Why so many TBS/RTC Facilities in Utah and Montana?

[Anonymous]

Can anyone tell me why there are so many therapeutic facilities in Utah and Montana, and very little to choose from in the Eastern US?  It seems a little unusual that I must trave thousands of miles to find a suitable treatment program for a troubled teen.

Regards,
Bill

[Dr Phil]

To skirt existing child abuse laws and other types of regulation and restriction. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, doesn't it?

[Troll Control]

Because those are the places where they can operate with no oversight whatsoever.  Basically they can do whatever they want and there are no laws or regulations to get in the way of their "treatment" for kids.  That's precisely why kids there end up dead so often.

[Nihilanthic]

Backwater hellholes with no economies and corrupt authorities?

[Anonymous]

Because Utah is a place where a program owner can abuse kids BADLY and CRIMINALLY---like Cheryl Sudweeks did at Whitmore Academy---and she gets a "plea bargain deal" where she only has to plea guilty to "attempted hazing."

Still wanna send your kiddo to some facility in Utah, do you?

Why don't you get the kid some "help" locally and keep him/her at home and be a parent?

[Anonymous]

Take a close look at the laws & regulations of various states and you will some important differences that might explain a few things.

"Programs," as discussed on this forum, usually include wilderness programs as well as RTC and TBS residential programs. Some states have little or no regulation of any of them, others regulate one type of program more than the others, and most states make a clear regulatory distinction between residential "treatment facilities" and "schools," although in practice that distinction may be meaningless.

A good rule of thumb might be to assess the likelihood of criminal convictions or of winning a lawsuit if the worst possible nightmare occurred. States where that is least likely is where you will find more programs.

[Anonymous]

A good rule of thumb might be to assess the likelihood of criminal convictions or of winning a lawsuit if the worst possible nightmare occurred. States where that is least likely is where you will find more programs.

You win.

[AtomicAnt]

To skirt existing child abuse laws and other types of regulation and restriction. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, doesn't it?

Have you ever been to Utah or Montana? There is nothing there. The few lonely people that live there spent too much time in the hot sun. It baked their already feeble minds into thinking up a new industry to force some kids to visit and keep them company. Since there is nothing there but barren desert, they sold the desert as a psychological tool.

[Dr Phil]

To skirt existing child abuse laws and other types of regulation and restriction. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, doesn't it?

Have you ever been to Utah or Montana? There is nothing there. The few lonely people that live there spent too much time in the hot sun. It baked their already feeble minds into thinking up a new industry to force some kids to visit and keep them company. Since there is nothing there but barren desert, they sold the desert as a psychological tool.

Unfortunately, both. Got caught in a snowstorm driving in Utah, and never saw the ground without snow in Montana so I will take your word for it about that heat.  

[Anonymous]

In the global scheme of things, rural Utah has been shut down as the Federal gov gobbles up all of Utah's land and resources.  The Feds then shut the land down which breaks the local economy.  I live in a small town (800) that used to have good paying jobs, now Turn-About Ranch (TAR) and the gov are about the only employers left.

As far as Utah goes, Mormonism is rampant.  Here are some excerpts of info requested by UK child protective services that I provided based on my formal complaints against TAR:

The Mormon culture includes rampant child sexual abuse, male dominance, submissive females and polygamous relationships (it's not just Warren Jeffs).  The Utah social system does not work around laws or morals of rights and wrongs, rather, its priorities are connections to the Church and the family (all families are inter-related due to polygamy and Utah's past isolation from non-Mormons).

. . .

No action was ever taken against Wayne other than a verbal reprimand by TAR.  I discovered his social connections to all three agencies.  The state licensing woman's husband worked for the same corporation (Aspen Education Group) at a different facility, the child protective service woman was the TAR Director's cousin, and Wayne worked undercover for the Sheriff.

The only law enforcement or justice in Utah is the CHURCH and the FAMILY!  These take priorities over federal or state laws ALWAYS!

