ST. GEORGE — Several agencies responded to a youth treatment center in St. George over the weekend on report of an altercation involving multiple adolescents.
On Sunday evening, officers were dispatched to the disturbance at Vive Adolescent Care on West 1470 South.
St. George Police Officer Tiffany Mitchell told St. George News when officers arrived, they found “a pretty chaotic scene” involving more than a dozen juveniles and several staff members.
Mitchell said the incident started when the facility’s staff was attempting to perform restraints and several other adolescents jumped in to hamper those efforts. From there, the situation reportedly escalated as several more juveniles became involved in the disturbance.
In all, about 20 juveniles were involved in the commotion, Mitchell said, adding it is fairly uncommon for police to receive calls involving incidents at youth facilities since most are taken care of in-house.
Danielle Squires, the administrator at Vive, told St. George News the incident started when the staff members were attempting to restrain three boys experiencing “dysregulation,” a term used to describe a patient who is having difficulty registering and responding to emotions appropriate to the context of what’s going on around them. Dysregulation can include intense outbursts and aggression that can sometimes become violent.
While staff members were attempting to safely restrain the three juveniles in this heightened state for their and others’ safety, Squires said several other youth became agitated and started yelling, further escalating the situation.
It was at that point that one of the newer employees, who was shadowing one of the seasoned staff members during training, went into one of the offices and called 911 for help.
A few of the employees sustained minor injuries during the melee and sought medical attention after the incident, mainly as a precaution, Squires said, and all are returning to work on Wednesday. One of the juveniles involved in the incident who was also close to completing the program left the facility on Monday, she added.
No one was arrested, but one of the facility’s staff told police they wanted to pursue possible assault charges against one of the adolescents, and a referral was sent to juvenile court for review.
While noting that even though Sunday’s incident was not necessarily an emergency situation, Squires commended the police officers and their rapid response and was grateful for their efforts.
She said the incident over the weekend underscores the fact that kids are really struggling right now, and many are dealing with serious mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression and other conditions. These kids need a safe place to receive proper treatment for their issues, which is the type of environment Squires said Vive is committed to providing.
Along with St. George Police Department, personnel from Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Utah Tech Police Department responded to assist with the incident.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
St. George News reporter Alysha Lundgren contributed to this report.
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