4/12/2023 0 Comments Serenity dennardThe state Department of Social Services and the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services investigated and found that the BHCH didn't provide the level of supervision Serenity required, they lacked a sufficient emergency preparedness plan, the staff's initial search for Serenity was "disorganized", and the 101-minute delay in calling 911 did not constitute a "reasonable time." The facility faced extensive criticism for its handling of Serenity's disappearance. Instead, they searched the area for her themselves. The policy at the BHCH was that if a child went missing, the staff should notify emergency responders within "a reasonable time." After Serenity disappeared, the staff didn't call 911 until 12:26 p.m., by which time an hour and 41 minutes had passed. He said she had a history of hiding from the staff and threatening to run away, and had once run away while playing outside, but the staff was able to catch her. They believed she was making good progress, and described the BHCH staff as caring.Ĭhad visited Serenity at the home the day before she went missing he said it was a normal visit and she seemed to be doing well. Her parents saw her four or fives times a month, during visits and family therapy sessions, and she was allowed to call them twice a week. She was expected to stay for about fourteen months, with a predicted discharge date of September 2019. In July 2018, they sent her to live at the BHCH, which provides intensive inpatient therapy and schooling for children aged four to fourteen. Years of outpatient therapy failed to help, and Chad and KaSandra felt it was no longer safe for her to remain at home. As a result, she would frequently run away from home and had other behavioral issues. Darcie has remarried and lives in Rapid Valley, South Dakota.Īccording to her parents, Serenity suffered trauma as a result of her early childhood experiences. They live in Sturgis, South Dakota with Serenity's three siblings. Chad and KaSandra began raising her in May of that year. In October 2014, after fostering her for several months, Chad and Darcie adopted her. Both of her birth parents are now in prison. Serenity had stayed in about a dozen foster homes in her early childhood, for two years after she was removed from her biological parents' care as a toddler. They have primary custody of Serenity, and her adoptive mother, Darcie Gentry, has secondary custody. She has never been heard from again.īefore she went to live in the Black Hills Children's Home, Serenity lived with her adoptive father, Chad Dennard, and stepmother, KaSandra Dennard. She was not wearing a coat in spite of the sub-zero temperatures. She was walking northbound on south Rockerville Road, near the cattle guard in front of the home. was the last person known to have seen Serenity. The remaining staff member didn't follow her but stayed in the gym and called for help, since there were still two children in the gym and it was against the rules to leave them unsupervised.Ī person coming onto the BHCH campus at 11:00 a.m. While the remaining staffer was watching the other children alone, Serenity ran out of the gym. One child ran out of the gym, but stayed inside the building, and one of the staff members went after that child. Two staff members were tasked with watching the children. She was playing in the gym at the home with three other children at 10:45 a.m. Details of Disappearance Serenity was a resident of the Black Hills Children's Home (BHCH), a treatment center for children with emotional and behavioral problems, in the 24100 block of Rockerville Road outside of Rapid City, South Dakota at the time of her disappearance.
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