Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: Anonymous on November 01, 2007, 03:49:24 PM
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If you were referred to a private residential treatment facility or specialty school or program by an educational consultant, parent resource company or even another parent and believe you were deceived, please consider taking a moment to address your concerns to the attention of the FTC person listed below.
If you can, please provide any documentation to support your opinion as well as any other information you have that may be relevant to this issue. You should also send a copy of your letter to Congressman Miller's office underscoring that it isn't just program owners and operators that should be investigated.
Thanks very much!
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Chairman Miller Asks FTC to Investigate Deceptive Marketing Practices by Residential Treatment Programs for Children
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, today asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate allegations of deceptive marketing practices by residential treatment programs for troubled children.
Last week, the U.S. Government Accountability Office testified before the Education and Labor Committee that such programs – often called “boot camps,â€
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http://www.endinstitutionalizedchildabuse.blogspot.com (http://www.endinstitutionalizedchildabuse.blogspot.com)
Correct link
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If there were any questions about Miller's bona fides, they're settled now.
THE MAN IS ON OUR SIDE, PEOPLE. He's also a Congressman. Don't expect him to stop acting like one.
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This is great news - the 10 cases Miller sent to the FTC probably include at least 2 deaths of teens whose parents were referred by an ed consultant or a parent resource company. Just hope the FTC does agree to investigate this issue. Send those letters people!
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If there were any questions about Miller's bona fides, they're settled now.
THE MAN IS ON OUR SIDE, PEOPLE. He's also a Congressman. Don't expect him to stop acting like one.
George Millers position has been clear from the beginning, it has not changed. I think many people here got their nose out of joint because he didnt invite so called survivors to testify. He is on a mission to insure that kids are not abused in facilities around the U.S. which operate under the names of Boot camps, wilderness and residential treatment centers.
It is clear that he expects the end result to be regulation defined for the industry.
You need to change your thinking that people are taking sides because the lines are not drawn that way, virtually everyone is on the side of protecting children from abuse. The differences are in the approach and varying ways ways to accomplish this. If you are for regulating the industry then this is the present path for George Miller.
Whether he uses survivor’s testimony or not should not affect your support for this effort. Drop your petty squabbles and support the effort. It is in the best interest of the kids.
Think about it!
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virtually everyone is on the side of protecting children from abuse.
It's retarded shit like this that makes you cross over into the land of 'half-funny' instead of 'serious threat', Who.
If virtually everyone was on the side of protecting children from abuse, Miller wouldn't have anything to do, Fornits would probably not exist, and you would be reduced to trolling program forums saying "could you please hurt the children more? It's not therapy unless they're being brutalized".
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Yup, so far Miller is covering all the bases which must be driving the ed cons and parents helping parents referral businesses nuts. They have been flying under the radar far too long and I suspect, will soon find themselves running for cover if the FTC gets involved. This is definitly a can of worms.
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virtually everyone is on the side of protecting children from abuse.
It's retarded shit like this that makes you cross over into the land of 'half-funny' instead of 'serious threat', Who.
If virtually everyone was on the side of protecting children from abuse, Miller wouldn't have anything to do, Fornits would probably not exist, and you would be reduced to trolling program forums saying "could you please hurt the children more? It's not therapy unless they're being brutalized".
AAHHMM... Virtually meaning "almost" (Look here) (http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual). The serious threat are those who are abusing the kids, there are a very small minority who abuse kids but they make a major impact. So virtually everyone is on the side of protecting children from abuse.
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And this very small minority would include Mount Bachelor Academy (http://http://www.mountbacheloracademy.info), Thayer Learning Center (http://http://www.thayerlearningcenter.info), Turn-About Ranch (http://http://www.turnaboutranch.info), Academy at Swift River (http://http://www.academyatswiftriver.info), Cedars Academy (http://http://www.cedarsacademy.info), Aspen Youth Care (http://http://www.aspenyourth.info) where Pitbull Mom's son got killed, Island View (http://http://www.aspeninstitute.info), damn near everyone else on NATSAP's site, everything connected to WWASPS, everything descended from CEDU that still uses their practices, everything descended from Straight that still uses their practices, Hidden Lake Academy, Whitmore Academy, ISAC's entire fucking watchlist (http://http://www.isaccorp.org/watchlist.asp), Daytop Village, and everything else I haven't named because I can't think of them all?
Yeah, Who- that's a pretty small minority all right. :roll:
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Oh yeah! I forgot the "Christian" programs like Roloff Homes and Hephzibah House. I don't even think you can argue for that, Who.
