My credibility...

[Antny]

No, I have no PHD, not even an undergraduate degree.  I wrote the manual under the guidance of Bebe Gaines, the Ex. Dir.  She read my work, touched it up, and approved it.  I also submitted it to Dr. Michael Weiner (Doc), Magna cum Laude Harvard University, Child Psychiatry.  As for me, I learned what I learned in the field, from experience, training and the people around me.  The manual was the compilation of the wisdom around me...I was just the tool to put it all together.

[Anonymous]

I get that, and perhaps I misunderstood you when you spoke of the kids acting out sexually with each other, but it didn't sound like it.  It sounded like the kids were actually unsafe.

I understand we don't live in a perfect world, but I can't help believing that a locked up kid with frequent excursions out is better off than a kid being molested by a bigger/meaner kid.

I don't know if your Harvard psychiatrist was making the best of a situation he was handed, or *designed* the situation.  He may have just been doing the best he could within the system.  That's a pretty impressive credential and does make him stand out among the vast majority of not-very-well-qualified people in the Teen RTC industry.

In any case, it looks like closing down was the only opportunity to get the kids in a situation where they were safe from further molestation.  Whether that will actually happen or not is anybody's guess.  We can at least hope.

I guess the best thing at this point, for everyone, is to hope that whatever they do with the kids, the situation they place them in is both humane and safe.

Timoclea

[Antny]

Timoclea said:
"In any case, it looks like closing down was the only opportunity to get the kids in a situation where they were safe from further molestation.  Whether that will actually happen or not is anybody's guess.  We can at least hope."


No, nobody was being molested, accusations were made.  BIG difference.  The camp was actually closed in the moment because the behaviors of the campers had become so unstable due to the pressures of Strayhorn's investigations, CPS interviews, and camera crews.  The kids were freaking out, to be expected under the circumstances.  Nothing unusual was going on that hadn't been going on for 20 years, except that the State Comptroller was on a mission.

Here's why she was checking everything out.  She encountered, while doing her job, this operation near Houston in wich the owner of a nRTC owned everything...the pharmacy, the grocery store, the facility...basically he got a cut of every little profit.  Well, his tax return read like 1.6 billion dollars.  Not exactly what you'd expect in the child care field.  So Strayhorn begins investigating the RTC's.  She's no expert.  She's a politician.  She didn't like what she saw at Woodside, so she used her power to do something about it.  Unfortunately, she is uninformed, and only acting on her own opinions.  

She has also done something similar to another camp called Pathfinders, so they are in the process of re-liscensing as an indoor RTC, and have moved all their campers into a big metal "pole-barn" type structure.  I saw the media coverage and was enraged - because I've visited the facility, they run a high quality ranch style program with equestrian activities and animal care as a component.  The media coverage is horribly innacurate, and biased.  They zoomed in on one crack in a concrete slab foundation and said "the buildings are run-down".  That's just bullshit, bad media.  But, they're working for Strayhorn.

I don't know how to fight the political - media machine in the interest of the kids!  Any ideas?





[ This Message was edited by: Antny on 2004-11-04 07:43 ]

[Anonymous]

Well, one way to "fight" effectively is instead of keeping on trying to justify, admit there was a mess, solicit help--and give help--in formulating standards and coming up with budget numbers for what it takes to meet those standards.

Look, you had a lot of kids placed by the state, and you had a big mess.  The obvious thing to do is get involved in the dialog with the legislators coming up with standards for what needs to be improved and good budget numbers, and *help them* come up with a new and improved version that *won't* have the big mess.

The first thing that comes to mind is you need more capital for adequate facilities where the state judges the facilities lacking, and you need budget for more/better custodial staff to ensure that after the kids have done what they can with whatever chores they have, you've got someone coming along behind to make sure that you guys don't get overwhelmed and behind in ways that cause a health hazard to the staff and kids.

Go back and work with the legislators and let them know they can have the improvements they want---but that the budget to fund them has to be there.  Politicians *love* to say they "fixed" something.  Get onto their side or get them on your side (same thing) in coming up with a better mousetrap.