To read all of my comments see the last post in this thread on TAR:
http://wwf.fornits.com/viewtopic.php?t=7205&start=15

Toni

[Anonymous]

It seems a little unusual that I must trave thousands of miles to find a suitable treatment program for a troubled teen.

Please pay attention to what you can read on these boards.  These treatment programs are not suitable.  They are underregulated, inconsistent, dangerous facilities, deliberately set up in states where they have to jump through the fewest legal hoops.

[Anonymous]

4.

Julie

[Anonymous]

Bill, there aren't that many programs in Montana. There are quite a few in Maine, Vermont, the Carolinas, etc. All states with a very high degree of regulation.

Can anyone tell me why there are so many therapeutic facilities in Utah and Montana, and very little to choose from in the Eastern US?  It seems a little unusual that I must trave thousands of miles to find a suitable treatment program for a troubled teen.

Regards,
Bill

[Dr Phil]

"According to officials at the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS), their office has received many calls over the years from concerned parents questioning the safety and effectiveness of various therapeutic and behavior modification programs in Montana."

"Teen behavior modification, therapeutic schools and wilderness therapy programs are big business in Western Montana. An estimated 1,200 children are enrolled in them. Some smaller programs charge nearly double Spring Creek?s monthly tuition of approximately $3,500. Spring Creek alone grosses close to $20 million annually, and a Spring Creek lobbyist claimed during the last legislative session that the industry generates revenues in excess of $40 million annually in Montana. "

"State Rep. Paul Clark, D-Trout Creek, owner and operator of his own teen program called Galena Ridge Academy, called on industry representatives to work on an alternative bill to SB 101. What resulted was House Bill 628. The difference between the two bills is that SB 101 put oversight in the hands of DPHHS and HB 628 puts oversight in the hands of the state Department of Labor and Industry and creates a five-member, governor-appointed board to explore appropriate regulation of the industry. The board, not yet seated, will consist of two citizens and three representatives of the industry."

http://www.missoulanews.com/News/News.asp?no=4970

[Anonymous]

This is another example of the mentality there.  



http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/10/03/kidna ... index.html

Parents kidnap bride to be to keep her from getting married.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) -- The parents of a bride-to-be told their daughter they were taking her on a shopping trip, but then drove to Colorado and kept her there until she missed the nuptials, officials said.

Lemuel and Julia Redd have been charged with second-degree felony kidnapping. Utah County Attorney Kay Bryson said Tuesday he met with the couple's daughter, Julianna, and her now-husband Perry Myers before charging the parents.

"I've never had a case quite like this," Bryson said. "It is strange that parents would go to that extent to keep an adult daughter from marrying the man that she had chosen to marry."

The Redds told their 21-year-old daughter they were taking her on a shopping trip August 4 and then drove 240 miles from Provo to Grand Junction, Colorado, according to Provo police Capt. Rick Healey. Myers, 23, called police when his bride didn't attend a pre-wedding dinner with his parents that night.

The Redds spent the night in Colorado and drove back to Provo, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City, the next day, Healey said. They arrived after the young couple was supposed to have been married in a ceremony that day at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Temple in Salt Lake City.

The couple, both students at Brigham Young University, were married in the temple on August 8, Myers said. They are expecting their first child in May.

The Redds didn't want their daughter to get married, but the bride has been reluctant to say what happened on the drive. Myers said he and his wife were not discussing details of the car ride but said her parents' objections were not about him.

"It really has nothing to do a lot with me. It really is some issues with the family," he said.

Bryson said after reviewing the police investigation it was clear a crime was committed. Charges were filed Friday.

Lemuel, 59, and Julia Redd, 56, are scheduled to make an initial court appearance October 26. If convicted, the Redds could face one to 15 years in prison.

A call made to a listing for Lemuel H. Redd at the address in Monticello, Utah, listed in court documents went unanswered Tuesday. No attorney for the Redds is listed in court documents and it couldn't immediately be determined if they had legal representation.