The National Deaf Academy in Mt. Dora, Florida is a residential treatment center that specializes in caring for children and adults with autism, hearing loss and other behavioral conditions. Some parents who at first thought the facility might be a refuge for their kids, however, came to believe instead that their children had suffered abuse and neglect. An exclusive NBC News report revealed that the facility was under investigation by the FBI for alleged abuse and neglect. The NBC News report also found that the families of 10 different NDA patients had alleged physical abuse to a government-funded advocacy group within the past year, and that three families had filed lawsuits. Two former staffers turned whistleblowers told NBC News that they had witnessed bruising, black eyes and chokeholds, and alleged they had been told to cover up the potential misconduct by not reporting allegations to authorities. One of the staffers said conditions at NDA were a “perfect storm of abuse by kids who are deaf in a dangerous program.” A painstaking review of public records, many obtained by FOI requests, pointed to a troubling pattern at the facility. Three patient deaths have been alleged in lawsuits and state reports, and the state’s Department of Children and Families launched 99 investigations between 2004 and 2014. A review of police records showed that officers had been called to the facility more than 500 times between 2008 and 2013, resulting in 54 different police investigations, half of them for charges of alleged battery, abuse or sexual abuse. Reporter Stephanie Gosk interviewed the parents of the former patients who alleged neglect and abuse. She also demanded accountability from NDA’s parent company and from NDA management. She confronted the center’s former top official about conditions at the facility after two ex-employees alleged that that management tried to cover up abuse. Since her report aired, more parents have pulled their children out of NDA, and the center’s population has dropped. The state of New Jersey cited the FBI probe revealed by NBC in removing its children from the treatment center. Other parents have approached NBC News with claims that their children suffered abuse and neglect at the facility. The former top official of the school whom Gosk confronted in the report also left the Florida treatment center where she worked at the time of our broadcast after only six months on the job. In addition to the broadcast on Nightly News, an extensive online article detailing the findings of the NBC News investigation was published on NBCNews.com. The NBC News reports gave a voice to victims who often cannot speak for themselves, and had been hidden from society’s view. We believe that the broadcast was a service to parents who find themselves in a challenging situation, and are desperate for quality care. It has caused both the parents and referring agencies around the country to think twice about placing vulnerable kids in an institution with a questionable standard of treatment.
