Mitt Romney: A Voice of Freedom and Hope? Not for America’s So-Called “Troubled” Youth

Mitt Romney (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mitt Romney’s Deep Connections to the Troubled Teen Industry

Mitt Romney’s biography describes him as a well-educated businessman, skilled economic adviser, and typical family man.  He is quoted as stating, “I refuse to believe that America is just another place on the map with a flag.  We stand for freedom and opportunity and hope.” [1] 

His biography references his involvement in the formation and operation of Bain Capital in 1984, an investment company that purchases and rebuilds otherwise failing enterprises.  What the biography fails to include is that some of these enterprises – including CRC Health Group and Aspen Education Group – have directly profited off of the abuse and imprisonment of American youth.

The connection does not stop there.

Mitt Romney is linked to the troubled teen industry in more ways than perhaps any other candidate running for office.  Outside of directly owning some of the most notoriously abusive programs he has also employed a litany of financiers who have made their living off of what can only be described as the antithesis of Mitt’s political slogan; enslavement, restriction, and hopelessness.

Bain Capital, CRC Health Group, and Aspen Education

In 2006, Bain Capital acquired CRC Health Group.  The $720 billion dollar deal was the most expensive acquisition of its kind and helped to position Bain Capital at the forefront of the addiction treatment playing field. (2)

Bain Capital spent an additional $290 million in 2006 to acquire Aspen Education Group, a network of private, for-profit adolescent treatment facilities. [3]  Aspen Education Group is largely considered one of the top players in the adolescent behavioral health field.  Their network of programs include behavior modification facilities, residential treatment centers, wilderness therapy programs, therapeutic boarding schools, and long-term residential weight loss centers for children and young adults.  Their target clients are middle to upper class American families who are looking for substantial changes from their children and are willing to spend anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands monthly to achieve the desired results.

As Bain Capital gained entry into the adolescent behavior modification field, private therapeutic schools and wilderness therapy programs had become a booming industry with estimated profits exceeding $2 billion in 2007.  [3]  More and more private companies were seeking to gain access to the profitable field and Bain Capital, armed with its newest acquisition CRC Health Group, was one of them.  Upon acquiring Aspen Education Group, Bain quickly merged the two companies together and Aspen became the adolescent division of CRC.  The powerhouse created would persist until this day.

Aspen Education Group describes itself as being, “recognized nationwide as the leading provider of education programs for struggling or underachieving young people.”  [4]  While Aspen programs may be recognized as “leading” in their industry, their network of facilities has also been one of the most notorious in regards to allegations of abuse, neglect, and negligent homicide.

Family Light, an IECA certified group of educational consultants responsible for referring children to private facilities posted an open letter to Aspen Education Group stating that they now only recommend referring to or enrolling in any Aspen or CRC program with “great caution.”  Their list of complaints include Bain Capital’s overarching interest in profits over patients, deceptive marketing practices by Aspen Education Group, one-size-fits-all treatment methods and the use of counterproductive, harsh, and punitive therapeutic methods across the facilities overall. [5]

Mount Bachelor Academy in Rural Oregon where DHS alleges Students Suffered Abuse

Mt. Bachelor Academy, Aspen Education’s flagship program, was closed following substantiated claims of abuse by the Oregon Department of Human Services on November 3rd, 2009.   At least 17 former students have filed a lawsuit seeking $25.5 million in compensatory damages.  [6]  Students suing for sexual and emotional abuse have asserted that as part of the program’s Lifestep seminars children – some of whom were victims of prior rape or incest – were forced to dress in provocative clothing including fishnet stockings, high heels and miniskirts in order to provide lap-dances for fellow male students.  [27]  The experiential therapy was designed to help them to overcome their pasts and take ownership for the actions that had led them to being abused.

Mt. Bachelor Academy offered behavior modification therapy based on a method developed within the Synanon model, a self-help group that was largely considered to be a cult by the late 1970’s.  The teenage version of Synanon’s controversial “game” – an attack-based therapy – was developed at Mel Wasserman’s CEDU school in Southern California.  Practices developed in both Synanon and CEDU were at one time considered to be ground-breaking and effective in behavior modification however their harsh methods and unconventional tactics had become highly criticized in later years.  Both programs are no longer in operation however methods developed within the facilities continue to be utilized in behavior modification centers across the United States and abroad. [7]

Synanon Members Had Shaved Heads, Lived Communally

The Oregon Department of Human Services complaint against Aspen’s Mount Bachelor Academy, which eventually led to its closure, found that the school used methods that were “punitive, humiliating, degrading, and traumatizing.” Children housed at the facility – ranging in age from 13 to 17.5 – were found to have been forced to re-enact past physical and sexual abuse in front of peers, to refer to themselves with derogatory phrases, to allow staff and peers to name-call and ridicule in humiliating manners, and were deprived of sleep. [7]  The pending lawsuit against Mt. Bachelor Academy substantiates these claims, asserting that students who attended the school were regularly subjected to psychological abuse and shaming, endured severe isolation and deprivation of basic necessities including food, water, shelter, and medical care, were subjected to harsh labor punishments and were only offered brief, monitored contact with parents and guardians.  Before being allowed contact with their families, family members were warned not to believe any claims of abuse by the children, insinuating that all troubled children are inherently liars and all claims of mistreatment were simply “manipulation.” [8]

Youth Care of Utah, another Aspen Education facility, was placed on a brief probation following the death of 14-year old Brendan Blum in 2007.

Brendan died of an untreated bowel obstruction.  His bowel had twisted leading to a cut-off of blood to his small intestine.  The death was extremely painful and violent.

Despite persistent vomiting, diarrhea and loss of bowel control the counselors on duty at the time of Brendan’s illness – Deborah Cole and Jorge Ramirez – gave him over-the-counter medication and placed him in a separate room away from the other students.  The on-call nurse was never contacted.

The special-needs child who suffered from Asperger’s syndrome was found dead on his mattress the following morning.

The two staff members were fired and charged with felony child abuse, though neither was convicted.  While Aspen Education Group took no public responsibility for Brendan’s death, autopsy reports determined that if proper medical attention had been given he would have survived. [9]

Also in 2007, an unnamed 16-year old male died after hanging himself with a shoelace at Aspen Achievement Academy after asking to use the latrine.   The wilderness facility which treated children ages 13 to 17 suffering from moderate to severe emotional and behavioral problems [10] did not find the youth until after he was already unconscious.   Though briefly revived the child died during a helicopter transport to the hospital. [9]  The young man’s death was not the first controversy to affect the Academy.  In the late 1990’s several youth staged an elaborate and violent runaway prompting the Utah Bureau of Land Management to reconsider the use of State lands for the wilderness facility.  [11]

Aspen Achievement Academy has been merged with another wilderness facility in Lehi, Utah and is still in operation today. [10]

On August 28th, 2009 16-year old Sergey Blashchishen collapsed and died on his first day at Aspen Education’s SageWalk Wilderness Expeditions program.

The day prior, Sergey was awoken in the early morning hours and forcibly removed from his home, blindfolded and transported to the remote Oregon facility.  His parents, along with SageWalk, had contracted the use of a “transport” company – an enterprise designed to legally kidnap unwilling children from their homes and escort them to the facility of their parent’s choosing.

Sergey’s death was likely a slow and painful demise.

SageWalk records can only account for a mere 400 calories being consumed by the teenager before embarking on his wilderness hike.  He carried a backpack weighing anywhere from 40-50lbs.  There was little shade and Sergey was never made aware of the length of his hike or the terrain he would experience throughout it.

Staff recollected Sergey walking strangely, carrying his backpack in a different manner, and not resting properly.  Aspen’s staff members assert that they did not push the youth to continue however they did not intervene when other students encouraged him to push forward.

As the hike continued, Sergey fell multiple times and eventually vomited.  Though staff called the main office to report his illness, the hike continued as planned.  Eventually, Sergey collapsed to the ground in the blaring sun while the rest of the students and staff prepared lunch.  He denied offers of food and began flailing his arms and shouting in another language.

In less than half an hour he began to hyperventilate and eventually stopped breathing.

It took nearly an hour before a helicopter arrived at their remote location.  By that time, the youth was dead.

Five hours after he stopped breathing, the medical examiner noted that his body was warmer than his own, comparing the feeling of Sergey’s skin to someone who had just stepped out of a hot shower. [12]

Investigators called the school reckless in Sergey’s death, eventually requesting that homicide charges be filed.  As of the writing of this article, no criminal charges have been brought against those involved in the youth’s death.  16-year old Sergey Blashchishen died as the result of a combination of poor nutrition, heat stroke, and improper staff medical response.  Though SageWalk was ordered by the Oregon Department of Human services to send all students home two weeks following Sergey’s death no one from the program or Aspen Education group has faced trial. [12]

Claiming that its population is by nature “sick and troubled” CRC Health Group has also denied allegations that it is responsible for deaths in its Tennessee facility New Life Lodge. [13]  The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services froze admissions at New Life Lodge for children in state care in August 2011 along with several other managed care providers. [14]   Medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuits have plagued the Southern facility.  Though closed in March 2012, the facility is set to reopen this April – though now only accepting adult patients.  It is estimated that the facility lost over $10 million in revenue when State-funded groups stopped referring patients to their care. [14]

Bain Capital and Bain & Co – the parent company of both CRC Health Group and Aspen Education Group – have contributed a combined total of $267,300 to Mitt Romney’s 2012 election run. [15]  Though Mitt Romney publicly left Bain Capital in 1999, his retirement package has allowed him to earn more following his leave than gained during his tenure.  In 2011, Romney reported between $1.5 million and $9.3 million in income gained from Bain’s investments.  An additional $10 million has been set aside from Bain income in 2011 for his wife, Ann.  Due to reporting laws, the amount could be considerably more as he is only required to report the minimum income obtained. [16]

Protesters seen out side the IECA conference hotel in Toronto (Photo credit: foot fingers)

Robert Lichfield, Utah Finance Co-Chair and the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs

The World Wide Association of Specialty Programs (WWASP) was born in the late 1990’s in the predominantly Mormon and loosely regulated State of Utah.

