Isabel Jamison - 1994

Isabel Jamison was sent to Bellefaire to get help. Unfortunately it was not what she got. An employee took advantage of her and the result was a severe depression which sent her to a more restricted department inside the residential treatment facility. She was punished for being a victim.

She got medication for her depression but the employees failed to monitor whether she got them on a regulare basis. She stored them until she had enough to overdose from the medication.

This poor girl was failed in so many ways that it is hard to write about. Her family might have believed that they made a good choice by opting for treatment but the reality is that she got hell.

May she rest in peace.

Sources:

• Cleveland Academy of trial attorneys - september newsletter
• Bellefaire JCB residential treatment center experiences (Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora)

Wade Johnson - 1951

Wade Johnson was only 15 years of age when he was shot by two other students at the boarding school he attended.

The Alexander School was a boarding school operating until 1998. While judged as a good place to live for children who was not cared for by parents or extended family, the place also nursed a kind of fearful environment where students kept their secrets out of fear of punishment. Unwillingly Wade Johnson breached the code of conduct and gave information to the head master W.C. Sweatt about a forbidden relationship with a girl.

For this breach of conduct two students shot both Wade Johnson and the head master. The oldest boy was given life in prison. No information has been found on the nature of punishment for the younger killer aged 16 at the time. A girl who was involved was sought by the police. It is unknown if she was punished.

For poor Wade Johnson his placement at this now closed boarding school meant death. It is unfair and tragic. May he find peace where he is now.


Sources:

• Two men killed by Youths at private school (The Dispatch)
• Fw: W. E. SWEATT of Alexander School: 1951 news articles (Ancestry)

Dustin E. Phelps - 1998

14 year old Dustin E. Phelps died when the owner of a Lancaster Foster Home strapped him into a blanket and a mattress held together with straps. He was left unattended for 4 hours.

It remains unclear if there ever was an investigation into this tragedy or the system just forgot him.

14 years is not alot to be allowed to live.

May he rest in peace.

Sources:

• THE SILENT DEATH OF AMERICA’S CHILDREN (Presented to the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, Los Angeles, 13 November, 2002)
• Children in treatment