Why did Straight close? (Newspaper articles)

[Anonymous]

Times Publishing Company  
St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
 View Related Topics 
October 10, 1987, Saturday, City Edition
SECTION: METRO AND STATE; Pg. 1B

LENGTH: 788 words

HEADLINE: Drug program having problems

BYLINE: STEPHEN KOFF

DATELINE: ST. PETERSBURG

BODY:
 ST. PETERSBURG - Straight Inc. , the drug treatment organization    that's made a national reputation by sorting out the lives of troubled    adolescents, has been facing some troubles of its own.
 
    Straight has scaled back some of its programs and hired a new    executive director to improve the organization's financial condition.
 
The organization, based in Pinellas County, appears to be taking a    corporate approach to collecting client dollars and eliminating extra    expense.
 
    During the past two months, Straight has:         Dropped its drug prevention program, which it had started two    years ago. Straight is concentrating once again on drug treatment, its    original goal.
 
     Shut down its treatment center in Cincinnati on Oct. 1 because the    number of new patients was declining. Straight replaced the treatment     center with a scaled-down counseling center for former clients.
 
     Witnessed the departure of several top administrators. Not only    did the executive director of the prevention and fund-raising arm (the    Straight Foundation) resign when prevention was de-emphasized, but his    counterpart who oversaw the treatment programs quit as well.
 
    Mel Riddile, until recently the executive director of Straight    Inc. , said he resigned "when the board made it clear that they wanted    to take a new direction. ... The scope of the job was going to be quite    a bit different because they were taking two jobs and basically making    them into one."
 
    Those weren't the only resignations. Four of the eight program    directors at Straight treatment centers across the country quit in the    past year.
 
    "Yeah, there's been some turnover in some of our cities,"    acknowledged Mel Sembler, a local developer and one of Straight's    founders. "That's one of the reasons we figured we ought to bring in    the new administrator."
 
    The new administrator is Bernadine E. Braithwaite, formerly    executive vice president of U.S. Health Corp. Her expertise is in    running hospitals, not drug centers. "We wanted to concentrate on    someone with a great deal of administrative skills," said Sembler.
 
    Among her tasks will be to improve collections and help Straight    get a bigger slice of the health insurance pie. She also is expected to    help Straight become more competitive in a marketplace it once had    virtually cornered. On Straight's way to its 6,000th customer, the drug    counseling industry changed. Hospitals and private clinics began    opening their own chemical dependency programs, and, unlike Straight,    they spread the word through advertising rather than word-of-mouth.
 
Straight became a bit player in a huge game.
 
    Straight responded in 1985 by forming the Straight Foundation, a    separate drug prevention and fund-raising arm. Foundation members could    lecture and raise money while the eight treatment programs - in St.    Petersburg, Orlando, Atlanta, Dallas, Cincinnati, Detroit, Washington    and Boston - were left to help kids kick the habit.
 
    Two directions, however, meant two boards of directors, and    sometimes disparate visions.
 
    "The split between the two created some administrative problems    that they wouldn't have had" otherwise, said Bill Oliver, the recently    resigned executive director of the Straight Foundation. Hiring    decisions and physical plant expansions required votes by both boards,    he said. While several former staffers said the division was rarely    noticed by Straight's rank and file, it was clear at the top.
 
    Elliott L. Carr, a Pinellas educator and Straight board member,    recalls it as "not so much a rift as a difference in the understanding    of goals. ... We in the operating company would have needs, programs    that we needed to put on, and the foundation board would have needs. It    was a philosophical difference of what we needed to do."
 
    It was obvious by midsummer that "something needed to be    reshuffled," said the Rev. Priit Rebane, a board member.
 
    The boards met and decided to concentrate on treatment.  Explained    Tampa lawyer Joseph Garcia, another board member: "You do what you do    best."
 
    "What happened is we lost our focus a bit," Sembler said. "The    board decided we couldn't do two things at once ... so we decided we    were going to focus on treatment at this point."
 
    GRAPHIC: BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO; MEL SEMBLER

LOAD-DATE: November 19, 1992

[Anonymous]

The Washington Post
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July 30, 1991, Tuesday, Final Edition
SECTION: METRO; PAGE B1

LENGTH: 862 words

HEADLINE: Drug Program Accused of Abuse Closes Va. Facility

SERIES: Occasional

BYLINE: DeNeen L. Brown, Washington Post Staff Writer

BODY:
A drug-abuse treatment program for adolescents that Virginia officials sought to shut down because of questionable practices has closed its facility in Springfield, but reopened the program across the border in Maryland.

