ZELIENOPLE — Glade Run Lutheran Services has appealed the state Department of Human Services' decision to revoke its license for one of its facilities.

With the appeal, Glade Run is able to operate “pending appeal of the revocation at the Department's Bureau of Hearings and Appeals,” DHS spokesman Kait Gillis said.

DHS released a statement Thursday saying it had revoked Glade Run's license and has forced it to close its 56-bed residential treatment facility in 30 days after a two-month investigation for alleged child-on-child sexual abuse involving several youths.

“Our number one priority must always be the health and safety of the children that we serve,” said DHS Secretary Ted Dallas in a news release. “We will never hesitate to act when child safety is at risk and today's actions are a reminder that we must always remain vigilant.”

The DHS, which licenses the facility, found several violations committed by Glade Run, including inadequate supervision of children, failed policy and procedure implementation, failure to report missing children, staff members sleeping during their shifts and insufficient staffing levels.

Glade Run is a residential treatment facility that serves children and adolescents diagnosed with mental health conditions. About 100 youths ages 8 to 21 from across the state reside at the facility.

The Rev. Dr. Charles T. Lockwood, Glade Run president and CEO, wrote a letter on Glade Run's website addressing the issue.

“We fully intend to fight this decision, knowing first hand of the thousands of successes Glade Run's RTF program has to its credit and of the extreme need in our communities for this level of treatment,” Lockwood said.

The facility itself is an annex with four, 14-bed cottages. Three of those cottages are female quarters (Bassler, Bridge and Marthens cottages) and the other is a male cottage called McCoid, according to Glade Run's website. It is the largest facility on campus and has 43 residents.

The investigation began in early August when a male child was taken to a hospital and was found to have injuries consistent with sexual assault. Borough police and DHS launched their own separate investigations into the facility. DHS became involved after receiving reports of abuse from its ChildLine program.

Glade Run also launched its own internal investigation.

Police Chief Jim Miller said the police department also is finished with its investigation and will present its findings to the Butler County District Attorney's Office.

He said the DHS has not had substantial contact with police regarding the case.

“I didn't know they were going to do that,” Miller said about the DHS releasing its report. “They never really called here and talked to us about it.”

Borough police and ChildLine agents for the DHS interviewed the youths involved and Glade Run faculty.

Miller said about half a dozen children were interviewed by the police department and that “most” were male.

In a previous interview, Glade Run Executive Director Sheila Talarico said one of the children involved in the alleged sex abuse was dismissed from the facility. However, this was a planned dismissal.

DHS also looked into previous violations committed by Glade Run.

From 2013 to 2015, Glade Run had numerous major incidents reported to DHS involving children harming themselves, staff members harming children or children not being given adequate services.

Other lesser violations included failure to update medical assessments for residents, lack of full fire training and failure to conduct monthly fire drills.

Investigators have called the case “complicated” and “challenging.”

“You're interviewing a lot of juveniles and it's hard to interview juveniles because they have different thought processes than adults,” Miller said.

“It's tragically unique,” director of Pennsylvania Human Services Licensing Matthew Jones said in a previous interview.

There are three other child residential facilities on the Zelienople campus that will retain their licenses. Each facility has its own separate DHS license.

The facility with the revoked license will close to “ensure an orderly transition for the children currently served.” It is unknown at this time where the children will be sent to if the revocation stands.

Facility officials did not return calls seeking comment.

Lockwood said the residential treatment facilities program has been “successful,” with more than 90 percent of youths discharged to less restrictive settings.

“These alleged events are difficult on many levels,” Lockwood continued in the letter. “The youth entrusted to our care have experienced significant trauma over the course of their lives which impacts their behavior.”