Author Topic: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down  (Read 47149 times)

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Offline Oscar

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #165 on: November 15, 2009, 03:00:15 PM »
Ever unconventional, long controversial (By Keith Chu, ''Bend Bulletin'', November 15. 2009)

This article was so good that it went straight in Wikipedia. Finally a confirmed link between CEDU and MtBA from a NPOV source outside the industry.
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Offline EricasMom

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #166 on: November 15, 2009, 04:03:50 PM »
Article not so good really--biased to the max--two, count 'em two, edcons quoted and not a single quote from a source who doesn't have financial ties to the industry.  Tom Croke "discovered" the Aspen ties to websites such as adoptionissues.org?  Sheesh, did he also "discover" the interweb?
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Offline Troll Control

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #167 on: November 15, 2009, 04:07:44 PM »
Wow, a direct link between CEDU and MBA.  Remember CEDU had a pedophile psychiatrist working there with a murderer and child molester that he brought ito CEDU as well?  The doctor confessed to sodomizing children and the "helper" is on death row in CA for serial rape and murder of several kids.  A couple of those dead kids were snatched from CEDU.

So this proves that Aspen has a lot to do with CEDU so there's no coincidence that Aspen programs also sexually exploit and kill kids just like CEDU did.  Sick.
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Offline Whooter

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #168 on: November 15, 2009, 04:28:41 PM »
Quote from: "Guest"
Wow, a direct link between CEDU and MBA.  Remember CEDU had a pedophile psychiatrist working there with a murderer and child molester that he brought ito CEDU as well?  The doctor confessed to sodomizing children and the "helper" is on death row in CA for serial rape and murder of several kids.  A couple of those dead kids were snatched from CEDU.

So this proves that Aspen has a lot to do with CEDU so there's no coincidence that Aspen programs also sexually exploit and kill kids just like CEDU did.  Sick.

You missed the whole point of the article.
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Offline Anonymous

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #169 on: November 15, 2009, 04:42:14 PM »
Quote
“One problem I have with the naysayers, while I really do not like in 2009 that kind of work, I also think to go back in hindsight to 30 years ago and damn the people who created this as if they were money-grubbing child abusers. That simply wasn’t true,” Croke said.
If the people who created it were not money-grubbing child abusers, then why was the phenomenon promoted using anecdotal evidence while the harm being done was not addressed:
Quote
“Anecdotally, they were successful with a lot of kids,” Croke said. “What is not as well documented are the casualties that were associated with that.”

Aspen parents are like any other people who are seriously devoted to their fetish insofar as they have a concept of acceptable treatment of one human being by another that is at odds with most others who do not share the fetish:
Quote
“I would hate to see these schools get shut down because a few people felt they were humiliated and embarrassed at what they had to go through,” McKinnon said.

Bring out the gimp, Beth!
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Offline psy

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #170 on: November 15, 2009, 05:31:44 PM »
Quote from: "EricasMom"
Article not so good really--biased to the max--two, count 'em two, edcons quoted and not a single quote from a source who doesn't have financial ties to the industry.  Tom Croke "discovered" the Aspen ties to websites such as adoptionissues.org?  Sheesh, did he also "discover" the interweb?
Oh.  I agree.  But what is indeed fascinating is how they will indeed eat their own if a program causes enough embarrassment and threatens to upset the whole Aspen applecart.  The whole tone of the ed-cons seems to suggest "on we didn't know they still did that...  that' antiquated", and "the other places don't do that anymore"...  and "it's watered down Synanon... really it is".  It's clear damage control.

Croke has seemed to become more moderate recently, though that could be window dressing.  I can't count how many times i've heard "we don't do that anymore".

Quote
Croke said, of the state’s charges of abuse. “It was irresponsible of (Aspen) to allow that kind of programming to continue to go on in the year 2009.”

