Child spends days in seclusion, forced to use bucket as toilet: inside Wyoming's C-V Ranch
Ranch Director claims student was still being served 'safely and with dignity.'
Wilson, Wyoming — Wyoming’s C-V Ranch, a publicly funded facility that operates as part of a collection of public school districts known as Region V BOCES (BOCES 5), was put on a Prescribed Corrective Action Plan (CAP) due to “the seriousness of the violations at the facility at this time and a pattern of repeated violations of the same nature,” per the Wyoming Department of Family Services.
The CAP states that “[t]he organization has a documented history of six (6) prior findings of non-compliance since 2022, primarily concerning the misuse of Emergency Safety Interventions, specifically restraints and seclusions.” The DFS database shows 19 separate notices of non-compliance have been issued to the program since August 2022.
Inappropriate Use of Seclusion
A DFS inspection in April 2026 substantiated allegations stemming from an incident in July 2025. Per the report, “a student with a severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) was placed in seclusion for weeks and instructed to use a bucket with a trash bag as a toilet. The bag was left for days over a weekend without being changed.”
DFS investigation further clarified that the seclusion lasted for one weekend, rather than weeks.
In the state of Wyoming, the law states that “Student placed in seclusion shall be permitted to access to normal meals and personal hygiene opportunities. Meals and bathroom breaks may be separate and supervised if needed to ensure safety.”
According to the DFS notice of non-compliance, “The decision was made to provide the youth with a bucket rather than removing him from the seclusion room. The youth remained in this room without exception, necessitating that he consume his meals in the same space that was being utilized for toileting, sleeping, and eating, subjecting him to neglect and humiliation.”
“This is much more akin to what we might see in a carceral setting, like a prison,” said Guy Stephens, founder and executive director for the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint, a Maryland nonprofit formed to raise awareness about the use of aversive discipline practices, including restraint, seclusion, suspension, expulsion, and corporal punishment. “It’s much more akin to something like solitary confinement.”
“Typically when we talk about seclusion, we’re talking about the forced isolation of a child in a room or area which they’re prohibited from leaving,” explains Stephens. “Federal guidance says you wouldn’t seclude a child unless it was a crisis situation. You’ve tried all other things that you could try to address the situation, and it’s needed to avoid the threat of imminent, serious, physical harm to the child.”
The sort of seclusion outlined in this incident, which is measured in days rather than in minutes while a behavior is de-escalated, is likely to have adverse effects on teens, according to research.
“Even when we think about short term seclusion, being forced into a room or area against your will and not let out is something that can lead to a lot of trauma, anxiety, and dissociation,” said Stephens. “Often we see that these practices, where they’re often used inappropriately, can lead to increases in behavior, not decreases in behavior. They don’t help solve any problems. In fact, the often make things worse.”
According to the DFS notice of non-compliance, “There was a lack of evidence indicating that the youth was offered therapeutic interventions to exit seclusion once they no longer posed an immediate risk to themselves or others. Furthermore, the mandatory regulations stipulating that a youth must be allowed to leave seclusion for both restroom breaks and regular meals were not adhered to.”
The notice goes on to state that former site administrator Jim Harrell, the person who authorized the use of a bucket as a toilet, did not contact BOCES 5 executive director "Dan Mayer regarding the incident “as he perceived no wrongdoing and believed there were no other viable options to maintain safety for all parties. Mr. Harrell stated they had not reached out to law enforcement during the incident nor did they evaluate that the youth was no longer able to be served safely with dignity.”
Harrell retired earlier on July 1, 2026.
In another notice of non-compliance regarding a separate incident in 2024, DFS asserts that “[t]he organization is not using seclusion in compliance with licensing rules. The length of time youth spend in seclusion is grossly over the time limitations. Youth are placed in seclusion for non-violent or non-assaultive behaviors. Bedrooms that are not approved seclusion rooms were being used as seclusion.”
Medical Endangerment
In February 2026, a child was placed in medical jeopardy when she swallowed a battery in an act of self-harm. She reported the act to a staff member, who did not believe her. The two argued back and forth until the staff member threatened the girl with seclusion unless she recanted. She dropped the matter and was sent back to bed.
Over the next two days, she continued to report the incident to various members of staff. None of them believed her.
