State Shuts Down Child Psych Facility; Kurn Hattin Homes Covered Up Decades of Sexual Abuse
September 22, 2020
After a yearlong investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and assault involving more than a dozen children at Kurn Hattin Homes for Children, the state has come to the conclusion that the residential program in Westminster is unable to change a “pervasive” culture of abuse.
The Department for Children and Families asked Kurn Hattin to surrender its license to operate as a residential treatment program in August. The school, which serves vulnerable 6- to 15-year-old children with behavioral, psychological and socioeconomic problems, relinquished its DCF certification last Thursday.
An investigative report from DCF from 2019 describes a “touching club,” in which at least nine boys who were residents of Kurn Hattin “had been engaging in sexualized activity with each other.”
Most of the sexualized behavior involved viewing and touching each others’ penises. Some of the boys, however, “described more extensive sexualized contact, including over the clothes ‘humping,’ oral-genital contact, and skin-to-skin contact in which one youth described that his penis touched another youth’s bottom,” according to documents from DCF obtained by VTDigger.
In addition to “the club,” DCF describes a series of incidents involving a girl who repeatedly assaulted two other girls at Kurn Hattin in 2018 and 2019 with a toothbrush in dorm showers, and another perpetrator who penetrated other girls’ vaginas with her fingers as part of what was described as “hazing.”
Another girl in April 2019 was forced by a male classmate to have sex in a stairwell of the auditorium, state documents show.
Kurn Hattin failed to report the sexual abuse within 24 hours as mandated by law to DCF investigators. In some instances, the institution took months to notify authorities.
Caregivers and administrators appear to have done little to stop the abuse, according to records from DCF investigations.
DCF issued a damning report in December and required Kurn Hattin to take corrective action in an effort to bring the program into compliance.
By the end of June, DCF determined that Kurn Hattin had made little progress and began negotiating with the residential school to surrender its license to operate as a residential treatment program.
Last Thursday, officials from Kurn Hattin agreed to voluntarily relinquish that license.
DCF Commissioner Sean Brown said Tuesday that the department was committed to working with Kurn Hattin, but ultimately “came to the conclusion that they weren’t making changes we wanted to see.” In a given year, one to seven children in state custody have been placed at the Westminster campus. The private school has had a census of about 100 residents.
Steve Harrison, the director of Kurn Hattin, said the relinquishing of the license was the result of a recommendation made by DCF two years ago. State officials told Harrison that the school “really didn’t fit the parameters of what a residential treatment program was, and we might want to consider not continuing our licensure.”
Reached by phone on Tuesday, Harrison declined to comment on the DCF records and said Kurn Hattin followed DCF’s advice to relinquish the license. Kurn Hattin didn’t have a difficult time meeting DCF compliance requirements, he said. As for allegations from 2019, he said in an interview on Sept. 4 that Kurn Hattin “followed all of the policies of DCF. That would be the extent of my comment.”
The decision comes on the heels of a pending lawsuit announced in July and a VTDigger request for records regarding allegations of sexual and physical abuse at the facility, which provides year-round educational and treatment services for disadvantaged children.
Documents, social media posts and interviews with victims detail how more than 60 children who came from disadvantaged homes were allegedly assaulted from the 1940s through 2019. Eerily similar patterns of sexual, physical and psychological abuse were covered up for decades, victims say.
Children as young as 7 years old have said they were molested by Kurn Hattin caregivers, administrators or peers.
In the past three years, more than 15 children molested each other at the Westminster campus, according to reports released by DCF on Monday.
In interviews with VTDigger, six of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit who were residents of Kurn Hattin over a 70-year period have detailed physical, psychological and sexual abuse perpetrated by adults and peers at the school. A dozen former students on the Kurn Hattin alumni Facebook page have also confirmed a culture of molestation and psychological torment over a period of decades.
Ted Fisher, the director of communications for the Agency of Education, said the DCF action will prompt a review of Kurn Hattin’s approval status as an independent residential school by the State Board of Education next month.
Kim Dougherty, lead attorney for the Andrus Wagstaff firm, representing the plaintiffs in the Kurn Hattin case, says the misconduct was egregious and involved houseparents and administrators dating back to the 1940s. Hundreds of children, from the ages of 6 to 14, who were orphans or from troubled homes, cycled through the school during that period. Fifteen plaintiffs have joined the mass action lawsuit, and Dougherty anticipates more plaintiffs are likely to come forward. A complaint has not yet been filed.
“Finally these survivors have been heard,” Dougherty said. “They’ve lived in fear for far too long, their efforts to expose the truth went unanswered for years, even decades according to some of our clients. Now they can rest easy knowing that children are no longer at risk and will be protected from similar suffering in the future. DCF pulling the license for Kurn Hattin is a statement of recognition of all of the children who were abused and it’s validation for those courageous survivors who have come forward in an effort to protect others.
“This is a time to reflect on how to make Kurn Hattin better in the future,” Dougherty said. “Closing it down is not the goal, providing a safe place for children is. Kurn Hattin now has an opportunity to right the wrongs of the past decades and recent years, and ensure they will never happen again.”
Dougherty first became involved in the case when a male victim reached out to her in March. On July 2, the firm announced in a press release that victims were coming forward “after decades of silence” to seek justice. Dougherty and Andrus Wagstaff, a national firm based in Lakewood, Colorado, represented young gymnasts who were sexually abused by Dr. Larry Nassar in a lawsuit against Michigan State University. The firm also sued the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics.
Vermont is the only state that has removed the statute of limitations on civil suits for child sexual assaults, allowing victims to sue for abuse that happened long ago. Two groups of plaintiffs are preparing to sue Kurn Hattin in civil court for damages.
In 1989, Mark W. Davis, who was a former employee and lived with a houseparent, was charged with molesting 17 boys. He went to jail a year later. Nathan Foote, lead attorney for Andreozzi and Foote, is suing Kurn Hattin in civil court on behalf of seven men who were abused by Davis. Foote told the Brattleboro Reformer that his clients are seeking financial damages and want an apology from Kurn Hattin.
Harrison, who has served as executive director of Kurn Hattin since 2015, would not comment on allegations of abuses in a statement placed on the front page of the school’s website in July. He wrote that a query from the Brattleboro Reformer about the Andrus Wagstaff case “was the first time we had heard specifics about allegations from these years, and we were given no time to respond.”
In an interview at the campus last week, Harrison described the Davis case as a “legacy” situation “that had been dealt with.”
Davis appears to be the only perpetrator who has been charged. According to Vermont Department of Public Safety spokesperson Adam Silverman, the Vermont State Police has received a number of complaints about Kurn Hattin over the years.
“VSP has investigated those complaints as appropriate,” he wrote in an email. “In all of these instances, due to the ages of those involved, we are unable to provide any further information about the investigations or their outcomes.”
The latest alleged abuse incident investigated by state police and the Windham County State’s Attorney’s office was in June 2019 involving a 10-year-old Kurn Hattin student in DCF custody. The girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a peer with a toothbrush in the showers at Kurn Hattin, which were unsupervised, according to her mother who asked not to be named to protect the identity of her daughter. Two other girls were also victimized for more than a year, the mother said. The perpetrator told the other girls she would kill them if they spoke about the abuse, according to the mother. The girls were afraid to shower or talk about the incidents until the perpetrator left the school, the mother said. The perpetrator and the two girls were removed by the Department for Children and Families, she said.
That case of alleged misconduct was investigated by the Vermont State Police in conjunction with the Windham County State’s Attorney’s Office, Silverman said.
The mother of the girl said she reached out to Kurn Hattin and asked for her belongings, including her clothing, pictures, letters and holiday gifts from her family, and a stuffed animal she was fond of. Administrators did not respond to the request, nor did they offer any assistance to the family, she said. “I live on Social Security and had to buy her new clothes,” the mother said. “She had nothing.”
Traumatized by the assaults, her daughter, now 12, has threatened to commit suicide and her mother has rushed her to the ER more than once. “I’ve spent so many sleepless nights crying, afraid to wake up to find my child dead,” she said.
The mother is outraged that the administration of Kurn Hattin didn’t protect her daughter or express any remorse for the assaults.
