "My friend, I've come to listen,
I want to understand."
Just hold my hand and listen
that's all you need to do,
And if by chance I shed a tear,
it's alright if you do to.
I swear that I'll remember
till the day I'm very old,
the friend who sat and held my hand
and let me bare my soul.
Kelly Cummings
12/8/03
Really Gonna Miss You
by Smokey Robinson
Really gonna miss you
Its really gonna be different without you
Time is going to be hard and slow
For the rest of my life
Gonna be thinking about you
Yes I am
Time came when you had to go
I'll miss you my buddy
I'll miss you my friend
I promise my love for you will never end
In your finest hour I was there with you
And without you things won't be the same
But there's a higher power that we answer to
And you heard him calling your name
Really gonna miss you
Everything about you your smiling face
I know you want us all to be strong
Really gonna miss you
I know your going to that magic place
Singing you a brand new song
I'll miss you my buddy
I'll miss you my friend
I promise my love for you will never end
Really Gonna Miss Youuuuuuuuuu
CALEB JENSEN MY SUPER STAR!
When he was little I would sing, you are my sun shine, my only sun shine, you make me happy when skies are grey, you are my sun shine my only sun shine, PLEASE DON'T TAKE MY SUN SHINE AWAY!!!
To all who have helped with this site for Caleb, Thank you so much!
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Click here to see Caleb Jensen's Family Tree |
 Tributes and Condolences |
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18 years old today / Heather Burgess (big sister )
Happy Birthday Little Brother
Caleb Christopher Jensen |
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I'm Speechless / Chris
I found this website while searching the Internet for a business associate. I have read the related stories and it brought tears to my eyes. How could this happen? I just don't understand . . . . My heart goes out to Caleb's family.
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forever and always / Bryan Schoonover (A.Y.A victim )
my name is bryan schoonover. i was placed in A.Y.A when i was barely 14 years of age. knowing the type of brutality that a.y.a puts these kids through brings back scary times i went through. i grieve for caleb and his family. ...
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RIP Caleb / Kelly Meehan
I just want to say sorry for your loss. I also went to AYA in Colorado in 2004. I also had major problems with the staff I was always passing out while hiking and the staff members would just wait till I woke up then make me hike again. They always j...
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You were a strong kid. / Chris Connell (None)
Last year I attended the AYA program and about two weeks in my hands went straight black. I don't know what was wrong with them but I had cracks up and down my fingers and they were constantly draining clear fluid and bleeding. Anytime I moved them, ...
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You were a goood team mate on team bravo... / Brian Retrum (his team mate ) Read >> |
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Words are not adequate to express sorrow..... / Jane Eisele (forum friend ) Read >> |
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I WISH I WAS ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES / Diane/ Mom To Angel Jimmy Brozzetti Read >> |
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I am so sorry.... / Cherrei Mom Of Angel Dusttin Duncan Read >> |
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I am so sorry for your loss / BluMystt (None) Read >> |
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Thinking of you. / Brandy Julias Mommy Read >> |
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Caleb, You are in a good place now! / Pat Grosz (Heard through CAICA ) Read >> |
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Condolences / Kay Whited (no kin ) Read >> |
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I'm sorry / Lisa Brown (none) Read >> |
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I am so sorry... / Julie Hoefs Read >> |
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| His legacy |
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Montrose Daily Press
Montrose Daily Press
AYA surrenders license to state after boy's death
July 24, 2007
By Katharhynn Heidelberg
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MONTROSE — The Alternative Youth Adventures program, under investigation following the death of a participant, voluntarily surrendered its license to the state.
The surrender did not include an admission of wrongdoing. AYA's parent company, Community Education Centers, Inc., also announced long standing negotiations to sell the Montrose facility to its current director.
The AYA is a wilderness therapy program for at-risk youth. It came under the investigation of the Colorado Department of Health and Human Services, Colorado Attorney General and local district attorney after Jensen, 15, succumbed to a staph infection while camping with a group on Little Red Mountain May 2. The program's licenses for residential childcare and therapeutical childcare were suspended the following week.
