Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: Ursus on June 14, 2010, 05:25:30 PM
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Long time program ideologue Catherine "Cat" Jennings (Talisman Summer Programs, Camp Elliot, Stone Mountain School, and New Leaf Academy of North Carolina) to head a new program based in North Carolina:
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Breaking News
Posted: Jun 14, 2010
Greenwich Education & Prep
Greenwich, CT
Lake House Academy For Young Girls In NC To Open (http://http://www.strugglingteens.com/artman/publish/LakeHouseAcademyBN_100614.shtml)
Contact:
Peter Newman
Director,
203-661-1609
http://greenwichedprep.com/lha (http://greenwichedprep.com/lha)
Greenwich Education & Prep provides primary, supplementary and specialized learning services as well as educational consulting and individualized college prep courses to K through 12 students and their families. They help students find their passion for learning and teach them to enjoy the journey. They differ from other tutoring, test prep and private schooling organizations by the breadth of programs offered and the superior credentials of their educators.
At Greenwich Education & Prep, students are individually assessed and a curriculum is developed according to their unique learning style and academic needs. Greenwich Education & Prep helps students achieve their full potential and measures their success on the progress students achieve. More information about Greenwich Education & Prep is available on the Internet at http://www.greenwichedprep.com (http://www.greenwichedprep.com).
Copyright ©2010, Woodbury Reports, Inc.
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You sure this is in the right forum Ursus? Is GE&P owned by Aspen or CRC?
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You sure this is in the right forum Ursus? Is GE&P owned by Aspen or CRC?
I don't know who owns Greenwich Education and Prep. However, they have a couple of key folk who were formerly with Aspen, hence there appears to be some type of relationship, be it financial and/or philosophical.
Here's some information on Catherine "Cat" Jennings, recently appointed Executive Director of the soon to open Lake House Academy. In addition to being former head of Stone Mountain School and New Leaf Academy of North Carolina, both Aspen programs, she also founded Talisman Summer Programs and Camp Elliot prior to her association with Aspen Education Group.
[Interestingly enough, and perhaps a bit of a non sequitur, Aspen is also opening another new program this August called Talisman School (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=30538), also in North Carolina.]
First, here is Catherine Jennings' formal farewell letter to the New Leaf community from a couple of weeks ago:
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Breaking News
Posted: May 27, 2010
New Leaf Academy of North Carolina
Hendersonville, NC
Cat Jennings Looking At Options (http://http://www.strugglingteens.com/artman/publish/NewLeafAcadmeyBN_100527.shtml)
Contact:
Rebecca Jefferies
Program Manager
828-697-5029
http://www.newleafnorthcarolina.com (http://www.newleafnorthcarolina.com)
May 28, 2010
Dear Friends and Families of New Leaf Academy of North Carolina,
I am writing to inform you of my plans as we move forward. As you are arranging plans for your daughter and your family's needs, I too am looking at options for myself and my family, therefore my last day at New Leaf will be Friday, June 11th.
Dr. Karen Fitzhugh, VP Operations for Aspen has been present on site for the past two weeks. Karen will move into the chief leadership position at New Leaf upon my departure. Karen is an experienced Executive Director and I have every confidence she will work with you to ensure your daughter has the best transition. In addition, the New Leaf management team will remain in place throughout June.
By June 11th, all families will have carefully crafted plans to move their daughters to their next placement and I am confident the staff that you have known and trusted with your child will be able to implement the plans and support you in transitioning her out of NLANC. I look forward to seeing you all as you come in for Graduation on June 10th and the Family Seminar and visit on the 11th.
Serving your daughter and your family has been one of the greatest experiences of my career and I will keep those memories forever. I will miss each and every one of you. I would love to hear of your successes. The NLANC staff will know how to contact me if they need things as we finish up and I have included ways to contact me after June 11th should you need it.
Thank you for your understanding and support. All of you have contributed to the success of NLANC in trusting us to care for your daughter, supporting her in her work and simply being apart of the NLANC family.