Hmph. I'd like to know who he currently refers to.  Not sure how much I believe he's sincere.  He's referred to some pretty bad places in the past.  He has been awfully critical of Aspen, though.
http://www.familylight.com/link3/3.03/3 ... arket.html

Thread on it here (including discussion with Croke):
viewtopic.php?f=48&t=25865&p=330986#p315838
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Offline psy

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #171 on: November 15, 2009, 05:48:56 PM »
Reading the article again, the subtext is ever more insidious.
Quote
“It’s like going on the Internet to do your own open heart surgery,” Bodin said. “Anyone can throw their testimonials out there; everyone can give you a list of enthusiastic students.”
Before making those decisions, parents should speak with an educational consultant or mental health professional who knows about the treatment options and climate of each facility, Bodin said.
“Parents are having to make huge decisions involving lots of money at a very vulnerable time,” Bodin said. “Too often, parents can miss their own role in helping their child.”

Amazing how some of these people can take the opportunity to sell shit at a time like this.  Educational consultants are not mental health professionals.  It's improper for them to pretend they know what's best for kids.  Who should trust them anyway, with reputations like theirs.  Look up any of these ed-cons and the facilities they have praised and referred to in the past (see above linked thread with Croke for a good example).  Parents are supposed to trust their kids to people like this?
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Offline Whooter

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #172 on: November 15, 2009, 05:56:36 PM »
Quote from: "EricasMom"
Article not so good really--biased to the max--two, count 'em two, edcons quoted and not a single quote from a source who doesn't have financial ties to the industry.  Tom Croke "discovered" the Aspen ties to websites such as adoptionissues.org?  Sheesh, did he also "discover" the interweb?

It seems when there is no other way to successfully disagree with or discredit what a person is saying you resort to "They have ties to the industry" as if this is a bad thing or hurts their credibility.  People within the industry have opinions and information the same as people within fornits or HEAL have theirs.  Should Fornits peoples opinions be dismissed also?
Imagine if you were doing an article on the automobile industry.  Wouldn’t you want to interview or quote people who had ties to the industry, financial or otherwise?  If you wanted to interview someone about the details of a bill going thru congress wouldn’t you seek out someone who is working within the government?
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Offline psy

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #173 on: November 15, 2009, 05:59:19 PM »
Quote
Utah Licensing Director Ken Stettler said the Aspen programs in his state are generally well-run.

When problems do occur, “our programs have been very good about responding to those things,” Stettler said. “They do the right things by getting it fixed.”

Stettler said none of the Aspen programs had incurred a major violation since he started in his position in 2002.

However, three children have died in Aspen-owned facilities in Utah since 2004. Two deaths were suicides. The other happened in 2007, when 14-year-old Brendan Blum died of a bowel obstruction, after counselors failed to call for medical assistance, despite his complaints of stomach pain, loss of bowel control and vomiting.

The school, Youth Care of Utah, had the proper procedures in place and wasn’t at fault, said Stettler.

Anybody who has talked to the mother of that child about her son's death would debate that.  How can ignoring a kid's cries for help possibly be justified.  How?!!  The kid died in one of the most painful ways imaginable as a result of his treatment.
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Offline psy

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #174 on: November 15, 2009, 06:03:22 PM »
Quote from: "Guest"
It seems when there is no other way to successfully disagree with or discredit what a person is saying you resort to "They have ties to the industry" as if this is a bad thing or hurts their credibility.  People within the industry have opinions and information the same as people within fornits or HEAL have theirs.  Should Fornits peoples opinions be dismissed also?
Imagine if you were doing an article on the automobile industry.  Wouldn’t you want to interview or quote people who had ties to the industry, financial or otherwise?  If you wanted to interview someone about the details of a bill going thru congress wouldn’t you seek out someone who is working within the government?
Right, but while I agree the article seemed balanced it also seemed like a blatant endorsement of educational consultant (see my above quote).  Portions of it read like advertisement and who they did not interview (vicims of the abuse, representatives from CAFETY, etc...) spoke louder than anybody they did.  Both sides were not represented.
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Offline Whooter

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #175 on: November 15, 2009, 07:32:59 PM »
Quote from: "psy"
Right, but while I agree the article seemed balanced it also seemed like a blatant endorsement of educational consultant (see my above quote).  Portions of it read like advertisement and who they did not interview (vicims of the abuse, representatives from CAFETY, etc...) spoke louder than anybody they did.  Both sides were not represented.

Every article is going to be this way depending on the author.  No one is truly unbiased. Most readers know this when listening to Fox news or CNN.  The reader just needs to adjust their radar a bit and consider the source.

