Pennsylvania Revokes Licenses For Glen Mills Schools Amid Child Abuse Allegations
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) — State officials have revoked licenses for the oldest reform school in the country amid multiple state probes into allegations of child abuse at the Pennsylvania campus. The Department of Human Services announced Monday that all 14 licenses issued to Glen Mills Schools were revoked "following documented instances of abuse against former students of the residential school."
The department also cited "gross incompetence, negligence and misconduct in operating the facility."
"Institutions charged with caring for children have a responsibility to keep them safe. The Glen Mills Schools failed in this duty," said Department of Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller. "We now know that children living at Glen Mills were subjected to abuse and intimidation. My department is taking this action so no more children will be subjected to the culture of abuse, coercion, and silence that ran deep at the school, and so staff responsible may be held accountable."
Glen Mills last week announced layoffs of about 250 staff members following the state's order that remaining students be removed from the Delaware County campus about 25 miles west of Philadelphia.
An investigation by The Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this year detailed decades of alleged abuse and cover-ups.
A former student told Eyewitness News that he and others were abused at the school.
"[I saw violence] almost every day," the man said. "It wasn't even a week that would go by without six, seven incidents."
A school spokeswoman didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