Source: Anne Galloway, “Under state pressure, Kurn Hattin gives up license,” VTDigger, September 15, 2020, URL: https://vtdigger.org/2020/09/15/under-state-pressure-kurn-hattin-gives-up-license/
Court Calendar for Windham County Superior Court Civil Division
https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/courts/court-calendars/wms_cal.htm
Jan. 11, 2022
John Doe v. New England Kurn Hattin Homes 21-CV-01251
Civil Status - Conference
Plaintiff John Doe (Thomas C. Bixby)
Defendant New England Kurn Hattin Homes
Tuesday, Feb. 15 John Doe v. New England Kurn Hattin Homes
1:00 PM 21-CV-01251/Civil
Civil Courtroom 4 Motion Hearing
Plaintiff(s)
John Doe (Thomas C. Bixby)
Defendant(s)
New England Kurn Hattin Homes
Co-Counsel or Limited Appearance Attorney
Gary F. Karnedy
Rizlaine M Sabiani
Court Calendar for
Windham Civil Division
P.O. Box 207 · Newfane, VT 05345
(802) 365-7979
Court Calendar for Windham Civil Division (state.vt.us)
In addition to the external celebrations for the 125th anniversary, there is much going on internally and perhaps behind-the-scenes regarding this milestone year.
As we prepare to celebrate the milestones and high-points of our history, I do feel a need to address certain issues that are particularly relevant in our #METOO influenced world of 2019.
In any youth-oriented residential organization with a history as long as ours, there are elements of its past which, in the light of modern standards, would likely not be acceptable.
We cannot change the laws and the cultural milieu of the past, but we can unequivocally state that we at Kurn Hattin express sorrow and apologies to any individual who may have suffered in any way from the practices of KHH staff in the past.
Many blessings on you,
Stephen Harrison, Executive Director
New England Kurn Hattin Homes for Children Westminster Vermont
From: Jan Tarjan
Re: Volunteer reports of allegations of sexual abuse at Kurn Hattin
Date: 1/16/89
Last week several children at the Kurn Hattin schools reported to Dartmouth volunteers that sexual abuse had occurred at the schools. Our chairperson, Andrea Riesman, called the school to inquire about the rumors, and unable to talk with the director, was informed by the secretary that the allegations had been made, and that there has been newspaper reports to that effect. Andrea and Sue Shons, our Volunteer Coordinator came to me for direction about how to proceed.
I called the Director, Bob Morse, and reported our concerns; asked if the reports were under official investigation. Bob was very forthcoming. He said the allegations were made after Thanksgiving and had already been investigated by SRS and by the State Attorney General%u2019s Office. The trial had just completed, and sentencing was imminent.
Bob immediately offered to gather our volunteers, and together with staff person Paul Quinney he would explain the situation, reassure the volunteers, and help them know how to answer questions from Kurn Hattin children.
Andre will write to KH volunteers explaining the rumors and letting them know of up-coming information and support. She will mention to them their obligation to report any new allegation that come to their attention, and offer the Tucker Foundation as a place to help them report it.
I have asked Sue to pull together an in-service training for KH volunteers in particular, but open to all others, on the realities and patterns of childhood sexual abuse.
Blitzmail cc: Andrea Riesman, Sue Shons, Mickie Rosenstein, James Breeden
I explained that when I was in boarding school, I couldn%u2019t speak English and they treated me poorly. The pillowcase was my only personal space, and I would keep weapons there to defend myself in the night. I explained the staff would grab me and shake me. I explained that this girl in Cone cottage even though she was in 3rd grade would beat me, wake me in the middle of the night and molest me and make me stand in her room for hours.
She made me drink capfuls of nail polish remover (I%u2019m convinced my liver disease is from this) if she was unhappy with the massages, she made me give her. Even though I told my mother, they said I was lying, and they would tell me I was a liar because I would never be more than breeding stock.
In 7th grade my best friends ear drum exploded and she was screaming, they took her away and never told us what happened to Deborah. I thought she died but as an adult I convinced myself she was released.
There was a counselor named Claire. I hope she cries herself to sleep every night for what she did. She made it so no one believed me. Your website is proof I wasn%u2019t lying. Kurn Hattin is directly responsible for my Complex-PTSD, and I hope it burns down. That place was a nightmare and I hope they close it down.
My opinion is that with millions of dollars going into this agency and graduating only 12 students per year these children are indeed merely props. Many of the teachers there drive nice cars and they all have country homes. The children who attend Kurn Hattin come from disadvantaged backgrounds and when they graduate obviously go back to the dysfunctional families that they came from. In other words, they come from the gutter, and they go back there to fail.
Confucius said that `A child without A family is like A ship without A rudder`. They go back to where they came from with no effort to help them post Kurn Hattin. They can't win. Kurn Hattin has also allegedly abused children in various ways from the 1940s through the 1980s. My question is, why is such A place allowed to exist and should something be done about it? Kurn Hattin is being sued by a victim of the alleged abuse. I believe that the children at Kurn Hattin are, for the reasons stated, simply props used for the enrichment of the teachers, director and board of directors etc.
I can personally say that at least the headmistress knew about, and covered up, many things reported to her. I don't know if she reported to the upper administration and was covering things up under their direction or if she was acting on her own.
I'm also certain many abuses never got reported to her at all. The youngest girls were scared to death of being a "tattletale" and what would happen if anyone found out we told. I'm not one of the people that came forward for the article posted, I had put this all behind me years ago. But I won't let people say it didn't happen.
I'm proud of whoever it was that did come forward.
Mr. Bazin used to dangle us halfway outside a two story window and slap our chests. Or stick us in the manure spreader waist deep in cow sh*t. Thing is we felt it toughened us up. The turning point for me was when I was really sick and couldn%u2019t get up at 4am to do chores. I remember he kicked my bed and flicked his cigarette ash on me and said, %u201Cget up Pu$$y!%u201D That was cold.
Vermont Senate: The Committee on Appropriations House Bill H.740
Sec. B.1100 FISCAL YEAR 2023 ONE-TIME GENERAL FUND
APPROPRIATIONS
$1,512,636 to the Center for Crime Victims Services as follows:
$25,000 for a grant to the Kurn Hattin Survivors Support Group
P.O. Box 207
Newfane, VT 05345
802-365-7979
John Doe v. New England Kurn Hattin Homes
Monday January 23, 2023 11:15 AM
Courtroom 4
21-CV-01251 / Civil: Motion Hearing
Plaintiff John Doe (Thomas C. Bixby)
Defendant New England Kurn Hattin Homes
Co-Counsel Limited Appearance Attorney Gary F. Karnedy, Rizlaine Sabiani
2
I. Purpose and Objective of the Facilitated Peer Support Group
Trauma and abuse that occurs in boarding schools, residential group homes, and similar
facilities is a well-documented form of %u201Cinstitutional betrayal trauma%u201D (e.g., Smith & Freyd, 2014).
That is, when abuse occurs within institutions that foster a sense of trust and/or dependence from
their members, the complex negative mental and physical health consequences of that abuse are
exacerbated because survivors are not only contending with having been traumatized, but also
with having been betrayed by an institution that was supposed to protect and support them. These
effects are compounded when the institution%u2019s knowledge of abuse is hidden or denied, disclosures
of abuse are met with unsupportive institutional responses, and meaningful institutional
reparations are not made. %u201CInterpersonal betrayal trauma%u201D refers to traumas perpetrated by a
person who was previously trusted and depended on by the survivor (e.g., a parent or caregiver,
teacher, coach, spiritual advisor, mentor, or relative), is a form of interpersonal betrayal trauma.
Many KH survivors have experienced both forms of trauma, underscoring the importance for
them to seek support and healing in a way that connects them to each other and restores feelings
of trust and safety. Moreover, it is essentially that such a group is carefully designed and facilitated
so as to not unintentionally replicate any harmful dynamics or experiences that were associated
with trauma experiences.
The components of the facilitated peer support group curriculum are intended to provide
participants with a combination of psychoeducation and support not available in other contexts.
The focus of this group is not on processing traumatic experiences or discussing details of traumatic
experiences. Instead, the overarching purpose of the facilitated peer support group is to offer a safe
space in which members can connect, offer support and encouragement related to coping, and
explore key themes common to survivors of interpersonal and institutional betrayal trauma.
While each individual member%u2019s experience of trauma is different, being in a group with
other people who have endured similar experiences at the same institution can provide an
important and unique opportunity for connection, empowerment, and healing. In this way, seeing
others who are contending with similar forms of adversity and finding ways to cope effectively is
inspiring and encouraging. Hearing about similar challenges and barriers to recovery from trauma
can also be normalizing and validating, and help people feel less alone and stigmatized. Given that
many trauma survivors have unfortunately been doubted, dismissed, judged, or blamed when they
have disclosed experiences of trauma, sharing about experiences in a group format can be
understandably anxiety-provoking and sensitive; however, knowing that group members will share
some commonalities can help the process feel less intimidating.
When peer support groups are facilitated by professionals with relevant expertise, it can
add a sense of safety that is created within the group, as well as facilitate group cohesion, as
facilitators can step in to help support the group in connecting with one another, managing
challenging group dynamics, and ensuring that both intentional and unintentional harmful
comments and responses are identified and adequately addressed through a careful process of
acknowledgement, apology, and repair. These elements are particularly important in the context
of a peer support group that includes trauma survivors since betrayal, invalidation, harmful
inaction, and lack of meaningful acknowledgement, apology and repair, have unfortunately been
a part of many survivors%u2019 traumatic experiences.