I think we all know that information presented on fornits is heavily biased and is always accepted by the majority here if it is anti-program and very rarely do people wait for both sides to be represented before forming an opinion.  For example if the authorities take the side of the program and the parents want to sue then everyone cheers for the parents and calls the authorities corrupt.  If the parents side with the program and dedicate a plaque or scholarship to their sons death and the authorities think there is a problem then everyone here throws the parents under the bus and goes with the authorities.  You have seen enough here to know this is the case.  Facts are not the driving force here on fornits I think we can all agree on that.  Unlike yourself, People do not always seek the truth here.  Its an angry mob mentality without mandatory reason seems to be the norm.
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Offline Anonymous

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #176 on: November 15, 2009, 08:14:10 PM »
Quote from: "Guest"
Every article is going to be this way depending on the author.

You are so lazy.  If every article is going to be this way, then it doesn't depend on the author.  You can't even take a moment to ensure that what you post isn't completely incoherent, like the above statement.
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Offline psy

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #177 on: November 15, 2009, 08:41:27 PM »
Quote from: "Guest"
I think we all know that information presented on fornits is heavily biased and is always accepted by the majority here if it is anti-program and very rarely do people wait for both sides to be represented before forming an opinion.  For example if the authorities take the side of the program and the parents want to sue then everyone cheers for the parents and calls the authorities corrupt.  If the parents side with the program and dedicate a plaque or scholarship to their sons death and the authorities think there is a problem then everyone here throws the parents under the bus and goes with the authorities.  You have seen enough here to know this is the case.  Facts are not the driving force here on fornits I think we can all agree on that.

I think the facts aren't up to dispute.  It's whether or not those facts constitute abuse is what people disagree on.  The facts show that Brendan Blum was in severe pain due to a bowel infarction (complicated by the program's refusal to allow him access to a bathroom) and was denied medical attention he requested that, if granted, could have saved his life.  Ken Stettler might disagree but I find that as criminally negligent as Michelle Sutton's death.  I think it's reasonable that people question his honesty given the nepotism and outright corruption surrounding regulators of this industry in the past, and his apparent public endorsement of Aspen.  Public figures should be held up to a higher standard.

I also think it's reasonable to question the sanity of any parent who claims a program saved their kids life right after that very same kid commits suicide.  I believe you're referring to a Tranquility Bay parent, specifically...  A facility where, by the admission on video tape of staff, that kids are routinely pepper sprayed... where kids have come home absolutely terrified, some even having chemical burns as a result of the excessive amount of pepperspray used.  I think it's reasonable to assume that some kids choose suicide as a way out, especially when so many of us know people, personally, who have taken that route for similar reasons.

And no.  I'm not a fan of regulation.  In the few rare it works effectively, as in MBA's case, it give parents everywhere else a false sense of security.  People begin to rely more and more on the state and less and less on their own parental instincts telling them there is something wrong.  Inspectors are not infallible.  Sometimes they miss things and i'm sure there are rare occasions where they find things that are not there.  MBA, however, was not one of those instances.  As i've elaborated and as indeed the industry has more or less conceded at this point, these kids could not have been making this shit up.

I also feel you are generalizing against Fornits members, the very thing you claim to oppose.  There are all types here.  There are those who are so scarred by their experiences they cannot help but see everything else through that lens.  There are those who swear up and down that the program is the saviour and it can do no harm.  There are those who have convinced themselves they are objective but are still swayed by their prejudices.  There are those with a financial motive, who'se motive of posting here is propaganda and damage control.  All types are here but nobody is neutral.  Nobody is objective about this issue and anybody who claims as much is a liar.  I would like to see myself as objective but know that I am not always.  My experiences have shaped how I see things.  I don't see that as a bad thing.  I absorb new information and my opinions change for sure but I will not forget what I experienced, what I have learned, and as a result, nothing, nothing you can every say can make me believe that dressing a kid up in a french maid outfit or humiliation or shame has any place in therapy.  Nothing you cay say can convince me that it's excusable to let a kid die screaming in pain while you accuse him of faking.  Nothing you can say can convince me the black is white.  Nothing you can every say can convince me that these means justify whatever lofty ends you can conjure up out of whole cloth.