Anyone else care to show Who how small his minority is?
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Please do not respond to THE WHO. He needs to go AWAY!
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Maybe, but sometimes (<-- KEY WORD) replying to his bullshit can lead the conversation to productive places. He walks right into Scholar's Mate and sometimes even Fool's Mate. Now he has to either try to bury the thread or play damage control trying to either claim that the named facilities are not abusive (won't work), derail the discussion some other way (not happening now) or ignore the thread in hopes of burying it.
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And this very small minority would include Mount Bachelor Academy (http://http://www.mountbacheloracademy.info), Thayer Learning Center (http://http://www.thayerlearningcenter.info), Turn-About Ranch (http://http://www.turnaboutranch.info), Academy at Swift River (http://http://www.academyatswiftriver.info), Cedars Academy (http://http://www.cedarsacademy.info), Aspen Youth Care (http://http://www.aspenyourth.info) where Pitbull Mom's son got killed, Island View (http://http://www.aspeninstitute.info), damn near everyone else on NATSAP's site, everything connected to WWASPS, everything descended from CEDU that still uses their practices, everything descended from Straight that still uses their practices, Hidden Lake Academy, Whitmore Academy, ISAC's entire fucking watchlist (http://http://www.isaccorp.org/watchlist.asp), Daytop Village, and everything else I haven't named because I can't think of them all?
Yeah, Who- that's a pretty small minority all right. :roll:
Just for grins lets define virtually as 99% of all people. There are approximately 300 million people in the US so that would mean there are 3 million child abusers. chances are (statistically speaking) some of them would be in the programs you mentioned. We already know they exist in our public school system.... so there are alot of them out there and they prey on our children.
We need to set up ways to keep them out of the system. If regulation is the answer then lets set the wheels in motion and move forward with it.
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What's Nambla?
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What is NAMBLA? It's TheWho's favorite organization.
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Since THE WHO agrees with Congressman Miller's work, maybe he can get his favorite organization to help out, too. It's so nice to have THE WHO helping out.
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It's so nice to have THE WHO helping out.
:rofl: :rofl:
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I've got a sinking feeling in my stomach that this will ultimately be the approach that does them in.
For some reason economic crimes are prosecuted more aggressively than child abuse.
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[Guest"]
I've got a sinking feeling in my stomach that this will ultimately be the approach that does them in.
For some reason economic crimes are prosecuted more aggressively than child abuse.]
Agreed. The Tom Greene Mormon case in Utah is a good example. Greene was not found guilty of bigamy or for raping his many "teen brides." He was eventually put into prison for welfare fraud.
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To be quite honest this is probably one of the smartest approaches because there is NOT infinite regrowth to the whack-a-mole game, at least not when it's played properly. The FTC doesn't go for shutdowns- they go for finances. Good luck reopening when you've lost everything and can't get a loan. gb/2/Walmart.
For the programs and the ed-cons- particularly the ed-cons- this is a flanked attack out of nowhere that they have no idea how to deal with. "Fair trade practices? Honesty in advertfising? HUH?" Expect lots of rants along the lines of Lon Toolbury's- how DARE the government prevent fraud resulting in child abuse!
The only really bad part about this approach is that it will teach the most serious, organized shitheads nothing. Even if what's left of WWASPS is boiled away like so much liquid helium, even if it leaves CRC Health/Aspen/Bain drawing back a bloody stump, and smacks down some of the Straight-based shit, there's still the real nasty ones like Peninsula Village and the Judge Rotenberg Center to deal with.
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Yup - the owner of Wellspring just got 30 months in prison for fraud.
And that case is just the tip of the iceberg, IMO. The FTC needs your letters and any tips you have.
They should also be notified of any lawsuits (civil or otherwise) alleging fraud and/or deceptive marketing practices.
Seize the moment! It's only taken what, 40 years to get here?
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Yup - the owner of Wellspring just got 30 months in prison for fraud.
And that case is just the tip of the iceberg, IMO. The FTC needs your letters and any tips you have.
They should also be notified of any lawsuits (civil or otherwise) alleging fraud and/or deceptive marketing practices.
Seize the moment! It's only taken what, 40 years to get here?
Please post source of information. Thanks.
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The source of info is the first post in this thread.
As a regulatory/investigative agency, the Federal Trade Commission would be greatly helped by people sending in information regarding unscrupulous activities. They can then verify the allegations.
The previous post was probably made by TheWho trying to discourage people from sending these things in.
Does anyone have a good point-of-contact for the FTC in relation to this?
