Last October, staff at the Parkway Place group home in Blaine knew they had to keep a close watch on one of the four residents.
Drew Potosky's mother had called that evening, warning that her son -- who has a traumatic brain injury -- tried to jump out of his grandmother's car that day and might be suicidal. Less than a month earlier, Potosky had to be coaxed down after he tried to climb up on the railing of the home's second-floor deck in a possible suicide attempt, records show.
But on Oct. 5, Potosky was left alone on the same deck. A staff member heard a thump and ran to the railing. Potosky lay on the ground about 15 feet below, alive but suffering a broken shoulder and a new head injury that would put him in the hospital for a month. The case is under investigation by state regulators.
Potosky's mother, Valli Witte of Blaine, knew her 18-year-old son was having trouble adjusting to Parkway Place, but she was assured by staff that he would be monitored closely.
"They didn't follow through with anything they said they would do," Witte said.
Staff members did the best they could, according to the head of the nonprofit group that operates the home.
"Sometimes tragic things happen," said Tim Burkett, chief executive of People, Inc. "The staff immediately provided the level of supervision the mom had asked for. ... They didn't promise that Drew would be watched every second."
Burkett noted that his nonprofit served 6,500 mentally ill people last year in its adult foster care homes and other facilities. In 15 years, he said, People, Inc. has not lost a single client to suicide.