...  but that's just me.  My point is that everybody has their own experiences and it's natural to view things through what we know.  Do I know some kids believe they are helped by the program?  Sure I do.  I was on once.  That's another thing that's shaped my experience, and those of others here: time.  You might have other experiences, or other motivations with which you see things.  Nobody is neutral.
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Offline Ursus

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Ever unconventional, long controversial
« Reply #178 on: November 15, 2009, 11:30:29 PM »
For posterity's sake, that article copied out here:

-------------- • -------------- • -------------- • --------------

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 / The Bulletin
Published: November 15. 2009 4:00AM PST



The academy's better days ... Many students and parents attest to Mount Bachelor Academy's successes. In 2003, The Bulletin interviewed 18-year-old Pedro Macias and his mother, Sally, of Mexico City, on graduation day. The "old" Pedro had been kicked out of school and had a problem with marijuana. But after his time at the academy, "it's an incredible change," his mother said. "He was ... unpleasant to be around — a monster. Now he's back to himself."
Rob Kerr / The Bulletin file photo


An era ended when Mount Bachelor Academy closed Nov. 3, following allegations of child abuse by the state Department of Human Services.

The private school for troubled teens, located 26 miles east of Prineville, was one of the last of its kind — a school whose methods originated in the Synanon self-help group, which was widely considered a cult by the late 1970s.

It's also a school that counts hundreds, if not thousands, of devoted graduates and parents who swear that Mount Bachelor Academy put their children on the right track, or even saved their lives.

And for years, MBA was a flagship of Aspen Education Group, a company that grew to become one of the biggest providers of therapeutic, emotional-growth and weight-loss facilities in the U.S. In 2006, that company was swallowed by an even bigger fish, CRC Health, an arm of the private investment firm Bain Capital.

The roots

According to veteran educational consultants, Mount Bachelor Academy was one of the last schools founded on a therapy for troubled teens that originated at the Southern California school called CEDU.

Three educational consultants, including a former CEDU staff member, said the school's founder, Mel Wasserman, drew from Synanon's ideas when he started the school.

Synanon began in the 1950s as a Southern California group designed to help "dope fiends" and drug addicts who didn't have other options for treatment at the time.

In a 1977 article, Time magazine describes the early Synanon method as a "no-nonsense, self-help program that included the 'game,' a rugged encounter session in which participants acted out their inmost hostilities. Learning the truth about themselves supposedly helped them stay off drugs or booze."

The group, according to Time and other contemporary news accounts, eventually required its female members to shave their heads, men to get vasectomies and married couples to swap partners. In 1980, three members of the group pleaded no contest to charges of attempted murder for putting a rattlesnake in the mailbox of an attorney who had sued the group. No one suggests that any of the most unseemly aspects of Synanon were ever part of the CEDU curriculum.

San Francisco educational consultant Alice Jackson said she was impressed by CEDU the first time she visited the school, in 1974. Wasserman and his wife were caring for dozens of "kids off the street," many of whom had serious substance abuse problems.

"I was first of all astounded by the magical personality that (Wasserman) had," Jackson said. "I had great admiration for his dedication for these kids."

Lon Woodbury was admissions director at CEDU for several years and now is an independent education consultant in Idaho. Woodbury said Wasserman "watered down" the Synanon ideas for the school.

"Mel Wasserman was influenced by Synanon, and so used the confrontation model watered down quite a bit in the founding in CEDU," Woodbury said. "It continued to be watered down and was much less confrontational than it was in the early years."

The abuse allegations at Mount Bachelor Academy by the Oregon Department of Human Services hearkened back to the earlier practices at emotional growth schools, Woodbury said.

"Some of the things the state had said surprised me because those were things they were doing years ago when it was more acceptable," he said.

The Oregon Department of Human Services complaint against MBA found that some of the therapeutic methods at the school were "punitive, humiliating, degrading and traumatizing," including "sexualized role play in front of staff and peers, requiring students to say derogatory phrases about themselves in front of staff and peers, requiring students to re-enact past physical abuse in front of staff and peers, permitting staff to engage in the usage of derogatory names, phrases and ridicule of students and deprivation of sleep."

