# Three Grand Traverse Children Sent To Missouri Facility With History Of Abuse
Three children from Grand Traverse County were placed at a Missouri mental health facility last year that is the subject of multiple lawsuits alleging physical and sexual abuse.
The children were sent to the Lakeland Behavioral Health System in Missouri in 2025, according to Interlochen Public Radio.
Multiple lawsuits had already been filed against the facility before these placements occurred.
Lawsuits Named 32 Plaintiffs
The largest and most recent lawsuit includes 32 plaintiffs who allege abuse from unnamed Lakeland employees and other residents while they were minors at the facility.
Abuse allegations were made for every year from 2011 until 2024.
Many years included multiple allegations.
The lawsuit names defendants including the facility itself, top executives, and parent company Acadia Healthcare.
Michigan Kids Increasingly Sent Out Of State
Since the COVID pandemic, Michigan has increasingly dealt with youth in mental health crisis by placing children in out-of-state residential facilities.
That shift occurred as treatment facilities across the state have recently closed.
Bridge Michigan reports residential treatment beds have shrunk from around 1,200 in 2020 to 423 total in 2025.
Of the 152 children Michigan courts placed in out-of-state treatment facilities last year, five were placed out of Grand Traverse County.
All of those children from Grand Traverse County were sent to facilities owned by the for-profit Acadia Healthcare Company.
Those facilities included Lakeland Behavioral Health along with Piney Ridge in Arkansas and the Resource Treatment Center in Indiana.
Court Declined To Comment
IPR reached out to Grand Traverse County's 13th Circuit Court for comment on how the court chose which facilities to send children to.
The court declined to comment citing reasons of strict confidentiality laws.
Family Court Administrator Kristyn Laughman wrote in an email that the Judge makes the final decision about where a juvenile under court jurisdiction is placed.
This decision must be made in accordance with court rules and statutes.
Allegations Against Lakeland And Acadia Healthcare
The May 7 lawsuit named two previous employees accused of abuse.
Both former staffers had faced criminal sex abuse cases before the lawsuit was filed.
One had been charged with rape and molestation offenses while the other had already pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor.
Plaintiff lawyers argue that Lakeland was aware that their residents were particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse due to their admission on psychiatric and behavioral conditions.
These plaintiffs also had an inability to leave the facility.
The lawsuit alleges executive staff allowed staff members accused of sexual improprieties to continue to work at the facility.
They also inadequately investigated allegations of staff members sexually assaulting residents.
Senate Report On For-Profit Operators
In 2024, Acadia Healthcare was one of four major residential treatment facility operators that were the subject of a two-year investigation by a US Senate Committee.
Those findings alleged children in these facilities are regularly subjected to physical, sexual and verbal abuse.
The report also found inappropriate restraints and seclusions occur at these facilities.
Unsafe and unsanitary conditions were also cited in the investigation.
The report found these harms are not isolated exceptions.
These harms are inherent to a model that incentivizes maximizing profits at the expense of providing quality care to children.
Facility Responds To Allegations
In response to requests for comments on this story, an Acadia representative referred to a statement released when the 32-plaintiff lawsuit was initially filed in 2025.
Lakeland Behavioral Health does not tolerate assault, abuse and neglect.
The kind of behavior alleged runs counter to our standards, practices and training.
The two former employees cited in the lawsuit were terminated and no longer work at the facility.
"While we are limited in what we can say regarding patient situations and pending litigation, the two former employees cited in the lawsuit were terminated and no longer work at our facility."
Multiple Lawsuits Filed
Three children from Grand Traverse County were placed at the Lakeland Behavioral Health System in Missouri in 2025.
One lawsuit against the facility had already been filed in 2024.
Two additional lawsuits were filed on May 5 and May 7, 2025.
It is unclear whether the placements occurred before or after those later suits were filed.
The largest and most recent lawsuit includes a group of 32 plaintiffs.
They allege abuse from unnamed Lakeland employees and other residents while the plaintiffs were minors and admitted to the Lakeland facility.
Source: Interlochen Public Radio