Straight Inc. , which Virginia officials have accused of abusive practices such as strip searches and "spit therapy," dropped its fight to continue to operate in Virginia.

Straight's decision to cease operations in Virginia came six months after the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services said it would not renew an operating license for the Springfield facility because of repeated human rights violations. Straight closed its Hampton Roads program in February.

Straight appealed the Springfield decision. It lost the first round of its challenge and a hearing was set for today in Richmond. However, in a July 19 letter to state officials, Straight said it wanted to cancel its appeal and voluntarily close.

According to Rick Sampson, director of Maryland's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration, Straight has opened a facility in Columbia.

Sampson said he met with Straight officials last week to tell them of his concerns and to notify them that abusive practices would not be tolerated in Maryland.

"There is a whole aura of controversy that surrounds these people," Sampson said. "I told them I will file charges if you hold kids against their will. I'm coming down on you every way I know. They told me these practices happened under the old program and [that] the administrator of the old program was released."

Sampson said that according to Maryland regulations, Straight does not have to be certified to operate in the state because the program is accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Organizations, a national organization. "If a program is JCAH-accredited, that is accepted by the state in lieu of state certifications," Sampson said. However, a recent Maryland task force recommended that Straight undergo certification by the state.

According to Virginia records, Straight, which opened the Springfield facility in 1982, has been cited in recent years for punishing clients by depriving them of sleep, drinking water, snacks, meals and visits with parents. Straight denied the allegations and said it did not administer those punishments.

Virginia officials also found that the Springfield program failed to notify county officials that a 13-year-old boy in the program had been sexually abused by another client, according to state documents.

"For the protection of the health and safety of youngsters enrolled in the Straight program, the department is gratified that the day treatment facility has closed," Jacqueline M. Ennis, assistant commissioner of the Virginia mental health agency, said in a statement yesterday. " Straight Inc. 's repeated violations have been of both clinical and administrative nature, posing a danger for Straight clients. Additionally, we had become convinced that despite its protestations and promises to improve, the operators of the Straight program had no firm intention to comply with Virginia's licensing regulations, nor with a consent agreement Straight entered into in July a year ago."

Joy Margolis, vice president of public affairs for Straight, which is based in Florida, said yesterday the program has changed some of its most controversial methods. Margolis said that the Springfield facility was in full compliance with state licensing regulations, but state officials still refused to issue another license.

"We've corrected all those problems. The only thing the state would discuss is past problems. They didn't seem to be interested in the present," Margolis said.

"We really feel the families in treatment have suffered tremendously as a result of harassment by the state," Margolis said. "We have worked hard to be in compliance. These are families who are really desperate and feel that Straight has really saved their lives."

The Springfield program, which treated about 100 clients aged 12 to early twenties, employed a series of steps similar to the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Straight Inc. , which has drawn criticism throughout the country for its controversial rehabilitation program since it was founded in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1976, claims a 70 percent success rate in treating drug abuse. Lawsuits have been filed against Straight by parents and clients alleging imprisonment and emotional and physical abuse.

Although the program has been criticized, several parents whose children went through it said they support Straight and that it works.

Linda Cannon, a District resident, said she sent both her teenage sons to the program last year after she discovered they were abusing drugs.

"I can't tell you what Straight has done for our family . . . . My son who was using LSD thanked us for putting him in Straight and saving his life," Cannon said.

Cannon said, "I don't know what went on in the past [with Straight], but as a parent who had two sons in the program, if I had to scrub floors with a toothbrush to keep the program going, I would do that."

[Anonymous]

The Washington Post
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July 30, 1991, Tuesday, Final Edition
SECTION: METRO; PAGE B1

LENGTH: 862 words

HEADLINE: Drug Program Accused of Abuse Closes Va. Facility

SERIES: Occasional

BYLINE: DeNeen L. Brown, Washington Post Staff Writer

BODY:
A drug-abuse treatment program for adolescents that Virginia officials sought to shut down because of questionable practices has closed its facility in Springfield, but reopened the program across the border in Maryland.

Straight Inc. , which Virginia officials have accused of abusive practices such as strip searches and "spit therapy," dropped its fight to continue to operate in Virginia.

Straight's decision to cease operations in Virginia came six months after the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services said it would not renew an operating license for the Springfield facility because of repeated human rights violations. Straight closed its Hampton Roads program in February.

Straight appealed the Springfield decision. It lost the first round of its challenge and a hearing was set for today in Richmond. However, in a July 19 letter to state officials, Straight said it wanted to cancel its appeal and voluntarily close.

According to Rick Sampson, director of Maryland's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration, Straight has opened a facility in Columbia.

Sampson said he met with Straight officials last week to tell them of his concerns and to notify them that abusive practices would not be tolerated in Maryland.

"There is a whole aura of controversy that surrounds these people," Sampson said. "I told them I will file charges if you hold kids against their will. I'm coming down on you every way I know. They told me these practices happened under the old program and [that] the administrator of the old program was released."

Sampson said that according to Maryland regulations, Straight does not have to be certified to operate in the state because the program is accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Organizations, a national organization. "If a program is JCAH-accredited, that is accepted by the state in lieu of state certifications," Sampson said. However, a recent Maryland task force recommended that Straight undergo certification by the state.

According to Virginia records, Straight, which opened the Springfield facility in 1982, has been cited in recent years for punishing clients by depriving them of sleep, drinking water, snacks, meals and visits with parents. Straight denied the allegations and said it did not administer those punishments.

Virginia officials also found that the Springfield program failed to notify county officials that a 13-year-old boy in the program had been sexually abused by another client, according to state documents.

"For the protection of the health and safety of youngsters enrolled in the Straight program, the department is gratified that the day treatment facility has closed," Jacqueline M. Ennis, assistant commissioner of the Virginia mental health agency, said in a statement yesterday. " Straight Inc. 's repeated violations have been of both clinical and administrative nature, posing a danger for Straight clients. Additionally, we had become convinced that despite its protestations and promises to improve, the operators of the Straight program had no firm intention to comply with Virginia's licensing regulations, nor with a consent agreement Straight entered into in July a year ago."

Joy Margolis, vice president of public affairs for Straight, which is based in Florida, said yesterday the program has changed some of its most controversial methods. Margolis said that the Springfield facility was in full compliance with state licensing regulations, but state officials still refused to issue another license.

"We've corrected all those problems. The only thing the state would discuss is past problems. They didn't seem to be interested in the present," Margolis said.

"We really feel the families in treatment have suffered tremendously as a result of harassment by the state," Margolis said. "We have worked hard to be in compliance. These are families who are really desperate and feel that Straight has really saved their lives."

The Springfield program, which treated about 100 clients aged 12 to early twenties, employed a series of steps similar to the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Straight Inc. , which has drawn criticism throughout the country for its controversial rehabilitation program since it was founded in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1976, claims a 70 percent success rate in treating drug abuse. Lawsuits have been filed against Straight by parents and clients alleging imprisonment and emotional and physical abuse.

Although the program has been criticized, several parents whose children went through it said they support Straight and that it works.

Linda Cannon, a District resident, said she sent both her teenage sons to the program last year after she discovered they were abusing drugs.

"I can't tell you what Straight has done for our family . . . . My son who was using LSD thanked us for putting him in Straight and saving his life," Cannon said.

Cannon said, "I don't know what went on in the past [with Straight], but as a parent who had two sons in the program, if I had to scrub floors with a toothbrush to keep the program going, I would do that."

[Anonymous]

Copyright 1991 The Washington Post  
The Washington Post
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September 7, 1991, Saturday, Final Edition
SECTION: METRO; PAGE B1

LENGTH: 681 words

HEADLINE: Drug Program May Close;
Straight Inc. Fails Md. Certification

SERIES: Occasional

BYLINE: Dan Beyers, Washington Post Staff Writer

BODY:
Straight Inc. found itself caught in another regulatory net yesterday when Maryland authorities moved to close the drug-treatment center in Columbia for failing to meet state certification standards.

Nelson J. Sabatini, secretary of health and mental hygiene, wrote Straight officials that their center for adolescents is "not providing education for some minor children" as required by law. Straight also has failed to obtain a license to place clients temporarily in the homes of other clients, he said.

"If Straight can comply with the laws of the state, they can do business in the state," Sabatini said in an interview. But, he said, "they are not complying."

Although Straight's confrontational treatment methods are controversial, many parents have credited them with saving the lives of their drug-addicted teenagers.

Straight officials said they would appeal at a hearing Sept. 17. Their program, which is part of a national chain operating in six states, can remain open at its present location in a Columbia business park until it has exhausted its appeals. About 52 adolescents are enrolled.

"We're going to go to the hearing. We have to," said Eugene J. Nieto, acting executive director for Straight's Maryland center. "Our parents have made a big investment in our program, an investment in their lives."

Maryland's action follows a decision by Virginia authorities to revoke Straight's operating license. Straight moved its center from Springfield to Columbia July 29, just days before the Virginia decision became final. Virginia officials said Straight was not providing a proper education for its clients, allowed clients to improperly restrain other clients and improperly assessed some clients' problems.

Sabatini said he was aware of the Virginia controversy but said it had little effect on Maryland's certification review. He said Straight officials assured Maryland that "they do not restrain or hold people against their will."

Straight officials said they hope they can obtain certification. Nieto said the only reason an educational program is not being offered is that Howard County school officials are waiting for the program to receive certification.

"It's kind of a chicken and egg problem," he added.

Peter Finck, who oversees off-campus education programs for Howard County, agreed. He said the school system is ready to send four teachers to Straight every day. "I think we will be able to satisfy the department's requirement if we can just get together."

More difficult for Straight will be meeting the requirement that it be licensed to place youths in private homes. Straight clients in the early stages of treatment spend the day at the treatment center and, as a form of peer therapy, spend nights and weekends in the homes of clients who are in later stages of treatment.

State officials say this is akin to foster care and that such placements must be regulated. Such an arrangement could prove unmanageable for Straight.

"We have to see what they are talking about there," Nieto said.

Straight became the subject of Maryland's regulatory scrutiny immediately after moving to Columbia.

Howard County's director of addiction services, Frank J. McGloin, wrote state regulators Aug. 6 to urge them to "look closely at licensing procedures, particularly in view of the fact that foster parents are apparently used to provide night housing and supervision for members."

"The problem is they could have good houses and bad houses and you would never really be able to tell," McGloin said yesterday.

Straight's new center also became the target of families unhappy with the program. A few picketed Straight headquarters and threatened to take legal action.

"If Straight's application had been approved, you would have seen lawsuits falling out of the trees. It would have looked like autumn on the attorney general's desk," said Gregg Reight, of Columbia, the father of a former Straight client.

Reight said he is pleased with the state's decision but "won't really be happy until I can stand in the last empty room."

[Anonymous]

Copyright 1992 The Washington Post  
The Washington Post
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February 26, 1992, Wednesday, Final Edition
SECTION: METRO; PAGE B1

LENGTH: 683 words

HEADLINE: Straight Inc. Is Closing Md. Center;
Drug-Treatment Unit Blames the Recession

SERIES: Occasional

BYLINE: Dan Beyers, Washington Post Staff Writer

BODY:
Straight Inc. , which waged a decade-long battle with Maryland and Virginia regulators over its drug-treatment program for adolescents, is closing its only remaining center in the Washington area Friday because of financial problems.

The Columbia-based facility, which opened last July, has had financial difficulties for several months. Its landlord recently started eviction proceedings, claiming the nonprofit organization owed $ 42,726 in back rent.

"We would like to continue to provide help, but these are tough times," said Joy Margolis, a national spokesman for Straight Inc. "Given the recession, many families are finding it difficult to afford the cost of putting their child in a drug-treatment program."

Enrollment at Straight's Columbia center had dropped to 31, and several of the remaining youths were ending their treatment, Margolis said. Straight, which will continue to operate five other centers in four states, typically handles about 80 clients at each facility. At one point, it had about 300 in the Washington area, Margolis said.

Straight's Columbia center, housed unobtrusively in the rear of an office and warehouse complex, was being emptied yesterday. Straight employees said the clients, who normally would have spent the day in treatment, have been told to stay home. "We're just finishing up with paperwork," one employee said.

Maryland Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene Nelson J. Sabatini said the state will offer to help Straight clients find alternative treatment programs.

"My obligation is to the kids in that program -- not Straight, the kids," Sabatini said.

Straight officials have tangled with regulators in this region ever since the program moved to Virginia and opened a center in Springfield in 1982.

The program, which began in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1976, sparked controversy almost from the start as some former clients and their parents questioned its confrontational form of therapy, which relies heavily on rigid rules and peer pressure.

However, many other Straight parents and youths testified to the program's effectiveness. They said Straight worked for many young people who were not helped by other approaches.

Straight seemed to have weathered its early problems by 1985, when First Lady Nancy Reagan toured the Springfield center with Britain's Princess Diana, generating much favorable publicity.

But then, in early 1991, Virginia officials announced that they would not renew Straight's operating license because the center had repeatedly violated state policies. State officials said Straight had failed to provide proper education programs for its clients, had improperly allowed clients to be physically restrained and had incorrectly assessed some clients' problems.

Straight officials initially said they would fight the Virginia decision. Instead, two days before a scheduled appeal, they closed the Springfield center and moved to Columbia.

There, Maryland officials allowed Straight to operate after center officials promised to modify their program and to be subject to regular on-site visits and other scrutiny. Maryland officials charged in November that the program was violating the agreement and threatened to take action against the center.

Sabatini said regulators still had concerns about the program when Straight officials announced the center's closing yesterday. "It was a surprise to us," Sabatini said.

"It is a shame they won't be there to help others like they helped our daughter, who had a serious drug addiction," said one Maryland mother, who asked not to be identified. "Straight opened her eyes. It did for her what other programs could not do. If it wasn't for Straight, my daughter might be dead now."

But Straight's announcement brought cheers from Gregg Reight, 49, who said his son was mistreated by Straight. Reight and a tiny band of other dissatisfied families continually pressed regulators to shut the center down.

"I'm glad they are gone," Reight said. "But is our fight over? Five other centers remain open. We will continue to work to close them as well."

[Anonymous]

Times Publishing Company  
St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
 View Related Topics 
April 26, 1993, Monday, City Edition
SECTION: TAMPA BAY AND STATE; Pg. 1B

DISTRIBUTION: TAMPA BAY AND STATE

LENGTH: 544 words

HEADLINE: Drug program closes its doors

BYLINE: JENNY DEAM

DATELINE: ST. PETERSBURG

BODY:
 Straight Inc. , the controversial adolescent drug treatment program that once  was praised by the White House as among the best in the nation, closed its  center here over the weekend because of dwindling enrollment.

The national headquarters for the drug program will remain at 3001 Gandy  Blvd. But the Tampa Bay treatment center, with a capacity for about 100  clients, was closed after enrollment dropped to 19, said Bernadine  Braithwaite, national executive director.

"It's just the times," she said Sunday, blaming a tough economic climate.  She said the one-year program is often too great a financial burden for  parents, many of whom favor shorter programs.

The center's 19 clients were transferred to a Straight center in Atlanta on  Friday, Braithwaite said. Atlanta and Detroit are the only two remaining  centers, she said.

The closing appeared to catch the state Department of Health and  Rehabilitative Services by surprise.

"We have not been notified," said Elaine Fulton-Jones, HRS spokeswoman,  "and they are required to give us notice. This comes as a complete  surprise."

Fulton-Jones said she called several HRS officials Sunday and none of them  had heard about the closing. A routine site visit had even been scheduled for  May 10, she said.

Mel Sembler, local developer, former ambassador to Australia and a board  member for Straight, said there were about a dozen employees at the center  here. He said they were given the option to relocate.

Braithwaite said the center may reopen later. "We're looking at some  different options," she said.

The closing of the area flagship operation ends a stormy 17-year era for  the program.

In its heyday, the Straight philosophy of using other adolescents and  reformed drug users to confront current users spread across the nation. At  various times there were programs in California, Virginia, Texas,  Massachusetts, Michigan, Georgia, Maryland and Florida.

But almost from the beginning the unorthodox approach was the target of  complaints, investigations and lawsuits. Some parents praised it, calling it a  lifesaver for their children. Others went to authorities to charge that their  children had been humiliated, struck or held against their will.

As the program evolved, Straight officials maintained that their methods  also evolved and that policies were changed. For example, by 1991 only trained  counselors were allowed to restrain clients who became disruptive, and new  clients were no longer led around by their belt loops.

Straight officials have long said that their methods were not abusive and  that complaints came from disgruntled former clients.

Richard Bradbury of Tampa, who said he was a Straight client from 1983  until 1984, called the closing "a great day."

Bradbury said he is suing the organization for defaming and attempting to  discredit him. Bradbury said he has worked with former clients and their  families for seven years to counteract what he calls the abuses of the  program.

Despite its detractors, Nancy Reagan and President Bush have called  Straight one of the nation's best drug treatment programs for adolescents.  - Times staff writer Roger Clendening II contributed to this report.

GRAPHIC: BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO; Mel Sembler

LOAD-DATE: April 28, 1993

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