What has been an ongoing problem in Austin County and the citizens of New Ulm has finally reached a resolution. The Five Oaks Achievement Center, located at Pechacek Road in New Ulm is closing.
We’ve covered the ongoing problems with The Five Oaks Achievement Center since 2015:
- ACSO FILING FORMAL COMPLAINT WITH STATE ON CPS FACILITY AFTER 16TH INCIDENT IN 2 YEARS (February 17, 2015)
- FIVE OAKS ACHIEVEMENT CENTER CEO RESPONDS TO COMMUNITY AND SHERIFF’S CONCERNS [VIDEO] (February 26, 2015)
- RUNAWAY’S FROM FIVE OAKS ACHIEVEMENT CENTER (April 15, 2015)
- ACSO CALLED FOR RUNAWAYS FROM FIVE OAKS FACILITY IN NEW ULM; AGAIN (March 3, 2015)
- Austin County Commissioners Court also issued a “Resolution Opposing the Continued Operation of Five Oaks Achievement Center” at the February 12, 2018 Commissioners Court meeting (01:01:44 of the court video)
- NEW ULM TOWN HALL SHOWS COMMUNITY FRUSTRATION AND ANGER WITH 5 OAKS ACHIEVEMENT CENTER [VIDEO] (March 9, 2018)
The final straw for the community came on January 18, 2018 when one of the facility runaway’s set fire to a local home, burning it to the ground which sparked the outrage and the move for the town-hall.
Now, the owners of the the Five Oaks Achievement Center have agreed to surrender the facilities license and close it. Senator Kolkhorst’s office released an press release on the matter:
“In March of 2018, my office hosted a town hall meeting in New Ulm with state health officials to discuss public concerns with the Five Oaks residential treatment center. Participants at the meeting spoke of repeated conflicts between the facility and the community, and we listened. I then asked state officials to investigate Five Oaks and after months of careful scrutiny by the Health and Human Services Commission, the owners and operators of Five Oaks have now surrendered their license, and Five Oaks will cease operations after every child is transferred to other caregivers. As the Chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, I am dedicated to improving our CPS and foster care system and seeing that it does not fail either our children or our communities. That’s why today I have filed SB 781 which will vastly improve how residential treatments centers such as Five Oaks are created, licensed, and operated.”