"Since May 9, the date that our license to operate was suspended, we have not maintained or accepted any other children into the program. As a result, we have continued to carry expenses and salaries for a program that is no longer receiving revenues," John Clancy, chairman and CEO of CECI wrote in a July 11 letter to the state.
Clancy wrote that quality programs were important and the company has not been able to renew its customer contracts because of AYA's suspended status.
"We wish to keep our reputation intact. In that regard, it was our initial intent to pursue reinstatement of our license, as it is our firm belief that our program and its staff performed exactly as it should have and at all times in full compliance with the regulations that govern it," Clancy's letter stated.
"We are...without admission of wrongdoing of any sort, surrendering our license to operate the AYA Colorado facility."
He said the decision to surrender the license was a business one and that, despite its "noble mission," the AYA program wasn't achieving financial gains. Clancy's letter also said CECI had already decided to sell the Montrose facility to program director Jim Omer when Jensen tragically died.
The surrender does not address any possible criminal cases that could arise from Jensen's death, state officials said.
"It essentially takes care of the administrative side of the issue," Nate Strauch, spokesman for the Colorado Attorney General's office said. "It wouldn't affect any criminal proceedings. It's a favorable outcome for the state."
District Attorney Myrl Serra said he is still investigating and considering whether to pursue charges. "I will make an independent decision when my investigation is complete. It (license surrender) has no effect on how I want to proceed or not," he said.
Bill Palatucci, CECI's senior vice president and general counsel, said he could not comment beyond the confines of Clancy's letter. He previously called Jensen's death a tragedy and said the company did not believe anyone had done anything wrong.
Contact Katharhynn Heidelberg via e-mail at katharhynnh@montrosepress.com
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2007/07/24/news/doc46a58b35dbdcc296658895.txt
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Teen who died at wilderness camp wrote mother that he wanted to come home
May 18, 2007
By Nancy Lofholm
In a last letter to his family from a wilderness camp for troubled youths, Caleb Jensen wrote about the difficulties of surviving in the wild and added a postscript: "I want my mommy."
Jensen's mother, Dawn Boyd of Salt Lake City, received the letter from her youngest child during the week before he died of an untreated staph infection. He was participating in a court-ordered wilderness therapy program through Alternative Youth Adventures near Montrose, Colo.
The program's license to operate was suspended in the wake of Jensen's death.
Boyd said she believes camp staff ignored her son's assertions that he was sick and needed to go home. She also believes the Utah Division of Juvenile Justice Services, which placed her son in the rough and remote program, failed to take into account her son's frequent problems with staph infections
Boyd said her son's letters from camp recently said he was feeling better about his life but badly wanted to come home.
Jensen described a different life in camp. He wrote he had to climb mountains every day until he was exhausted. He was able to wash only twice a week using tiny amounts of water. He had to clean his dishes after meals by licking them and then using dirt to scour them.
"That's not how he should have been treated, like a dog or a lizard," said his grandmother, Ella Reese of Idaho.
Jensen expressed some optimism along with the complaints. "Mom, I think I'm going to make it this time," he wrote in a letter.
Jensen, 15, died May 2 of a methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infection. The bacterial infection traditionally is seen in hospitalized or very ill or elderly patients.
Jensen's mother said he had been treated for numerous staph infections since he was a toddler and suffered a related skin problem called impetigo. He was treated for three infections while he was in other juvenile justice programs in Utah before being sent to the camp, she said.
Carol Sisco, a spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Human Services that oversees the juvenile justice programs, said Jensen passed a physical before he was sent to the camp March 28. She said he had a physical in the field the week before he died and a session with a therapist the day before his death. No one reported that he was ill. His mother said he did not report being ill in his last letter.