PROPOSAL FOR KURN HATTIN HOMES FOR CHILDREN SUPPORT GROUP
3
II. Overview of Format of Facilitated Peer Support Group
We propose one hour long psychoeducational session bi-monthly, via video conference,
that will be recorded and available to all KH survivors and parents of KH survivors who are
minors. In addition, there will be 1 separate one-hour facilitated peer support group sessions via
video conference monthly for KH survivors. The support groups will be closed groups for survivors
of abuse that took place at KH. As mentioned previously, the facilitated peer support group sessions
will not be psychotherapy, counseling, or trauma processing, sessions, but rather a safe place for
survivors to connect, offer support and encouragement related to coping, and explore key themes
common to survivors of interpersonal and institutional betrayal trauma. The goal is to set the date
and time of the sessions to re-occur at the same day and time each month.
The breakdown of the 1-2 monthly sessions will likely include:
%u2022 One hour long psychoeducational session bi-monthly that will be scheduled on a reoccurring basis on the same day and time each month. It will be recorded and made
available to participating KH survivors and parents of KH survivors who are minors
through a secure link.
%u2022 One hour long facilitated peer support group session for all KH survivors that will re-occur
on the same day and time each month.
%u2022 Time and finances permitting, and if of interest, optional hour-long facilitated peer support
group session based on a particular demographic or interest (e.g., sessions for male
survivors, parents of survivors, specific ages or eras, etc.)
Psychoeducational topics may include the following:
1) Betrayal Trauma, institutional betrayal, definitions, impacts, Judy Herman%u2019s approach to
trauma recovery, societal responses and DARVO
2) Different kinds of mental health consequences: emotion regulation, depression, anxiety,
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), complex PTSD, the nervous system
3) The body, the mind-gut connection, difficulties with present awareness, a past that never
goes away, yoga & breath work
4) Grief, remembrance, spirituality, ritual, posttraumatic growth
5) Cognitions, thoughts about self, other & the world (assimilation/accommodation), patterns
of problematic thinking, mindfulness
6) Self-blame, self-esteem, self-compassion, self-forgiveness
7) Trust, Safety
PROPOSAL FOR KURN HATTIN HOMES FOR CHILDREN SUPPORT GROUP
4
8) Intimacy, Relationships, Boundaries
9) Power/Control
10) Sexual Health
11) Human Development, developmental crises, attachment, repairing ruptured attachment
and developmental hurdles missed
12) Remembrance, Ritual, Reconnection, and Spirituality revisited and sign off
Legislators have proposed that the duration for these support groups be for a period of 12
months. The facilitators of the group may recommend extending the duration for longer and seek
additional funding for continued psychoeducational and support group services beyond 12 months.
Should the proposal be approved, the goal would be to start the sessions in November, 2021.
III. Members of the Facilitated Peer Support Group
The psychoeducational sessions and support group are provided to Kurn Hattin abuse and
assault survivors. The members must have been a resident at Kurn Hattin Homes for Children
and suffered some form of abuse, assault or neglect from the staff or their peers. The survivors
range in age may be from pre-teen to over 80 years old. The facilitators and group members may
decide to offer separate facilitated peer support group sessions based upon various demographics
and interests, including age, gender, or era of abuse. Participation in all parts of this program is
voluntary, but will require written commitment to ground rules set forth below.
The Legislators have graciously advised that $25,0002 will be provided to fund this support
group for one calendar year. We propose that the facilitators be paid on a monthly basis to Melissa
Ming Foynes, PLLC. The group may request further funds be provided for continued support
group sessions and to implement some form of a remembrance.
2 If the Legislators are able to secure additional annual funding beyond $25,000, the facilitators would add monthly
psychoeducational session (as opposed to bi-monthly) and bi-monthly group sessions by various demographics, such
as gender, age, parents of survivors, era of abuse, etc., for a total of 2-3 group sessions per month (as opposed to 1-2
sessions with a budget of $25,000). The additional costs for these sessions would be approximately $9,000 more
annually, for a total annual need of $34,000.
The article was written because the state of limitations no longer applies. That means that as abuse victims come forward, the truth can finally be told. I am not surprised to see this finally come out. It's been too long for those who have been abused.The last thing that these children needed was to be victims of more abuse. I don't think that the response that kurn hattin gave was sufficient and it is definitely not an apology. I have yet to see an official apology to the victims.
The physical abuse at Kurn Hattin that we had to endure was a cruel punishment. We at Kurn Hattin were not the A students. We were not the best-behaved kids. In fact, many of us were the throwaways; the screw-ups of society. Kurn Hattin was supposed to be a safe place for us to live, learn, and grow.
Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services Executive Director Peohlmann stated:
The attorney did not indicate a formal group, but rather that the intention was that the two individuals identified (Melissa Ming Foynes, Matthew Munich) in the proposal would be working under a contract. We would execute the contracts since the money has to pass through us (VCCVS), and are waiting on the information from her, or from them, so that we can execute those contracts.
The taxpayer-funded %u201CFacilitated Peer Support Group%u201D poses problems beyond a process for identifying who will be served. Kurn Hattin survivors who are not represented by legal counsel raise concerns that they are disenfranchised by this process, and that it is a meager response to a longstanding, deep-seated failure by the Vermont government to protect children at Kurn Hattin and in the state.
Survivor's concerns include:
%u2013 how will the facilitators know who the potential class of survivors are outside of those represented by legal counsel? Will there be a list, potentially exposing identities, or traumatizing these victims? By what criteria will qualification for participation in the group be determined?
%u2013 what good is 18 hours of so-called non-therapeutical %u201Cpeer group support%u201D for a lifelong condition of Complex-PTSD, from which many of these victims suffer? The support required for this group is highly publicized accountability so that concerns are allayed that this abuse will not recur.
%u2013 this is labeled a support group, (Kurn Hattin Survivors Support Group - as defined by the Vermont Legislature Appropriations Committee) but the services proposed are de facto therapy: what safeguards are in place to prevent what may prove to be traumatizing interactions?
%u2013 what video format will provide attendees with the ability to therapeutically interact without concurrently exposing them to others in the group, some of whom may be their former peer-on-peer abusers, or who bullied them?
%u2013 have any of the survivors been involved in fashioning this plan. What of those excluded: do they get a voice, or are they even now to be treated like children paternalistically controlled by the state? %u201Cthis entire process reeks of control by those who will gain financially, politically, or in social cache at the expense of Kurn Hattin survivors.%u201D
_ does the State of Vermont grant taxpayer funds and Vermont Restorative Justice only to those victims of long term physical, sexual, and emotional abuse who are represented by highly compensated personal injury attorneys?
%u2013 what is the per-hour fee being paid to the professional facilitators? %u201Caccording to survivor's math, it appears that 18, 1-hour sessions will in fact cost the state of Vermont $25,000, or $1,389 per hour.%u201D The fees to be paid and what will be provided therefore is unclear.
Kurn Hattin continues to operate, ironically advertising that %u201CKurn Hattin Homes transforms the lives of children forever.%u201D In a website link, Kurn Hattin invites viewers to learn about the children there and %u201CHear their stories.%u201D
The school that still "transforms the lives of children forever" has not heard all the stories from its past. A key concern for Kurn Hattin survivors is accountability for the past, including especially the pivotal role Kurn Hattin and its leadership played in facilitating the widespread eugenics practices for which Vermont expresses remorse.
Kurn Hattin victims state:
After all these proposals and explanations by lauded experts and academics of the life-long effects of childhood trauma and its consequences to society, that%u2019s all that the approximately 100 survivors of Kurn Hattin who are known and still living are worth to the state: $25,000 and 18 hours? And all the while, the most important factor to all survivors: that Kurn Hattin ultimately be held responsible for its legacy of horrific abuse and unending toxic fear, and manipulating controlling isolation and that the truth of their crimes is known and recorded, and will no longer continue to go on unresolved.
Ultimately, there is nothing in any of this proposal for how to hold Kurn Hattin responsible for their generations of perpetrated abuse, negligence, trauma, toxic fear and institutional betrayal. Vermonters as well as Kurn Hattin survivors must closely examine the proposed %u201CFacilitated Support Group%u201D for equity and practicality. Vermont%u2019s newly-created Truth and Reconciliation Commission must closely examine much, much more.
Why, despite the written proposal to the Vermont Senate stating multiple times that the group was for ALL Kurn Hattin Survivors, are many survivors excluded unless they are represented by out of state personal injury attorneys?