Sincerely,
Cat Jennings
828-707-3473
catjennings@charter.net
Copyright © 1995-2010 by Woodbury Reports Inc.
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Sounds like a sweet place!
I wonder if I could get a free "Zap Pack" with every kid I enroll.
Maybe I'll start my own program.
Vail Education.....I always liked it better than Aspen.
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Here's Cat Jennings' brief bio from New Leaf Academy's website; the Lake House Academy website still needs to be updated:
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Catherine B. Jennings, Executive Director (http://http://www.newleafnorthcarolina.com/staff.html)
(http://http://www.newleafnorthcarolina.com/images/cat_jennings.jpg)
Executive Director Catherine "Cat" Jennings has more than twenty five years working with children at-risk. A pioneer in the field of treatment programs for emotionally, socially, and behaviorally challenged adolescents, Cat has founded three programs devoted to helping students struggling with ADHD, learning differences, social skills development, and autism.
Her programs include the Talisman Summer Programs, a co-educational summer camp for children ages 9-18; Camp Elliot, a licensed mental health program/ therapeutic school for emotionally disturbed boys; and Stone Mountain School, an emotional growth boarding school for boys grades 6-12. In 2000, the Aspen Education Group acquired Stone Mountain School as part of its family of services. In 2004, Cat was selected to lead New Leaf Academy of North Carolina, a personal development boarding school for girls.
"SOMETIMES A GIRL CAN FEEL LIKE A LEAF IN A WINDSTORM.
WE UNDERSTAND HER NEED FOR REDISCOVERY."
New Leaf Academy, 2009.
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This may be a bit of a non sequitur for this thread, but here's someone else currently employed by Greenwich Ed who also has Aspen Ed figuring prominently in their background...
Those of you who may have wondered where Frank Bartolomeo ended up (formerly with Academy at Swift River), may wonder no more. He's here, as director of another of Greenwich Ed's schools — The Spire School. From GE&P's website:
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Frank Bartolomeo, Ph.D. (http://http://www.greenwichedprep.com/about_us_our_staff.html)
Executive Director, The Spire School at Greenwich Education and Prep
(http://http://www.greenwichedprep.com/images/staff/Bartolomeo.jpg)
Dr. Frank Bartolomeo comes to The Spire School at Greenwich Education and Prep with over 20 years of experience in the child and adolescent mental health field. He has worked in such diverse settings as residential treatment centers, schools, outpatient clinics, and hospitals in the Boston area.
In 2005, Frank became Director of Counseling at a therapeutic boarding school and spearheaded its transformation from an emotional growth paradigm to a contemporary model that incorporated the best available research on residential care; he later became the Executive Director.
His areas of specialization include: child and adolescent therapy, group and organizational psychology, and group psychotherapy. Frank served as Co-Chair of the Children's Group Therapy Association in Boston, and in 2003 was awarded "Group Worker of the Year" by the Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups (AASWG). He also served as an assistant clinical professor at Boston University School of Social Work from 1998-2003. Frank has published articles related to the theory, research, and practice of behavioral health care for youth.
Frank enjoys yoga, motorcycling, playing soccer and watching his children's sporting events.
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I guess I musta missed the "official announcement" of Bartolomeo's new appointment when it was first posted. So... belatedly... here it is:
(Curious that it does not deign to mention the Academy at Swift River at all, eh? :D )
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Breaking News
Posted: May 20, 2010 14:50
The Spire School Stamford
New Canaan, CT
Dr Frank Bartolomeo to Head The Spire School (http://http://www.strugglingteens.com/artman/publish/TheSpireSchoolBN_100520.shtml)
Contact:
Frank Bartolomeo, Ph.D
Executive Director
203-661-1609
http://www.greenwichedprep.com (http://www.greenwichedprep.com)
May 19, 2010
The Spire School at Greenwich Education and Prep is pleased to announce Dr. Frank Bartolomeo, PhD has been named Executive Director. Dr. Bartolomeo has over 20 years experience working with adolescents in the mental health field and has worked in residential treatment centers, schools, outpatient clinics and hospitals in the Boston area. His areas of specialization include: child and adolescent therapy, group and organizational psychology, and group psychotherapy.