Jensen's family has been unable to get much information about Caleb's death. Reese said they pieced together information that shows Jensen was sitting on his sleeping bag in the camp during a rest day on the day he died. Jensen, who had been exhibiting behavioral problems for several days before his death, told a counselor he didn't feel well and needed to go home. After the counselor moved on, Jensen slumped over. Less than 10 minutes later when a counselor checked on him, he was dead, Reese said.
Bill Palatucci, a spokesman for Community Education Centers, Inc., the Roseland, the company that created the youth camp, said complaints from troubled youths are common.
"They hear a lot that youths want to go home. The staff is taught to sort through those and determine the genuine issues and the non," Palatucci said.
Palatucci would not reveal the amount of medical training the four camp counselors have. He said their training meets state licensing requirements.
Community Education Center is contesting the Colorado Department of Human Services suspension of its license to operate the camp. A hearing is expected to be scheduled within the next month. The other 26 participants in the camp have been moved to youth detention facilities in Utah and Colorado.
Boyd said she is working with an attorney to try to find out more about the death of her son, who had been in and out of state custody "for anger issues" since she and her children moved to Salt Lake City in 2004.
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Mother: My son fought to live Last letter home before death at remote camp reveals 15-year-old's pain, hope
May 16, 2007
By Nancy Lofholm
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"I want my mommy." Dawn Boyd said her son Caleb Jensen's letters said he was feeling better about his life but badly wanted to come home. (Special to The Post)In a last letter to his family from a wilderness camp for troubled youths, Caleb Jensen wrote about the difficulties of surviving in the wild and added a postscript: "I want my mommy."
Caleb's mother, Dawn Boyd of Salt Lake City, received the letter from her youngest child during the week before he died of an untreated staph infection. He was participating in a court-ordered wilderness therapy program through Alternative Youth Adventures near Montrose.
The program's license to operate was suspended after the 15-year-old died May 2.
Boyd said she believes camp staff ignored her son's assertions that he was sick and needed to go home. She also believes the Utah Division of Juvenile Justice Services, which placed her son in the rough and remote program, failed to take into account his frequent problems with staph infections.
"He should have been cared for. He should be alive today," a sobbing Boyd said during a telephone conversation from her home. "I know my baby told them. He always knew when he had a staph infection."
Boyd said her son's letters from camp recently said he was feeling better about his life but badly wanted to come home, "so he could get in his SpongeBob pajama pants and his big slippers and curl up with me and his sisters to watch TV."
Caleb described a different life in camp. He wrote he had to climb mountains every day until he was exhausted. He was able to wash only twice a week using tiny amounts of water. He had to clean his dishes after meals by licking them and then using dirt to scour them.
"That's not how he should have been treated - like a dog or a lizard," said his grandmother, Ella Reese of Troy, Idaho.
Caleb expressed some optimism along with the complaints. "Mom, I think I'm going to make it this time," he wrote in a letter.
Caleb died of a methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infection. The bacterial infection traditionally
(click to enlarge) is seen in hospitalized or very ill or elderly patients. Caleb's mother said he had been treated for numerous staph infections since he was a toddler and suffered a related skin problem called impetigo. He was treated for three infections while he was in other juvenile justice programs in Utah before being sent to the camp, she said.
"When I saw my son in the casket and looked at his little face, there was a sore on each side of his mouth under the makeup. ... I knew," she said.
Actions at camp defended
Carol Sisco, a spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Human Services that oversees the juvenile justice programs, said Caleb passed a physical before he was sent to the camp March 28. She said he had a physical in the field the week before he died and a session with a therapist the day before his death. No one reported that he was ill. His mother said he did not report being ill in his last letter.
Caleb's family has been unable to get much information about his death. Reese said they pieced together information that shows Caleb was sitting on his sleeping bag in the camp during a rest day on the day he died. Caleb, who had been exhibiting behavioral problems for several days before his death, told a counselor he didn't feel well and needed to go home. After the counselor moved on, Caleb slumped over. Less than 10 minutes later when a counselor checked on him, he was dead, Reese said.
