5-24-07
CAICA Founder and President Isabelle Zehnder recently came to the defense of a mother whose son died in a wilderness program on 5-2-07. Former staff of the facility where he died commented on an article written about his death indicating he/she believed that the death was the mother's fault. This person claims to be a former staff member yet shows a strong interest in CAICA removing this child, Caleb Jensen's, story from the CAICA website.
After several posts back and forth, providing information to expose the abuse, neglect, and deaths in these facilities, someone posted under the User Name BeeTRue. Looking at her profile, the person posting derogatory comments about Isabelle Zehnder and CAICA had the first name "Joyce" with her Zip Code from San Antonio (see article below - coinsidence?) It appears this mother may have a thing or two to hide and that this mother may have a vested interest in attempting to discredit both Isabelle Zehnder and CAICA, as well as other child advocates and groups.
Isabelle Zehnder did her homework. She visited the facility after the allegations of abuse surfaced. She spoke to the owners, to lawyers, and to government officials. She interviewed parents and children who attended the Whitmore. During her interviews she was told by both parents and children who attended the Whitmore that this mother enticed three teens to run away from the program. Just one week prior to this incident some parents had visited the program and their children were happy and indicated that finally they were excited to learn and do well in school.
The mother paid a driver to pick the boys up from the Whitmore late at night, enticing them to run away from the Whitmore by paying for their ride from the facility to a town nearby where they would pick up money that was wired to them. From there they went to the airport and were flown half way across the country to a music festival that may consider a drug fest. According to the mother of one of the boys involved there is evidence of the money transfer, airline tickets, and so on.
They flew from Salt Lake City, Utah, and the music festival was in Tennessee. One of the boys was missing for a month, the FBI was involved. The other two turned themselves in after several days.
Two young people died that weekend at the festival - they overdosed on drugs.
It is time the truth is told - it is time to stop bashing advocates who work tirelessly to expose and rectify abuse, neglect, and deaths in residential treatment facilities.
Advocates who, contrary to what this mother would like people to believe, do not have a monetary interest in referring children to "abusive programs". Specifically she accuses Isabelle Zehnder of getting a financial kickback of some sort from referring children to programs.
There is no money exchanging hands at CAICA. Other than a few donations, CAICA Founder and President Isabelle Zehnder and her husband have funded CAICA.
Her work for parents and teens has been pro-bono.
Her work helping lawyers has been pro-bono.
The hours she has spent being interviewed by reporters has been pro-bono.
The endless number of hours she has spent creating what professionals have referred to as "the most comprehensive website on the topic of the teen help industry and children and teens abused in residential care" has all been done on a volunteer basis.
The CAICA website has been used by many researchers, reporters, lawyers, university students, parents, victims, and others.
Isabelle does not charge for her services and she has never taken money for referring children to any program.
She has, however, worked with a parent advocate whose child was abuse in a residential facility. This parents has worked tirelessly for the past 7 years locating safe alternatives for parents looking to place their children in a program.
It is unrealistic to believe there are no good programs for children and teens. There are. It is important parents receive guidance to find them, otherwise they can be mislead by the hundreds of websites that lead to the same group of programs known to be abusive.
What many people forget, including parents, is that this industry is for the most part unregulated, there is no government oversight and no one oversees the operations of these programs. It's a Buyer Beware business and parents need to be careful where they are sending their children.
Like it or not some children are going to go to programs. Some parents are at their wits end, some cannot care for their own child. Others are court-adjudicated. Some of those children's parents have a choice where the child will be placed.
We have one of two choices. Let the parent fend for themselves and be led to programs that are known to abuse and neglect kids, or help find safer alternatives.
I believe it is the responsible thing to help find options.
The parent advocate they claim refers to abusive programs, Sue Scheff, is a member of the Better Business Bureau with a clean record. The only complaint she has ever received was from the mother mentioned in the article below for referring her daugther to the Whitmore.
The state indicated there was no evidence of abuse at the Whitmore.
NEWS ARTICLE:
Parents frantic after three students go AWOL from boarding school
Whitmore Academy: One of the three, from North Carolina, is still missing
By Kirsten Stewart
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
On May 31, when Peggy Rodebush last saw her 17-year-old son, he was safely enrolled at a Utah boarding school and, for the first time in years, enthusiastic about learning.
A week later, school officials informed Rodebush that Michael was missing.
"I thought, 'Oh my God, what happened to my son? Where is he?' You can't imagine the sheer panic," said Rodebush from her home in Tampa, Fla. After four sleepless nights and countless hours on the phone, Rodebush tracked down Michael and two other missing Whitmore students at an outdoor rock music concert in Manchester, Tenn.
Since then, the parents of the three runaways have worked feverishly to retrieve their children and piece together how and why they disappeared. One North Carolina boy remains missing.
Rodebush's husband will retrieve Michael today from a juvenile detention facility, where he is being held as a runaway. The third boy arrived home in Maryland over the weekend.
Mark and Cheryl Sudweeks, the owners of Whitmore, did not immediately respond Monday to attempts to reach them for comment, nor did Nephi police.
Whitmore is not currently licensed by state officials. Inspectors want to bring it under state regulations, arguing it qualifies as a therapeutic facility, but the school is fighting that designation.
Rodebush believes the boys were assisted by school critic Joyce Harris of San Antonio, whose daughter allegedly suffered abuse at Whitmore in 2004. Harris denies Rodebush's claim, and says a Whitmore employee facilitated their exodus. She declined further comment.
Rodebush bases her account on a brief phone call with her son and numerous discussions with Nephi police.
She says the three boys left Whitmore on June 6 and hid out in Nephi overnight, where Harris allegedly wired them money and provided for transportation to Salt Lake City International Airport. The following day, they boarded a flight to Chicago, again allegedly paid for by Harris, and spent the evening at an apartment in the city.
"If this woman was really worried about my son, why didn't she call me?" said Rodebush. "She has never even met Michael. Who is she to decide she has a better solution for my son?"
Juab County Attorney Jared Eldridge says there is some evidence that Harris was involved, but it appears the boys contacted her after running away.
"I don't know if Joyce [Harris] purchased the tickets, but doing so isn't a criminal offense," said Eldridge.
Later that week, Rodebush says, the boys took three separate buses to Bonaroo, a jam band concert on a 700-acre farm in Manchester that draws hundreds of thousands of fans.
"They couldn't get on the same bus, so they agreed to meet at the festival," said Rodebush.
Tired and running out of money, the 16-year-old Maryland boy on Saturday phoned his parents, who convinced him and Michael Rodebush to go to the police. They never met up with Kyle McEvoy, who is still missing.
Tom McEvoy, the North Carolina father of the 17-year-old, is "sick with worry," and working with Manchester police to find his son. He says he has had limited contact with the school.
"I just want my son back," said McEvoy, noting, "I was there for parents' weekend a week before all this went down and none of the boys indicated they were unhappy or planning on running away."
Rodebush also attended parents' weekend, and says her son Michael gave rave reviews of the school.
Unsatisfied with the county attorney's response to Harris' possible involvement, Rodebush has contacted the FBI and plans to file a complaint with the Utah Attorney General's office.
Meanwhile, Whitmore owner Cheryl Sudweeks is facing five misdemeanor counts of child abuse and two counts of hazing, filed last week for allegedly humiliating and harming four Whitmore students in 2003 and 2004.
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Posted by Isabelle Zehnder at 8:32 AM
