Foster Township Police found a happening that was reported to them Friday night at Beacon Light Behavioral Health Systems to be a little tamer than expected.
“Initially, the call came in with clients and staff fighting,” said Foster Township Police Officer Kevin Shaffer. However, when the dust settled a little and officers arrived, they found a less chaotic scene than the initial reports, a scene with “one client that (employees) had under control.”
“They had broken a window in the office,” Shaffer noted. He explained officers stayed at the scene until everyone had calmed down and the broken glass was cleaned up. Any group home residents involved in the incident were juveniles, he added.
The incident is still under investigation.
Offering further clarification on what happened Friday night was John Policastro, director of corporate communications for Journey Health System & Beacon Light Behavioral Health Systems.
“The word ‘riot’ from the article that appeared in The Era on Oct. 29 regarding an incident that occurred at one of Beacon Light’s residential facilities implied that staff members were out-of-control and assaulting each other,” wrote Policastro in a statement. “We would hope that The Era would understand and correct this story as certain elements are untrue.”
The word “riot” was used in the initial police dispatch from the McKean County 911 Center and placed in The Era’s article. However, police and Policastro agreed that it was not a riot, but rather an outburst by a resident that was quickly under control.
“What did occur was a recently admitted teenage resident who came to our center for behavioral health treatment became upset and broke a window in the facility,” stated Policastro. “This was not a riot.”
While it was not clear if anyone was injured, Policastro said no outside medical personnel were at the scene. He explained, “For safety reasons, the police were called, which is standard procedure. No medical personnel, except for our own on-call nurses, responded. No charges were filed and all the residents remained in the facility without further incident.”
Policastro indicated that occasional outbursts are a risk for an agency that works with children who have the individual needs that these children have.
“Part of the service Beacon Light brings to the community is to work with children who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric mental health disorder,” said Policastro. “These children come to treatment with a variety of issues and our staff members work diligently with them to help them cope with — and hopefully cure — any behavioral health disorders they may be facing. Due to the nature of our work, on rare occasion, we do have situations that rise to the level of requesting outside assistance to make sure we keep all our residents safe in the event that one of the children is experiencing a behavioral episode.”