Robert Browning Lichfield got his start working at the Provo Canyon School in Provo, Utah in 1977 before formally founding WWASP in 1998.  Though he had no college degree or relevant training in education or child psychology Lichfield was entrusted to lead young boys at the controversial behavior modification center. [17]  His experience at the school – along with his strong Mormon faith – encouraged him to begin working with troubled teens and forming his own schools based on what he had learned while working for Provo Canyon.

Robert Browning Lichfield, Founder of WWASP and Former Utah Finance Co-Chair for Mitt Romney

By the early 2000’s WWASP had become an extremely profitable enterprise with 25 programs operating under its umbrella operation.  At its peak WWASP was responsible for the operation of programs in the United States, Mexico, Jamaica, Samoa, the Czech Republic and Costa Rica.  The private, for-profit enterprise charged tens-of-thousands annually in tuition and accepted students with any range of emotional or behavior issues.  No court orders or evaluations were necessary for children to be held against their will in WWASP programs.

Current lawsuits against WWASP allege that children it its care were forced to eat their own vomit, endure extreme physical beatings, be bound and tied by their hands and feet, endure hours or days locked in dog cages under the blaring Mexican sun, sleep on concrete or plywood beds, assume painful “restraint” positions for extended periods of time, live in unsanitary conditions, be restricted from access to proper food, water or medical care, experience verbal and emotional abuse, endure pepper spray as punishment, experience sleep deprivation, undergo mind-altering seminars, experience near to total isolation from society and family and undergo unnecessary strip-searches and sexual abuse. [20] [21]

Primitive Housing in WWASP's Samoa Facility

WWASP publicly claims to be an affiliation of independently owned programs however closer scrutiny has found that all WWASP facilities – including affiliated operations responsible for billing and referrals – were owned by the same individuals, their family members, or close friends. Many were incorporated under the same street address. [18]

WWASP operated strict behavior modification facilities.

Children within its facilities progressed through six different levels with each advancement granting them new privileges and freedoms.  On the first level children were not allowed to speak, move, cross through a doorway or use the bathroom without staff permission.  Conversation between students on levels one and two was forbidden at all times.  New program attendees could only speak to those level three or above – most of whom had been in the facility for at least three to six months and were well indoctrinated in the program’s methodology.  Contact with parents and families was limited to mail communication for several months.  Mail was censored and parents were warned to disbelieve any claims of ill-treatment noting that the children were “manipulative” and prone to lying in the hopes of being removed from the facility.  Brief monitored phone calls were allowed only after the child had reached the appropriate level and face-to-face visits were prohibited until both parent and child had completed a series of multi-day experiential seminars.  [28]

Loosely based on EST and Lifespring, WWASP’s seminars were confrontational and unconventional.  Accountability – a primary focus of all seminars – was based on the motto that, “Based on Your Results, You Have Exactly What You Intended.”  In the seminars, “right” and “wrong” were considered to be the equivalent of swear words.  All actions were either “working” or “non-working.”  Any negative experiences – including rape, incest, physical abuse, or traumatic events – were considered to be the result of a series of non-working choices.  In order to successfully complete the seminars, students had to rid themselves of their prior “images” and take responsibility for their choices that had not only led to past traumas but also had led to their placement in the program.

Two Primary Seminar Slogans - Participant Handouts

While the seminars were optional for parents of program attendees, they were mandatory for students enrolled in any of WWASP’s facilities.  The seminars touted the belief that a “magical child” lived within the soul of all participants.  Unlocking the magical child would free the individual to be a healthy, whole and capable adult.  The idea of the magical child was explored through a variety of modules and activities designed to show that anything not part of the magical child was instead a part of the person’s image – a false cloak designed to protect them from harm and lock-in their total potential.

Seminar Overview

The rules in WWASP facilities were extensive and covered nearly every aspect of the child’s life from communication, movement, expression, hygiene and participation in daily activities.

Rule breaking resulted in a reduction of points or loss of level depending on the degree of the infraction.  Punishments included study hall or essays – where a student was required to write a 3.000 – 5,000 word essay by hand in under three hours – or observation placement.  Observation placement was described as a form of “suicide watch” or cooling-off room however many students (and staff) have reported children remaining in isolation for months or years at a time.

Consequences that could lead to immediate placement in isolation included looking out the window (a form of run-away plans), making eye contact with the opposite sex (sexual encouragement), knuckle cracking or picking at a mosquito bite (self-injury) or any litany of “blatant rule violations.”

Observation Placement or "Suicide Watch" in Jamaica

Children in the WWASP system spent anywhere from ten months to multiple years at WWASP programs.  The schools located in the United States were considered to be the “least-harsh” of the programs with the overseas locations promoted as more intense options for children who were unsuccessful domestically.  At all schools, therapy was performed in large-groups led by “case managers.”  Within the groups, students were responsible for providing each other “feedback” and calling our one another’s faults and issues.  Though one licensed therapist was employed by WWASP for all of its facilities, Dr. Chappuis, private sessions were not included within the standard tuition.

Male Group Therapy Session

Of the locations overseas, Tranquility Bay in Jamaica was considered by most to be the “punishment” school for most United States programs.  Noted for having one of the harshest reputations of all WWASP facilities the tightly guarded compound on the remote northern coast of Jamaica had both fierce critics and strong supporters.  Before closing the gated facility housed up to 300 children – both male and female – ranging in age from 12 to 19.  Despite having no hot water, plywood beds and no oversight from either Jamaican or US officials the program charged parents up to $40,000 annually. [22] [23]

Tranquility Bay has been the subject of various documentaries and scathing articles.

In response to allegations of abuse at the facility, Ken Kay – Robert Lichfield’s partner in running WWASP – stated that, “The accusations are from students. The parents may believe them, but the parents weren’t there.  The teens making the allegations generally have a long history of lying, exaggerating and dishonesty.” [21]

Untreated Sores on the Back of a Boy's Head at Tranquility Bay

Child Displaying Pepper Spray Burns from Punishment at Tranquility Bay

In an interview for the French Documentary on Tranquility bay “Les Enfants Perdus De Tranquility Bay” Randall Hinton was interviewed regarding the use of pepper spray on former Tranquility Bay student Kerry Layne.  Following the filming of the documentary, Kerry took his own life after suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.  He was held at Tranquility Bay for nearly a year.  He spent more time in isolation than in the general population and was the recipient of countless acts of abuse.

Randall Hinton, Former Tranquility Bay Staff Member

Hinton is quoted as stating, ” he was pepper-sprayed by myself and by Jay Kay. I think we were the only ones who could actually pepper-spray students. I think I can remember Kerry Layne being pepper-sprayed more than once in a day. I know he was pepper-sprayed more than two times in a day. I don’t think it would have been more than three times. …And from somebody on the outside looking in I would say it was abusive. For somebody that stayed with him 24/7 I would say I received as much abuse as he did as a staff. But that’s what we’re getting paid to do.”

Hinton continued describing the program, stating that “Restraints could be used – mechanical devices could be used – pepper-spray could be used to gain control of your child. It’s just a job that, that helps people. Instead of the pizza coming to you we’ll come and pick the pizza up and take it and let it get cooked for a while, in a sense.  Until it’s ready to come home and then you get a brand new hot pizza.” [22] [23]

Randall Hinton would be convicted of third-degree assault and false imprisonment of a minor in 2007.   Though no charges were brought against him during his employment at Tranquility Bay, Hinton continued to work within the WWASP system.  He was the director of WWASP’s Royal Gorge Academy in Colorado at the time of his arrest.  He was sentenced with 25-days in jail and one year of probation.  Royal Gorge Academy remained open for at least a year following his arraignment though under the leadership of a new director. [29]

Violence was a part of life at many WWASP facilities.

Shannon Levy experienced a brutal restraint at Tranquility Bay in 2001.

She details that, “One staff held my arms behind my back when I was standing up so I couldn’t grab onto anything. Another staff ripped my feet out from underneath me so I fell with all my weight right onto my chin. I immediately started gushing blood everywhere, but that didn’t stop them. They still continued restraining me.” [23]

Though no medical treatment was provided by WWASP, Shannon’s parents were eventually called to collect her from the Jamaican facility.  She was unable to open her mouth wide enough to eat or insert a toothbrush.  Her injuries were long lasting.  She lost over 40lbs following the incident due to being unable to consume solid foods. [23]

Amberly Knight, the former director of WWASP’s Dundee Ranch in Costa Rica, wrote to the Costa Rican authorities in 2003 detailing human rights violations and cases of abuse at the facility.  She had resigned from her position the previous year.  Her efforts led to the immediate closure of the program. In her letter she stated that, “The purpose of Dundee Ranch is not to help teens in crisis or their families; it is to make millions of dollars for the owner,”  She also said students were improperly restrained; in one case, staff dislocated a teen’s shoulder. [23]

A Child Demonstrating the Restraint Positions Used at WWASP Facilities

For students who couldn’t perform at Tranquility Bay or at WWASP’s other tough overseas programs High Impact in Tecate, Mexico was the final option.

High Impact was a short-term program that was raided and shut down by the Mexican police in the early 2000’s.  Its reputation within the WWASP system was well-known as being nothing shy of torture.  Children were required to run laps around a fenced in field while dressed in thick sweatsuits.  Graduation was only obtained when the required number of laps was completed.  Students were not allowed to speak, make eye contact, or interact with anyone during their stay.  Punishments at High Impact were the most severe of any WWASP facility.

When High Impact was raided, children were found hog-tied in dog cages under the hot Mexican sun as a form of isolation punishment. As in most facilities, it was initially claimed to be a form of observation placement or “suicide watch” but former students allege it was used for even minor infractions.

