FAYETTEVILLE -- Two employees of the Piney Ridge Treatment Center were placed on leave after allegations staff allowed a fight between clients, prompting a state Department of Human Services investigation.
Piney Ridge is a 102-bed, secure psychiatric residential facility for youth between the ages of 7 and 17 who suffer from sexual behavior disorders. The state licenses treatment facilities for juveniles.
Piney Ridge Treatment Center is at 2815 East Zion Road in Fayetteville. It opened as a much smaller facility in April 1996.
Amy Webb, spokeswoman for the Human Services Department, confirmed Tuesday the licensing division of the agency is investigating fight-related allegations and said two employees were placed on leave. She isn't allowed to reveal particulars about the investigation since juveniles are involved, she said.
Doris Singleton, chief executive officer of Piney Ridge, issued a statement Tuesday.
"We maintain a zero tolerance policy for any action that could endanger the physical or emotional well-being of a patient," the statement says. "Employees found to be in violation of our abuse and neglect policies are immediately suspended pending a full investigation and prompt disciplinary action -- including termination -- is taken as warranted."
The center refused to address the specific allegations, citing federal and state patient privacy laws, according to the statement.
The allegations came to light when a father appeared on a Northwest Arkansas television newscast and said his pre-teen child had been encouraged to fight another client by two unidentified staff members at Piney Ridge.
The treatment facility has had few incidents with regulators in the past, according to news accounts.
Neighbors had originally objected to the opening of the center in 1996. Now it's a frequent resource for juvenile judges to order evaluation or treatment, court records show.
The most serious incident involving the facility that came to public light before this allegation was the August 2003 escape of two teens convicted of rape. Both were captured two days later in Pensacola, Fla.
NW News on 04/13/2016