TACOMA, Wash. — A couple in Tacoma said they have heard what they describe as “primal screams” coming from Pearl Youth Residence, an in-patient mental health facility that treats 12- to 17-year-olds.
“The primal screaming started last summer,” Pamela Gant said. “It was a group of kids out there just guttural screaming.”
Gant and Jonathan Swecker said the screams sounded like cries for help. They thought they needed to call 911 until they saw a staff member with the teens.
“We saw it’s a big group of them and there was a male counselor standing with them in a group and he was doing it with them," Gant said. "They’re all standing there, staring at the sky with their fists clenched, screaming.”
Since that scene played, the couple said the screams continued on an almost daily basis, day and night. Gant said she tried talking to the facility about the issue. She said the conversation with the facility director was cordial and she was assured they would try to prevent their residents from going outside and screaming.
When the screaming became consistent again in January, Gant contacted the facility and this time, she received a response from the communications officer for the facility.
“I was offered noise-canceling headphones as their solution," Gant said. "That to me was like a slap in the face. They don’t have any intention of working with us in the neighborhood."
She’s chronicled the ordeal on social media where it’s getting a lot of attention. She shared correspondence with the facility, her city councilor, and the noise complaints she filed to try and rectify this situation. The next step may involve a lawyer.
Chris Gleason runs communications for Pearl Youth Residence, which falls under the purview of Comprehensive Life Resources. She said she understands how disturbing this situation is for the people in the neighborhood.
"We absolutely understand where the neighbors are coming from,” Gleason said. "We absolutely don't support primal screaming. We don't have something called scream therapy. That's not a treatment model we condone."
Gleason admits some staff members, in the past, may have encouraged and allowed the kids to go outside to scream to release their emotions. She said things can boil over when you have nearly 30 teens with mental health issues living under the same roof. However, screaming your emotions out is counterintuitive to the work they’re trying to do.
"One of our goals is to help them understand that behavior isn't acceptable," she said. "You don't do that in society. We have really stressed with our staff that's not OK. We don't want kids to go scream out their emotions. I can't say it's never going to happen again but I can say we will absolutely commit to have it not happen again."
Gant and Swecker are not convinced anything will change. They said their neighbors feel the same.
"I can sympathize with kids growing up and having a hard life," Swecker said. "There should be places like this but not in the middle of a residential zone."
The couple said the city of Tacoma needs to step in and handle this situation.
"We honestly believe this is something the city needs to solve," Gant said. "They're the ones who approved the permit for this place.”
KING 5 reached out to the city of Tacoma about this situation. A spokesperson responded with information about the city’s noise ordinance. However, she said she would have to do more research to see if this is an issue they are able to address.