Children Hog-Tied in Dog Cages at High Impact

Close Up of Child in Dog Cage at High Impact

As of 2012, WWASP is no longer operating programs under its own name though the company remains undissolved on paper due to pending litigation. [18]

Robert Lichfield served as Mitt Romney’s Utah campaign finance co-chair until 2007 when he was asked to step down following media attention over high-profile lawsuits against WWASP.  Lichfield was Utah’s largest political donor before his resignation, generating over $300,000 for Romney’s campaign in 2008 and helping to facilitate donations of $17,000 from family members and associates. [19]

The Huffington Post listed Robert Lichfield as one of the GOP’s Dirtiest Donors in 2008, noting that Romney asked his Utah money-maker to step aside from the campaign until the lawsuit was settled.  It is also noted that Romney brought in over $2.7 million in Utah donations, much of which was helped by Lichfield’s campaign efforts. [26]

Paul Babeu, Arizona Finance Co-Chair and the Desisto School

Romney with Babeu at a Speaking Event

In early February 2012, Paul Babeu stepped down as Mitt Romney’s Arizona Finance Co-Chair following allegations that he had threatened to have his gay ex-lover deported back to Mexico if details of his homosexuality were made public.   Babeu denies the threats but has since confirmed his homosexuality.

The Romney campaign supported his decision to resign so that he could focus on settling the allegations made against him.  [38]

While the allegations against Babeu are shocking and potentially damaging to the strictly Conservative Romney campaign, Babeu’s involvement in the controversial (and now defunct) DeSisto school in  Massachusetts seems to be yet another dismal link between Mitt Romney and the mistreatment of troubled youths.

The co-ed private boarding school was founded in 1978 and charged parents over $78,000 annually in tuition.   Babeu became headmaster in 1999.  According to Massachusetts Office of Child Care records, investigations into the school began in 2000 following nine separate claims of abuse.  Abuse reports indicated that students were regularly isolated, deprived of food, given unnecessary strip searches, forced to partake in group showers and monitored bathroom trips and were regularly restrained.  Further investigations revealed that sexual relations between staff and students had occurred regularly as improper background checks were not performed on employees.  Students were also regularly tied together as part of treatment and forced to strip down to their underwear and perform other humiliating acts in the name of therapy. [39]

Court Documents Detailing the State’s Investigation into the DeSisto School

Before stepping down, Babeu was a skilled fund-raiser for the Romney campaign.  He was a former Tea Party favorite in Arizona and his strict anti-immigration attitude helped to win many staunch conservatives to Romney’s side.  Babeu, who was also running for Congress while supporting Mitt’s Arizona campaign financing, raised over $200,000 for his own Congressional efforts.  The exact amount contributed to Romney is unknown.  [36] 

Mel Sembler, National Finance Co-Chair and Straight Inc 

Mel Sembler - Mitt Romney's National Finance Co-Chair

Though Mitt Romney asked Robert Lichfield and Paul Babeu to step down while their legal woes were sorted, he retained one of the biggest and most controversial names in adolescent treatment as part of his group of financiers:  Mel Sembler.

Mel Sembler – a well known name in GOP politics – remains as Mitt Romney’s US National Finance Co-Chair.  Prior to working with Mitt Romney, Sembler served as U.S. ambassador to Australia under President George Bush, served as finance chairman for the Republican National Committee from 1997 to 2000 and in November, 2001, was appointed ambassador to Italy by President George W. Bush.   [30]

Mel Sembler is known as the “Money Man” of Republican politics.  To many he is also considered the God-Father of today’s booming adolescent behavior modification industry.

Mitt Romney chatting with National Finance Co-Chair Mel Sembler (Center)

In 1973 Mel and his wife Betty came to the realization that one of their children had begun smoking marijuana.  Betty Sembler is quoted as stating, “We saw this as a fundamental breakdown of everything we believed in: family, education, law and order, responsibility to the community.  Drugs represented the very antithesis of these ideal – pure selfishness.” [31]

The first Federally funded drug rehabilitation program for minors – The Seed – got its start in Sembler’s home state.  In a scathing government report that led to the Seed’s closure, methods used within the facility were compared to those used in North Korean brainwashing camps. [32]  In 1976, seeing a need for additional assistance for struggling teens, Mel Sembler formed his own privately-funded, non-profit drug rehabilitation program called Straight. [31]

Straight used the same tactics developed within the Seed and was staffed by former Seed parents and participants.  As early as two years following its opening, claims of abuse began to surface from participants and past staffers. [34]

Miller Newton, Straight’s national clinical director, admitted to authorities in 1982 that he had kept teenagers awake for 72-hour periods, put them on peanut butter–only diets, and forced them to crawl through each other’s legs to be hit in a “spanking machine.” [34]

Children in Straight’s facilities endured 12-hour daily group therapy sessions.  During these sessions, they were forced to repeatedly confess their various crimes in front of a large group of peers.  To gain attention from the group’s facilitators the children – who were not allowed to stand – flapped their arms wildly in an act called “motivating.” [34]

Group Therapy Meeting at Straight

Richard Mullinax, a former Straight staff member, replied to an open request for apology posted by Surviving Straight Inc, an advocacy group of former attendees and abuse victims.

In his apology, he states that during his time of employment with Straight from 1985-1989 he personally participated in and witnessed acts of abuse.  His letter quotes his apology for participating in and not-stopping the occurrence of, “Brainwashing, physical abuse, usage of illegal or unethical restrains, unethical forms of extreme humiliation, food deprivation, sleep deprivation, verbal abuse, psychological abuse, coerced confessions, unjustifiable and lengthy isolation in intake and/or time our rooms, denial of necessary medical care, kidnapping, and false imprisonment.” [34]

Like the allegations against Aspen Education Group, WWASP and the DeSisto School, lawsuits against Straight included claims of kidnapping, physical violence, false imprisonment, isolation, brutal restraints, and sexual humiliation. [32]  While Sembler has not been linked with any abuse personally, the organization he co-founded, Straight Inc., paid out millions of dollars to victims during the 1980’s and 1990’s.

By 1993, all of Straight’s facilities had closed.  In every state where Straight facilities were located, abuse was substantiated by regulators or lawsuits.  Some of the allegations involved children being gagged with Kotex, boys being called “fags” and girls “whores,” and instances where children were held down to the point of urinating or defecating on themselves. [32]

Mel Sembler would oversee Straight during its 17-years of existence.  He claims that Straight Inc graduated over 12,000 youths and has never separated his name from the program despite the persistent allegations of abuse.  Mel remains an avid anti-drug activist, sharing a spot on the board of directors for the Drug Free America Foundation along with his wife Betty. [33]

Mel Sembler is set to bring in millions for Mitt Romney’s White House bid.   Following Santorum’s decision to drop out of the race, Sembler stated, “The primary is over. The finance team is focusing on the general election and will begin raising victory money.”  [37]

Between 2011 and 2012, Mel Sembler personally donated $61,400 to the Republican National Committee.  Sembler, his wife Betty, son Brent, daughter-in-law Debbie and son George all donated the maximum individual contribution of $2500 each to Romney’ primary campaign.  [36]  Through his fundraising efforts, Sembler has assisted Romney in generating over $76 million for his presidential bid and the number is expected to continue to increase.

Freedom and Hope?  Not for Children.

Mitt Romney and his political camp must be aware of the allegations surrounding his previous enterprises and various campaign financiers but they aren’t speaking.  No one from Romney’s camp has made a peep regarding his deep connections to the troubled teen industry.

His wife, Ann, however has pledged that – if she becomes first lady – helping troubled teens will be her primary focus.

“At risk youth has been a concern of mine and love of mine for a lot of years,” she said while speaking before a group in Iowa.  [40]

Romney has also eluded to her cause at several additional campaign events.

If the work of Romney’s friends and former employer are any indication of what that would look like, it might be time to let our troubled teens remain “troubled” before they end up being sent back to us, brainwashed, emotionally scarred and haunted by the deep wounds of child abuse.