Wasserman died in 2002, according to Woodbury's newsletter on therapeutic schools, Woodbury Reports.

Starting out in Central Oregon

In 1987, College Health Enterprises, a group of Southern California hospitals, decided to start an emotional-growth boarding school for teenagers, somewhere in Central Oregon.

According to a history of MBA on the school's Web site, the school tried to start in Powell Butte, but "a few difficulties with permits" led founder Linda Houghton to locate at the former Mark's Creek Lodge, in the Ochoco National Forest.

Woodbury, Jackson and education consultants Doug Bodin and Tom Croke all agreed that CEDU methods were the basis for early emotional growth methods at Mount Bachelor Academy.

Jackson is listed on the MBA history page as one of the consultants who was an important source of student referrals in the school's early days. She endorsed the school at the time, Jackson said, but gradually grew to believe the model needed to be updated.

"At that time, the programs were very much about behavior management, and they were rigid in their length of stay," Jackson said. "Some of those things that happened in that model were not what we would think would be OK for kids (today)."

Croke, a consultant in Pennsylvania who runs the Web site FamilyLight.com, agreed that the methods pioneered at CEDU-style schools, including sleep deprivation and confrontational therapy, are now considered inappropriate. But that was less clear in the early days of the industry, he said.

"One problem I have with the naysayers, while I really do not like in 2009 that kind of work, I also think to go back in hindsight to 30 years ago and damn the people who created this as if they were money-grubbing child abusers. That simply wasn't true," Croke said.

Rather, those people were well-intentioned but lacking today's knowledge, Croke said. Indeed, the methods spread to at least six other schools, because they were seen as effective at helping many children.

"Anecdotally, they were successful with a lot of kids," Croke said. "What is not as well documented are the casualties that were associated with that."

The Bulletin contacted Houghton and four other former top MBA officials. Houghton and three others did not return messages. Former MBA Director Dennis Crowell declined to be interviewed.

Aspen Education Group

In 1997 or 1998, College Health Enterprises spun off Mount Bachelor Academy and a handful of other youth facilities into the company that became Aspen Education Group.

Aspen quickly grew to become one of the largest owners of therapeutic schools and wilderness camps in the nation by buying independent facilities and starting new ones of its own.

Woodbury, the Idaho consultant, said part of Aspen's success was a policy of allowing each facility to retain its own character, rather than imposing a single corporate culture.

"They tried to maintain the uniqueness of each culture so that the differences would remain," Woodbury said.

It now owns four facilities in Central Oregon, including the academy. Its largest concentration of youth programs is in Utah, where it owns nine facilities.

Utah Licensing Director Ken Stettler said the Aspen programs in his state are generally well-run.

When problems do occur, "our programs have been very good about responding to those things," Stettler said. "They do the right things by getting it fixed."

Stettler said none of the Aspen programs had incurred a major violation since he started in his position in 2002.

However, three children have died in Aspen-owned facilities in Utah since 2004. Two deaths were suicides. The other happened in 2007, when 14-year-old Brendan Blum died of a bowel obstruction, after counselors failed to call for medical assistance, despite his complaints of stomach pain, loss of bowel control and vomiting.

The school, Youth Care of Utah, had the proper procedures in place and wasn't at fault, said Stettler.

"The school itself had trained the staff in the policy and procedure in reporting of illnesses, and those staff had failed to follow the training that was provided," he said.

A fourth teen, 16-year-old Sergey Blashchishen, collapsed while hiking in Lake County and died on the scene in August. Blashchishen was on a trip with Aspen-owned SageWalk, a wilderness school based in Redmond.

The incident is under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff's Office and the state Department of Human Services. DHS ordered SageWalk to temporarily close in September.

Aspen declined to make any of its officials available for an interview with The Bulletin. In a written statement, Aspen Senior Vice President Mark Dorenfeld said the company takes steps to ensure precautions are taken across its facilities.

"To best serve (students') special needs, we have established best practices and safety protocols within our policies and procedures to enhance the level of care," Dorenfeld wrote. "These policies and procedures incorporate all critical elements of care, from health and wellness protocols, to staff training, to therapeutic practices."