Overview of Format of Kurn Hattin Survivors Facilitated Peer Support Group
We propose one hour long psychoeducational session bi-monthly, via video conference, that will be recorded and available to ALL KH survivors and parents of KH survivors who are minors. In addition, there will be 1 separate one-hour facilitated peer support group sessions via video conference monthly for KH survivors. The support groups will be closed groups for survivors of abuse that took place at KH. As mentioned previously, the facilitated peer support group sessions will not be psychotherapy, counseling, or trauma processing, sessions, but rather a safe place for survivors to connect, offer support and encouragement related to coping, and explore key themes common to survivors of interpersonal and institutional betrayal trauma. The goal is to set the date and time of the sessions to re-occur at the same day and time each month.
The breakdown of the 1-2 monthly sessions will likely include:
One hour long facilitated peer support group session for ALL KH survivors that will reoccur on the same day and time each month.
why is that?
Are the survivors participating in the out of court private settlement negotiation, which ultimately benefits the lawyers most, required to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDA's)?
If they are in fact legally required to remain silent, the truth and facts being hidden will only lead to more child abuse in Vermont.
NDA's are now known as the "Weinstein Effect." Harvey Weinstein raped women for decades and legally enforced / threatened his traumatized victims with non-disclosure agreements, which allowed him to rape still more women, and then rape still more women, and then rape still more women for years, while the so-called legal system aided and abetted his dehumanizing crimes and abuse of process.
Willful blindness will not purchase Divine absolution.
Vermont / Kurn Hattin Silence is COMPLICIT!
Do the right thing Kurn Hattin! Take care of those marginalized and vulnerable children, whose parents went to you for help raising their precious children whom you allowed to be abused. Do the right thing for those you neglected and those you harmed. Do not pass your inherently human responsibility off on to insurance companies.
STOP lying to an all-to-accommodating Vermont government and willfully blind, enabling Vermont citizens and willing bystanders.
An organization is not a collection of brick and mortar structures. An organization is comprised of individuals, of people and their collective and accepted culture, morals and values and actions. We are what we do in this world, not what we say we do.
Vermont is Kurn Hattin. Kurn Hattin is Vermont. Kurn Hattin was founded by Vermonters, supported by Vermonters. The abuse was perpetrated by Vermonters, witnessed by Vermonters, condoned by Vermonters, and knowingly allowed by Vermonters.
Yes, Kurn Hattin is indeed Vermont .....
In July 1994, Assistant Director, Chris Barry wrote to Daniels, saying he couldn't substantiate her claims and that no disciplinary action would be taken against Dansereau, according to the suit.
%u201CKurn Hattin had prior notice that Dansereau had engaged in sexually harassing behavior with one or more other female employees prior to sexually harassing (Daniels),%u201D the suit alleges. %u201C(Kurn Hattin) knew or should have known about the hostile work environment for (Daniels) and other women employees.%u201D
Also, Kurn Hattin had a duty to inform and train its employees about sexual harassment prevention, but failed to do so, according to Daniels. The only training consisted of a policy manual she found in a desk in her cottage, she wrote.
In response, the school claims that it has a %u201Ccomprehensive policy clearly advising employees about the prohibitions against harassment, outlining a complaint procedure and the penalties of such behavior.
The harassment forced Daniels to leave her job in December 1994, according to her suit, which requested no specific amount of money in compensation, lost wages and attorney's fees.
Dansereau, the school and Barry deny Daniels%u201D allegations of harassment and retaliation. The school claims that it is a nonprofit, charitable organization and, as such, has limited liability. It also claims that Dansereau was not Daniels%u2019 supervisor and was in no position to affect her employment.
Kurn Hattin has offered Daniels $5,000 to settle the suit. The suit isn%u2019t expected to go to trial before next summer.
"The Peter Harrison Grohs Memorial Award, for male student showing the best adjustment to Kurn Hattin..."
Why is the Peter Harrison award no longer presented at Kurn Hattin?
Your intuition serves you well. Vermont's complicit and culpable silence surrounding kurn hattin is a "cop out" and does indeed detract from any potential healing from the trauma that childhood survivors of abuse and toxic fear experienced at Kurn Hattin.
Outside witnesses were intentionally excluded from testifying by Kurn Hattin's defense law firm, its two investigation law firms, and the Vermont Agency of Education investigation into Kurn Hattin and also the Vermont Board of Education.
The Vermont State Police, Vermont Department for Children and Families, the Vermont DPS, and the Windham County Sheriff all refuse to release documents related to child abuse perpetrated at Kurn Hattin.
As for justice - there is no justice in this world and certainly none to be found in regard to New England Kurn Hattin Homes for Children in Westminster Vermont. Without accountability, there is no justice.
There is no such thing as justice - in or out of court -- or in or out of Kurn Hattin's so-called "independent" investigation, and out-of-court private settlement negotiation, to "learn the truth." There is no justice in this world, unless we make it. No single punishment, no reparation, nor compensation can correct an injustice. What is past cannot be changed, and those to whom injustice was done remain with their loss. If justice were attained in some other idealized, self-imagined, mythical world, for what was lost in this one, if those who had been injured had returned to them what they had lost, that is not a return of their life%u2019s fulfillment; it is only consolation. That which is lost at a certain moment can never again be compensated, because what is lost was needed at the moment it disappeared at Kurn Hattin Homes for Children.
Kurn Hattin has forsaken its children, its legacy and its inherent responsibility. Child abuse requires silence to continue. And so, child abuse will continue in Vermont.
Which boy was it that got slammed against the wall of the square dance floor / band room / sunday movies theater?
Did Pete Harrison commit that crime while calling out do-si-dos during the Wednesday night square dance?
"Cheer for Kurn Hattin, to us so dear, we'll cherish fond mem'ries so far we rove...."
Kurn Hattin Survivors Independence Day
When decades of horrific alleged child abuse at this Westminster Vermont residential school was first publicly revealed by Kurn Hattin survivor, John Doe A.
Just exactly who would question Pete Harrison about "alleged" abuse at Kurn Hattin during the time that he was working there?
Kurn Hattin itself?
Kurn Hattin's Burlington, VT, defense law firm of Primmer, Piper, Eggleston & Cramer?
The two Vermont defense law firms - McNeil, Leddy & Sheahan, and CSC Investigations - that Kurn Hattin retained to conduct its so-called "independent" investigation to "determine the truth?"
The former Attorney General of Vermont, T.J. Donovan, who is the nephew of, John Leddy, principal partner of McNeil, Leddy & Sheahan, Kurn Hattin's investigation law firm?
The New York public relations reputation management law firm of Baretz & Brunelle that Kurn Hattin also retained to protect its reputation?
Any of the many Vermont law firms that have contributed financially to Kurn Hattin, or whose partners have sat on the Kurn Hattin Board of Directors as officers, trustees, or incorporators?
It is clear from the summary herein that Kurn Hattin%u2019s negligence, inadequate protections and purposeful ignorance to the dangerous and illegal conduct permeating the institution, allowed children to be abused for decades. Unfortunately, however, Executive Director Steve Harrison is curiously and uncharacteristically silent. It is our opinion that his and Kurn Hattin%u2019s role in the abuse must be investigated and questioned at length. Review of the records from DCF and VSP begs the question: how this could go on for so long? How DCF could repeatedly grant %u201Cconditional%u201D licensing approvals while KH remained non-compliant for years, without suspending or rescinding Kurn Hattin%u2019s license to act as an independent school? Why didn%u2019t the Vermont State Police and the Windham County Sheriff fully investigate the reports of abuse brought to its attention? How was the State Board of Education or Agency of Education allowed to play hot potato with an investigation, causing months of delay, all the while children were, and still are, left without protection from abuse? The Kurn Hattin abuse survivors and the public are entitled to answers to these types of questions.
Kurn Hattin held itself out to be a safe place of reprieve for children. Unfortunately for many over the past several decades, it became their nightmare. As Vermonters well know, Kurn Hattin is just but one example of a group home that failed the most vulnerable in our society. If abuse and neglect were not passed down from generation to generation in places like Kurn Hattin, we simply would not have the epidemic of childhood abuse, neglect and suffering that the alumni of Kurn Hattin Homes for Children experience today. It%u2019s time to ascertain who, in addition to Kurn Hattin, was responsible for the harm to these children, who were never safe or protected from harm as required not just by law but under our inherent and fundamental human morals.