Bill Palatucci, a spokesman for Community Education Centers Inc., the Roseland, N.J.-based company that created the youth camp, said complaints from troubled youths are common.
"They hear a lot that youths want to go home. The staff is taught to sort through those and determine the genuine issues and the non," Palatucci said.
Palatucci would not reveal the amount of medical training the four camp counselors have. He said their training meets state licensing requirements.
Community Education Center is contesting the Colorado Department of Human Services suspension of its license to operate the camp. A hearing is expected to be scheduled within the next month. The other 26 participants in the camp have been moved to youth-detention facilities in Utah and Colorado.
Mother gets few answers
Boyd said she is working with an attorney to try to find out more about the death of a son who had been in and out of state custody "for anger issues" since she and her children moved to Salt Lake City in 2004.
She said a representative of Alternative Youth Adventures phoned her to say her son was dead more than five hours after his body was airlifted out of the remote camp. She received few details and no offers of help. A week later she received a two-paragraph letter of condolence.
It ended: "The memory of Caleb will inspire us to continue our good work on behalf of all the juveniles in our care."
Utah human services authorities gave Boyd $1,500 to help with transporting Caleb's body to Utah and with the cost of the funeral. She has not received her son's belongings.
Sisco, of Utah's Human Services agency, said officials there can't help Boyd without more facts. "The hard part is that we don't know all the answers yet. We don't know yet if there was staff negligence or if this was something that couldn't be caught," she said.
Staff writer Nancy Lofholm can be reached at 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com.
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Utah teens back from wilds after boy's death
May 12, 2007
By Angie Welling
Three Utah teenagers who had been placed in the same youth wilderness program where a 15-year-old Salt Lake City boy died earlier this month have returned home.
Staff members from Utah Juvenile Justice Services, which had custody of all four boys, drove to southwest Colorado on Thursday to pick up the teens, agency director Dan Maldonado said. Two of the teens had recently completed the 60-day program for at-risk youths and were ready to come home, while the third will be placed in another program based on his needs.
On the orders of state officials, Caleb Jensen entered Alternative Youth Adventures in Montrose, Colo., on March 28. He died May 2 from what the Mesa County coroner has determined to be natural causes.
Concerns about whether Jensen suffered from an untreated staph infection, however, have led Colorado authorities to suspend the facility's license pending an investigation by the Montrose County Sheriff's Office.
Utah has a long history with Alternative Youth Adventures, contracting with the facility when it was located near Loa, Wayne County, and continuing the relationship when it moved to Colorado, said Carol Sisco, spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Human Services.
"We've had a very good track record with them," she said.
The state has placed 20 youths in the Alternative Youth Adventures program since July 1, 2006, according to Maldonado. The facility is the only wilderness therapy program with which Utah Juvenile Justice Services currently contracts, though that three-year contract was set to expire on June 31.
The agency typically has custody of about 1,300 youths under the age of 21 who have been referred to them by the juvenile court system. It places the children in a variety of programs, depending on an assessment of their individual needs.
"We have a wide array of programs, and most of them are much longer custody programs," Maldonado said. "Something like a wilderness program is indicated for someone whose offense profile suggests that we might be able to have a shorter-term custody arrangement."
In this case, staff members advised that Jensen be placed in the wilderness program and a juvenile court judge accepted the recommendation. The teen was placed with eight other at-risk youths for a two-month "outing" with four AYA staff members to take part in character-building exercises intended to build their self-esteem and communication skills, said Bill Palatucci, senior vice president of Community Education Centers Inc., which operates Alternative Youth Adventures.
"This is a well-known, well-regarded program and so this incident is really out of character and unprecedented for AYA Colorado," Palatucci said. "That makes it all the more difficult to explain."
Jensen passed a physical exam the day he arrived at the facility, as well as a checkup the week before his death. He also visited with a counselor the day before he died in the base camp, Sisco said.