C. Kapela  April 13th, 2012

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• [1] Mitt Romney’ Biography Mitt Romney For President, 2012 Campaign
• [2]  CRC On The Sell Side by Ted Jackson, October 2005 Treatment Magazine
• [3]  Therapeutic Schools A Boom Unabated by Ted Jackson, July 2007 Treatment Magazine
• [4] Aspen Education Group Homepage Help for Troubled Teens – Residential and Wilderness Programs (Company Homepage)
• [5] Aspen Education Group (Open Letter) A Subsidiary of CRC Health Group and Bain Capital Family Light – A Service of Thomas J. Croke and Associates, Inc.
• [6] Lawsuit Against Mt. Bachelor Academy Exands Now Totals 17 Plaintiffs; Damages Sought top $25 Million by Barney Lerten and Shannon Mendiola, August 24, 2011 KTZV.com
• [7] Ever Unconventional, Long Controversial The school’s history is a twisted one, involving atypical therapy methods and company mergers, good intentions and success stories, but also cases of what some, including the state, call abuse. The story behind the academy’s closure by Keith Chu, November 15, 2009 The Bulletin
• [8] KTVZ Story Concerning Mount Bachelor Academy Lawsuit From KTZV News Sources, Published July 6, 2011 on KellyClarkAttorney.com
• [9] Four recent Utah Deaths in Treatment Programs by Kirsten Stewart, Published October 2007 (available only as archive) The Sale Lake Tribune
• [10] Aspen Achievement Academy Wikipedia
• [11] Tough Love Proves Too Tough by Christopher Smith, June 10th 1996  High Country News
• [12] Investigator Calls Wilderness School Reckless in Teen’s Death by Erin Golden, October 20th 2009, The Bulletin
• [13] New Life Lodge Owner’s Troubles Aren’t Confined to TN Despite deaths, lawsuits, investigations, New Life owner says cases are isolated by Nate Rau, December 18th 2011, The Tennessean
• [14] New Life Lodge in Burns to Reopen in April Nate Rau, March 28th 2012, The Tennessean
• [15] Top Contributors to Mitt Romney 2012 taken from OpenSecrets.org Center for Responsive Politics
• [16] Buyout Profits Keep Flowing to Romney by Nicholas Confessore, Christopher Drew, and Julie Creswell, December 18th 2011, The New York Times
• [17] Key To His School’s Success?  It’s God, Founder Says. by John-Thor Dahlbur, July 13th 2003, Los Angeles Times
• [18] World Wide Association of Specialty Programs Wikipedia
• [19] Romney Cans Golden Goose Over Abuse October 2008, Radaronline.com
• [20] Troubled Teen Programs – 25 Plaintiffs Join in Lawsuit Against WWASPS, Cross Creek Manor, Robert Lichfield, and Associates – More Expected to Join In October 2006, Webwire.com
• [21] Turley Law Firm vs. WWASP – Official Filing, 2011 Updated Complaint, 2011 www.wturley.com
• [22] Parents Divided over Jamaican Disciplinary Academy by Tim Weiner, June 17 2003, The New York Times
• [23] Rough Love Kids from South Florida and beyond are sent to Jamaica to straighten up. Or else. by Joanne Green, June 22 2006, Miami New Times
• [24] Abuse at Tranquility Bay by Isabelle Zehnder, jaykayletter.blogspot.com
• [25] Les Enfants Perdus de Tranquility Bay (2005) IMDB listing.  Directed by Mathieu Verboud, Jean Robert Vialle
• [26] Republican Rogues’ Gallery: The GOP’s Dirtiest ’08 Donors September 2007, Huffington Post
• [27] An Oregon School for Troubled Teens is Under Scrutiny by Maia Szalavitz, April 17th, 2009  Time Magazine
• [28] Spring Creek’s Short Leash by John S. Adams, June 16 2005 The Missoula Independent
• [29] Randall Hinton Sentenced to Jail for Bloody Assault on Child by Tracy Harmon, November 20th 2007
• [30] Mel Sembler’s Penis Pump, Privacy Claim Headed to Trial  November 17 2006  The North Country Gazette
• [31] Money Man While Washington debates “soft-money” and foreign contributors, St. Petersburg’s Mel Sembler, chief national GOP fund-raiser, charges ahead filing party coffers on a run for the White House by David Villano, May 1997  Florida Trend
• [32] Romney Fires One Teen-Abuse Linked Financier, Keeps Big One by Maia Szalavitz, September 6th 2007 The Huffington Post
• [33] Mel Sembler, Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Biography The Sembler Company
• [34] The Trouble with Troubled Teen Programs by Maia Szalavitz, January 2007 Reason Magazine
• [35] Mr. Mullinax’s Public Acknowledgment and Apology to Straight, Inc. Survivors  Richard Mullinax, January 1st 2009, Surviving Straight Inc
• [36] Donor/Recipient Searches through  OpenSecrets.org Center for Responsive Politics
• [37] Trump Fundraiser for Romney Sold Out by Catalina Carnia, April 2012 USA Today
• [38] Paul Babeu, Arizona Sheriff, Steps Down as Arizona Co-Chair of Mitt Romney’s Presidential Campaign  by Elise Foley, February 18th 2012 The Huffington Post
• [39] Legal troubled dogged school led by Babeu Officials Probed Abuse Claims While Sheriff was Headmaster by Robert Anglen, Robert J. Hansen, Sean Holstege, March 1st 2012 The Arizona Republic
• [40] Ann Romney Says She’ll Work with Troubled Teens as First Lady by Russell Goldman, October 5 2011  ABC News

Remembering Tranquility Bay

C.Kapela 2012 – I am a Captive

I can still remember the way the humid air felt against my skin as I stared at the white gated facility that would house me for months and haunt me for years.   I can still recall my hand shaking as I frantically inhaled the last few drags of my cigarette – a final favor granted to me by my father before he walked away and left me there alone.

It has been eleven years since I arrived and nearly eleven since I left.

Though the years continue to pass the memories of what I saw and experienced remain vivid – festering beneath the surface like an open wound.

I was abused.

Systematically and purposefully, my rights were stripped from me – much like my clothing as I leaned over the nurse’s bed for my initial contraband search minutes after my father’s taxi pulled away.

I shivered and cried in the dark nightly as I tried to rest on my thin mattress while loud Jamaican voices echoed through the corridor.  Though we were never allowed to speak without permission those who enforced such rules did so often and carelessly.

I heard the screaming of children being restrained and injured on a daily basis.  I saw those who needed medical attention denied care and writhing in pain.  I heard whispered stories of atrocities I have tried to forget.  I ate food that made me sick – small portions of meat, mostly fat, with hair still stuck to the tough skin attached to it.

I saw blood each time I went to the bathroom.  When I complained, I was told it was normal.

I listened to useless tapes for hours each day and wrote meaningless essays until my hands burned.

I felt bugs and worms crawling on my feet as I showered in ice cold water, twice daily.

I ran laps around a barren field.

I stood in lines, eyes cast down, turning my head each time a boy was present.

I learned how to take verbal assaults and put downs from my peers and family representative without crying.  I learned how to attack others – seeking out their vulnerabilities and darkest secrets to use as weapons.  I learned that to move ahead I had to climb over my friends.  To be seen as progressing, I had to show how others were not.

I sat in a sweltering basement for days at a time receiving vigorous experiential seminars from an organization that is now directly labeled as a cult.

I slapped towels against the tile floor with my eyes closed, screaming at the top of my lungs, listening to the cries of anguish from those around me as I did so.

I walked from person to person and told them if I thought they should live or die with just a glance.

I called people fakers, I called people on “their crap,” and I called myself a strong, independent and beautiful young woman.

I dressed in costumes on command.

I watched a sweaty, overweight woman named Jan scream at rape victims as she told them their choices led to their molestations.  I joined her.  I joined the crowd.

I listened as children poured out their stories, weeping and screaming, and told them they weren’t saying enough.  I stared blankly and accepted it as I was told the same.

I believed in a magical child that lived inside of me.  It was all that was beautiful in me and somehow I had stifled and killed it.  I wrote it letters.  I spoke at length about it.  In moments that felt like drug-induced hysteria, I convinced myself I could feel it inside me.

I learned to follow orders, to deny the existence of wrong and right, to admit my own fault for anything painful that had happened in my life.  I let the system take my mind and bend it until the part of me that screamed, “this is wrong,” was stifled into silence.

I watched a bald suntanned man pull up in an expensive car a few times each week, sauntering through the complex with the casual attitude of one who has everything.  I watched him as I stood in flip flops and a faded hand-washed uniform that I had scrubbed myself in a bucket the day before.  I watched him take a pretty young blond to his office – the same girl every visit – for private discussions.  I told myself to believe it wasn’t what it appeared.

I can still remember the smell of sewage and vomit that wafted through my room nightly, sweat dripping from my forehead as I mopped up the spills in the morning.  With each push of the mop my muscles became more accustomed until I no longer thought it was strange.

I stood in lines doing jumping jacks, yelling out the moment my name was called, reciting pledges and words until they became second nature and I no longer had to think about it.  I learned to ignore the sad eyes around me, to become hardened like the others, to let my dreams wander into the darkness until they never returned.

I watched as girls were told that they would never see their families again.  I watched as new adults, reaching the magic age of eighteen, fought to walk through the barbed wire fencing that restrained us all.  I watched as staff ignored their pleas, denied their legal rights, and forced them back into line with the rest of us.  I watched the hope drain out of others as quickly as it leaked out of myself.

I remember my anger, silent dreams fueled by vengeance.  I remember longing to return to the island, a free woman, to play music loudly from a nearby hilltop for everyone to hear.  I envisioned tossing candy and food over the fence, a rallying of other young adults around me, screaming loudly to those captive that they could leave, that they were human, that they were not prisoners – that no wall, no staff, no man with an expensive car, could take that away from us.  I longed for someone to do the same for me.

I am free now.

I am long past eighteen.

I can speak when I want, go where I want, cross through doors when I choose, go to the bathroom without publicly declaring what I intend to do, walking with shame and humiliation to the front of the room to collect my allotment of toilet paper squares.

I never returned to the island and I still feel guilt.  My only redemption comes through these pages, this idea – the notion that somehow freedom can be granted to those who are denied a true existence.

Though I am free, I am still a captive.

I am a captive until the day no more children are roused from their beds in the middle of the night to be deposited into the care of money-hungry strangers.

I am a captive until those who imprisoned me are given due justice.  I am a captive until everyone, no matter their age, has basic human rights and cannot be detained against their will without due trial.

I am a captive until the words that I write are read by someone with the power to make changes.  I am a captive until there is no more WWASP, no more Tranquility Bays, no more children’s gulags preying upon the lives of the weak.  I am a captive until behavior modification becomes a thing of our past, a shameful dirty part of history which we are not proud to speak about.  I am a captive until child abuse is no longer legally prescribed as help for those most needing love.

I am a captive until we are all free.

Tranquility Bay, I remember.  I am angry.

I am angry, Jay Kay.  I will not forget what you did and I shall never forgive.

I am angry, Mom and Dad.  I don’t care what you say this wasn’t your best and it isn’t my fault.  I will not take responsibility for this abuse no more than a beaten child should take responsibility for their bruises.

I am angry, Kathleen Sullivan.  You call yourself a doctor, a therapist, yet you hand out glossy brochures and accept commissions from a place that causes more harm than good.

I am angry, I am still a captive – haunted by the memories that you created.  But I am a fighter, and I will keep fighting.

I will fight until I am free by death or until freedom is granted to those who, like me, are facing the degradation and abuse that will hold them captive too.

I will fight until those who are simply standing by begin to fight with me.

I will fight, I will be angry, I will remain a captive, until we all are free.