Dorenfeld also said some media accounts of what happened on the trip have been inaccurate. When asked to specify what Dorenfeld was referring to, a spokeswoman said the company "could not comment further."

An old model

Several boosters of Mount Bachelor Academy in its early days said the school didn't do enough to update its methods over time.

Bend psychologist Michael Conner has worked with facilities for troubled teens in the past and lists Mount Bachelor Academy founder Houghton as an educational adviser for his company that consults with parents of troubled children. Conner said the school was originally designed for teens in need of emotional growth, but not intense mental health services.

"What the program was when it was founded is not the least bit related to what the program became," Conner said. "(It) became quite overfilled with a high number of clinical and severe patients, which the program was never designed (for)."

Jackson said she stopped referring children to Mount Bachelor Academy nearly 10 years ago.

"I have not used it for a number of years as I saw it deteriorating and hanging on to an old model that was really no longer useful," Jackson said.

Croke agreed.

"I can tell you that that didn't surprise me," Croke said, of the state's charges of abuse. "It was irresponsible of (Aspen) to allow that kind of programming to continue to go on in the year 2009."

Earlier this year, The Bulletin spoke with 10 former students — several of whom had positive experiences at Mount Bachelor — who described one or more of the practices mentioned in the state's complaint.

Despite the concerns of professionals and some students, a legion of parents and former students say allegations of abuse are overblown and that unorthodox methods, such as using a week or even a month of manual labor as punishment, get results.

Beth McKinnon's 16-year-old son, Quinn, had been at MBA for six months when the school closed two weeks ago. McKinnon, a licensed family therapist in Santa Cruz, Calif., said she felt entirely comfortable with the program at Mount Bachelor Academy.

McKinnon, like many parents of former students there, grew emotional while talking about the program's benefits for her child. It's the only place where Quinn has ever felt comfortable in a group, she said.

"I would hate to see these schools get shut down because a few people felt they were humiliated and embarrassed at what they had to go through," McKinnon said.

CRC Health

In 2006, Aspen Education Group was purchased by the even larger CRC Health Group, an arm of the Mitt Romney-founded private investment firm Bain Capital Inc. Since the merger, though, CRC's performance has been lackluster.

The down economy hit CRC hard. After recording a $1.5 million profit in 2007, the company lost $141 million in 2008, according to the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The recession created a double-whammy for the company: Families were less able to afford the steep tuition — Mount Bachelor Academy charged $6,400 each month — and tighter credit markets meant they had difficulty securing loans to make up the difference.

"In 2008, we experienced a significant decrease in demand for services in our youth division as a result of declining economic conditions and the inability of families to access the credit markets to fund tuition," the company's annual report said.

The end

In April, Oregon DHS opened an investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect at Mount Bachelor Academy. On Nov. 3, the agency found nine confirmed allegations of abuse and ordered the school's license temporarily suspended. MBA Executive Director Sharon Bitz initially said the school would appeal the suspension, but last week, CRC Health filed a mass layoff notice with the state, indicating it would not attempt to reopen Mount Bachelor Academy.

Keith Chu can be reached at 202-662-7456 or at kchu@bendbulletin.com.


Published Daily in Bend Oregon by Western Communications, Inc. © 2008
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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Offline Ursus

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The academy's owners
« Reply #179 on: November 15, 2009, 11:35:06 PM »
Click HERE for three pics, including the one above, within the article (equals 1st one). The 2nd pic is the campus whilst MBA was still in operation; the 3rd pic looks to be Mark's Creek Lodge, before and where ... it all began.

Sidebar for the above article follows:

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The academy's owners
Published: November 15. 2009 4:00AM PST

Mount Bachelor Academy is one of more than 30 facilities owned by Aspen Education Group and designed to treat troubled teens. In 2006, CRC Health, which owns more than 145 schools, clinics and camps, purchased Aspen.

CRC's Oregon facilities

In Central Oregon:
  • Mount Bachelor Academy (Prineville)
  • SageWalk (Redmond)
  • New Leaf Oregon (Bend)
  • NorthStar Center (Bend)
In the Portland area:
  • Burnside Clinic
  • Belmont Clinic
  • Alder Clinic
  • Tigard Clinic
In Southern Oregon:
  • Medford Clinic
Source: CRC Health Group

... But years of troubles

1988: Mount Bachelor Academy is founded by College Health Enterprises, a group of hospitals in Southern California, at the former Mark's Creek Lodge, pictured at right, in the Ochoco National Forest.