The Spire School is a private day school in Stamford, CT that combines a rigorous college prep program with an overall emphasis on wellness of mind and body. The students who attend The Spire School are intellectually capable yet need direction and support, due to unsuccessful academic experiences and their self defeating beliefs about their capabilities.
Through an individualized academic program, students develop the skills needed to extend this self-examination to their physical, social, and emotional well-being. With an emphasis on exercise, nutrition, and proper self-care, we help our students regulate their emotions and develop interpersonal skills such as effective communication, good listening, empathy, and conflict resolution.
The approach at Spire is to create a team of community-based allies, particularly parents, who work in concert to support and encourage the students. Staff works in collaboration with those people who play significant roles in the students' lives, including family members, outside professionals, or clergy. This is central to the Spire approach because these relationships weave strong social support networks that sustain and enrich the students.
To learn more call The Spire School or visit the website at: http://www.greenwichedprep.com (http://www.greenwichedprep.com)
Copyright ©2010, Woodbury Reports, Inc.
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These people put themselves out there to help kids. They put their money where their mouth is and work hard to help troubled teens. The people who post here like to post their pictures and throw stones at them, post false information to discredit them and attempt to bully them into shutting down. I have more respect for someone willing to actually try than those who do nothing but tear other people down. The extremists posting here are the most selfish people in the world. They didn't like treatment so they don't want anyone to go to treatment and will lie about being abused to discredit every facility they can. If the extremists here wanted to help kids there are many ways they could, instead they relish in the freedom to humiliate those who actually try. They have created their own mythology and slang words, the fornits culture is of hatred and misinformation. The agenda is to discredit all available options for parents seeking help for their troubled teen, other than the government options. These posters are actually pro government communists who believe only government should be involved in the troubled teen industry, that's why you'll only see them attack privately run programs here. They are completely blinded to the truth and their actions are motivated by delusion.
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post false information to discredit them
What false information?
They didn't like treatment so they don't want anyone to go to treatment and will lie about being abused to discredit every facility they can.
I didn't like being abused in so-called "treatment". I didn't like being forced into an abusive "rehab" for a problem I did not have.
If the extremists here wanted to help kids there are many ways they could, instead they relish in the freedom to humiliate those who actually try.
We suggest getting professional help, instead of abdicating parental responsibilities to strangers with little to no qualifications to deal with emotionally fragile children, especially because so many of these programs utilize the confrontational, 'attack therapy' on children.
They have created their own mythology and slang words,
:rofl: :rofl: Oh that's rich, considering the amount of loaded language and rehab-speak that flows freely inside.
the fornits culture is of hatred and misinformation.
There is no Fornits culture. You guys appear to be threatened by the fact that there are more than just a few people who are beginning to realize the dangers of these places. That's why all the venom is coming from people like you, Danny and a few others. Your belief system has been threatened and you're lashing out. I actually feel sorry for you guys in a lot of ways. It's scary to realize that everything you've built your life upon is bullshit and quicksand.
The agenda is to discredit all available options for parents seeking help for their troubled teen, other than the government options.
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
Most of us would tell you to steer as far away from "government" intervention as possible. Shows how little you know about how "the Fornits culture" thinks. :rofl:
These posters are actually pro government communists who believe only government should be involved in the troubled teen industry, that's why you'll only see them attack privately run programs here. They are completely blinded to the truth and their actions are motivated by delusion.
:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:
Wow. You've really jumped the shark now, haven't you?
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Hi Manne, hope you had a good holiday. You say you offer professional alternatives to private treatment options, what exactly are those? Are you claiming that the 'abuse' that happens in private treatment, do not occur in 'professional' treatment? I fail to see the distinction. Your 'professional', or a better word might be clinical treatment, is very expensive and not an option for most teens, even those with insurance only get a limited amount. So what then? I don't see how you can draw a line between the private industry which also has professionals in their programs, with clinical treatment. You would be more comfortable in a rubber room, than outside in a wilderness program? Different issues need different solutions, the treatment industry is constantly morphing and changing to adapt to the needs of teens and their parents. Why are you so afraid of the free market, don't you believe parents know better than a 'professional' or government bureaucrat? This is the exact communist argument I was saying, you want a govt. expert middleman to decide whether parents can send their kid to treatment, that won't help anything. Other than give the stone throwers more power, more taxes, more control. I see why this appeals to the fornits extremist, to me it's disgusting.
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These posters are actually pro government communists who believe only government should be involved in the troubled teen industry, that's why you'll only see them attack privately run programs here.
Lols. Check out the Public Sector Gulags (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=51) forum. IMO, this is where it all began.
The government loves to give loans and grants to private sector initiative for methodologies they are quite interested in making use of, but which are perhaps too "experimental" for the public to swallow as being government sanctioned. At least in the early stages.
Come to think of it, Straight, Inc., The Seed, and even Synanon benefited from this kind of governmental largesse. :D
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...clinical treatment, is very expensive and not an option for most teens, even those with insurance only get a limited amount.
Most "clinical treatment" takes the form of individual counseling. This usually runs about $80 per session and is almost entirely covered by most insurance plans. $80 per session times 8 sessions per month equals $640, with insurance typically picking up at least 80% of the bill (often it is 100% with a small co-pay of $20 or so) or $512, leaving the patient to pay $128 per month for safe, effective, clinically-proven treatment with measurable results that lasts, on average, less than six months, or $768 for the entire course of treatment.
Most programs on the other hand, cost around $5000 per month and typically $0 is covered by insurance, leaving the "attendee" (their parents, actually) to pay $5000 per month out of their pocket for an average stay of 12 months (or more, but why quibble?), or $60,000, for "treatment" that has no clinical validity whatsoever and about which not one single clinical trial has ever been undertaken in the 40 or so years these "programs" have been in operation.
"Programs" are not considered a valid treatment modality and this is precisely why insurance companies will not pay for them.
Your argument is fallacious, rife with inaccuracy and blatant untruths and, on its face, completely ridiculous.
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Or to be more precise, Ursus, they *did*. In the past tense.
Back in the 60s even the CIA was swept up by some stupid weird shit. The whole embarrassing MKULTRA thing, all the stuff with LSD, remote viewing, oldschool brainwashing, everything. Wanna know why they stopped?
'Cause it didn't fucking work!
Three-letter agencies don't give a fuck one way or another about ethics or whether something is right or not. They just want results, and even in a bureaucracy somebody is going to realize that it's not working sooner or later. And the kind of results coming out of the Seed and similar shit were just not what they were looking for. Not reliable enough, and the harder you pushed the worse the target got. So they scrapped it, as well as a lot of the other useless crap of the era, and tried to forget they had ever gotten involved in it. There was a brief resurgence when Dick Cheney started the waterboarding shit, but since that was just for revenge and didn't work either it was quickly scrapped. Believe me, nobody in government wants to see the clusterfuck of the mid-2000s again. Too much of a headache and they got next to nothing for it.
The sad part is that the monster they had set loose into the wild started evolving on its own, occasionally cross-breeding with the brutish "reformatories" of the time and proto-LGATs. So we got The Seed, Straight, then WWASPS and its variants on one hand, CEDU and its derivatives on the other, and some other minor forms besides. The Seed is gone, Straight is almost completely toast, WWASPS is a shadow of what it was, CEDU is dead, and its derivatives are eating shit.
It's like releasing a fast-mutating virus into a faster-changing host. If we had the 2010 Aspen programs in 1960 they would have fluorished and they wouldn't be getting hammered; the hammering mechanisms (regulation, Fornits, the Internet generally) simply didn't exist. On the other hand, in an environment where any teenager has multiple methods of getting on and instantly summoning hordes of rapacious T-cells, even these evolved forms start dying. The advance of society is simply too much for them to handle, the whole name-change staff-change shuffle isn't working too well anymore, and their basic formulae are failing hard everywhere the regulatory system works. See Trails Carolina. "Wait... we have to do what now?"