Behavior Modification and Brainwashing

For-Profit Therapy Damaging America’s Youth

If you were to poll the average American about the use of behavior modification and brainwashing in today’s society, they would likely respond by naming cults, POW camps, secret government agencies, and foreign propaganda films. Should you attempt to explain that these tactics are currently being used today in America against unwilling children and teenagers, they would likely respond in disbelief.

For those of us who have endured the troubled teen industry, we understand firsthand that these practices are alive, well and thriving in this underground industry.  While a comprehensive total of the number of privately run “behavior modification” facilities for teens and children is unknown, it is estimated that tens of thousands of children move through this system every year, virtually unknown to the general public.  Due to lack of Federal (and in many cases State) oversight, these programs are able to operate independently without licensure, inspections, or any comprehensive definition of the type of treatment, length of stay, or admission requirements that they must adhere to.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, behavior modification and brainwashing are defined as the following:

Behavior Modification: psychotherapy that is concerned with the treatment (as by desensitization or aversion therapy) of observable behaviors rather than underlying psychological processes and that applies principles of learning to substitute desirable responses for undesirable ones (as phobias or obsessions) —called also behavioral therapy, behavior therapy

Brainwashing:  a forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up basic political, social, or religious beliefs and attitudes and to accept contrasting regimented ideas, 2: persuasion by propaganda or salesmanship

While these definitions seem vague by nature, a brief search on facilities currently operating the United States notes the following within their literature – all quite similar to the definitions described above:

Island View – a high-impact residential treatment facility operated by Aspen Education Group with ties to Republican candidate Mitt Romney‘s former company, Bain Capital – offers the following advice to parents as to how not to sabotage their child’s treatment opportunities.

What do you mean by “shutting the door?”

Imagine that your child is standing in a corridor with both sides lined with doors. There is a door at the other end of the corridor. That’s the door you want your child to go through. It is the door that leads to success, well-being and personal happiness – in your opinion. Unfortunately, your child thinks that walking through that door is stupid, impractical, lame, not cool and utterly ridiculous. Perhaps at some conscious or unconscious level, he may have a desire to walk through the door but fear of the unknown, effort to get to the door, or any other underlying issues may make it impossible for him to walk through this door without some sort of a assistance.

The problem is that he is being distracted by all the other doors that are lining the corridor. To you, the signs on the doors read: Party, Drugs, Negative Friends, Hanging Out, School Failure, Depression, Psycho-Neurological Problem, Learning Difference, Manipulation, Excuses, You Don’t Understand, Loss of a Close Friend, Divorce, Low Self-Esteem, etc.

Your child, distracted or mitigated by these doors will opt to slip through one or more of these doors. If we let him do so, will he ever get through the door at the end of the hall? Maybe, but when? This year, next year, when he is 20? The reason you place the child in a treatment facility is that you thought that the time is NOW to make the change.

The best way to make it happen NOW, is to shut all other doors so that the only door that can be opened is the one you want him to walk through – the one at the end of the hall.

Shepherd’s Hill Academy, a private Christian behavior modification center in rural Georgia describes its multi-step programs as the following:

New Creations Wilderness Therapy:

The challenge of living in the woods without electricity or flowing water takes the teens out of their comfort zone. It requires they learn new and more effective coping and teamwork skills.  They participate in experiencing life without the negative cultural influences that so often draw attention away from the responsibilities and obligations of the real world.  Rights and privileges are taught to be exercised only to the degree that responsibilities and obligations are fulfilled.

Without a healthy concept of authority, teens have no reference point for moral right and wrong. As the teens see staff and leadership submit to God, an Authority greater than themselves, the reference point becomes clear. This, in turn, fosters a sense of security which frees the teens to better submit to their authority figures and to God.

Our ability to think and reason is rooted in the spiritual nature of our being. As the confusion of the culture is removed, they are challenged to choose and think for themselves about the reality of the inevitable issues of life such as origin, meaning, morality, and destiny.

Next-Step Program:

Upon transitioning to the Next Step Program, the resident moves out of the wilderness program and into a home on campus. They are allowed more individual freedom and chances to make “right choices.” They also have the opportunity to gain back certain privileges they did not enjoy in the wilderness program, such as TV and video games. The Next Step Program offers the teen a chance to exercise their new healthy behavior patterns while living in a safe and structured environment. Although they are still in a controlled environment, they have many more opportunities where they must choose the way they will act and/or react to any number of societal situations. They are assisted in practicing healthy social interactions and relationships with their peers in a supervised environment. In other words, they get to practice behaving appropriately in the real world.

All in all, Shepherd’s Hill Academy embodies the qualities necessary to transform trouble teens into productive, caring, and spiritually mature young men and women.  With God’s help, we strive to bring about the necessary behavioral changes in struggling teens to become responsible and fruitful citizens who know how to think!

The Judge Rottenberg Center, a special needs program located in Canton, Massachusetts that accepts students as young as eight years old struggling with Autism, Aspergers, and other “severe, case-hardened problem behaviors” offers a few highlights of it’s “holistic” medication-free program.

Use of highly consistent application of behavior modification procedures both in the education/treatment of its students and in the management of its staff.  JRC offers intensive behavioral treatment based on peer-reviewed and accepted methods of behavioral psychology, which has been extremely effective for students who could not be effectively treated with psychotropic medication, psychotherapy, or positive only behavioral programming.

Positive reinforcement and non-intrusive procedures are tried first to determine if they can be sufficiently effective. If not, JRC considers supplementing them with professional approved “aversive” behavior modification techniques such as brief shock to the surface of the skin.

The most commonly used restrictive procedure at JRC is an electrical stimulation device that JRC manufactures called the Graduated Electronic Decelerator (“GED”).  The GED unit consists of a transmitter operated by a JRC staff member and a receiver worn by the student.  The receiver delivers a low-level surface application of electrical current to the student’s skin upon command from the transmitter, as part of a designed behavioral treatment.  Minor side effects may consist of a redding of the skin and, on rare occasions, a small blister may appear if the device is not making full contact with the skin.

The implementation of the GED device leads to the immediate deceleration of a student’s aggressive and self-injurious behaviors, allowing that student to progress both academically as well as socially.  For the approximately 50% of the current JRC population that have the GED as part of their treatment program, the average (median) student received only one two-second application during that week.  46% received no applications at all and 78% received fewer than ten applications during the entire week.

For most of us, it is unthinkable to consider the very idea that these types of facilities exist and are exercising these practices.  The following links offer unique, brutal glimpses into the types of torture, abuse, and brainwashing being forced upon teenagers in the name of “behavior modification.”

GRAPHIC:  VIDEO FOOTAGE OF ACTUAL PASADENA BOOT CAMP                                                                                

FORMER STAFF MEMBERS DISCUSSES THE CEDU SCHOOL’S & THEIR PHILOSOPHY OF “EMOTIONAL GROWTH” TRAINING

ACTUAL PROMOTIONAL VIDEO FROM PROVO CANYON SCHOOL EXPLAINING THAT EDUCATION IS “PART OF THE MIX”

DOCU-SHORT ON THE JUDGE ROTENBERG CENTER’S USE OF ELECTRIC SHOCK THERAPY

CLIP ON CEDU’S LIFESPRING STYLE LARGE GROUP AWARENESS THERAPY CALLED “PROPHEETS”

PROMOTIONAL VIDEO FOR WWASP’S FORMER SEMINAR PARTNER RESOURCE REALIZATIONS “DISCOVERY” SEMINAR (MANDATORY FOR ALL STUDENTS)

LATEST GRADUATES OF THE PARENT”S DISCOVERY SEMINAR BY RESOURCE REALIZATIONS

PARENTS RECEIVED DISCOUNTED TUITION FOR ALL REFERRALS SENT TO WWASP FACILITIES.  HERE IS A VIDEO CREATED BY PARENTS OF WWASP STUDENTS

The Mitt Romney & Troubled Teen Connection

Mitt Romney:  Helping Troubled Teens?

If Mitt Romney is elected president, his wife has already committed to “helping” troubled teens.

This seemingly innocuous statement would appear to be nothing more than genuine concern for youth…unless you do your homework on the type of “help” that Romney has supported and benefited from throughout his career.

Romney’s former Utah finance co-chair Robert Litchfield is the founder of WWASP (World Wide Association of Specialty Schools).  WWASP operated schools both in the US and abroad, the majority of which have now been shut down over allegations of abuse.  Current civil litigation filed in Utah on behalf of both parents and students of former WWASP institutions alleges, “teens were locked in outdoor dog cages, exercised to exhaustion, deprived of food and sleep, exposed to extreme temperatures without adequate clothing or water, severely beaten, emotionally brutalized, and sexually abused and humiliated. Some were even made to eat their own vomit.”

Romney’s national finance co-chair is Mel Sembler, the founder of Straight Inc.  Straight Inc operated from 1976 until 1993 and ran nine programs in seven states.  As noted in Maia Szalavitz’ 2007 article, “At all of Straight’s facilities, state investigators and/or civil lawsuits documented scores of abuses including teens being beaten, deprived of food and sleep for days, restrained by fellow youth for hours, bound, sexually humiliated, abused and spat upon. According to the L.A. Times, California investigators said that at Straight teens were “subjected to unusual punishment, infliction of pain, humiliation, intimidation, ridicule, coercion, threats, mental abuse… and interference with daily living functions such as eating, sleeping and toileting.”

Neither Robert Litchfield or Mel Sembler have ever admitted guilt or doubt regarding their program’s methods, both blaming the allegations of abuse on teens who have a history of lying and deceiving and parent’s with a financial axe to grind.

In 1984, Mitt Romney founded “Bain Capital Group,” which now owns and operates Aspen Education Group.

Mount Bachelor Academy, an Aspen Education Group program, was shut down by DHS in Oregon after nine substantiated cases of abuse and neglect were found by investigators.  Sagewalk, another Aspen Education Group program, was called “reckless” in regards to a 16 year old boy who died in the program.

