Mount Bachelor could reopen

[Oscar]

DHS, Mount Bachelor Academy Settle Case, DHS Stands By Investigation; New School Eyed on Site, By Barney Lerten, KTVZ, October 2, 2010

If you have money and lawyers enough you can run state authorities over. HR 911 - despite its flaws - has not been more needed than now. It seems that it takes federal authorities and their ressources to stand up against organizations working across statelines and with massive ressources behind them.

[blombrowski]

Oscar, I'm going have to disagree with you regarding the H.R. 911 part.  The federal authorities were called on this one, and DHS had DOJ back=up.  This is an extraordinarily depressing article.  I'm not saying H.R. 911 wouldn't make things better in other states, but Oregon is not one of them.  The only difference that I can tell is that H.R. 911 would stop parents from waving their children's rights vis a vis communication.  But what good is allowing youth that communication if the authorities let programs off the hook.

[Whooter]

On a good note, I think we can all agree that it is a relief to know that these kids were not abused at MBA and that the truth came out.  I think the down side is that the kids in programs took a serious hit on their credibility.  Once again a group of kids were caught lying about being abused and now the next time a child is abused the DHS will probably hesitate and not take action against the program right away because they were fooled and embarrassed with false allegations with the MBA case.

Lying and embellishing stories of abuse within programs with the intent of hurting the program only results in putting future kids at risk and eroding their credibility.

An important lesson here on fornits is to not jump to conclusions and wait for the investigation to be completed.  We have seen here many times that the program is blamed for harming a child while the completed investigation proves otherwise.


"It is gratifying to see the settlement in which DHS admits what we parents knew all along - the state caused a completely unecessary disruption of a unique and successful school community by acting precipitiously and without gathering all of the facts first," Povich told NewsChannel 21.

"The state went off half-cocked," Povich added. "I hope especially that this settlement will mean that no other school will be subjected in the future to similar callous treatment by DHS."



...

[blombrowski]

I would be careful what claims I make about this case and the circumstances surrounding this settlement.  The original substantiated claims didn't come just from a few students with exaggerated stories.  It came from interviews with staff as well.  Even supporters of the school claim that Lifesteps happened.

In all seriousness, this has the smell of a mob racketeering case falling apart due to witness intimidation.  It happens all of the time.  We know Aspen brought their lawyers in.  We know DHS were being helped by the DOJ.  

What we can agree on is whatever actually happened at MBA, and I'll let the public record speak for itself, this is a win for the industry and a blow to any youth who is actually being abused in a program.

[Whooter]

What we can agree on is whatever actually happened at MBA, and I'll let the public record speak for itself, this is a win for the industry and a blow to any youth who is actually being abused in a program.

I think we can agree here.  The youth in Oregon, at least, have been placed in a much more vulnerable position.  I think in hindsight the DHS should not have moved so quickly on shutting MBA down and spent more time gathering facts.  Aspen is probably in a position to recoup a boat load of cash from the state that they lost in income and damage to their name.  Not to mention all the kids who lost the benefit of getting the help they needed.

It will be interesting to see how the investigation concludes and if they will retain the name "Mount Bachelor Academy".  That name may be considered tarnished at this point.



...

[blombrowski]

"In addition, MBA agrees that DHS had a reasonable basis to investigate the allegations of abuse and neglect and to seek corrective actions. Mount Bachelor Academy is closed and, by all accounts, will remain closed.

What MBA agreed to so DHS could save face with the youth who brought the complaints.

Finally, the school and its parent corporations, as well as Ms. Bitz will dismiss all related legal actions.

The real reason why DHS settled.

Therapeutic Boarding Schools provide valuable programs and services to children and families in Oregon, and we are fortunate to have laws and rules in place that allow the state to regulate the health and safety of youth in these schools."

What MBA extracted from DHS so that they could renew their marketing campaign

[psy]

It will be interesting to see how the investigation concludes and if they will retain the name "Mount Bachelor Academy".  That name may be considered tarnished at this point.

I think you meant "god caught", but otherwise, you're probably right about that.  I would highly doubt that they would keep their name considering the amount of bad publicity surrounding their "LifeSteps".  I mean i've used the school as an example time and time again.  My guess is they won't even stop practicing LifeSteps.  They'll probably just rename it something else.

[Whooter]

It will be interesting to see how the investigation concludes and if they will retain the name "Mount Bachelor Academy".  That name may be considered tarnished at this point.

I think you meant "god caught", but otherwise, you're probably right about that.  I would highly doubt that they would keep their name considering the amount of bad publicity surrounding their "LifeSteps".  I mean i've used the school as an example time and time again.  My guess is they won't even stop practicing LifeSteps.  They'll probably just rename it something else.