The real funny joke is that they're actually using Darwinian evolution against themselves, for obvious reasons. The kids don't even need to be dead; fucked up for life and never having children works too.
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Abuse occurs everywhere clinical treatment or non clinical.. educated or not.
......after state regulators concluded he'd had sex with another patient, billed her insurance company for those sessions and took her prescription pain medications.
To avoid further prosecution by the state, in mid May Lerom voluntarily relinquished his license and promised to "cease practicing psychology." But Lerom still has his office open.
Link (http://http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/medicine/former-psychologist-who-had-sex-with-a-patient-still-open-for-business/1104753)
A top state psychologist who oversaw therapy for hundreds of incarcerated sex offenders was fired for allegedly having a sexual affair with a patient, two lawyers involved in the case said.
Link (http://http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/06/ex-nj_pyschologist_faces_loss.html)
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Sure, there are abusers everywhere. The difference? Programs have not ever been clinically validated. In other words, it has never, in 40 years, been established that they actually "treat" anything and the average cost/program length is $60k/12 months, versus $768/6 months for actual treatment that is proven by clinical trials to be safe and effective.
It also doesn't go unnoticed that rates of abuse by program staff are several orders of magnitude greater than the general population (see MBA for a contemporary example where regulators confirmed a "100%" abuse rate via sexualized role play, food/sleep deprivation, rape etc.). Abusers gravitate to these secretive institutions where thay can abuse at will and if they get caught, it likely won't even get reported (see "Trails Carolina" for a contemporary example where kids got their shoes and pants confiscated nightly, a kid was punched in the face by staff, dosed on meds without doctor's orders, restrained for extended periods daily, etc.) so the program can avoid the bad publicity.
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Sure, there are abusers everywhere. The difference? Programs have not ever been clinically validated.
I dont think parents will get much comfort if you told them their childs abuser was in a place that was clinically validated. The education back ground of the abuser doesn't ease the pain at all from the victims point of view or their families.
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And nobody said it did.
The point is that the chances of being abused are much, much greater in a program where abusers aren't disqualified from employment (many programs don't even do background checks at all) and the general culture is to cover up abuse rather than report it, as we have seen with the examples I provided, MBA and Trails Carolina, to name just a couple.
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And nobody said it did.
Good then we agree on this point.
The point is that the chances of being abused are much, much greater in a program where abusers aren't disqualified from employment (many programs don't even do background checks at all) and the general culture is to cover up abuse rather than report it, as we have seen with the examples I provided, MBA and Trails Carolina, to name just a couple.
No one has established this that I have seen. I have never seen a study that concluded there is a greater chance of a child being abused in a program. I never read where either of those programs you mentioned failed to do background checks on their employees. I dont see any basis for your conclusion. I think this is your general feeling because of your disdain for programs, but it is not fact based. Even if 2 programs did forget to do background checks that wouldn't mean they represent the hundreds of other programs. Do you see what I mean?
Based on the studies and successes "I" have seen and the general structure and how a program is set up I believe they are much safer than any other form of treatment. But this is my opinion based on personal exposure and experience.
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When you're advocating for programs you continually push the idea that even small samples are representative and provide useful data.
I just gave you a small representative sample of the TTI. Two programs, rife with abuse, with one having an abuse rate of 100% as per the investigation of the state licensing agency.
How many programs are out there? Maybe 500 tops? You can find a rich history of abuse by dozens of programs right here on Fornits, complete with source documents and investigation reports. So, just right here we could easily identify probably 100 programs listed here as abusive, a rate of 20%.
There are over 100,000 psychologists that belong to the APA alone and over 150,000 social workers that belong to the NASW. Add those that don't belong to the associations plus psychiatrists, professional counselors and other mental health professionals and that number doubles. So, out of these some 500,000 mental health professionals, you'd have to find 200,000 cases of abuse just make the comparison you're reaching for. It just doesn't pass the smell test alone.