Staff members are trained to identify medical conditions in the youths, according to Palatucci, and medical assistance is always available.
"They're very used to adolescents with behavioral problems, but also with claims of medical conditions," he said. "They have to know how to recognize symptoms and problems and the track record has been that they've been able to do that very well.
"Our contention is that this medical condition was just something that was not easily detectable."
Maldonado is in daily contact with Colorado authorities and is awaiting the outcome of the investigation there before taking any action in Utah.
"The nature and depth of our review will be contingent on the results of the investigation that comes out of the county sheriff's office," he said. "At this point, what we are waiting for are some answers from Colorado about their judgment about staff error or negligence."
The director has also been in contact with Jensen's family, who are understandably struggling with the young man's death.
"They are not doing very well at all. My staff tell me that mom is having a very difficult time with this," he said. "There are people in our staff that are having a hard time and there are people in Colorado having a hard time, too."
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The Pueblo Chieftan
Wilderness program loses license as result of boy's death
May 12, 2007
State human services officials suspended the license of a wilderness-based program for at-risk children after the death of a 15-year-old boy during a routine outing.
Colorado Department of Human Services spokeswoman Liz McDonough told The Salt Lake Tribune that Caleb Jensen was showing ‘‘observable signs of staphylococcus infection that were neglected.’’
Jensen died May 2 in a remote area outside of Montrose during a ‘‘routine outing’’ with Alternative Youth Adventures, program officials said. The boy had been ordered by the Utah Division of Juvenile Services to enroll in the two-month program, which aims to teach youths about the consequences of their actions by forcing them to rough it in the woods.
The company is licensed through the state as a child-care provider.
‘‘We suspended their license (Wednesday),’’ said McDonough. ‘‘That obviously is very serious, and we took what we believe is appropriate action.’’
A spokesman at the Roseland, N.J., headquarters for Alternative Youth Adventures told the Tribune that the program’s staff had acted appropriately.
‘‘We are at a loss to explain this at this point,’’ said William Palatucci. ‘‘We are cooperating fully with the investigation. We know this is a good program. We’ve never had any fatalities.’’
Chief Deputy Coroner Rob Kurtzman said an autopsy determined the boy died after suffering a serious bacterial infection. He forwarded the results to the 7th Judicial District Attorney’s Office for review.
Scott Wagner, chief investigator for the Montrose County District Attorney’s Office, said a prosecutorial review is standard procedure and there had been no request for prosecution.
Utah Juvenile Justice Services spokeswoman Carol Sisco told the Tribune that Jensen passed a physical exam when he entered the program on March 28.
In 2001, Colorado corrections officials investigated an incident where campers cursed and threatened counselors with sticks and rocks, saying the Alternative Youth Adventures program was too difficult. Counselors called sheriff’s officials for help.
The outcome of that investigation was not immediately clear Thursday.
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Mother Sues Over Son's Death
Mother Sues Over Son's Death At Wilderness CampBy Paul Foy, Associated Press Writer
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ― After a month in a wilderness therapy camp, Caleb Jensen's body was being ravaged by disease.
The Utah teenager, sentenced by juvenile authorities to 60 days at a rigorous boot camp, was being forced to take long hikes in the Colorado backcountry without water. He was dragged by arm and wrist restraints when he stumbled in pain by counselors who believed he was faking an illness, according to a lawsuit filed in Utah by his mother last week.
At night the boy was "tarped" or bound tightly in a tarp to prevent his escape. Other times, his shoes were taken away. He was given a diaper when he soiled his sleeping bag. Eventually, he couldn't summon the strength to crawl out of the bag, later discarded as a "bio hazard," the lawsuit alleges.
Jensen died the following day, May 2, 2007. He was 15.
Dawn Boyd Woodson, of the Salt Lake city suburb of Murray, says the staff of Alternative Youth Adventures ignored obvious signs of her son's deteriorating medical condition and instead accused him of "behavior issues." It planned to keep him longer as punishment, she said in court papers.
