(WXYZ) — We're taking a look at Vista Maria, a residential safe haven for 11- to 18-year-old girls who are suffering from severe abuse, neglect or trauma.
Watch Carolyn Clifford's video report:
All of the girls there are referred by Michigan's court.
Founded in 1883 by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Vista Maria has been critical in our community. Throughout my time at Channel 7, I have done many stories at Vista Maria, from youth aging out of foster care, to sex and human trafficking rescue programs.
Recently, the program has been under fire, for situations including youth running away, police being called for aggressive or violent behavior and complaints about the upkeep of buildings.
We wanted to go inside to see what they're up against and the changes they're making to keep young girls safe.
Carolynn Metz is the clinical director at Vista Maria. She said there is now a team approach to training staff so they can understand how to de-escalate situations and to maintain staff.
"We have behaviors of self-harm, we have behaviors of physical aggression. Youth are coming in with a lot more trauma. They're going to use their fists sometimes before using their words," Metz said.
We were told those fists bust through walls or are often used on staff who are not allowed to retaliate. They've spent $450,000 on remodeling one of the buildings.
"We always know there's a little nugget of goodness in every one of those kids. Find it and find themselves and that journey is why we stay here," Metz said.
Nakisha Johnson is the Training Support Specialist. She said years ago, kids were placed in isolation, but now, they train staff to be more empathetic or use sensory tactics to calm kids down.
"We want to make sure that they remain safe. We always use our verbal de-escalation techniques to get clients to stay on campus, but if they make it off campus, we do all that we can to talk them into coming back and if not we have to reach out to the police," Johnson said.
Police have been called to the campus a lot. In 2023 after experiencing an increase in incidents involving residents, staff and police, Vista Maria says a thorough review of programs was conducted and they have been working with the state to make critical changes. Today, employees undergo sex and human trafficking training.
"We don't necessarily have to hear their story, but if we understand this is so deep, we can actually have some heart to treat them as a human because no child should be exposed to that type of repetitive trauma," Nani Cuadrado, the sex and human trafficking trainer, said.
In 2020, the state had 1,200 beds for resident facilities like Vista Maria, but as of last month, that number was down to only 450 despite the need growing.
On campus there are two community high schools and 22 studio apartments for 18-24-year-olds who have aged out of foster care.
Jaedyn Main and Dynisit Porter are two of the 26 residents who both have suffered unthinkable trauma and have been at Vista Maria for nearly a year.
"The staff is a lot more caring than my other placements. They treated us like criminals, we were locked out of our rooms, we couldn't do anything," Main said.
"Vista Maria is a place to help and heal the individuals," Porter added.
Nearly 50,000 kids have come through Vista Maria since it has opened.