I submitted a few names that I thought they would like.
I thought maybe something with a nice ring to it.  Something the parents could pronounce and make it seem like their children were in a upperclass boarding school when speaking with their friends.  Also a name which will give Aspen a legal advantage if they need to defend themselves in court again.

La femme de chambre Habiller Academy



...

[Anne Bonney]

It will be interesting to see how the investigation concludes and if they will retain the name "Mount Bachelor Academy".  That name may be considered tarnished at this point.

Which is exactly what happened with Straight.  And you guys keep asking why we compare programs of yesteryear to the ones today.  It's because basically the same things are going on.

[Dysfunction Junction]

MBA acknowledged that, based on the evidence available to DHS on November 2, 2009, the agency had reasonable cause to believe that abuse or neglect occurred at the school, as uncovered in the investigation.

In addition, MBA agrees that DHS had a reasonable basis to investigate the allegations of abuse and neglect and to seek corrective actions.

There is nothing where any of this points to "kids made up abuse."  It is explicit that MBA admitted the investigation was proper and abuse was found and corrective action was required.  To say otherwise is simply false.

Abuse was found and MBA was closed for it.  Nothing has changed except apparently a couple of lawsuits were filed and dropped.

[Dysfunction Junction]

It will be interesting to see how the investigation concludes and if they will retain the name "Mount Bachelor Academy".  That name may be considered tarnished at this point.

I think you meant "god caught", but otherwise, you're probably right about that.  I would highly doubt that they would keep their name considering the amount of bad publicity surrounding their "LifeSteps".  I mean i've used the school as an example time and time again.  My guess is they won't even stop practicing LifeSteps.  They'll probably just rename it something else.

Actually, in this case, the state found that after being barred from using LifeSteps from previous state investigations MBA continued to practice them with a different name, but identical process.  So, that already happened, Psy.

[Whooter]

If a child comes forward and says they were abused at a program then all parties agree that warrants reasonable cause to investigate.  Aspen agrees that the state had reasonable cause to investigate also.  No one is refuting this.
Now that the investigation has been completed they realize that no abuse occurred.

“The DHS’ withdrawal of its order suspending MBA’s license supports our position that they did not have justification for that order in the first place. The DHS has acknowledged with this settlement that in fact there was additional evidence no abuse had occurred.”

Link

I think we can all agree that DHS admits that they have the childrens best interest in mind.  So they wouldnt ignore children being abused in their state and walk away.



...

[Dysfunction Junction]

If a child comes forward and says they were abused at a program then all parties agree that warrants reasonable cause to investigate.  Aspen agrees that the state had reasonable cause to investigate also.  No one is refuting this.
Now that the investigation has been completed they realize that no abuse occurred.

“The DHS’ withdrawal of its order suspending MBA’s license supports our position that they did not have justification for that order in the first place. The DHS has acknowledged with this settlement that in fact there was additional evidence no abuse had occurred.”

Link

I think we can all agree that DHS admits that they have the childrens best interest in mind.  So they wouldnt ignore children being abused in their state and walk away.



...

A little context is in order:

"A statement from Phil Herschman, President of Aspen Education Group, on behalf of Mount Bachelor Academy:" should precede the misleading quote from last post.  

Whooter opines that this statement means abuse allegations were false, but what it actually says is that the state did not review evidence claiming what happened was not abuse, but nowhere does this statement say or imply that the kids who reported abuse were lying or that the state did not uncover rampant abuse - they did.

The state believed them, investigated and MBA was closed for abusing kids.  Then MBA sued the state, and probably agreed to pay a massive undisclosed fine in exchange for the state softening the charges.

This is legal spin from the party who was caught abusing kids and got exposed for it.  This statement by AEG's PR team is damage control only.

[Whooter]

I do understand that you have a vested interest for the DHS to move forward with their investigation and report.  When MBA was closed you jump the gun.  I cautioned you that we should wait until the investigation is over.  Now that it is over and charges have been dropped you are trying to save face and I understand that DJ.

If at some future date the DHS decides to move forward again or declares that children were abused by MAB in Oregon then your leap of faith will be justified.  But until then the DHS has backed down and admitted no abuse occurred at MBA.

"It is gratifying to see the settlement in which DHS admits what we parents knew all along - the state caused a completely unecessary disruption of a unique and successful school community by acting precipitiously and without gathering all of the facts first," Povich told NewsChannel 21.
"The state went off half-cocked," Povich added. "I hope especially that this settlement will mean that no other school will be subjected in the future to similar callous treatment by DHS."



...

[Anne Bonney]

"It is gratifying to see the settlement in which DHS admits what we parents knew all along - the state caused a completely unecessary disruption of a unique and successful school community by acting precipitiously and without gathering all of the facts first," Povich told NewsChannel 21.
"The state went off half-cocked," Povich added. "I hope especially that this settlement will mean that no other school will be subjected in the future to similar callous treatment by DHS."

Who is Povich?