COLORADO SPRINGS — Former employees of Skills Academy Vocational Center in Colorado Springs are raising concerns over the treatment of staff and students enrolled there.
Skills Academy on Garden of the Gods Road offers programs to young adults with disabilities. In August of 2023, the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) terminated its Medicaid agreement with the vocational center, meaning clients billing Medicaid had to find programs elsewhere. HCPF said Skills Academy is appealing the termination.
The department said the decision was made after it received more than a dozen complaints about Skills Academy and found multiple violations during inspections. A Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment database shows the academy received dozens of citations, including multiple for not properly following up on incident reports.
One report in August of 2022 said staff lost track of a student who was supposed to be in the lunchroom. The report said a man outside had called the police after he saw the student banging on the door of the building. The state said Skills Academy did not document any policies put in place to make sure an incident like that does not happen again.
Another report just a few days later said a student needing line of sight supervision was found wandering around the building alone after asking to use the restroom. The state said the report did not include adequate follow-up actions taken by the vocational center.
Skills Academy CEO Randee Van Ness told News5 in a phone call the academy has a perfect safety record. We asked her for an on-camera interview, which she later declined and referred us to her attorney.
Ginger Gibbs, whose son attended Skills Academy in 2022, said he was not getting the attention or care he needed during programs.
"He became very depressed there," she said. “He started going downhill and it was just terrible for him."
More than a dozen former employees of Skills Academy reached out to News5 about issues regarding payroll. Alex Lepper, a former employee, filed a complaint to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment claiming employees were not getting paid on time and paychecks were constantly bouncing. She said the state told her it is still working to investigate the claim.
"People were having a hard time feeding their families. I myself had to go to churches and try and go get food," she said.
A former employee sent News5 a copy of an email sent to employees by Van Ness. She wrote "If you feel you cannot work due to the payroll issues, please submit your resignation."
Lepper said several employees stopped coming into work until they were paid, affecting clients and operations at the school.
News5 reached out to Van Ness's attorney multiple times asking for a response to the complaints of payroll issues and violations found at the school. We have not received a response.
Recently, Skills Academy was awarded an $840,000 grant from the Daniels Fund, a charitable foundation in Colorado. Many former employees and families raised concerns over the grant on social media, saying the school should not be the recipient of the money. The Daniels Fund told News5 it takes community feedback seriously and is reviewing the situation.
____
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