The amount of suffering that many children endured at Kurn Hattin, and the long-lasting effects, are significant, severe and life altering. For many of them, it is hard to imagine that Kurn Hattin can ever be reformed in a way that will ensure that children will be safe and protected from harm, or that any of the Vermont state agencies set forth to protect them will, in fact, fulfill their responsibilities. Kurn Hattin%u2019s stated mission is to "Transform the lives of children and their families forever." If it is ever to meaningfully complete this goal in a positive and genuine manner, there must be an in-depth legitimate and truly independent investigation of Kurn Hattin and the state agencies who failed hundreds of children over the decades. It must involve major reformative and corrective action of the school and restorative justice to promote healing of the survivors of Kurn Hattin abuse, negligence and institutional betrayal.
Over 60 former students of Kurn Hattin Homes for Children, ranging in age from 11 to 80 years old, who suffered horrific physical, emotional and sexual abuse and assault while residents of the school. Instances of the 80 years of abuse and assault at Kurn Hattin are chronicled in the Vermont Digger%u2019s expose, which as Vermont community members you have hopefully read. The abuse can no longer be ignored. Survivors of childhood abuse can no longer be blamed. The truth must be exposed and corrective action taken. Children%u2019s lives are at stake.
Vermont must address Kurn Hattin%u2019s response to the reports of abuse, statements of the Department of Children and Families (%u201CDCF%u201D) Commissioner and Secretary French%u2019s recommendation to review the approval of the school. The school%u2019s responses and approach have been nothing short of appalling. Kurn Hattin has failed to acknowledge and accept responsibility for the school%u2019s actions and inaction over the past 80 years, serving to only re-traumatize the survivors. Instead, Kurn Hattin has chosen to attempt to re-write history in an effort to protect its own image and seek pity from its alumni and the community at large. And now it seeks to influence the Board%u2019s vote, claiming its authority is limited in scope and time for review of its misconduct.2 The only explanation for this approach is to hide the truth.
Right from the beginning, when the allegations of abuse and assault were first reported, Executive Director of Kurn Hattin, Steve Harrison, affirmatively misinformed the public, claiming that he was %u201Cnot aware of these additional, new allegations,%u201D3 despite multiple DCF documents and communications with alumni establishing otherwise.4 Kurn Hattin continued to mislead the community regarding the surrender of its residential treatment license, stating that %u201Con its own initiative, [it] elected to close its RTP license,%u201D and claiming the %u201Cclosure of the license is entirely unrelated to any issues of alleged abuse.%u201D5 The facts establish the contrary, as DCF Commissioner Brown has unequivocally stated:
%u201CWe found them to be in violation and also failing to provide adequate supervision to youth in the residential treatment program%u2026Had they not chosen to voluntarily relinquish their residential treatment license, we would have taken it away,%u201D noting the results of the Residential Licensing and Special Investigations (RLSI) unit of DCF are %u201Cshocking.%u201D %u201CWe are in the child protection business and to think about kids being harmed there in these ways is incredibly challenging to
think about. We were hoping that, as an established member of the community, they would take action to stop these behaviors.%u201D6
In other attempts to avoid responsibility, Kurn Hattin attempts to arrogantly tell the Board that DCF is %u201Cwrong%u201D and that the schools inaction as it relates to background checks of its employees accessing children was acceptable because it was %u201Cnot required,%u201D or %u201Cnot clear,%u201D or that the %u201Cprocess is cumbersome and time consuming.%u201D7 Such inaction is inexcusable when it relates to the health and safety of children. Kurn Hattin had an obligation to do what was in the best interest of children regardless of the burden placed upon it or whether or not it was required. Furthermore, despite what it reports to the Board regarding the DCF documents and its efforts to limit the Board%u2019s scope of authority, Kurn Hattin is responsible to report any suspicion of child abuse within 24 hours, and the DCF documents establish that it failed to do so repeatedly.8 DCF concluded that the school%u2019s inaction and lack of supervision led to years of abuse going unreported and unaddressed, needlessly placing many youngsters in harms way.
Moreover, as it relates to DCF%u2019s documentation of the horrendous abused endured by students at the school, Kurn Hattin selectively summarizes only a few records, ignoring the most damning of the documents.9 Here are just a few examples of what Kurn Hattin has conveniently hid from the public, and now ignore in its correspondence with the Board:
2016: DCF Residential Licensing & Special Investigations notes reports of a 15 year old Kurn Hattin (%u201CKH%u201D) employee soliciting sexually explicit photos from a 12 year old current KH resident A regulatory intervention was found to be warranted given the 15 year old's role at KH, his daily contact with students and lack of clarity regarding response.
2017:
DCF letter summarizes a regulatory investigation regarding a KH teacher using inappropriate physical intervention with 11 year old when she "yanked right arm to remove hand from his ear."
%u2022 DCF Letter to Stephen Harrison, KH Executive Director summarizing a Residential Licensing & Social Investigation of an incident that took place August 2016: "%u2026allegation that your 15 year old foster child [x] solicited inappropriate digital photographs of a 12 year old female former resident of Kurn Hattin [x]. It was also alleged that [x] attempted to solicit inappropriate photos of a 13 year old KH resident who reportedly refused to provide the photographs. Finally, it was noted that [x] [Harrison%u2019s foster son], who is no longer a student at KH, was working in the KH student cafeteria and, in this capacity, has had ongoing contact with [x], which she stated was upsetting to her." DCF's assessment was that it was "clear that [REDACTED] did engage in some level of inappropriate on-line contact with at least two female students of KH while under your care..."
DCF correspondence with KH Director of Residential Services regarding allegations of physical abuse at KH, including grabbing/pushing/shoving students, withholding a student's breakfast for being late, and also being verbally abusive, resulting in an action plan.
DCF investigation report of an allegation that one student, on different occasions, offered to pay money to see two other residents' private parts. The allegations of solicitation occurred on 10/20/2017 and it took a considerable amount of time to report the incident to the licensing authority.
Residential Licensing & Special Investigations correspondence notes: "On 10/20/17 a 14 year old resident at Kurn Hattin approached two other youth, offering money to show him their penises or to let him play with their penises. Both boys declined this offer.
DCF RLSI Letter to Stephen Harrison, KH Executive Director stating: "It is important to note, that upon receipt of the incident reports from KH, the allegations of solicitation occurred on 10/20/17 and it took a considerable amount of time to report the incident to the licensing authority." The letter identifies several possible regulatory violations, including RTPLR 118
- a RTP shall report any suspected or alleged incident of child abuse or neglect within 24 hours to DCF; RTPLR 119 - RTP will supervise and separate the individual(s) and the victim(s) whose behavior caused the report; and RTPLR 601 - RTP shall provide adequate supervision appropriate to the treatment and developmental needs of children/youth.
2018:
RLSI was assigned review of [x] for sexual abuse, alleging that over the past year a KH resident had kissed, touched and made [x] put his penis in his mouth. [x] disclosed multiple incidents when [x] would rub himself on [x]. [x] reported that he was scared to tell anyone because [x] threatened to tell everyone [x] is gay if he disclosed. DCF concluded KH to be in violation of RTP Regulation 201, 508, 520 and 522.
2019: Multiple documents describe several regulation violations related to a boys %u201Ctouching club%u201D engaging in oral contact, groping, humping, dating back to 2016, along with separate girls oral and penetrative sexual acts, all going on much longer than it should have due to a lack of supervision and reporting:
"Information received in the intake indicated that there was a large number of KH residents engaging in sexualized contact with each other. At least nine separate youth from two different cottages, Morrison and Parent, were involved. The age range of youth involved was between 7-11 years old... Mrs. Richardson [...] stated that the sexual activity has been described by the boys as showing each other their genitals, some boys stated that they engaged in hand to genital contact, and one of the older boys (10) disclosed oral-genital contact with another of the older boys (11)...Mr. Plante [...] added that the youth report that 'the club' has been going on for at least a full year, perhaps longer... Ms. [x] said that a youth said the club 'has been going on since 2016.'" The report found KH to be in violation of Regulation 201, 508 and 601.
%u2022 DCF Letter to Steven Harrison, KH Executive Director stating: "it became clear that at least nine boys who were residents of Kurn Hattin Homes had been engaging in sexualized activity with each other. The youth called this behavior being in %u201Cthe club.%u201D The sexualized contact included mostly viewing and touching each other%u2019s penises, though some youth interviewed described more extensive sexualized contact, including over the clothes %u201Chumping,%u201D oral-genital contact, and skin-to-skin contact in which one youth described that his penis touched another youth%u2019s bottom." DCF found KH to be in violation of Regulation 201, 601, and 508.
%u2022 Kurn Hattin Dean of Students Meeting notes:
Ms. Newton "shared the concern that events that were once 'isolated are becoming systemic,' which she attributed to the lack of follow through and bad judgment calls of administration, but mostly named Nancy Richardson, Director of Residential, Carol Bazin and Clint LaPlante are Assistant Residential Directors. She was adamant that Steve Harrison and Sue Kessler know of these incidents/concerns."
