photo by Jim Tatum

Palmetto Behavioral Health on Midland Parkway in Summerville.

Yet another escape by two troubled teens from a private mental health facility in Summerville has area officials on the warpath.

According to a Summerville Police Department incident report, the two escaped from Palmetto Behavorial Health, located on Midland Parkway in Summerville, about 11 p.m. June 5. According to the complainant, an employee of the facility, the two escaped from the back of the property; the employee did not know in which direction they fled.

The subjects appear to be teens committed to the facility by the SC Dept. of Juvenile Justice and the Washington, D.C. Dept. of Mental Health, according to the report.

Responding officers tried to call one subject’s mother, who lives in North Charleston, but were unable to reach her.

Police officers located the two subjects about 90 minutes later and returned them to the facility, according to the report.

According to the company website, Palmetto Behavioral Health is a privately owned facility that offers a variety of mental health services, including a residential treatment program adolescent males with sexually aggressive behaviors, substance abuse problems and psychiatric, behavioral or conduct issues.

According to an official written statement from Palmetto Health, “Every patient admitted to Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health (Palmetto Summerville) has a specific psychiatric diagnosis indicating a severe mental health disorder. Our facility is a mental health/behavioral health treatment facility based on a medical model, not a correctional facility. Many of the youth placed with us have been the victims of neglect, physical abuse and other trauma, as well suffer from other types of disorders.  Our goal is to provide therapeutic interventions that can assist these youth in becoming productive members of society. No patient served at Palmetto Summerville has been charged for violent offenses.”

However, the facility has been under scrutiny from local legislators since four subjects who had been committed to the facility by the Washington D.C. Dept. of Youth Rehabilitation Services escaped from the facility on April 20; at least one of those subjects was charged with attempted murder.

Since that time, legislators and local officials, including Rep. Chris Murphy, Jenny Horne and Sen. Mike Rose, and Summerville Town Councilmen Walter Bailey and Bob Jackson have been working with DHEC and Palmetto Behavioral Health to address safety issues and make the facility more secure. In addition, the legislative delegation has introduced a bill to limit out-of-state commitments as well as provide more oversight to such facilities.

Unfortunately, says Murphy, it will probably be January before the legislature can take the necessary steps, as this is a statewide issue.

Murphy says he is especially disturbed and offended that this most recent incident has occurred, especially after he says the corporation changed management at the facility following the April 20 incident and promised to take significant steps to tighten security.

“I think they misled us,” Murphy said. “After the first incident, we toured the facility, they agreed with the issues we brought to their attention and said they would take certain steps– put in a security fence, install closed circuit televisions and a monitoring system – and they’ve done none of that.”

Rose agreed, noting that the security risk to the community, not to mention the cost to the taxpayer, is simply unacceptable.

“A day of reckoning is coming,” he said. “This shows that the problems identified earlier still have not been remedied and – that’s not acceptable.”

“It’s incredulous that they would have another escape while we are working with them to get that place more secure,” Horne said. “It’s not a good situation at all – we have been working diligently on this and we are very serious about it.”

The facility maintains that it has been cooperating and addressing those issues since the April 20 incident. According to a written statement from Palmetto behavioral Health, the

facility is increasing security features at the facility, including the installment of a new 12-foot chain link fence designed to prevent climbing as well as additional cameras. Management from Palmetto Summerville recently met with officials from the Summerville Police Department to discuss ways to improve communication, according to the statement.    

Part of the problem, however, is that the facility’s attitude needs to change, Murphy said. The facility maintains it is treating mental disorders, not incarcerating offenders, he said. The problem, however, is that the facility is located in close proximity to residential and business properties and despite the fact that at least two months have elapsed since the April 20 incident, it still seems to have very minimal security measures in place, he said.

Another practice Murphy said the facility agreed to discontinue, but apparently has not discontinued yet, is the admission of out-of-state patients. This issue is addressed in the legislation he and the rest of the delegation introduced after the April 20 incident.

“They need to stop taking out of state patients; there is no obligation for them to take those patients; that is purely profit motivated,” he said.

According to the statement, “Palmetto Summerville remains fully dedicated and committed to its mission of providing the highest quality of care for children and adolescents with special, and sometimes difficult, mental health needs. It is important to remember these youth are in “treatment” for mental health issues, not due to criminal offenses.”

Yet what it comes down to is community safety, Murphy said.

“They have to take into consideration the community’s needs and the community’s safety,” Murphy said. “If they can’t do that, then they need to make a business decision to relocate somewhere else.”

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