Five are fired after OTP death

By Carolyn Mathews

Five employees at the White County Outdoor Therapeutic Program camp have been fired as part of an investigation in the wake of a 13-year-old boy's death last month, Georgia Department of Human Resources spokesperson Kenya Bello said Tuesday.

Bello said six employees in all at the Appalachian Wilderness Camp were involved in the incident April 20, which resulted in Travis Parker's death April 21. One employee has resigned from the camp, she said.

Bello also said the entire staff at the OTP camp will be retrained in the use of restraints and that the DHR is reissuing its policy in regard to the restraint procedure used at its facilities.

Those fired in the incident were charged with three key violations, Bello said: Withholding an inhaler; withholding a regularly-scheduled meal and, for some of those fired, refusal to take a polygraph test.

The death of the Douglas County teen, a resident of the camp for troubled boys, is being investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

According to a White County Sheriff's Office incident report, Parker was brought to the office of the camp where he had to be restrained because of his behavior. Ryan Chapman, a senior counselor, told deputies that the boy started having breathing problems so they called 911, but he quit breathing before the medical unit got there and staff members started cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Parker died the next day at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.

The DHR has more than 200 pages of information regarding the incident. The White County News€Telegraph has requested those records under the Georgia Open Records Act and is awaiting their release.

DHR also requested a freedom of information request from the newspaper before releasing the names and positions of those terminated at the camp.

DHR has three days to respond to the newspaper's request for information, which was made May 18.

According to information obtained by the News€Telegraph last year, the camp employed 43 people from White and surrounding counties. At present, Bello said, the camp is open and can serve up to 55 boys. It is located on Albert Reid Road, which is off North Highway 129, Cleveland.