Motivating Youth lawsuit settled; state monitoring continues
It’s been a year since an 8-year-old girl’s spanking at an east Macon youth center sparked criminal and regulatory investigations, as well as a lawsuit that was recently settled.
The Motivating Youth Foundation’s center on Main Street was closed last May after the episode, and its director, former NFL player Roger Jackson, was jailed on a misdemeanor battery charge.
The criminal case against Jackson still is pending, although a formal accusation hasn’t been drawn up in Bibb County State Court. He was released on $1,300 bond about an hour after being booked into the jail.
Motivating Youth signed a consent agreement in July with Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning before being allowed to reopen.
State investigators are re-evaluating the agreement this month, inspecting the after-school program facility and reviewing the center’s compliance, said Reg Griffin, the department’s spokesman.
‘I GET IT NOW’
The Telegraph filed an Open Records Act request for records from the state’s investigation. The records showed:
Jackson admitted using a belt to discipline the girl at the center on April 22, 2015, striking her three or four times after learning she’d gotten in trouble at school.
He said he’d gotten permission from the girl’s mother to “spank” her children in the past.
After the girl went home for the day and was taken to a doctor, police were called. Officers took pictures of redness and bruising on the girl’s buttocks and hands.
The girl told authorities she’d tried to shield her buttocks with her hands while Jackson struck her with the belt, causing injury her hands.
As the investigation progressed, officials learned that other students also had been disciplined by Jackson using the belt, known to the children as “Mr. Willy.”
The use of any form of corporal punishment is a violation of regulations governing centers such as Motivating Youth.
The center had previously been cited for violating the rule following a 2012 incident that also involved Jackson’s disciplining children with a belt.
In his testimony at a hearing appealing the center’s closure, Jackson said he wouldn’t use corporal punishment again, according to a judge’s order affirming the center’s closure.
Jackson went on to say, “I get it now,” according to the order.
LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT
In October 2015, the 8-year-old girl’s mother filed a lawsuit against Motivating Youth, Jackson and an employee, Oprah Taylor.
The case ended in a confidential settlement, but The Telegraph obtained some of the settlement documents after filing Open Records Act requests. Records of nonprofit agencies that receive at least a third of their funding from public funds are subject to disclosure under the act.
The records showed that the girl’s mother agreed on Dec. 22 to receive a $7,500 settlement in exchange for dropping the suit.
A Bibb County State Court judge also signed an order Feb. 4 approving a settlement for the girl. A judge’s approval is required for any settlement on a minor’s behalf of more than $15,000, according to the order.
A request filed with an Atlanta lawyer representing Motivating Youth, seeking documents pertaining to the settlement, drew a reply that the litigation is still pending and that he didn’t have a copy of a signed release.
Reached last week, lawyers representing Jackson, the girl, and the girl’s mother declined comment.
REVISITING THE AGREEMENT
State records show Motivating Youth has received more than $915,000 in federal and state funding since 2013 through the Child and Adult Care Food Program and Childcare and Parent Services program.
Griffin said food program funding for the center stopped when the facility closed last year and hasn’t resumed.
Childcare and Parent Services funding also stopped last year, but resumed after the center reopened. Fifty-six children are receiving program subsidies at the center this year.
Since the signing of the consent agreement July 8, state investigators have been monitoring Motivating Youth on a monthly basis, ensuring that employees are abiding by the consent agreement, Griffin said.
In order to reopen, the center agreed that all staff — including Jackson — would complete five hours of extra training on topics including “Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse” and classroom or behavior management, according to the agreement.
The center also agreed to pay a $5,000 fine. Costs of training could offset a portion of the fine, the state agreed.
Jackson was barred from being present at the center during operating hours except for one hour a month to make a classroom presentation to students and their parents, but that contact was contingent on his passing a criminal records check.
It’s possible that the state could allow Jackson to spend more time at the center during hours when children are present pending investigators’ review this month, according to the consent agreement.
Reports from monitoring visits showed “Corporal Punishment Free Zone” posters were displayed in the center last fall. Posting of the signs was part of the agreement.
When investigators have asked about Jackson’s presence at the facility, staff members have said he only visits after the center is closed, according to the reports.
The Department of Early Care and Learning hasn’t received any other complaints regarding discipline at the center, Griffin said.
Amy Leigh Womack: 478-744-4398, @awomackmacon
This story was originally published April 23, 2016 at 9:29 PM with the headline "Motivating Youth lawsuit settled; state monitoring continues."