STATEMENT OF ROCK RIVER ACADEMY REGARDING TERMINATION OF CONTRACT
WITH DCFS AND IMPENDING CLOSURE OF FACILITY
Rock River Academy has given the Department of Children and Family Services notice
that we are terminating our contract with them. As a result, we will no longer be treating youths
who are under the guardianship of DCFS. This decision will regretfully result in the closing of
the facility as Rock River does not have enough non-ward residents to remain viable.
Rock River Academy has had a long partnership with DCFS. It has been our privilege to
provide care and treatment to DCFS wards including the most challenging cases in the DCFS’s
system for many years. Rock River has enhanced and improved the lives of numerous
adolescents who have been cared for at the facility. It is unfortunate that recent media stories
and DCFS’s ensuing reaction have overshadowed these countless successes. They unfairly
discredit the dedication of our staff who have worked hard every day to provide high quality care
and treatment and have made a genuine difference in the lives of these highly troubled youths.
Rock River’s primary focus during its tenure has been to provide high quality care and treatment
to its residents.
The recent bed-hold placed upon Rock River by DCFS, which we strenuously dispute,
was instituted without due process or fairness to the facility. We have not been provided any
specific information as to when or how the bed-hold will be lifted. We have concerns that in spite
of our efforts to provide high quality care to our residents, in the current environment, there will
not be a timely reversal of this decision. This places us in an untenable situation in which we
can no longer operate.
Further, Rock River operated under an agreement with DCFS where we could not refuse
a referral and had to accept all wards presented – many times because no one else would. In
fact, we are one of very few “severe level” RTC’s in Illinois. We accepted the challenge
because we believed we could help these adolescents and many of them had their lives
dramatically improved as a result of the care and treatment they received at Rock River.
However, despite our efforts, some of the wards did not respond to treatment. Rock River
asked DCFS to relocate certain cases but our requests were historically not granted.
As a result of the bed hold, the difficulties encountered with our contractual relationship
with DCFS and other regulatory impediments which impact our efforts to care for DCFS wards,
we believe the best course of action is to terminate our agreement.
Following closure of the facility, we will assess the possibility of repurposing the facility
and the physical plant.
We pledge to work cooperatively with DCFS, our patients and their families or guardians
to transition and transfer the remaining residents to another facility or care location and will
continue to provide high quality care and treatment pending their transfer. Rock River has been
honored to be a part of the Rockford community, and we hope to return sometime in the future.