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School Founder Found Guilty of Fraud Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison
Former Wellspring Academy head given 30 months in prison
By Mike Gangloff
Related Story
School's founder guilty of fraud
Robert Serge Gluhareff, who headed the financially troubled Wellspring Academy in Halifax County, will spend 30 months in prison for a variety of fraud charges.
Gluhareff, who in April pleaded guilty to two federal charges linked to bank fraud, one to mail fraud and one to tax fraud, led a high-priced school for troubled boys that touted the Christian framework of its program. Prosecutors said he propped up the school's shaky finances by depositing bad checks or tuition checks that he knew parents could not yet cover. He also encouraged parents to label advance tuition payments as scholarship donations and to claim tax deductions for them, prosecutors said.
When the school closed suddenly in 2003, parents who paid in advance were out thousands of dollars.
Today, U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson sentenced Gluhareff to 30 months in prison on each of the four charges, to be served concurrently. Gluhareff also was ordered to pay more than $500,000 restitution, although both defense and prosecution agreed that it’s unlikely he’ll be able to repay that much.
Gluhareff said he plans to appeal
http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/111501 (http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/111501)
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This automated form (http://https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01) might be a good place to start.
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Deborah Platt Majoras
Chairman Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580
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Deborah Platt Majoras
Chairman Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580
Send 'em all in, folks. All of them. Be sure to let the FTC know how many people lied to you. It is VITAL that you name them.
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Can we PLEASE make this thread a STICKY? This is something survivors can certainly address, as well as parents, and I'm afraid it may get lost in the sauce.
Thank You!
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I have read that there are no laws to require programs (or those who market and sell them for a referral commission or "finder's fee") to disclose to parents that children have died in a program they may be referring, or that the owners may be embroiled in civil lawsuits alleging abuse. If this is true, I strongly urge anyone who has direct experience of first-hand-knowledge to contact the FTC.
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Sue Scheff /Pure continued to refer children to Whitmore Academy while the owners, Mark and Cheryl Sudweeks were being investigated for criminal child abuse. Wonder if Scheff diclosed this criminal investigation to the parents she continued to refer to Whitmore Academy?
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This area of the TT industry needs to be fully investigated, IMO.
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I think many people here got their nose out of joint because he didnt invite so called survivors to testify.
"So-called survivors"? Wow, that revealed a lot. You sure your name isn't Alonzo Woodbury?
Look, you've admitted to a lack of knowledge of programs and shown it all too often. If you're to be believed, you've got a half-assed grasp on ASR, but you can't even remember recent administrators names. Now you pontificate, referring to "so-called survivors".
Ever seen the Tranquility Bay documentary? Check out Steve and what he went through, especially his description of High Impact. I don't hesitate to call Steve and the posters here survivors, they all endured mental and physical abuse on a level you are clueless about. Don't attempt to downplay what these people went through. It's like referring to "so-called" survivors of the Holocaust.
You can speak your mind, defend your view of programs, but don't toss off incredibly demeaning slights like without expecting some righteous rebukes. You have no right to insult program survivors, and you certainly have no idea what it's like to be in an abusive program.
Shut up and read, and try having "an open mind", like you tell your critics to have.
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Wow, this is a huge development. I hope folks who can help have done so or are planning to do so post haste.
The FTC needs to put the sales and marketing practices ed cons, program owners and parent-resource-referral companies under the microscope. They are the gateway to kids ending up in an abusive RTC or specialty school FOR PROFIT.
Thank you Fornits for your efforts to promote awareness on all issues impacting the safey and well-being of America's youth by providing this forum.
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It's like referring to "so-called" survivors of the Holocaust.
Oh Lordy!!! we are comparing kids who went to TBS's to Holocaust victims !!
Boy, George has his work cut out for him
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You have no right to insult program survivors
Sure he does, it might be distasteful to do so on this forum, but that is what free speech is all about.
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This is a subject survivors can best address because they would know what the program promised and what they in fact delivered.
I have heard of many cases where kids were deprived of an education, received non-transferrable credits, worthless diplomas,etc.
What about these NON REFUNDABLE ADMISSIONS FEES?
That is an area I would focus on if I was the FTC. Almost all the programs charge 2k up front for administrative fees but uniforms and books, etc. are often charged separately. So what are the administrative fees for?
Has anyone actually filed a report with the FTC? If so, can you tell us what your complaint included while not giving away any specifics if you choose to protect your anonymity.
Thanks!
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Can we PLEASE make this thread a STICKY? This is something survivors can certainly address, as well as parents, and I'm afraid it may get lost in the sauce.
Thank You!
:tup: :tup: :tup: :tup: