Academy at Swift River - Information Needed - IMPORTANT

[Anonymous]

On 2006-06-23 08:10:00, TheWho wrote:

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On 2006-06-23 07:37:00, Deborah wrote:


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There would be value if ASR and others were required to disclose in bold letters that they are not licensed and monitored by any state agency, and what that means. Like I said, I think parents assume they are licensed, or that "accreditation" includes monitoring of the experimental 'therapeutic' methods."

Yes, your right, which would work, if they were forced to do that.  That would get the ball rolling, The parents would then add pressure to get the schools licensed and monitored.  There needs to be some catalyst, like what you stated, to get it started.



Ever see those big banners on the side of companies ?ISO 9001 certified??  That is an extremely expensive and time consuming task for some companies, especially if they are small.  The people they sell to (larger companies) are demanding they be certified in order to do business them.

If you talk to the people that have gone thru the process they will tell you they are a better company for it, but would have never done it on their own because of the expense and time it took and back then they felt they were doing a good enough job already, so they felt at the time why get certified?



The article you posted is very old compared to the ASR today or even 4 years ago.  It did raise some eyebrows in its time though.

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This ISO analogy is a good reason NOT to trust a licensing process. I work for an ISO certified company. It's a long and expensive process, alright. It's done for PR purposes. The actual certification is a joke.

One employee informed me that employees had to take down phone number lists they had tacked onto their cubicle walls because they were 'non-standard.' When the inspectors/auditors left, they put them back up.

ISO requires procedures for everything. It is one thing to write a procedure and another to follow it. Another employee told me how he simply turned in a set of very outdated procedures. They were accepted.

I'm not impressed with ISO certification.

There are ways around the rules. Licensing of these facilities guarantees nothing. In a worst case, it simply legalizes the immoral process of breaking kids wills.

[Anonymous]

ASR New Grad Mom

Posted: 2004-08-24 10:02:00  

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 I also graduated from ASR very recently on August the 6th. And I can tell you right now that any kid who complained, their parents were manipulated right out of believing them. There was extreme emotional abuse there, and the only reason anyone's behavior was modified was because they were scared shitless of staying there longer or going to a worse program. We were so scared, your own friends turned against you and you couldnt trust them. The group sessions were awful. One of my friends who had issues with sleeping around was in group and the counselor in the room told her that she might as well keep a mattress tied to her back. Daily, I heard awful things about myself and everyday I was just so sad. Places like this are awful and they need to be stopped. ASR isnt even the worst of them but they all need to go.

 :nworthy:

[PFRR]

[/quote]





We are a member of the Massachusetts Boarding SChool association (I'm not sure of the exact title) who oversees us.  Of course we have to follow all sorts of state and federal regulations.  It's silly to think that anyone can just open up a school and run it with no oversight.  That doesn't even make sense.



As far as reporting aciidents and such, I don't have specific information regarding that.  That is not a part of my job."
[/quote][ This Message was edited by: PFRR on 2006-06-24 06:38 ]

[PFRR]

Listen I can't cut a quote and say what I need to say on the same thing - I will learn in the meantime again in CAPS.  ASR WAS NOT REQUIRED TO LICENSE BECAUSE THEY LIED ABOUT THE TYPE OF KIDS THAT WERE THERE, AND YES I AM ON TOP OF THIS WITH THE LICENSING AGENCY.  HEY DUMMY WHO CLAIMS TO WORK THERE THEIR IS NO MA ASSOCIATIONS OF BOARDING SCHOOLS - AND NO ASSOCIATION SETS STANDARDS, REGULATES, AND OVERSEES SO GET WITH THE PROGRAM.  SCARES ME YOU CLAIM TO WORK WITH THIS VERY POPULATION AND STATE SUCH IDIOTIC THINGS OR EVEN MORE SO MAY BELIEVE THEM.  WAKE UP!  ASSOCIATION - PAY DUES, MEMBERS, ETC.  OCCS IS NO LONGER IT IS AFFILIATED WITH EEC I HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION NOW TO GO BACK TO THE STATE - WHAT I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT PISSES ME OFF MORE THAN ANYTHING IS THAT THEY REFUSE TO LICENSE, DESISTO DID THE SAME THING, IF ASR IS FINE AND DOES WHAT THEY SAY THEY DO THEN JUST LICENSE.  AS FAR AS LICENSING INSURING ANYTHING NO IT DOES NOT EVER - WHAT IT DOES INSURE THOUGH IS OVERSIGHT, REGULATIONS, AND THAT SOMEONE HAS SOMEPLACE TO GO TO FILE A COMPLAINT THAT WILL BE INVESTIGATED, AND ACTED UPON - RIGHT NOW ASR HAS NO OVERSIGHT AND PARENTS ONLY HAVE WHAT ASR SAYS TO RELY ON.  SICK HUH BUT TRUE!  BE CAREFUL BE REAL CAREFUL - SECONDLY IT IS NOT UP TO THE PARENTS TO LICENSE IT IS UP TO THE SCHOOL ITSELF.  I AM REALLY GETTING SICK OF HAVING TO SAY THIS OVER AND OVER AGAIN - ASR KNOWS WHAT THEY NEED TO DO - THEY CHOOSE NOT TO AND HIDE BEHIND THE KIDS THEY HAVE AS THEY ARE THEIR WITH NO IEPS OR DOCUMENTATION OF THEIR SPECIAL NEEDS IN SOME CASES.

