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| This is an excerpt from one of nearly 50 "serious incident reports" filed in connection with a local foster home. |
By Miles Maguire
In the last five years,
nearly 50 “serious incident reports” have been filed with the state in
connection with the Oshkosh foster home that prosecutors say was the site of
felony child neglect.
The reports describe
multiple instances of runaways, suicide threats, aggressive behavior, one account
of sexual contact and some low-level criminal activity, such as disorderly
conduct, shoplifting and apparently the possession of a small amount of marijuana
by a foster child staying at the home. The residence is on 11th Avenue.
But the operator of the
home, Alan D. Small, believes that these reports, as well as the criminal
charges against him, create a misleading impression because they do not reflect
his record or the condition of the children who have been staying with him.
“I’m working with kids
that nobody else wants to work with,” he said. “These are the hardest level of
kids that are not in institutions.” He said many of his former foster children
stay in touch with him after they leave his care. “My kids do well.”
It is not clear what
happens with the serious incident reports once they are filed with the
Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. A spokesman for the agency did
not respond to a request for comment.
Small has been working
as a Level 4 foster parent since 2009, records show. To qualify he had to
complete specialized training to prepare him for working with children with
extreme behavioral issues, which may include physical aggression, sexual
promiscuity and self-harm.
According to DCF
records, Small has been trained in trauma-informed care and nonviolent crisis
intervention, including how to apply certain kinds of physical restraints that
can keep aggressive behavior from spinning out of control.
Small was charged Feb.
27 with three counts of felony child neglect after police were told of living
conditions that included a lack of access to the bathroom and alarms on bedroom
doors.
Small’s point about
dealing with youth who could not be taken in elsewhere is borne out by some of
the incident reports. In a 2017 case, Oshkosh police became involved when a
student from the Small home showed up at South Park Middle School with bite
marks. The student was from Washington County.
When the social worker
from that county was alerted to the situation, the case was “screened out,”
meaning that no further action was deemed necessary, according to state
records. But the police officer assigned to South Park wanted to know why so
many of the children sent to Oshkosh are from other parts of the state.
The officer contacted Laura
Phillips, clinical director at Macht Village Programs, a foster child referral
company in De Pere that oversees the Small home.
Phillips explained that the
Oshkosh foster home was used because it had been rated at Level 4, meaning it could
take in children with severe behavioral problems. “Foster homes that can
adequately support children with intense needs are a scarce resource,” Phillips
said, according to a report she filed with the state about the incident.
Other residents at the
Oshkosh foster home over the last five years have come from Brown, Kenosha and
Oconto counties, according to state records.
In a January 2014
incident that began at the Gem Roller Rink in Appleton, police were called when
a 10-year-old foster child became upset and ran outside into the below-zero
night without a coat or hat. The boy was apparently outdoors for more than an
hour and was taken by police to St. Elizabeth’s.
Police said he was
“banging his head, kneeing himself in the face, biting himself, running around
the hospital, screaming, swearing, demanding to go to jail,” according to a DCF
incident report. Eventually the situation was resolved with the boy returning
to the Small foster home.
Phillips, who wrote the
incident report, noted that one Appleton police officer said “he had never seen
a child be so out of control and have a foster parent want to take care of the
child.” The officer told Phillips he was very “impressed … with Mr. Small and
his ability to stay calm in such an intense situation.”
Small denied the
accusation that children in his care used “toilet buckets” as described in the
criminal complaint against him. “There were commodes … with handles and toilet
seats,” he said.
He acknowledged that
feces were dumped in the yard but described that as a lapse in judgment by his
mother, Barbara R. Peterson, who assists him in running the foster home.
Peterson, who has also been charged with child neglect, did not respond
to a request for comment.
Small and Peterson are
currently free on $1,000 signature bonds and due back in court April 8.
Small acknowledged that
foster children in his care have been confined to their rooms, which are
equipped with alarms, but he said this was a safety precaution. The two boys
who triggered the police investigation had previously run away from the home,
and one had attempted sexual contact with the other, according to state reports.
After an August runaway
incident, the Macht company required Small to “install door and window alarms
throughout the home,” according to state records.
“If I wasn’t doing that,
then I could see them charging me with neglect,” Small said. He added that all
of the “serious incidents,” which are defined by state rules, that have
occurred at the house have been documented and reviewed by a social worker.
“I’m not doing anything
illegal or trying to hide anything,” Small said. “I wouldn’t put these kids in
harm in any way, shape or form.”
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