Woodson is suing West Caldwell, N.J.-based Community Education Centers Inc., which ran the former Montrose, Colo.-based wilderness camp. CEC operates in 20 states, providing treatment for criminal defendants and managing a Delaware prison. It shut down the Colorado boot camp for troubled teens two months later.
The company also faces a Colorado criminal trial in March over the boy's agonizing death; indictments against some of its staff members have been dismissed by Montrose County prosecutors, who nonetheless contend the boy's disease went untreated despite glaring symptoms.
"This camp had an excellent reputation and stellar grades from the state agency that oversaw it," Colleen Scissors of Grand Junction, Colo., the company's criminal defender, said Thursday. "Caleb had a staph infection, not something you're normally looking for. You're worried about them having blisters."
Woodson's lawsuit also targets Utah's state divisions of Child and Family Services, which had custody over him, and Juvenile Justice Services, which shipped him off to the boot camp. Other defendants are the camp's operations director, James Omer, its emergency medical technician, Ben Askins, and medical director, Dr. Keith Ronald Hooker of Provo, Utah.
"It was a horrible tragedy but there was no wrongdoing by our company or staff," Bill Pallatucci, the senior vice president, told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Pallatucci said he couldn't respond to specific allegations, "except to say in this matter we were always in full compliance with government regulations governing the program."
Woodson didn't immediately return a message left by the AP on her husband's cell phone. Filed in 3rd District Court, the lawsuit says Caleb Jensen was her youngest son by a different man, an absent father, and that the boy had a troubled childhood and medical problems. In court papers, she said she warned camp officials her son was prone to serious infections. |
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N.J. company faces lawsuit, criminal charges
N.J. company faces lawsuit, criminal charges in death of teen
By Editor, Politicker New Jersey
January 23, 2009
The mother of a Utah teenager who died after a month in a wilderness boot camp is suing the West Caldwell-based Community Education Centers, Inc., (CEC) alleging that the staff at their facility in Colorado ignored signs of what turned out to be a staph infection. The company is also facing a criminal trial in March.
CEC operates treatment facilities for criminal defendants in twenty states and manages a prison in Delaware, according to the Associated Press. The Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Public Affairs for the company is William Palatucci, who is also a top advisor to Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie. Dughi, Hewit & Palatucci,, the law firm where Palatucci and Christie were partners, represented CEC for fifteen years before Palatucci joined the firm full time.
The 15-year-old, Caleb Jensen, had been sentenced to sixty days at a "rigorous boot camp," according to an Associated Press Report. He was "forced to take long hikes in the Colorado backcountry without water. He was dragged by arm and wrist restraints when he stumbled in pain by counselors who believed he was faking an illness."
The lawsuit claims that Jensen "bound tightly in a tarp to prevent his escape" at night, and that "he was given a diaper when he soiled his sleeping bag. Eventually, he couldn't summon the strength to crawl out of the bag."
"It was a horrible tragedy but there was no wrongdoing by our company or staff," Pallatucci, the told The Associated Press. He did not respond to specific allegations made in the Jensen complaint, "except to say in this matter we were always in full compliance with government regulations governing the program."
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Editor, Politicker New Jersey
By Editor, Politicker New Jersey
January 23, 2009
The mother of a Utah teenager who died after a month in a wilderness boot camp is suing the West Caldwell-based Community Education Centers, Inc., (CEC) alleging that the staff at their facility in Colorado ignored signs of what turned out to be a staph infection. The company is also facing a criminal trial in March.
CEC operates treatment facilities for criminal defendants in twenty states and manages a prison in Delaware, according to the Associated Press. The Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Public Affairs for the company is William Palatucci, who is also a top advisor to Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie. Dughi, Hewit & Palatucci,, the law firm where Palatucci and Christie were partners, represented CEC for fifteen years before Palatucci joined the firm full time.
