On Thursday April 29, 2021, at 12:45 p.m. ET/9:45 a.m. PT, please join survivors of the troubled teen industry in a silent vigil commemorating the one year anniversary of the death of Cornelius Frederick.
A memorial and community gathering hosted by PACCT Emergent Justice, will take place on Thursday, April 29th at 5:45 p.m. ET/2:45 p.m. PT.
On April 29, 2020, Cornelius Frederick, a 16-year-old Black foster child and ward of the state of Michigan, was violently restrained at Lakeside Academy, the Kalamazoo Michigan-based branch of for-profit residential care company, Sequel Youth and Family Services. This restraint led to his death 2 days later.
Cornelius Frederick was tackled and restrained by a Lakeside staff member after he threw a sandwich at another student.
Eventually seven male staff members put weight on Cornelius Frederick’s arms, legs and torso, restraining him for 11 minutes and 35 seconds before releasing him.
Staff waited another 12 minutes before calling 911.
In the six months before Cornelius Frederick’s death, he was physically restrained 10 times, including a 36-minute restraint in January, for throwing a football at a peer.
The year he turned twelve, Cornelius Frederick’s mother died in her sleep of heart failure. His father was incarcerated. Even though family members wanted custody of “Corn” and his siblings, he was made a ward of the state, and eventually sent to Lakeside, where he lived in a dorm staff members nicknamed “Death Row Academy.”
In the U.S., 14% of children are Black, but 23% of children in foster care are Black. Black children are 35% more likely than white youths to be placed in group homes or residential treatment facilities.
The year he turned twelve, Cornelius Frederick’s mother died in her sleep of heart failure. His father was in prison. Even though family members wanted custody of “Corn” and his siblings, he was made a ward of the state, and eventually sent to Lakeside, where he lived in a dorm staff members nicknamed “Death Row Academy.”
In the U.S., 14% of children are Black, but 23% of children in foster care are Black. Black children are 35% more likely than white youths to be placed in group homes or residential treatment facilities.
According to a 2018 study, 28 states have privatized the contracting of foster children to for-profit companies like Sequel Youth and Family Services, where they are subjected to harsh confrontations, public humiliation, isolation, deprivation of privileges, and physical restraints, which are sometimes deadly.
In 2018, there were 430,000 children in foster care.
- 44% were white
- 23% were Black
- 21% were Latinx
- 10% were multiracial
- 1% undetermined
It is unclear how many foster children are trafficked into the for-profit residential facilities like Sequel, which are part of the troubled teen industry, though it is estimated that at least 10% live in group homes. Read this personal essay at Ms. Magazine by survivor Kayla Muzquiz, who entered the troubled teen industry through foster care.
Other events on Thursday, August 29, 2021:
A discussion commemorating Cornelius Frederick’s death with NBC journalist Tyler Kingkade, Coalmine Canary’s Jessica Ferraro, Oregon State Senator Sara Gelser, and host Rose Aguilar on Your Call radio show at 10 am PT, 1 pm ET.
Please listen to Troubled’s podcast about the death of Cornelius at for-profit Sequel Youth and Family Services.
More information can be found on Instagram @djsugi1 @talktroubled @yep4rights