You're more likely to be able to save any things the facility was doing *right* if you quit being as defensive as you have and admit that the mess was a problem and that with the right budget the facility *could* be reformed and made cleaner and better.

Timoclea

[Anonymous]

On 2004-11-03 18:50:00, Antny wrote:

"No, I have no PHD, not even an undergraduate degree.  I wrote the manual under the guidance of Bebe Gaines, the Ex. Dir.  She read my work, touched it up, and approved it.  I also submitted it to Dr. Michael Weiner (Doc), Magna cum Laude Harvard University, Child Psychiatry.  As for me, I learned what I learned in the field, from experience, training and the people around me.  The manual was the compilation of the wisdom around me...I was just the tool to put it all together."

So tell us about this treatment progam which has no recidivism. You stated nobody has finished your program and reoffended. Again I state there is NO effective treatment for sexual predators. Hide behind a Harvard degree all you want. It is simply untrue that you all alone have uncovered the cure.

Having said all this again I have no problem with the sexually predatory being held away from society. As I have stated I think they have more rights in the end than their victims. I have a problem with exposing them to non-sexually offending juveniles (ie their next victims.)

I say let the bleeding hearts take care of the sexually predatory. Hell, it is impossible to rehabilitate them so why coddle them? Anyone can ask for help as a victim. When you pass to abuser I think your rights SHOULD be restricted.

[Antny]

You're absolutely right, Timo...

I've been defensive..responsive to the attack against something that I truly hold very dear.  It's a chapter of my life that I can't bear to have smeared.  My first objective has been to open people's eyes to the fact that despite all the negative coverage, what was going on was not such a horrible thing.  

I quote myself here, as a saying from Woodside.  "Every problem is an opportunity for a breakthrough."  Maybe this is also.  Maybe it truly can be the catalyst for a reform that is productive in the system.

I have every intention of meeting with the legislators.  The Hupp comittee I believe is finished with their interviews, but the appropriations comittee meets in January, and I intend to be there, and to speak my piece.  I hope they'll listen.  The big problem is the stigma that has been placed on the Therapeutic Wilderness Camping model of treatment.  People tend to brand the whole idea as abusive and neglectful.  It is unthinkable to the wealthy conservatives in power in Texas to think that keeping those poor kids in the woods for years could be a good thing.  That's the real argument.  It's not really about budget, or research, etc...it's about the ideology.  That's where I think we may be stuck between a rock and a hard place.  Nevertheless, I have every intention of presenting my opinions and experiences to the legislature at the nearest opportunity.  Thanks for your honest, objective insight throuought this entire thread...though I've never met you, you have my respect.

[Antny]

Anon,
You said "there is no cure for sef offenders", but I remember that there is no cure for ADULT offenders.  We're talking about juveniles with a long life ahead of them, still maturing into who they will become, Still going through the process of self identification.

My statement was true, no GRADUATE of the program has EVER REOFFENDED SEXUALLY.  They've stolen, done drugs, etc...but not sexually offended.  I emphasise graduat meaning that hte camper completed their Life Work Group Therapy and was graduated sucessfully.  

There's a cure for lots of things, but America doesn't want cures.  They want longstanding treatments that keep money rolling in.  That's not what we did at Woodside.  We changed kids hearts from the inside out.  That's the cure.  It's humanity, it's empathy...

[nite owl]

Here are my credentials - Registered Nurse with 25 years experience and a Doctor Degree.

You indicated in an earlier thread that "the kids acted out sexually with each other."
You also indicated that there wasn't much anyone could do about that.
It sounds quite dangerous, in my oppinion, to have little kids, as young as nine, with older and more experienced adolescent sexual offenders.
The news article indicated that some of the children were foster children.  It just didn't seem like a good mix.
It seems that the children would be better off in a stable home environment than in a long-term camping situation.
It seems that it was appropriate to close your place of employment down.  

In war, the stronger overcomes the weaker. In business, the stronger imparts strength to the weaker.
--Frederic Bastiat