Several lawsuits have been filed against Aspen Education Group with allegations including, “emotional, physical, and sexual abuse while residents.”  and further alleges that teens in it’s care, “were subjected to regular psychological abuse and shaming, including being required to reenact  traumatic experiences (such as prior instances of child sexual abuse) in front of their peers; that they were subjected to extreme isolation and prolonged deprivations of food, water, shelter, and basic medical care; that students were required to go days with little or no sleep and were also regularly forced into “chain gang” style labor; that phone calls to their families were limited and were monitored…and that parents were instructed by staff not to believe their children if they claimed malfeasance or abuse – i.e., the children will lie, it is all part of the treatment process, parents were told”

An interesting clause can be found in the initial agreement signed by parents handing their children over to Aspen Education Group:

“Sponsor intends by this Waiver and Release to release, in advance, and to waive his or her rights and discharge each and every one of the Released Parties, from any and all claims for damages for death, personal injury, or property damage which Sponsor may have, or which may hereafter accrue as a result of Student’s participation in any aspect of the Programs, even though that liability may arise from negligence or carelessness on the part of the persons or entities being released, from dangerous or defective property or equipment owned, maintained or controlled by them or because of their possible liability without fault.  Additionally, Sponsor covenants not to sue any of the Released Parties based up their breach of any duty owed to Sponsor or Student as a result of their participation in any aspect of the Programs…Released Parties shall be exempt from liability to Sponsor, his or her heirs, assigns, and legal representatives.”

For someone with so much history of supporting & being supported by institutions that abuse teenagers in their care, it seems ironic that he would allow any further connections to this cause.  Hopefully, by spreading this information, we can bring awareness to the fact that teens are being abused every day in the name of “treatment” and that NO ONE who profits off of this deserves to be in any place of power.

DO NOT SUPPORT MITT ROMNEY!

Romney’s Connection to Abusive Boot Camps

Robert Litchfield Connection

Romney, Torture and Teens

Romney Owns Bain Capital

Aspen Education Group Lawsuits

Wikipedia on WWASP

Wikipedia on Aspen Education Group

Wikipedia on Mel Sembler 

Survivor Stories from Straight Inc.

Miller, Harkin Reintroduce Legislation Against Troubled Teen Industry

The Fight Arrives at the House & The Senate: We Need YOU!

As detailed by the Committee on Education & the Work Force, Democrats are reintroducing legislation that will help to regulate the troubled teen industry.  Formerly called HR-911, this bill will provide some key changes in the way that institutions caring for troubled youth are allowed to operate.  Several notable organizations have stepped forward to support this bill, but we still need support from individuals.

Please, call the founders of this bill and show your support:

Melissa Salmanowitz (Miller) 202-226-0853
Justine Sessions (Harkin) 202-224-3254
Shams Tarek (McCarthy), 516-739-3008

Further, write your locate representatives and senators and urge them that this legislation NEEDS to pass.  Too many kids are suffering and dying in these abusive programs and we MUST put an end to this.  CONTACT YOUR SENATORS  and CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES today!

Keeping Kids Safe

The Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2011

Tens of thousands of U.S. teenagers attend private and public residential programs – including therapeutic boarding schools, wilderness camps, boot camps, and behavior modification facilities – that are intended to help them with behavioral, emotional, mental health, or substance abuse problems. Depending on the state in which the program operates, some of these programs are subject to State law or regulation, while others are not. As a result of this loose patchwork of state oversight, children at some the programs have been subject to abuse and neglect with little to no accountability.

The Government Accountability Office found thousands of allegations of child abuse and neglect at residential programs for teens since the early 1990s. Tragically, in a number of cases, this abuse and neglect led to the death of a child. To address this urgent problem, the “Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2011” would:

Keep teens safe with minimum standards for residential programs that are focused on teens with behavioral, emotional, mental health, or substance abuse problems

• Prohibit programs from physically, mentally, or sexually abusing children in their care;
• Prohibit programs from denying children essential water, food, clothing, shelter, or medical care – whether as a form of punishment or for any other reason;
• Require programs to provide children with reasonable access to a telephone and inform children accordingly;
• Require programs to train staff in what constitutes child abuse and neglect and how to report it;
• Require that programs only physically restrain children if it is necessary for their safety or the safety of others, and to do so in a way that is consistent with federal law already applicable in other contexts; and
• Require programs to have plans in place to provide emergency medical care.

Increase transparency to help parents make safer choices for their children

• Require programs to disclose to parents the qualifications, roles, and responsibilities of staff members;
• Require programs to notify parents of substantiated reports of child abuse or violations of health and safety laws; and
• Require programs to include a link or web address for the website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which will carry information on residential programs.

Hold teen residential programs accountable for violating the law

• Require states to inform the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of reports of child abuse and neglect at covered programs and require HHS to conduct investigations of such programs to determine if a violation of the national standards has occurred; and
• Provide HHS the authority to assess civil penalties up to $50,000 for every violation of the law.

Ask states to step in to protect teens in residential programs

Within three years, states must require all public and private programs to be licensed, meet standards that are at least as stringent as the national standards, and implement a monitoring and enforcement system. The Department of Health and Human Services would continue to inspect programs where a child fatality has occurred or where a pattern of violations has emerged.

Sharing Through Survivor Blogs

Sharing Stories through Blogs, Forums & Pages Helps Bring Awareness!

I have been receiving a lot of great feedback on my blog and I wanted to share some other great survivor pages with all of you as well. The more people who share their experiences, the more exposure we will receive.  Further, it provides a way for recent program attendees to reach out and feel less disconnected from the rest of the world.  The loneliness we experienced when first returning home is fairly universal.  Helping to show kids that what was done to them is abusive and that they are not alone is such an important part of the healing process.

If you haven’t already, please visit the following blogs:

Phase 6 – A Voice for Thousands

Phase 6 offers a voice for anyone from any program who has survived through the troubled teen industry.  It is a great place to share and find a sense of community, as well as to locate great resources for networking, education, and advocacy.

Tales from the Black School

Multi-program blog featuring stories specific to folks who have attended a residential treatment facility, as well as great informational articles.

Just Another Hike

Stories from therapeutic wilderness programs.

Being Transported

Stories primarily focused around kids who were taken to facilities through hired “escort” services.

Survivors of New Bethany School

Blog specific to survivors of New Bethany School.

Psych Crime Reporter

Great site not only covering teen abuse, but abuse in psychiatric centers as a whole.

Surviving Straight Inc

Excellent resource not only for survivors of the infamous “Straight” program, but also other programs as well.

Straight Inc – My Brother’s Story

Heart-wrenching story and lots of resources from the sibling of a Straight survivor.

The Captive Teen

A blog dedicating to exposing those who are capitalizing off of institutional child abuse, as well as a look into teen’s experiences in these programs.

The Real Casa

Heart wrenching story of one girl’s experiences in Casa By the Sea

Straight Inc. Survivors

Excellent site with great resources for Straight survivors as well as articles/news relating to the troubled teen industry as a whole.

Nunya.com

Comprehensive site covering news and information relating to the troubled teen industry.

National Youth Rights Association

Great organization that not only focuses on the troubled teen industry (definitely visit the forums!) but also youth rights as a whole.

Paradise Cove Victims

Site focusing on survivors of WWASP’s Paradise Cove facility.

Asylum Horrible

Comprehensive site covering all teens/youth who have been impacted by residential treatment facilities.

Would you like to see your blog or story featured on WWASPDiaries?  If so, please e-mail wwaspdiaries(at)gmail.com or comment to this post with a link!

STARP, Formerly H.R. 911 – Stop Child Abuse in Residential Centers for Teens Act

Representative Miller is Reintroducing H.R. 911

In 2009, H.R. 911 – The Stop Child Abuse in Residential Center for Teens Act – was introduced.  It passed the House but died in the Senate.  On September 28th, 2011, Representative Miller announced that he would be reintroducing the bill following urging from survivor’s organizations and grassroots efforts.  While this bill does not address many of the issues that we survivors would like to see changed, it is a great start.  Having Federal involvement will not only help to bring awareness, but also help to fill oversight gaps in some of the states with the least licensing requirements for these facilities. It is extremely important that we all come together to support this bill and lobby our representatives to support it.

The full text of the original bill can be viewed here and previous votes from 2009 are available here.

Please reach out to your representative and submit the following in support of this bill:

Dear Representative,

I write to you as a voting member of your district who is deeply concerned about the child abuse that is occurring in residential treatment facilities across the United States.

On February 23, 2009 the House of Representatives passed the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Treatment Programs bill H.R. 911.  H.R. 911 stalled before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions  We call upon you to act and  urge you to support the re-introduction of the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009.

This bill was introduced following a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) which found that many residential programs, include therapeutic boarding schools, boot camps, wilderness programs and behavior modification facilities, do not offer anything remotely related to therapy, and in fact the office found thousands of cases and allegations of child abuse and neglect since the early 1990’s.   

It is currently the state’s authority to regulate these programs, but a separate GAO report found major gaps in their licensing and oversight, so that they have been able to operate virtually unregulated. To help fix this major failure, H.R. 911 proposes that these programs fall under federal regulations.  While some states may have relatively high standards, it is critical that other states, where there’s virtually no (or poor) regulation, are held accountable. (eg. Montana, Utah)

Far too many youth are being maltreated in the name of treatment and institutionalized unnecessarily as a result of lack of access to community based care. The majority of our members have witnessed first hand that harm that may come from a poorly regulated or monitored residential program.  It is incumbent upon us to protect our most vulnerable citizens, youth experiencing behavioral, emotional or mental health challenges.

Please help ensure youth safety by supporting the re-introduction of Stop Child Abuse in Residential Treatment Programs Act.  Please confirm what measures you plan to take to ensure no other youth in America are harmed in the name of treatment.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME

ADDRESS

AGE

CAFETY (Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Youth) offers a great resource page, as well as options to support this bill, on their PopVox site.