Just from readily avaiable anecdotal evidence we can easily see that programs are far more dangerous to the welfare of kids than professional practitioners. All notwithstanding that there's no proof programs work at all for anyone and cost a hundred times more than traditional treatment.
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When you're advocating for programs you continually push the idea that even small samples are representative and provide useful data.
I just gave you a small representative sample of the TTI. Two programs, rife with abuse, with one having an abuse rate of 100% as per the investigation of the state licensing agency.
When dealing with small sample sizes there are tables that you need to refer to which will tell you how representative your sample may be to the overall population (i.e. 75%, 90% 99% confidence levels). I don’t see where I constantly use this as a basis, but statistician do all the time.
How many programs are out there? Maybe 500 tops? You can find a rich history of abuse by dozens of programs right here on Fornits, complete with source documents and investigation reports. So, just right here we could easily identify probably 100 programs listed here as abusive, a rate of 20%.
Many of the abusive programs have closed and new ones have opened. Some may be abusive while others are not. I am a firm believer that we cant paint the entire industry with a broad brush. We need to look at each program individually to determine if they are effective or not. We also need to separate the cases where the abuse was done by a single individual and not the result of program policy. So you see we would need to have a study conducted to determine how effective or abusive the industry is as a whole. To my knowledge this has not been done yet. There have been studies conducted which indicate that groups of programs are highly effective, but no studies to my knowledge have been done to collect levels of abuse present in the various industries or educational segments like private school, programs etc.
There are over 100,000 psychologists that belong to the APA alone and over 150,000 social workers that belong to the NASW. Add those that don't belong to the associations plus psychiatrists, professional counselors and other mental health professionals and that number doubles. So, out of these some 500,000 mental health professionals, you'd have to find 200,000 cases of abuse just make the comparison you're reaching for. It just doesn't pass the smell test alone.
Exactly, a study would need to be done to collect all the abuse occurring in the TTI and then compare it to mental health professions. Another bit of information may be to compare the public education sector as well. I think they would produce a lions share themselves.
Just from readily avaiable anecdotal evidence we can easily see that programs are far more dangerous to the welfare of kids than professional practitioners. All notwithstanding that there's no proof programs work at all for anyone and cost a hundred times more than traditional treatment.
I actually see the opposite. The structure and consistent oversight and low staff to client ratio alone leads me to conclude that programs are much more safer than any other form of in house treatment.
As we debate this it becomes more evident that neither one of us can say that all programs are good or all of them are bad. It is not as black and white as many here have thought.
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allows me to maintain the believe
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allows me to maintain the believe
Thanks Pile, I changed it to : "leads me to conclude"... The other didnt sound right, I agree.
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"Programs" are not considered a valid treatment modality and this is precisely why insurance companies will not pay for them.
Insurance companies deny coverage based on cost most of the time, DJ. I am not sure if you are aware of this and don’t mean to pick on your posts specifically.
A patient with lung cancer was prescribed (by his doctor) Tarceva to treat the patients cancer. The insurance company denied coverage for this expensive treatment. Traceva is an approved treatment which had undergone and passed clinical trials. Example Link (http://http://searchwarp.com/swa343182.htm)
The insurance company did respond to this person to indicate that they would cover "palliative care" which includes doctor assisted suicide.
So based on this we can see that insurance companies are not solely driven by what is effective (or best care) for the patient. Programs could undergo clinical trials and pass with flying colors but it wouldn’t mean that insurance companies would cover their high cost.
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"Programs" are not considered a valid treatment modality and this is precisely why insurance companies will not pay for them.
Insurance companies deny coverage based on cost most of the time, DJ. I am not sure if you are aware of this and don’t mean to pick on your posts specifically.
A patient with lung cancer was prescribed (by his doctor) Tarceva to treat the patients cancer. The insurance company denied coverage for this expensive treatment. Traceva is an approved treatment which had undergone and passed clinical trials. Example Link (http://http://searchwarp.com/swa343182.htm)
The insurance company did respond to this person to indicate that they would cover "palliative care" which includes doctor assisted suicide.
