Treatment center for NM boys under investigation

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The use of restraints and other issues at a state-run treatment center in Albuquerque for mentally ill and violent boys has spurred investigations by the state Children, Youth and Families Department and the nonprofit Disability Rights New Mexico advocacy group.

The Albuquerque Journal reports (http://bit.ly/13N7VUI) that a youth at the Sequoyah Adolescent Treatment Center was physically restrained and forcibly sedated in November even though he had agreed to be medicated orally.

A week later, a teenager was mechanically restrained to a bed at the center for more than two hours without the proper physician's order.

Sequoyah's administrator also has been temporarily reassigned, the center halted new admissions, and two former employees filed whistle-blower lawsuits alleging they were retaliated against for having raised concerns about safety.

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Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com