Ms. Newton tracks behaviors trends in the school through their data system. She explained that the behavior during residential hours is triple the behavior/incidents during school hours. She believes this difference is even more since the behavior matrix and documentation is not being followed or completed by residential staff...
Ms. Newton disclosed that she knows of at least two incidents that occurred but do not have corresponding incident reports.
Several detailed instances were noted where Nancy Richardson knew of/was informed of student incidents but did not respond appropriately, if at all.
DCF Residential Treatment Program Investigative report allegation from 3/21/2019: "The reporting source said [x] reported that she performed sexual acts (orally and insertion with fingers) on peers, [x] shared that she felt pressured and threatened to perform these acts and described that there was no supervision at KH. [x] described that this occurred from the ages of 6-12 years old, through her entire time at KH and began as 'hazing.' Additionally, on 4/25/2019, there was another allegation of possible sexual abuse by another KH resident.
[x] disclosed that [x] had forced her to have sex with him and this occurred behind the stairwell in the auditorium. [x] said that she felt uncomfortable and unsafe some of the times they would have sex."
Course of investigation lasted from April 2019 - Sept 2019. Regulatory findings conclude: "KH was in violation of RTP Regulation 508 and licensing continues to recommend that the admission procedures be reviewed and modified so the program is accepting children and youth whose needs they are able to meet...KH is found in violation of RTP Regulation 601 and licensing continues to recommend that staffing be increased during the afterschool and evening hours."
%u2022 Of the 17 child abuse and regulatory investigations during this licensing period, at least three were not reported within the required timeframe. For example, three incidents occurring in February 2019 and were not reported to licensing or Centralized Intake and Emergency Services (CIES) until April 2019. Staff interviews illuminated an instance in October 2019 where information was intentionally withheld from licensing regarding the division of Parent Cottage students into other cottages due to the inadequate staffing coverage. Multiple staff interviews have alleged that significant incidents within residential programming and timing had not been documented. At least two separate scenarios were noted. School-wide Information System (SWIS) began to hold all the Kurn Hattin School%u2019s incident reports as of 2015. There are multiple incidents reviewed within 10 student files on SWIS that should have been reported to RLSI but were not. These include incidents of sexual touching between students and other incidents that directly impact the health and safety of the students.
2020:
DCF letter to Mark Bodin, President of KH agreeing to close KH's RTP license. DCF listed steps for KH to take in order to close out the license, including: "KH will remind its staff members of their legal obligation to report incidents of suspected child abuse and neglect." (
DCF Residential Treatment Program Investigative report regarding numerous allegations made in April 2019, including:
%u2022 4/2/19: allegations that [x] had tried to kiss and touch alleged child victim. Appended information was added on 4/11/19 when [x] further disclosed that [x] had touched her vagina with her fingers and asked [x] to masturbate with a toothbrush while she was naked.
[x] and [x] were roommates during the incident back in Feb 2020 and [x] didn't feel safe to disclose what happened until [x] was discharged from KH.
%u2022 4/9/19: allegations that [x] had tried to kiss and touch alleged child victim [x]. Appended information was added on 4/12/19 when [x] mother called CIES with additional information that [x] had "stuck a toothbrush in [x] and that meant in her vagina." [x] also reported that
[x] had touched her numerous times while she was in the shower. [x] said it was "gross and perverted."
%u2022 4/9/19: allegation that [x] tried to kiss and touch the alleged child victim. When speaking with the reporter, the other students shared that they didn't disclose the incidents sooner because they were scared to get in trouble and [x] said she would kill them in her sleep with a knife.
%u2022 4/4/19: incident between several students which was reported to Ms. Newton that behind the bike shed, [x] pulled down her pants to show the three other students that she was wearing a thong. Several students laid down on the ground and talked about masturbation, scissoring, and being each others "side hoes." [x] then "humped" [x's] leg. [x] reported to licensing and in the [x] that the actions appeared consensual but the greatest concern is lack of supervision within the program. KH was found to be in violation of Regulation 120 (incidents of sexual activity not reported within 24 hrs), 508 (incident report for student from Aug 2017 which is similar in nature to the incidents in this regulatory intervention, yet occurred 1.5 years earlier. Unclear how the program was assessing or meeting the treatment needs of student during that tie period), and 601 (RTLI continues to have an ongoing concern of inadequate supervision at KH. Many previous regulatory interventions found inadequate supervision in the cottage setting...).
It is clear from the DCF documents that sexual abuse and assault were rampant at Kurn Hattin,andthat Kurn Hattin was in violation of multiple regulations for lack of supervision, reportingtheabuse and its failure to assess and meet the treatment needs of students in their care.
The abuse was not only documented by DCF, the Vermont Digger chronicled 80 years of horrific abuse, finding:
Eerily similar patterns of sexual, physical and psychological abuse were covered up for decades, child survivors say. Documents, social media posts and interviews with victims describe how more than 60 children who were sent to Kurn Hattin to escape troubled homes were allegedly assaulted from the 1940s through 2019.
Rather than acknowledge its mistakes and take responsibility, Kurn Hattin chose to publish a statement that the school is %u201Cdeeply moved and humbled by the overwhelming number of messages of support and encouragement%u201D citing testimonials from staff, agents or people who were fortunate enough to not have been abused while in the school%u2019s care that %u201Care heartwarming to read.%u201D Such a statement is a slap in the face to the survivors who were deeply harmed by their egregious misconduct, particularly where the school%u2019s response came on the heels of the brave survivors sharing there horrific experiences with the public in the Vermont Digger article.
Notably, Linda E. Johnson, Executive Director of Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, published a statement today answering the age-old question of why children, like those from Kurn Hattin, do not report assault and abuse right away, but equally important, she notes the following:
Child abuse can be prevented from occurring in the first place and interrupted even when it has begun. As adults, we can acquire the knowledge and the tools* to help children grow up without being tortured, terrified, and or used%u2026 they most importantly need informed adults to watch over them, ask them how they are doing and be that %u201Caskable%u201D adult in their lives. Every child needs someone they can turn to if they are confused or hurt... Think for a moment if you might be that person who a child could turn to and consider how you might let them know you care and are there for them. It is part of creating a healthier, safer community for every child. It is up to each and every one of us to provide safe environments for children and to reach out to support the children we know.
This is how we will put an end to child abuse. This is our responsibility.13
The survivors of Kurn Hattin abuse ask, has Kurn Hattin%u2019s approach and response to the abuse and assault demonstrated that it is able to take responsibility and the steps necessary to prevent abuse moving forward? The answer is no, and as a result, the review of Kurn Hattin%u2019s license must proceed to put an end to child abuse in its homes.
The abuse can no longer be ignored. Survivors of childhood abuse can no longer be blamed. The truth must be exposed, and corrective action taken. As such, it requires that each Vermonter make the right decision and finally hold Kurn Hattin Homes for Children responsible and accountable.
Kurn Hattin received a call from the Brattleboro Reformer informing us (so they gave you a heads up?) of abuse allegations stemming from the 1960s, and 70s. It was the first time (truly?) we had heard specifics about allegations from these years, and we were given no time to respond. That was in no way indicative of us having nothing to say. We take these allegations extremely seriously. We have served children at the Kurn Hattin Homes for more than 125 years. It is our mission to provide a safe and supportive haven for children with troubled lives. The thought that any of our children who came to us for refuge suffered abuse while in our care is both horrific and heartbreaking. Even though much of the alleged abuse happened over 40 years ago, no matter when they come forward, survivors should be commended for their courage for doing so. And just like any child in our care, they deserve our support and to be heard. If any child suffered at the hands of someone at the Homes, I am profoundly sorry.
During these past few weeks, we have been deeply moved and humbled by the overwhelming number of messages of support and encouragement that we have received from friends and supporters from all over the country. These messages have come from alumni, families of current and past students, volunteers, donors, referral sources, and community members. They are heartwarming to read and they speak volumes about the positive impact that the Homes has had on so many lives for so long.
Here is a small sampling of the comments we have received recently:
Insert Here ("heartwarming" stories of Kurn Hattin children who were not raped, sodomized, assaulted, drugged, threatened with death if they told, .....)
Many of the allegations concern conduct that took place many decades ago. Some claims from the late 1980s were known to us as the perpetrator of the abuse was reported to the State by KHH administrators, was convicted, and was sent to prison. With respect to older claims, these allegations were first legitimately raised this summer. No matter how long ago, survivors of abuse deserve our support and to be heard. We are listening, and we are responding. While I have said this several times in the past few months, it bears repeating: We take these allegations extremely seriously. If any child suffered at the hands of someone at Kurn Hattin Homes, regardless of how long ago, I am profoundly sorry....