Common Questions and Assumptions about the Troubled Teen Industry

Questions & Answers

When attempting to explain the “Troubled Teen Industry” and the widespread child abuse that occurs within it, I am often met with several common questions and incorrect assumptions. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive overview of this industry, how it operates, and what has been researched and proven in regards to child abuse.

Q. What is the “Troubled Teen Industry”?

A. Across the United States (and in remote countries, operated by US corporations) there is a burgeoning industry of for-profit specialty boarding schools, behavior modification facilities, emotional growth schools, and wilderness education programs that all focus on “rehabilitating” or “treating” struggling youth. A simple internet search for “troubled teen” will reveal 100’s of different facilities, each utilizing different modes of treatment. Unlike jail or juvenile hall, the youth sent to these facilities do not have to commit a crime. There are no specific enrollment requirements for most of these facilities, so youth are admitted solely at their parent’s discretion. The length of stay for the majority of these programs is 12-18 months, with many kids staying for multiple years. The typical age range treated is 12-17, however some facilities accept youth both younger and older.

Q. But how many parents would really send their kids off to a private facility?

A. As many states do not require private specialty schools of this type to register or apply for licensing, there is little statistical data available as to the total number of children enrolled in a private facility at any given time. In a report sponsored by the Alliance for the Safe, Therapeutic and Appropriate Use of Residential Treatment, the Department of Child & Family Studies at the University of South Florida, and the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, it is noted that, “The issue is that we don’t even know how many youngsters are living in these programs, or how many have died in them. In fact we don’t have a shred of legitimate data on the overall short-term and long-term effects of these programs on the youth that they serve.” A further study by the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, details that, “The number of children placed in residential treatment centers (or RTCs) is growing exponentially. These modern-day orphanages now house more than 50,000 children nationwide.” While official statistics are difficult to assertain, it is clear that this is a widespread issue affecting many families across the United States.

What is Child Abuse?

Federal Legislation as defined by the Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) defines child abuse and neglect as, at minimum:

Any recent act or failure on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm

The Federal legislation above is only the minimum definition. Most states have expanded upon this law to better specify the specifics associated with the different types of abuse that can be inflicted upon children.

Overall, most states recognize the following as forms of child abuse:

Abandonment, wherein the child is found to be abandoned when the parent’s identity or whereabouts are unknown, the child has been left alone in circumstances where the child suffers serious harm, or the parent has failed to maintain contact with the child or provide reasonable support for a specified period of time

Emotional and Psychological Abuse, where the child is subjected to a pattern of behaviors that impair their emotional development or sense of self-worth. This includes constant criticism, threats, rejection, or withholding love, support, or guidance.

Physical Abuse, when non-accidental physical injury is inflicted by a parent, caregiver, or person held responsible for the care of the child. Physical injury is considered abuse regardless of whether the caregiver intended to hurt the child, with the exception of physical discipline, providing it is reasonable and causes no bodily injury to the child.

Neglect, where the child is denied basic needs in regards to physical safety and protection, medical attention, educational access, and emotional care.

For the purposes of this paper, “child abuse” in residential programs and institutions shall be defined using the same guidelines outlined above.

Q. Child abuse is illegal, so it must be illegal to abuse children in these facilities, right?

A. In theory, yes. In practice, no. The majority of programs limit or monitor communication between youth and their families. Most programs will only allow a monitored phone call after the student has been at the facility for a minimum of 30-45 days, or has reached a specific level or number of points within the program. Typically, all mail is monitored and students are provided no access to any communication with the outside world, including law enforcement. Parents are typically warned that their child will likely use “manipulation tactics” to have themselves removed from the facility. This often leads to claims of abuse or mistreatment being ignored by parents and caregivers. Further, as most facilities are exempt from any Federal or State oversight, regular inspections of the facilities or their practices are typically not performed. This loophole allows for a variety of tactics including restraint, isolation, and unique therapy techniques to be utilized by often untrained staff with little to no background in juvenile justice, child care, or psychology. Without proper training, many of these tactics can be abusive in and of themselves as they are often overused or incorrectly implemented. Overall, the environment is condusive to abuse as it places teens in an isolated environment without specific requirements or standards for the care they are provided, leaving them vulnerable to abuse and neglect.

An important point to recognize is that most Federal and State child protection laws primarily refer to cases of harm to a child caused by parents or other caregivers; they do not generally include harm caused by other people, such as acquaintances or strangers.

As described in testimony and documentation from the United States Government Accountability Office, “States are primarily responsibly for ensuring the well-being of youth in facilities and other settings, and do so by setting their own standards of care certain facilities must meet to obtain and maintain an operating license.” While Federal laws do exist to protect the civil rights of students residing in programs primarily funded by state or local governments, “Federal oversight authority does not extend to private facilities that serve only youth placed and funded by parents or by private entities. In some states, safeguarding youth in these facilities is the primary responsibility of the parents and facility staff.”

This report goes on further to explain that, “All states have processes in place to license and monitor certain residential facilities, but states reported oversight gaps that may place youth in some facilities at higher risk for maltreatment and death. Most notably, state agencies exempted some types of government and private facilities from licensing requirements altogether, primarily juvenile justice facilities and private schools and academies. In addition, licensing standards do not always address suicide and other common risks to youth well-being. Although monitoring is key to ensuring facility compliance with standards, agencies in states we visited reported an inability to conduct yearly on-site reviews of conditions at each facility, because of fluctuating levels of staff resources committed by the state. Similarly, although information sharing can strengthen oversight for facilities shared by multiple agencies, many state agencies reported that they did not routinely share information with other state agencies about negative findings or when facility licenses were suspended or revoked. HHS, DOJ, and Education all have processes to hold states accountable for the well-being of youth, but federal efforts are hindered by the scope of the agencies’ oversight authority and monitoring practices. Most notably, these agencies do not have the authority to hold states accountable for youth well-being in private residential facilities unless they serve youth in state programs that receive federal funds. For facilities under federal purview, federal requirements did not always address the primary risks to youth well-being, such as suicide, and requirements were inconsistent among programs. In monitoring state compliance, federal agencies did not always include residential facilities in their oversight reviews.”

This creates an enormous loophole within the child abuse laws, essentially allowing parents (and in some cases state and federal authorities) to place children in unlicensed, non-regulated facilities, placing them at risk for abuse, neglect, and death.

Q. How Big of an Issue Is This?

A. According to the GAO report referenced above, investigators found that “Survey respondents from 49 states reported investigating complaints of youth maltreatment in residential facilities in 2006, including physical abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse, and 28 states reported deaths.”

The GAO report also stated that “State-reported data collected by HHS in 2005 showed 1,503 incidents of maltreatment by facility staff in 34 states, including physical abuse, neglect or deprivation of necessities, and sexual abuse. Moreover, 28 states responding to our survey reported at least one death in residential facilities in 2006, with accidents and suicides among the most common types of fatalities. These reported data, however, did not captureinformation from all facilities. Many states lack authority under state law to collect data on exclusively private facilities, and data that states did report were often incomplete. As a result, the number of adverse incidents was likely more numerous and widespread than reported.”

Teen Advocates USA, an advocacy group for survivors of institutionalized child abuse, offers a memorial page on their website that pays tribute to some of the youth who have died within a residential treatment facility, listing their cause of death and the facility at which they were held. This site reports a total of 115 deaths ranging in cause from suicide, accidental death, restraint related death, drowning, neglect, suicide, and cases still under investigation. While this is not a comprehensive number of all children who have ever died as a result of abuse within an institutionalized treatment center, is still represents an alarmingly high number of preventable deaths of youth.

A second GAO report, titled “SECLUSIONSANDRESTRAINTS: Selected Cases of Death and Abuse at Public and Private Schools and Treatment Centers” released in 2009 goes into greater detail on the types of abuse and causes of death they found during their investigation of the troubled teen industry. Seclusion and Restraint are two forms of punishment that are widely used within troubled teen facilities. As released in the report, “GAO found no federal laws restricting the use of seclusion and restraints in public and private schools and widely divergent laws at the state level. Although GAO could not determine whether allegations were widespread, GAO did find hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and death related to the use of these methods on school children during the past two decades.” Noting that there is little to no oversight on the use of these methods in both public and private facilities, it is not surprising that these tactics have been abused and in some cases, have led to severe abuse, neglect, and death.

The study notes that, “Of the hundreds of allegations we identified, at least 20 involved restraints that resulted in death. Of the 10 closed cases we examined, 4 involved children who died as a result of being restrained. In all 4 cases, staff members used restraint techniques that restricted the flow of air to the child’s lungs. In one of these cases, an aide sat on top of a child to prevent him from being disruptive and ultimately smothered him. The other cases related to the use of different types of prone restraints, a technique that typically involves one or more staff members holding a child face down on the floor. Currently, eight states specifically prohibit the use of prone restraints or restraints that impede a child’s ability to breathe.”

Three specific cases are noted in the study that directly relate to the death of teens in private institutions for troubled youth.

