OPINION: FOOTHILLS ACADEMY
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By Allison Cross
As a news reporter, I’ve always been careful about giving my opinion on a topic. Opinion
articles have to be thoroughly thought out because you don’t ever want to seem biased
about anything. Its always been “just the facts” for me. I try to stick to that.
During research for a recent article on the “temporary” closure of Foothills Academy, I felt
like I had enough proximity to the subject to express a few thoughts. If you’re not familiar
with the topic, go read the story detailing the closure in this issue.
I grew up in Albany where Foothills is located. It was about 10 minutes or so from my
house. I graduated from Clinton County High School. As a student in those early years
(2000-2004), I often saw some of the Foothills students on campus. My church youth group
collected clothing for the residents every winter. There were even a couple of students
sitting in the back row during my high school graduation, while we whispered about who
they might be or where they were from. I was a kid when they first opened.
I also had several family members who worked at Foothills over the years in various
capacities. I’ve worked for non-profit organizations before. I also briefly worked at a similar
facility several counties away while in college. This facility was in no way related to Foothills
at all. It was probably the worst month of my life. I don’t even put it on my resume.
That kind of work definitely wasn’t for me, and I stand in ovation for anyone who has the
patience, passion, or drive to work in that field. I quit the job after the first time I had to
physically restrain a young girl.
I think I was about 20-21 years old. I worked the 7 pm to 7 am shift, and I sat at a desk while
3-4 girls slept in their rooms in a cottage. I was by myself. I had maybe one week or so of
training with other people and had to learn the proper restraining techniques. I had no
idea what I was doing.
It was summertime and I lived in Albany and drove several counties away for a 12-hour,
nighttime gig that I think might have paid $9 an hour. That fateful night, I was sitting at my
desk, staring at the hallway, and listening for any noise from my girls when another staff
member came over the intercom system asking for assistance.
Since I was on my own, I had to wake up my girls and drag them to the next cottage to try
to see how I could help. It was the middle of the night and my heart was racing, because
like I said, I had no idea what I was doing. I get there, and to my horror I am the first one to
respond. I see another staff member, who was by herself on the floor trying to restrain a
girl.
She was not doing well at all. The girl was fighting her with everything she had. I secured
my girls in a room and went to help this other staff member. The girl was kicking, pulling,
and biting at both of us. Eventually, more staff members came in because we are all
connected by the same intercom and cameras. We got more help and eventually everyone
calmed down.
That’s when I noticed I couldn’t find one of my girls. I counted three times before I rushed
back to our cottage where I saw no one. I started to freak out because I just had to restrain
someone for the first time, and I thought one of my girls had run away from the facility. It
turns out she was just hiding under one of the beds asleep because it was the middle of
the night and she was used to it.
At the end, everyone did exactly what they were trained to do. It is how the system is set
- It’s the same at that facility as it is at Foothills or any other one.
So what’s the problem? Too many residents? Too little training? Too many expectations on
staff? Not enough expectations on leadership to protect both staff and residents? The
“type” of residents the facility takes? It’s not just one problem. It’s all of it.
I’d like to put something out there. I also don’t think this is just a Foothills problem, it’s a
system-wide problem. Yes, I remember countless times when kids ran away from Foothills.
We heard it on the scanner all the time or neighbors would start a call chain and start
warning people. At first it was reported in the news, but eventually it got so common that I
don’t think it was news anymore.
Growing up, we would hear rumors about riots, staff getting hurt, residents getting hurt,
businesses or homes getting robbed. This is just what we would hear about and it was like
pulling teeth to get things confirmed. It was like the game where one person whispers in
your ear with one thing and by the end of the line, it's something completely different.
Eventually, people were just like “It happened again.”
I urge the public to have compassion for the workers, the teachers, the counselors, anyone
who chose to work at Foothills or any facility because you don’t know what they go through
on a daily basis. They didn’t create the problem. They just followed the rules.
I urge leadership, not just locally, to do better. If the rules aren’t working, work to change
them. Don’t just do something because it’s the way it’s always been done. If something isn’t
working, because clearly it isn’t, find a way to make it work. Examine how your employees
are trained. Examine the level of experience workers need before hiring them. And do what
you said you were going to do and examine the type of kids you are taking in.
Protect your staff, protect your kids, and protect the community that you chose to build
your facility in.