Unfortunately, following these alumni%u2019s courageous efforts to come forward, Kurn Hattin has become the target of attacks from self-interested parties based on falsehoods and misinformation, unverified and unsupported allegations and innuendo, and confidential documents that were selectively leaked to create a misleading picture. It is time we set the record straight publicly so that everyone can work together constructively to ensure a safe environment and preserve the critical support that Kurn Hattin provides to children and families in need.
Child abuse is inexcusable. All of us who devote ourselves to the children at Kurn Hattin want to acknowledge and commend the courage of our alumni who have come forward. We stand with them and are listening. We want to know what happened, when it happened, how it happened, and why it happened. Facts matter. Those in government and the media should show the same commitment to facts and to the children whose interests they are bound to protect.
We continue to seek the facts and share them so we can always serve children who need us, as we have served the tens of thousands (FACT CHECK: Less than 5,000) of students who came to us over the past 126 years to learn, grow, and become the best versions of themselves while in our care. We are committed to making sure that what happened to those alumni never happens again.
We extend our deepest gratitude to the entire greater Kurn Hattin Homes community for your encouragement, your kindness, and your belief in our mission and our important work with the children we serve. We feel privileged to be able to serve them, and we look forward to doing so for another 125 years.
Thank you,
Sue Kessler, Assistant Executive Director, (603) 313-2435 (cell)
Steve Harrison, Executive Director, (802) 289-7367 (cell)
I was at Kurn Hattin for four years from the fall of 1961 to the summer of 1965. I was sent to Kurn Hattin because I had what is now known as extreme dyslexia. By the second year I was also at Kurn Hattin because of a broken home. I was 11 to 15 years old while I was at the school, and I am now 73 years old.
Today, there is no recourse for the physical assault that so many people suffered when they were children and unable to help themselves. Many people never tell anyone about their abuse %u2013 ever. But, some finally come to terms with it and process it, as I have been going during the past few months. To find that there is nothing they can do about the physical abuse because of an arbitrary statute of limitations is extremely devastating, and only serves to re-traumatize the survivors like myself and protect the abusers and the institutional enablers.
Now, there is an opportunity to help those children like I was and to avoid perpetration in the future. With perpetrators and institutions knowing there is an option for civil liability for children%u2019s harm, they will treat children a lot better. I have been aware for many years that Kurn Hattin has affected my life in bad ways. I have always just shrugged it off and said to myself - well I am strong and manly, I will handle it and just move on with my life and focus on my business and work. Up to this point I have been doing just that, but maybe I have not done as well as I thought all these years. Maybe this pandemic has allowed others to also address the horrors of the past, and for those who haven%u2019t or can%u2019t, maybe I can help in some way to be their voice.
When I was at Kurn Hattin around the spring of 1964 I clearly remember someone saying to me that if you stay here more than three years it will have a very dramatic and bad effect on your life. Institutional living in your formative years will be very bad for you. All through my life and to this very day I have had many flashbacks of that moment and statement. I remember right where I was standing at Kurn Hattin when it was said to me.
As I have grown older and learned more about life, I would say a lot of what I personally experienced while living at Kurn Hattin would be unacceptable today. But maybe, it was even unacceptable then. There was no rule book when I was at Kurn Hattin, they just told me what to do and not to do. But they did not tell me everything. I can only include in this testimony a small portion of the experiences that affected me tremendously at Kurn Hattin. The worst of it, I cannot describe or express in this forum. In an attempt to heal, I have written a very detailed description of all the abuse and activities I experienced and witnessed, including a very detailed description of how the abuse has severely affected my entire life.
Simply put, and in summary during the four years I was at Kurn Hattin I basically personally experienced with other boys, men and women - forced oral sex, I was a forced naked punching bag with my hands tied, multiple very hard face slapping, naked spankings with my hands tied, naked whipping while tied to trees, forced exhibition showers, forced naked gym activities, and invasive medical examinations. After some of the abuse I was threatened with extreme beatings and being sent to boy prison if I told anyone. I also personally observed other boys being physically and emotionally abused. I was also continually told of the naked physical abuse of other boys.
There was also unjustified discipline when I was at KH. Boys had to stand or sit in the corner for hours if they did the littlest thing wrong. There where boys standing and sitting in the corners a lot, with no chance to have food or drinks. Sometimes the same boy had to do it for several hours three or four days in a row. They also made boys stand with their arms stretched out left and right holding books. Then when the books became too heavy the boys had to stand there with just their arms stretched out for another half hour.
The house parents would also keep changing the rules so boys never knew what was right or wrong. They would tell boys one thing then say, I never told you that, so now a boy had to sit or stand in the corner again even more times. Later in life I learned that in prisons to control the inmates the guards intentionally change the rules, even daily. They say things like I told you to do that, even when they have not said that. It is used as a control method. But Kurn Hattin was not a boy prison. The boys were orphans, came from broken homes or just had learning disabilities like myself.
When I was at Kurn Hattin most if not all of us were pretty good kids and for the most part, got along kind of well. The out of control discipline did not seem right. I could go on with more detailed horrific abuse that I and others went through, but it%u2019s just too difficult and, more than likely, not appropriate in this setting. My 4 years of abuse at KH has come rushing back over me like a tidal wave in just the last few months. After reading the KH statement on the KH website this last October and then reading about all the KH abuse on line, I have been reliving my abuse every waking and sleeping moment right to this day. It just does not stop. It won%u2019t go away. It has been like I am being re-victimized all over again. 4 years of abuse all rolled into the last few months.
All of us survivors need a structure, to be able to process the road to get accountability. A process that will deter future abusers and institutions that currently let them run free and wreak havoc on children%u2019s lives. In my mind, it is inconceivable that people like my-self so severely physically abused have no access to justice. Authoritative research has shown, that most children never experience abuse and never even know that abuse is going on around them. The remaining can be subjected to varying degrees of abuse, from mild to extreme. Of those of us that have been abused, many will never speak of it. And then there are those who committed suicide because they could not cope with the trauma inflicted on them, and yet others died to over-doses as a result of self-medicating to deal with the pain. If it weren%u2019t for this current virus pandemic that we are all dealing with, my voice would have more than likely never been heard.
To escape my abuse at Kurn Hattin I became an extreme 24/7 workaholic. My whole life has been about running forward and never looking back. So when I stumbled into the Kurn Hattin website statement I was heartbroken and in shock. I found out that Kurn Hattin had become like all the catholic orphanages and boarding schools. I always thought that I was the only one that had dark secrets of physical and sexual abuse at Kurn Hattin. It turns out that I am one of many-many others in the state of Vermont. So I testify today as a voice for the past, present and future children; to allow survivors of abuse to take a negative experience and turn it into a positive for the future of children at Kurn Hattin and throughout Vermont. Thank you so much.
Thank you for your cooperation with the Regulatory Investigation that Department for Children and Families, Residential Licensing & Special Investigation Unit conducted in August 2016, regarding an allegation that your 15-year-old foster child solicited inappropriate digital photographs of a 12-year-old female former resident of Kurn Hattin Homes for Children [REDACTED].
It was also alleged that [REDACTED] attempted to solicit inappropriate photos of a 13-year-old Kurn Hattin Homes resident [REDACTED], who reportedly refused to provide the photographs. Finally, it was noted that [REDACTED], who is no longer a student at Kurn Hattin, was working in the Kurn Hattin student cafeteria and, in this capacity, has had ongoing contact with [REDACTED], which she stated was upsetting to her.
Licensing Violations:
Residential Treatment Program Licensing Regulation 401, "A Residential Treatment Program shall not hire, or continue to employ, any person whose health, behavior, actions or judgement might endanger the physical or emotional well-being of the children / youth served."
I could hardly breathe,%u201D %u201CI was in a panic.
There was no safe place. There was no place where I could be OK. Nobody ever protected me...They all got away with it for so many years. They all knew...There isn%u2019t a piece of me that doesn%u2019t believe that.
My friend committed suicide as a result of the abuse at Kurn Hattin. I'm his voice now and that of all the others who can't speak for themselves.
We can%u2019t prevent what happened to the rest of us, but we can make sure going forward nothing happens to them.
The cycle of abuse must be broken, but before that can happen Kurn Hattin needs to acknowledge its role in it and
stop denying it.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!
Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services Executive Director Peohlmann stated:
The attorney did not indicate a formal group, but rather that the intention was that the two individuals identified (Melissa Ming Foynes, Matthew Munich) in the proposal would be working under a contract. We would execute the contracts since the money has to pass through us (VCCVS), and are waiting on the information from her, or from them, so that we can execute those contracts.
The taxpayer-funded %u201CFacilitated Peer Support Group%u201D poses problems beyond a process for identifying who will be served. Kurn Hattin survivors who are not represented by legal counsel raise concerns that they are disenfranchised by
this process, and that it is a meager response to a longstanding, deep-seated failure by the Vermont government to protect children at Kurn Hattin and in the state.
