Boy’s Drowning Compounds Group Home Inquiry

State officials have launched an “intensive investigation” of four foster homes in Ventura that are responsible for the care of two dozen troubled youths, including a 15-year-old boy who accidentally drowned last week.

Investigators from the state Department of Social Services had already begun their probe of the Amberwood Inc. group homes in east Ventura before last week’s drowning of the boy on a camping trip to Zaca Lake in Santa Barbara County.

But they said the drowning has raised more questions about Amberwood staff and the quality of care and supervision provided in the group homes.

“Right now, I am very concerned about these facilities,” said Dianne Kryter, district manager of the department’s Community Care Licensing Division in Santa Barbara.

“We are in the midst of an intensive investigation,” Kryter said. “We have a whole range of options, from doing nothing to taking administrative action to revoke their licenses.”

Angelo Elardo, a non-practicing dentist who owns Amberwood homes, said he and his staff are cooperating with the investigation into the death of Fred Young, 15, who was placed by a Kern County probation officer into an Amberwood group home.

But he said his nonprofit company provides extensive training to its staff, meeting all state requirements.

“We have dedicated people and qualified people, contrary to what Community Care Licensing says,” he said. “When a tragic accident happens to a young person, it is difficult for everyone to deal with.”

The Santa Barbara County coroner has ruled the death an accident. An investigation showed that one Amberwood counselor was swimming in the lake with nine boys from the group homes who were on a camping trip to the lake in Los Padres National Forest. Another counselor watched from shore.

Both counselors told deputies that they saw the boy swimming without difficulty. Neither counselor noticed anything unusual until a witness approached the counselor on shore and asked “if she thought the body in the water was faking,” the sheriff’s report said.

The counselor called to her colleague in the water, Patricia Barnes, and told her she thought the boy was in trouble.

“Barnes said she saw the victim go under the water and made numerous attempts to dive and find the victim,” the report said. Although she occasionally saw air bubbles breaking the surface, Barnes was unable to reach him. Sheriff’s divers found the boy’s body the next morning in 25 feet of water.

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State licensing officials said their investigation has expanded beyond the drowning death to include other complaints against the group homes.

One such complaint, a lawsuit filed in Superior Court last week, claims that an Amberwood house manager destroyed drug tests that showed a 16-year-old client had been smoking marijuana, and kept the information from his probation officer.

The lawsuit also claims that a 22-year-old female worker provided the teenager with marijuana at the group home, watched pornographic movies with the boy and engaged in various sex acts and then encouraged him to run away with her.

Elardo declined comment on the lawsuit, saying he was unaware of the allegations. The house manager could not be reached for comment.

But the 22-year-old worker was flabbergasted when informed about the allegations in the suit.

“Oh my God. That is so false,” said the woman, who has since quit Amberwood and returned to college to complete her social work degree. She said she befriended the teenager because he did not seem to have anyone to turn to in his life.

“It is sad that you can be there for someone in a positive way and someone can make this out to be a sick thing,” she said.

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The boy’s mother said she decided to pursue the lawsuit after months of family debate and after the police declined to take action. “They told me there wasn’t enough evidence,” said the mother, who first learned of the accusations from a letter her son had written to a girlfriend.

“They are supposed to be professionals,” the mother said about the Amberwood staff. “It’s like they are not taking their job seriously. It’s all about money.”

Amberwood operates four foster homes in east Ventura, all licensed to provide 24-hour care for troubled youths 10 to 17 years old. Like other group homes, Amberwood collects about $4,000 a month in taxpayer dollars to care for each youth placed in its homes by county probation or social services agencies.

“The money is very attractive,” said Kryter, the Community Care Licensing district director. “But it isn’t an easy job. It is hard to recruit people to open group homes.”

State officials closely monitor the dozen group homes that operate in Ventura County. They are mandated by law to investigate every complaint lodged against the facilities.

State licensing files have numerous complaints against each of the Amberwood homes, which by law must be located in residential neighborhoods to help assimilate the youths into society.

“Some of the surrounding neighbors naturally don’t want them,” Elardo said. “We are dealing with some difficult youngsters. You can have a great deal of complaints, but most are pretty frivolous.”

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Indeed, neighbors have filed many of the complaints. According to state records, they have complained about youths throwing limes, casting fishing lines with lead weights into neighboring yards, “mooning” the neighbors, flashing gang signs and playing loud music with obscene lyrics.

State officials have substantiated some complaints and found others inconclusive. Amberwood has been cited for violating regulations and instructed to improve supervision of its clients.

A few complaints were far more serious, such as one by a woman who was attacked by a youth in an attempted robbery in 1994. The youth was arrested, and Amberwood was cited for violating state personnel regulations, saying administrators allowed inexperienced staff members to supervise the violent teenager.

Last year, state officials took legal action to exclude one Amberwood employee from working in state-licensed group homes after he was found to be having sex with a former teenage client, according to state records.

Elardo said he didn’t know about the sexual relationship until after the employee was fired for other reasons. And, he said, the former client had become an adult and had left Amberwood’s care. “We have no control over what two consenting adults are doing,” he said.

Last year, state officials summoned Elardo to a mandatory meeting to develop a plan to correct deficiencies in staff supervision and administrative monitoring, records show. The meeting was to try to correct problems before officials initiate more formal action that could result in closing a facility, documents show.

Elardo said the records are misleading and that he called for the meeting to clear up various misunderstandings. He said that Amberwood meets the extensive regulations placed by various agencies and that the group home staff meets all standards required to maintain the homes’ licenses.