The 15-year-old, Caleb Jensen, had been sentenced to sixty days at a "rigorous boot camp," according to an Associated Press Report. He was "forced to take long hikes in the Colorado backcountry without water. He was dragged by arm and wrist restraints when he stumbled in pain by counselors who believed he was faking an illness."
The lawsuit claims that Jensen "bound tightly in a tarp to prevent his escape" at night, and that "he was given a diaper when he soiled his sleeping bag. Eventually, he couldn't summon the strength to crawl out of the bag."
"It was a horrible tragedy but there was no wrongdoing by our company or staff," Pallatucci, the told The Associated Press. He did not respond to specific allegations made in the Jensen complaint, "except to say in this matter we were always in full compliance with government regulations governing the program."
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January 23, 2009
January 23, 2009
By Katharhynn Heidelberg
Daily Press Senior Writer
Montrose Press
SALT LAKE CITY — The mother of Utah teen Caleb Jensen filed suit Thursday against those she believes were responsible for his untimely death at 15.
Caleb was attending an Alternative Youth Adventures outing for at-risk youth in rural Montrose County in 2007. He died of a staph infection May 2 of that year.
The state acted quickly, suspending AYA’s license for residential and therapeutical childcare. AYA later surrendered the license, which it had originally hoped to renew.
In July 2007 came the indictments against AYA, its former parent company Community Education Centers of New Jersey; camp director James Omer; camp EMT Ben Askins and Utah physician Keith Hooker.
The criminal complaints alleged the infection that claimed Jensen’s life produced visible signs, which the defendants failed to act on. Charges included manslaughter and child abuse resulting in death, but by last December, only CEC remained as a criminal defendant.
Hooker’s attorney succeeded in having the indictment dismissed in November last year.
The indictments against Askins and AYA were dropped the following month and charges against Omer were also dismissed.
But the end of criminal proceedings does not preclude the filing of a civil suit. Caleb’s mother, Dawn Boyd Woodson is suing AYA, CEC, Omer, Askins and Hooker, along with the Utah State Division of Juvenile Justice Services and the Utah State Division of Child and Family Services.
According to an announcement provided by Woodson’s attorney, Tom Boyle, the suit’s allegations are similar to those in the criminal matter: that camp staff did not provide appropriate treatment for Caleb, even though the staph infection produced visible symptoms.
“Of the many abuse cases that I have handled, including incidents of abuse involving religious organizations, a county board that oversaw a juvenile boot camp and mothers in the wrongful deaths of their children, this case is one of the most egregious and the most heartbreaking,” Boyle said in his announcement.
Boyle said the Utah juvenile justice and family services divisions were named as defendants because they erred in sending Caleb to the AYA program. “I do not believe the state should have sent Caleb to the wilderness camp,” he said, declining further comment.
Boyle also declined to comment on what Woodson was seeking by way of damages. He said he did not want the suit tried in the media.
“We believe our claims are meritorious and we will present (case) to the appropriate forum at the appropriate time,” he said.
A copy of the suit, filed in Salt Lake City, was not immediately available.
Court documents in the Montrose criminal case said Caleb was delirious and in obvious pain for days before he collapsed and died. The documents alleged Caleb received insufficient examination and treatment for complaints he kept bringing to staff, and, after he could no longer control bodily functions, he was placed on “group separates” as a form of discipline.
He then behaved oddly, other kids in the camp said, and stayed out in the weather.
But defense attorneys later argued there was no evidence Caleb complained to staff specifically; instead, he wrote of his discomfort in a journal staff could not access. Additionally, he had a history of staph infections and knew enough about them to seek help immediately, but didn’t, they claimed. Caleb was also a discipline problem well before the onset of symptoms, they said.
Askins’ attorney said Thursday she had not been retained for the civil case. The other AYA defendants’ attorneys could not be reached for comment, and it was not known who had been retained to defend against the suit.
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