Survivor's concerns include:
%u2013 how will the facilitators know who the potential class of survivors are outside of those represented by legal counsel? Will there be a list, potentially exposing identities, or traumatizing these victims? By what criteria will qualification for participation in the group be determined?
%u2013 what good is 18 hours of so-called non-therapeutical %u201Cpeer group support%u201D for a lifelong condition of Complex-PTSD, from which many of these victims suffer? The support required for this group is highly publicized accountability so that concerns are allayed that this abuse will not recur.
%u2013 this is labeled a support group, (Kurn Hattin Survivors Support Group - as defined by the Vermont Legislature Appropriations Committee) but the services proposed are de facto therapy: what safeguards are in place to prevent what may prove to be traumatizing interactions?
%u2013 what video format will provide attendees with the ability to therapeutically interact without concurrently exposing them to others in the group, some of whom may be their former peer-on-peer abusers, or who bullied them?
%u2013 have any of the survivors been involved in fashioning this plan. What of those excluded: do they get a voice, or are they even now to be treated like children paternalistically controlled by the state? %u201Cthis entire process reeks of control by those who will gain financially, politically, or in social cache at the expense of Kurn Hattin survivors.%u201D
_ does the State of Vermont grant taxpayer funds and Vermont Restorative Justice only to those victims of long term physical, sexual, and emotional abuse who are represented by highly compensated personal injury attorneys?
%u2013 what is the per-hour fee being paid to the professional facilitators? %u201Caccording to survivor's math, it appears that 18, 1-hour sessions will in fact cost the state of Vermont $25,000, or $1,389 per hour.%u201D The fees to be paid and what will be provided therefore is unclear.
Kurn Hattin continues to operate, ironically advertising that %u201CKurn Hattin Homes transforms the lives of children forever.%u201D In a website link, Kurn Hattin invites viewers to learn about the children there and %u201CHear their stories.%u201D
The school that still "transforms the lives of children forever" has not heard all the stories from its past. A key concern for Kurn Hattin survivors is accountability for the past, including especially the pivotal role Kurn Hattin and its leadership played in facilitating the widespread eugenics practices for which Vermont expresses remorse.
Kurn Hattin victims state:
After all these proposals and explanations by lauded experts and academics of the life-long effects of childhood trauma and its consequences to society, that%u2019s all that the approximately 100 survivors of Kurn Hattin who are known and still living are worth to the state: $25,000 and 18 hours? And all the while, the most important factor to all survivors: that Kurn Hattin ultimately be held responsible for its legacy of horrific abuse and unending toxic fear, and manipulating controlling isolation and that the truth of their crimes is known and recorded, and will no longer continue to go on unresolved.
Ultimately, there is nothing in any of this proposal for how to hold Kurn Hattin responsible for their generations of perpetrated abuse, negligence, trauma, toxic fear and institutional betrayal. Vermonters as well as Kurn Hattin survivors must closely examine the proposed %u201CFacilitated Support Group%u201D for equity and practicality. Vermont%u2019s newly-created Truth and Reconciliation Commission must closely examine much, much more.
The Independent Investigation concluded that some of the allegations of abuse were supported by evidence, and others were not. The Independent Investigation found that some former Kurn Hattin staff were abusive toward students at different points over the approximately 60 years that the investigation covered. The vast majority of this abuse occurred over 30 years ago, yet there were also claims from more recent years. Both Kurn Hattin and the claimants firmly believe that any abuse is too much and must not be tolerated. The claimants who suffered abuse or mistreatment are entitled to be heard, and Kum Hattin is grateful for their participation in this Process. The Independent Investigation concluded that many of the claimants raised credible claims and should be credited for their courage to come forward no matter how long after the abuse occurred. The Independent lnvestigation further concluded that, although mistakes have been made over Kurn Hattin%u2019s 130 years of operation, Kurn Hattin has been successful in its mission to transform the lives of disadvantaged children. Following the Independent Investigation, Kurn Hattin reached a satisfactory settlement with over ninety percent of the former students who made allegations of abuse. Kurn Hattin has and will continue to use its best efforts to improve its policies, protocols, and training methods to ensure that it can continue to serve disadvantaged children in a responsible and caring manner. Kurn Hattin is devastated by the fact that any former students were mistreated during their time at Kurn Hattin, and Kurn Hattin is sorry that any child was harmed. Kurn Hattin hopes that this process has brought some peace for them.
Could anything be more dramatically revealing, a man at the helm of a 130-year-old residential school for vulnerable children accused of unconscionable life-altering crimes allegedly perpetrated upon innocence, standing amid the ruins of his lifework, shouting -- VICTORY!
lives of children and their families forever. While we all learned lots of lessons over the past 16 months, I hope we can identify those worth keeping and flush the rest away forever.
Kurn Hattin Homes for Children has enjoyed 130 years of providing children a home and school in a time of need because of the love and commitment of our staff, volunteers, families, donors, and community. In spite of the many challenges our staff made every sacrifice necessary to achieve the high standards for which Kurn Hattin is known. And you, our friends, responded with the support needed to make all this possible.
The love you have shown KHH over the past year has supported our Annual Fund, improved safety measures, the endowment, and many other programs and projects. Your incredible generosity is what makes Kurn Hattin Homes such a special place, and we are deeply grateful!
Every success of the past year has been the product of a communal effort. Staff and families had to keep children safe and healthy, adapt to changes in scheduling and programming, and learn a 'new normal.' Through it all, we persevered.
As we wrap up the year, we want to say THANK YOU and we ask that you continue to support our mission and assure another 130 years of Kurn Hattin programing for current and future generations. The Kurn Hattin fiscal year is July 1 - June 30. If you would like to make a gift, please do so at www.kurnhattin.org/donate. Your giving makes a profound difference in the lives of our children, their families, and our whole community.
Thank you for your kindness and for transforming the lives of children and their families forever.
With gratitude,
Kim Fine
Director of Annual Fund & Special Projects
Restorative Actions: Kurn Hattin Homes promotes the use of Restorative Justice within all realms of the community to help solve problems, encourage accountability, and make amends.
Copied from the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services Facebook page that has been deleted because the information contained therein is neither truthful, accurate, nor factual and is traumatizing to Kurn Hattin Survivors.
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Kurn Hattin Homes for Children is offering virtual Peer Support and Psychoeducational Groups!
If interested, please contact:
Kristen [email protected]
Lisa [email protected]
Our Stories: Making a Difference
Kurn Hattin Homes transforms the lives of children and their families forever.
Since 1894, Kurn Hattin Homes for Children has helped thousands of children and their families by offering a safe home and quality education in a nurturing environment.
Over the course of many years, thousands of boys and girls have called Kurn Hattin home. Our program is uniquely qualified to address the complex issues of family values and children in need. We eagerly anticipate the challenges ahead and continue to reflect with pride on our success as a secure haven.
Reflecting On Our Past - Looking To Our Future Celebrating Alumni Successes.
Building today for a brighter tomorrow. Honor and Celebrate our Kurn Hattin Alumni. Join the journey to connect our family. Come see what Kurn Hattin is all about! A Kurn Hattin Alumni T-shirt wll be sent to you as a gift for your participation.
We learned the truth about the child abuse that took place at Kurn Hattin Homes for Children over the past 80 years. Kurn Hattin, no doubt, was a haven for some children, but for others, it was hell on earth and impossible to escape.
One might ask: Why didn't those children tell someone who might have been able to help them? The report answered that question plainly, as described by the victims, now adults. They feared losing what little security they had - the security of food and a place to sleep.
How vulnerable were these children? They were utterly vulnerable and could neither imagine going back to their families nor what would happen to them if they dared to tell, especially if they were not believed.
As with most victims of child abuse, telling was simply not an option for those who are developmentally trapped. Due to being young, threatened, dependent on their offender, afraid they would not be believed, and afraid of being stigmatized and/or blamed, they simply are not able to tell.
All this is true, but what is also true is that child abuse can be prevented from occurring in the first place and interrupted even when it has begun.
As adults, we can acquire the knowledge and the tools to help children grow up without being tortured, terrified or used. Children do benefit from having skills and information, yes, but they most importantly need informed adults to watch over them, to ask them how they are doing, and to be that ask-able adult in their lives.
Every child needs someone they can turn to if they are confused or hurt. If you are an adult who cares about children and listens, think for a moment if you might be that person whom a child could turn to, and consider how you might let them know you care and are there for them.
It is part of creating a healthier, safer community for every child. It is up to every one of us to provide safe environments for children and to reach out to support the children we know.
This is how we will put an end to child abuse. This is our responsibility.
For all our children...
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