1997: Aspen Education Group is spun off into an independent company by College Health Enterprises. The company includes Mount Bachelor Academy and about five other schools.

1998: First allegations of abuse at Mount Bachelor Academy. The school is cleared of wrongdoing by the state Department of Human Services.

1998: Aspen Education Group purchases NorthStar Center, a Bend independent- living facility for young adults 18-25. The center had operated independently since 1991.

2004: New Leaf Academy, a girls-only boarding school in Bend, is acquired by Aspen. The school was founded in 1997.

2005: Aspen acquires Redmond-based SageWalk: The Wilderness School. SageWalk was founded in 1997. This year, the school was featured in the ABC series "Brat Camp."

2006: CRC Health, a conglomeration of treatment centers and weight-loss camps for adults and children, purchases Aspen Education Group for $280 million. CRC Health is controlled by Bain Capital, a private equity firm that now manages about $60 billion in assets.

2009: April: The state begins investigation of abuse allegations at Mount Bachelor Academy.

  • August: A camper at SageWalk, 16-year-old Sergey Blashchishen, collapses while hiking and dies at the scene. The case is still under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
  • September: The state orders SageWalk to send its students home.
  • November: Mount Bachelor Academy's license is suspended by DHS after an investigation finds nine confirmed counts of abuse and neglect at the school. Aspen Education Group files a layoff notice with the state of Oregon, indicating that it does not plan to reopen the school.
Sources: Securities and Exchange Commission filings, Aspen Education Group news releases, Bulletin research

The academy's offspring

A handful of former Mount Bachelor Academy instructors and counselors went on to found a number of other facilities in Central Oregon. At least one was later acquired by Aspen Education Group, while others are still independent.

  • College Excel: Founded in 2003 by Jeannie Crowell, who worked at Mount Bachelor and later founded NorthStar Center. The school is for young adults who are preparing for college or who had trouble transitioning into college.
  • NorthStar Center: Founded by Dennis Crowell and Jeannie Crowell in 1991. Dennis Crowell was also a founder and one-time director of Mount Bachelor Academy. NorthStar was purchased by Aspen Education Group in 1998.
  • Ohana House: An independent living house in Bend for women from 17.5 to 30 years old. It was founded by Malia Mullahey, who began at Mount Bachelor as a mentor in 1994, according to a company news release announcing her hiring.

The academy's parent companies and their Web marketing practices

Mount Bachelor Academy and its parent companies — Aspen Education Group and CRC Health Group — have a reputation for aggressive marketing techniques, most notably through a variety of Web sites tailored to parents of troubled teens.

The sites include byparents-forparents.com, adoptionissues.org, overweightteen.com, yourlittleprofessor.com and teenboarding schools.com. They're presented as information portals for parents seeking information, not advertising sites for the schools.

All of the sites except for yourlittleprofessor.com, targeted at parents of children with Asperger's syndrome, note on their home pages that they're funded by CRC Health. The sites don't make clear, though, that CRC Health owns all of the schools referenced on the sites.

The current incarnation of the sites is much more transparent than earlier versions, education consultant Tom Croke wrote in a review of Aspen's marketing apparatus. Before last year, CRC didn't disclose that it owned those sites, said Croke, who discovered the connections.

Because parents are often making those choices during times of stress, they may be more likely to accept those pitches. It's self-evident, said consultant Doug Bodin, but bears repeating that parents shouldn't rely on the Internet when it comes to researching facilities to send their troubled children.

"It's like going on the Internet to do your own open heart surgery," Bodin said. "Anyone can throw their testimonials out there; everyone can give you a list of enthusiastic students."

Before making those decisions, parents should speak with an educational consultant or mental health professional who knows about the treatment options and climate of each facility, Bodin said.

"Parents are having to make huge decisions involving lots of money at a very vulnerable time," Bodin said. "Too often, parents can miss their own role in helping their child."

— Keith Chu, The Bulletin


Published Daily in Bend Oregon by Western Communications, Inc. © 2008
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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