“Case 1: The victim was a 15-year-old male who died while being restrained by two counselors. According to the victim’s mother, in 2000 she enrolled her son in a wilderness program in Oregon to build his confidence and develop self-esteem in the wake of a childhood car accident. The accident had resulted in her son sustaining a severe head injury, among other injuries. According to her lawsuit, her son left the program headquarters on a group hike with three counselors and three other students. Several days into the multiday hike, the victim refused to return to the campsite after being escorted by a counselor about 200 yards to relieve himself. Two counselors then attempted to lead him back to the campsite. According to an account of the incident, when he continued to refuse, they tried to force him to return and they all fell to the ground together. The two counselors subsequently held the victim face down in the dirt until he stopped struggling; by one account a counselor sat on the victim for almost 45 minutes. When the counselors realized the victim was no longer breathing, they telephoned for help and requested a 911 operator’s advice on administering CPR. While the mother was driving to the hospital, her son’s doctor called, advised her to pull to the side of the road, and informed her that her son had died. The victim’s mother told us that she was informed, after the autopsy, that the main artery in her son’s neck had been torn. The cause of death was listed as a homicide. In September 2000, after the boy’s death, one of the counselors was charged with criminally negligent homicide. A grand jury subsequently declined to indict him. In early 2001, the mother of the victim filed a $1.5 million wrongful death lawsuit against the program, its parent company, and its president. The lawsuit was settled in 2002 for an undisclosed amount”

“Case 2: The victim, who died in 2005, was a 12-year-old male. Documents obtained from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services indicate that the victim had a troubled family background. He was taken into state care along with his siblings at the age of 6. As a ward of the state, the victim spent several years in various foster placements and youth programs before being placed in a private residential treatment center in August 2005. The program advertised itself as a “unique facility” that specialized in services for boys with learning disabilities and behavioral or emotional issues. The victim’s caretakers chose to place him in this program because he was emotionally disturbed. Records indicate that he was covered by Medicaid. On the evening of his death, the victim refused to take a shower and was ordered to sit on an outside porch. According to police reports, the victim began to bang his head repeatedly against the concrete floor of the porch, leading a staff member to drag him away from the porch and place him in a “lying basket restraint” for his own protection. During this restraint, the 4 feet 9½ inch tall, 87-pound boy was forced to lie on his stomach with his arms crossed under him as the staff member, a muscular male 5 feet 10 inches tall, held him still. Some of the children who witnessed the restraint said they saw the staff member lying across the victim’s back. During the restraint, the victim fought against the staff member and yelled at him to stop. The staff member told police that the victim complained that he could not breathe, but added that children “always say that they cannot breathe during a restraint.” According to police reports, after about 10 minutes of forced restraint, the staff member observed that the victim had calmed down and was no longer fighting back. The staff member slowly released the restraint and asked the victim if he wanted a jacket. The victim did not respond. The staff member told police he interpreted the victim’s silence as an unwillingness to talk because of anger about the restraint. He said he waited for a minute while the victim lay silently on the ground. When the victim did not respond to his question a second time, he tapped the victim on the shoulder and rolled him over. The staff member observed that the victim was pale and could not detect a pulse. All efforts to revive the victim failed, and he was declared dead at a nearby hospital. Although the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services alleged that the victim’s death was because of physical abuse, the official certificate of death stated that it was an accident and a grand jury declined to press charges against the staff member performing the restraint. However, the victim’s siblings obtained a civil settlement against the program and the staff member for an undisclosed amount.”

“Case 3: The victim was 16 years old when he died, in February 2006, at a private psychiatric residential treatment facility in Pennsylvania for boys with behavioral or emotional problems. He was a large boy—6 feet 1 inch in height and weighing about 250 pounds—and suffered from bipolar disorder and asthma. The cost for placement in this facility was primarily paid for by Medicaid. According to state investigative documents we obtained, the victim was placed in intensive observation after he attempted to run away. As part of the intensive observation, he was forced to sit in a chair in the hallway of the facility and was restricted from participating in some activities with other residents. On the day of his death, staff allowed the victim to participate in arts, crafts, and games with the other youth, but would not let him leave the living area to attend other recreational activities. Instead, staff told the victim that he would have to return to his chair in the hallway. In addition, staff told him that he would have to move his chair so that he could not see the television in another room. The victim complied, moving his chair out of view of the television, but put up the hood of his sweatshirt and turned his back toward the staff. The staff ordered him to take down his hood, but he refused. When one of the staff walked up to him and pulled his hood down, the victim jumped out of his chair and made a threatening posture with his fists, saying he did not want to be touched. The staff member and two coworkers then brought the victim to another room and held him facedown on the floor with his arms pulled up behind his back. The victim struggled against the restraint, yelling and trying to kick the three staff members holding him down. After about 10 minutes, the victim became limp and started breathing heavily. He complained that he was having difficulties breathing. One staff member unzipped his sweatshirt and loosened the collar of his shirt, but rather than improve, the victim became unresponsive. The staff called emergency services and began CPR. The victim was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he died a little more than 3 hours later. In the victim’s autopsy report his death was ruled accidental, as caused by asphyxia and an abnormal heartbeat (cardiac dysrhythmia). No criminal charges were filed in regard to the victim’s death. The victim’s mother filed a civil suit over her son’s death against the facility. The suit was pending at the time we completed our investigation.”

Currently, there is no comprehensive data available on the specific licensing requirements by state. It is important to note, however, that most programs operate without any state or federal oversight whatsoever and there are no specific requirements as to the types of therapy and curriculum they provide, nor are staff and facilitators required to meet any specific training or education requirements. In the same report provided by A Start, a letter to Congress notes, “The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) and our 900 member child-caring, public and private agencies nationwidehave serious concerns about the growing number of unlicensed residential programs and camps for troubled children and youth, often referred to as therapeutic boarding schools or boot camps….These programs are often unregulated by an appropriate state agency or held accountable to any recognized accrediting organization. Allegations of neglect and abuse at many of these programs include the inappropriate use of medications, the employment of vigorous physical means of restraint, or individual seclusion or isolation. Questions are often raised about the credentials of the employees who staff these programs.”

Q. Why isn’t Everyone Involved?

A. Due to lack of comprehensive statistical data and the avoidance of elected officials to get involved in regulating this industry, the issue remains largely at the grassroots level. Some legislation has been previously introduced, such as H.R. 911, however it did not pass through the Senate. Although there is yet to be any formal legislation passed, several advocacy groups have formed and are becoming stronger and louder voices. Abuse in institutions and residential treatment center will only be stopped through education, awareness, and advocacy. We must all work hard to spread as much news as possible, form united lobbying groups to work towards political change, and help to engage the public with our stories and calls to action.

To get involved, the following are excellent resources:

Teen Advocates USA

CAFETY (Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Youth)

TroubledTeenIndustry.com

Restoring Dignity

Survivors of Institutionalized Abuse

In addition to the links above, several excellent articles and television news pieces are available online:

Montana PBS Aired “Who’s Watching the Kids” in 2007

Maia Szalavitz published “The Trouble with Troubled Teen Programs” in the January ’07 issue of Reason.com

Joanne Green published “Rough Love” in the Miami New Times in 2006

Lou Kilzer released highly regarded “Desperate Measures” in the Rocky Mountain News in 1999

Tim Weiner released “Parents Divided Over Jamaica Disciplinary Academy” in the New York Times on June 17, 2003

Mark Levine released two three-hour segments on the “Abuse of Teenagers in Drug Programs” on September 15th and 16th 2011 and his radio show.

In 2006, a French documentary titled “Tranquility Bay: Les Enfants Perdus De Tranquility Bay” was released that focuses specifically on WWASP (World Wide Association of Specialty Schools) facility Tranquility Bay in rural Jamaica

“Over the GW” and “Aaron Bacon” are two feature films released by award-winning director Nick Gaglia that focus on true stories of children sent to residential treatment facilities.

The BBC released “Teen Rendition” in 2009

In summary, it is important to note that you – as a reader – are an important asset in bringing attention to this issue. Share this blog & the referenced links with as many people as possible. Contact your state and Federal representatives and demand action. Research what programs are currently operating in your state and share any news articles found about allegations of abuse, neglect, or fraud. If you or someone you know have been a victim of institutionalized child abuse, are a former staff member of one of these facilities with stories to tell, or have your own blog or website that you would like referenced on WWASPDiaries, please e-mail wwaspdiaries@gmail.com.

Press, News & More

Thank You to All of the Survivors Who Spoke Out!

We had a great turnout on the Mark Levine radio show last week. For those who missed it, both the original show and the follow-up show can be found by visiting Mark Levine’s Website.

There are six hours of radio available featuring interviews with survivors, authors, government officials, and experts in the field of child abuse and institutionalized treatment. Amazing to listen to and offers great resources on getting involved!

H.R 911 – Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act

Based on governmental findings found in the Hearing on Child Deaths Due to Mistreatment in Residential Institutions, a bill was drafted called H.R. 911. The purpose of this bill is to pass legislation that would regulate residential treatment facilities (which are currently completely unregulated on a Federal level, allowing them to move from state to state) and help to prevent further abuse from occurring. The United States is currently the only other country besides Somalia to not have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, though we had a significant role in drafting it.

Currently, private residential facilities operating within the U.S are not regulated, nor are parents regulated in any way from sending their children abroad to overseas institutions. Though many centers have been closed across the United States and in other countries, these children are often shuttled from one program to another when the closings occur. Noting that there is no Federal regulation in place, all parents need to do is to send their child across state lines if one state decides abuse is occurring in a facility.

H.R 911 was passed by the House but never made it through the Senate. With the upcoming elections, it is extremely important to contact your representatives to make sure that not only does this bill get passed, but also that it receives the media attention it desires. Visit this website to see who voted for and against the bill.

To help push this bill forward, please sign the petition here asking Congress & The President to Ensure H.R. 911 Passes.

Additional Resources

As pointed out by Mark Levine, the survivor groups are becoming larger, more unified, and more active. It is extremely important that we come together as one voice and begin speaking out about what we experienced. As we all know, there are numerous political connections between current political figures – Mitt Romney, to name one – and even more involvement throughout the legal system. Noting this, it is important that we reach as many people as possible to ensure that the folks who are protecting these abusive programs are not allowed to obtain more power without first distancing themselves from these figures and publicly denouncing the programs.

Visit this link for an extremely informative article on Mitt Romney’s involvement with WWASP and troubled teen facilities.

Mark Levine also offers some great articles here as well that I encourage you all to spread to as many interested parties as possible.

Hackers “Anonymous” Join The Fight Against WWASP

Share Your Story!

Welcome to the WWASP Diaries!

Its great to see so many readers visiting the site and we have started to receive some story submissions as well!

If you have a long story or essay you’d like to share and don’t mind having it published on the blog, please e-mail it to wwwaspdiaries@gmail.com.

We’ve also included a quick contact form below for shorter entries.  You can remain anonymous or have your name included, just indicate your preference in the comments field along with your story and experiences.

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