While the facility’s policy is that nursing staff has the responsibility to make the call about the need for further medical treatment, the matter was handled entirely by the shift supervisor and the on-call admin and therapist.
DFS also found that “despite having occasional episodes of dishonesty, the youth has a documented history of self-harm, specifically involving the ingestion of batteries.”
Within a month, and under reportedly heightened staff supervision, the student proceeded to ingest another battery in a self-harm attempt. Again, she reported the incident to staff. Again, she was not believed and did not receive medical attention.
During the time between incidents, the student’s safety plan was not consistently followed. Furthermore, according to the DFS investigation, “the plan was modified throughout the month, and these changes were not systematically documented or saved in the system.”
Restraint and Physical Violence
Allegations of staff violence towards a student surfaced on April 6, 2026. DFS investigated the allegation and found that there was substantial evidence corroborating the event.
DFS found video surveillance footage of a staff member sitting on a youth and delivering three punches to the student’s face. While this was happening, another staff member was restraining the youth’s legs while a third staff person was attempting to pull the aggressive staff member off of the child.
Once again misuse — or the threat of misuse — of the seclusion room was a common thread here. The DFS findings conclude that “the youth was relatively calm until the staff member grabbed him and stated he needed to go ‘check in,’” a program colloquialism for being placed in the seclusion room.
It was once the child was threatened with this seclusion that he began to resist.
This is one of several substantiated incidents of unapproved restraints and physical violence being used on students.
Cover-Ups and Failure to Report Incidents
In October 2024, a student reported being the victim of sexual abuse. C-V Ranch did not report the allegations to local DFS, law enforcement, nor the licensing body. Instead, the facility conducted an internal investigation of the sexual abuse and stated that the youth was lying about the allegation.
Months later, the organization’s therapist told the parents of the student that the allegations were false and that their child was lying. This was before any official and legally required reporting and investigation took place.
It wasn’t until DFS brought the matter to the attention of the facility that they filed any sort of report.
This is not the only time C-V Ranch omitted critical information in their legally obligated reporting.
In a case of restraint, in which a staff member choked a restrained student, the incident report filed with the state made no mention of the choking or any other unnecessary physical contact.
In another case, DFS investigated an allegation in January 2024 in which a child made a complaint that a staff member physically abused them. Administration acknowledged the event occurred and that it was ‘too rough,’ but did not report the incident to CPS or law enforcement, which they are required to do. This is one of three separate incidents in that month alone that incidents went unreported.
Region V BOCES
C-V Ranch operates as a special service of the Region V BOCES, a Board of Cooperative Educational Services that serves 10 school districts across western Wyoming. The BOCES system was originally formed in 1969 “to deliver high-quality educational services more efficiently than any one district could provide alone,” according to the BOCES 5 website.
Per the site, C-V Ranch “is a 24/7 year-round program serving students ages K-12. The program takes a therapeutic and behavioral approach to meet kiddos where they are and provide the intensive care needed to overcome specific challenges to learning and growth.”
DFS Prescribed Corrective Action Plan
The DFS action plan has very clear targets C-V Ranch must meet. These required action items would put additional guardrails in place for seclusion and restraint, and try to shift the culture around the program.
Compliance was due within 30 days of the initiation of the CAP, a deadline which would have been July 1, 2026. The action plan also requires additional monitoring from DFS every month for 12 months to ensure the action plan is being met.
Kelly Douglas, Public Information Officer at Wyoming DFS, clarified the situation. “Each substantiated allegation of non-compliance results in a documented Corrective Action Plan (CAP) that is monitored by DFS Substitute Care Licensing until full compliance is achieved. However, as a result of the most recent investigation and the history of non-compliance at Region V BOCES (C-V Ranch), DFS escalated the corrective action to a DFS directed (prescribed) CAP on June 1, 2026 that includes monthly monitoring to ensure ongoing safety of the youth in care.” said Douglas. “Continued non-compliance may result in DFS exercising its authority to notice and institute a suspension or revocation of the facility’s license.”
For the full action plan and notices of non-compliance over the past four years, please see the files below.
At the time of publication, no representative of C-V Ranch or BOCES 5 has responded to a request for comment.