MY TAKE AND I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN VERY PUBLIC ABOUT THIS IF YOU ARE GOING TO OPERATE OR EVEN ARE THINKING ABOUT IT IN MA LICENSE OR LEAVE. :wave:

[PFRR]

And as far as the poster who claims to work at ASR come public or email me directly at pfrr@fcsn.org and give a name.  what are u afraid of? ::

[PFRR]

Deb:

Exactly they lied about things - they are going to go in officially again, my first program unlicensed to go after was DeSisto and well you know that story they were ordered by the courts to license, couldn't handle the "right thing to do" packed up and left - and yes are in FLA under a different name, still same people where in FLA they just don't care.  ASR is next on my list one at a time, these things cost the state a large amount of money, and the programs fight it to the hilt, I just can't understand how anyone can open their doors and do what they do and not want to adhere to oversight, standards, and support.  You would think if they were the best they could be this would not be an issue.   And the fight goes on...  Hey no transporters are licensed to do business in MA that I can find and won't be if we keep up the fight as a matter of fact if I find out a transporter enters this state to remove a kid, I will report the parents and the transporter to the Child Welfare Agency.

[TheWho]

On 2006-06-24 06:53:00, PFRR wrote:

"Deb:



Exactly they lied about things - they are going to go in officially again, my first program unlicensed to go after was DeSisto and well you know that story they were ordered by the courts to license, couldn't handle the "right thing to do" packed up and left - and yes are in FLA under a different name, still same people where in FLA they just don't care.  ASR is next on my list one at a time, these things cost the state a large amount of money, and the programs fight it to the hilt, I just can't understand how anyone can open their doors and do what they do and not want to adhere to oversight, standards, and support.  You would think if they were the best they could be this would not be an issue.   And the fight goes on...  Hey no transporters are licensed to do business in MA that I can find and won't be if we keep up the fight as a matter of fact if I find out a transporter enters this state to remove a kid, I will report the parents and the transporter to the Child Welfare Agency.  "

I dont think ASR takes kids under escort, maybe the person from ASR can let us know if this is true or not.

PFRR, Take the "CapsLock" off, I tEnD to skIp OvEr tHoSe, tHeY aRe tOuGh tO rEAd aNd tAkES aWhIlE tO gEt tHrOuGh.

[Anonymous]

PFRR, leave the CAPS on...maybe that will run THE WHO off.

[TheWho]

Na, I'll just skip over them, no biggie, you can leave them on, if it helps and others seem to like it.  Just giving my opinion.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-06-24 10:37:00, TheWho wrote:

"Na, I'll just skip over them, no biggie, you can leave them on, if it helps and others seem to like it.  Just giving my opinion."

Nobody likes it.  It's so fucking hard to read.

[TheWho]

On 2006-06-24 11:15:00, Anonymous wrote:

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On 2006-06-24 10:37:00, TheWho wrote:


"Na, I'll just skip over them, no biggie, you can leave them on, if it helps and others seem to like it.  Just giving my opinion."

Nobody likes it.  It's so fucking hard to read."

Thank you, so thats 2 votes against using all caps.

[Anonymous]

Voting for the caps. Don't really like caps, just want to vote agaist anything Who likes. What a jerk.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-06-24 11:41:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Voting for the caps. Don't really like caps, just want to vote agaist anything Who likes. What a jerk."

Hey, I dislike him as much as you but all caps SUCKS!

However, I admire your dedication!! :wave:

[Deborah]

On 2006-06-23 11:59:00, Anonymous wrote:


This article is from 1997 when Dean worked there for about 2 months.  The school did shut down and repoened under a whole new administration.  The school is an entirely different entity than it was 9 years ago.  "

Kent was there 6 months.
Kraft's article was published in May 98 and stated, "For (Dean) Kent, it seemed a natural move to take a job last July cooking meals for the staff at ASR.
The state started looking closely at the school several months ago after Kent spoke out about things he'd seen and heard while working there. As a cook at ASR last year, Kent grew increasingly disturbed by the way the staff treated students.
As ASR prepared for its fall session, Kent said, program leaders from Oregon gave the other locally recruited workers only one briefing.
Kent is an artist, and in the winter taught a course in mask-making in addition to his kitchen duties.
Kent said that when he left ASR in mid-January there were no science laboratories, no more than one or two computer work stations, and only a minimal library.
http://old.valleyadvocate.com/articles/swiftriver.html

[TheWho]

On 2006-06-24 12:06:00, Deborah wrote:

"

On 2006-06-23 11:59:00, Anonymous wrote:



This article is from 1997 when Dean worked there for about 2 months.  The school did shut down and repoened under a whole new administration.  The school is an entirely different entity than it was 9 years ago.  "

Kent was there 6 months.

Kraft's article was published in May 98 and stated, "For (Dean) Kent, it seemed a natural move to take a job last July cooking meals for the staff at ASR.

The state started looking closely at the school several months ago after Kent spoke out about things he'd seen and heard while working there. As a cook at ASR last year, Kent grew increasingly disturbed by the way the staff treated students.

As ASR prepared for its fall session, Kent said, program leaders from Oregon gave the other locally recruited workers only one briefing.

Kent is an artist, and in the winter taught a course in mask-making in addition to his kitchen duties.

Kent said that when he left ASR in mid-January there were no science laboratories, no more than one or two computer work stations, and only a minimal library.

http://old.valleyadvocate.com/articles/swiftriver.html

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Thanks Deborah, but the school has come a long ways in 8 years, whole new direction, administration etc.