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A residential teen mental health and addiction treatment company that operated two recently shuttered facilities in Pleasanton faced potential legal action from the state and revocation of its licenses amid its moves to close both locations late last year.
At the time, the company said the closures were a strategic business decision related to market alignment.
Newport Academy entered into a two-year agreement in 2023 with the state social services department to address several violations and citations over the years that included sexual abuse of minors at its Arena and Happy Valley facilities in Pleasanton prior to announcing the closure of both locations — with notices from state officials over potential legal action up to and including license revocation coming weeks after the company confirmed its exit from the Tri-Valley, according to documents obtained by the Pleasanton Weekly.
As of a 2023 noncompliance meeting between the clinics’ administrators and state officials, investigations by the state’s department of social services substantiated complaints from the Arena facility that had housed teen girls.
The allegations included a staff member sexually abusing a patient in 2022, inappropriate behavior by one patient toward another patient in 2023, excessive restrictions on visits and a lack of overnight supervision that allowed patients to sneak out of their rooms at night.
Other issues identified by the state at the Arena facility at 5530 Johnson Road in Pleasanton included delayed reporting of incidents and violations in record keeping and reporting laws overall.
State officials identified other violations at the Happy Valley facility for teen boys at 920 Happy Valley Road, including sexual abuse of a minor by a staff member earlier that year and other inappropriate behavior from staff such as providing clients with controlled substances.
Both facilities were placed on noncompliance plans at the conclusion of that meeting in December 2023, which included increased inspections from the state and a warning that licensure could be revoked if similar issues were identified in the future or the requirements were not followed.
Among those requirements were increased training for staff on youth mental health, appropriate behavior, and identifying means of accountability for inappropriate or illegal behavior between staff and clients, as well as limiting situations in which a single staff member is alone with a single client. Under the agreements, Newport Academy was required to submit written plans for meeting those and other requirements by Jan. 31, 2024.
While no deficiencies were discovered in state inspections at both facilities in March 2024, additional incidents were reported and investigated with many substantiated over the course of the two-year noncompliance agreement that started at the end of 2023.
At Happy Valley, substantiated complaints over the course of 2024 and 2025 included a staff member providing a minor client with pornography, staff yelling at clients and using profanity, and other inappropriate behavior with a minor client.
At the Arena facility, the state agency substantiated complaints that medication had been administered to a client without proper authorization, and that staff had not been provided training on youth sexual development as required by the noncompliance agreement.
State officials notified the company late last year that both facilities’ cases would be forwarded for legal review due to continued noncompliance with state requirements over the past two years and multiple citations that were issued.
The Happy Valley clinic received seven Type A citations – related to immediate health and safety threats – and eight Type B citations, related to potential threats to health, safety, and personal rights since 2021. The Arena facility received four Type A citations and 16 Type B citations from the state during the same timeframe.
By the time state officials notified the company on Nov. 20 that cases for both clinics would be forwarded for legal review, Newport Academy was already preparing for its exit from the Tri-Valley.
A spokesperson told the Pleasanton Weekly earlier that month that the closure of the two local facilities was a decision intended “to align our resources with current market realities and demand in this area,” while declining to comment on the state citations and investigations other than to confirm that the closures were not for any reasons other than those provided in the company’s statement.
Although Newport Academy had notified the state’s employment development department of layoffs and impending closures at both facilities set to go into effect last December, the Happy Valley location appears to have continued operations into this month.
In later WARN notices filed with the state, the company announced that 30 employees would be laid off effective April 24 due to the permanent closure of the facility, as well as 16 employees due to the closure of the company’s facility for adult patients in Sunol, effective the same day.