So based on this we can see that insurance companies are not solely driven by what is effective (or best care) for the patient. Programs could undergo clinical trials and pass with flying colors but it wouldn’t mean that insurance companies would cover their high cost.
That was an interesting story, Whooter. While I would hate to be in the shoes of the patient in this case (a MS. Barbara Wagner, btw), here was how the Oregon Health Plan saw it:
Dr. Walter Shaffer, medical director of the state Division of Medical Assistance Programs, which administers the Oregon Health Plan, attempted to defend the health plan's decision. "We can't cover everything for everyone," he said. "We try to come up with polices that provide the most good for the most people." Shaffer then addressed a priority list that had been developed to ration health care. "There's some desire on the part of the framers of this list to not cover treatments that are futile," he said, "or where the potential benefit to the patient is minimal in relation to the expense of providing the care."[/list]
In this case, according to one of the comments on this article, treatment with Tarceva would have, in all likelihood, extended Ms. Wagner's life by less than two months longer than the placebo group fared. Moreover, Tarceva was apparently not an approved treatment by Oregon at the time; it was then still considered "experimental." Here's that comment, fwiw:
left by John Hrvatska from USA 215 days 6 hours ago.)
at the time of this story (early 2008) Tarceva had yet to be approved by Oregon (and about 20 other states) and was considered experimental.
The letter from OHP (Oregon's Medicaid) specifically said they would pay for palliative care and hospice.
Tarceva does not cure cancer in any way - what it does, in clinical trials, is extend someone's life 6.5 months instead of 4.7 months people on the placebo averaged.
OHP had paid for her previous surgery, chemotherapy, home health nurse, 100%, but denied Tarceva because it was experimental and because they don't pay for drugs that don't have AT LEAST a 5% 5 year survival rate. Tarceva can't even claim that 5% rate for 1 year, much less 5.
Is it harsh to ration medical care this way? Yes. On the other hand, if you google the terms "tarceva insurance denied" you'll come up with pages and pages of stories about private firms - and one state - denying Tarceva because of its limited benefit.[/list][/list]
Insurance companies *do* get a little skittish 'bout paying for treatments that are experimental in nature, so this *is* a most appropriate article for the (sub-)topic currently being discussed. Thanks for bringing it to our attention! :D
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Thanks, Ursus, we see that the state tried to defend their decision and we can see that insurance companies do not rely on what the doctors prescribe and even though the treatment is acceptable they may rule against it and not cover the cost feeling that prolonging the life of a patient a few months is not worth the expense.
Many professionals in the mental health field show frustration with the present health care coverage of limiting residential coverage to just 30 days. From the TTI perspective they probably see that even if they had clinical trials done there is no way that the insurance companies would cover the cost of their residential treatment and isnt worth the effort... otherwise they would have started the process.
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It's a simple Cost/Benefit analysis for insurance companies.
Proper clinical treatment costs them a few thousand dollars for provable, measurable results reported by a licensed professional.
Programs would cost them, on average, $60,000 for absolutlely no provable, measurable results.
Let's play your analogy game, shall we?
You wreck your car and bring it to an unlicensed, fly-by-night body shop who charges you twice the amount for which the car would be totalled. When you get it back, it's just as wrecked as when you took it in to the shop and is not drivable. Insurance would not cover the repairs.
You bring it to a licensed repair shop that charges you 10% of the amount for which it would be totalled and when it comes out it looks fine and is drivable. Insurance covers the repairs.
It's not that deep. Until programs are able to provide clinical trial evidence that they are effective, no insurance company would pay for them. They would be crazy to do so. It makes no sense from an economic perspective to pay a hundred times more for unproven, experimental treatment than proven, effective treatment. This is why it's referred to as the "Parent Choice" industry. Parents can be hoodwinked much more easily than insurance companies.
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It's a simple Cost/Benefit analysis for insurance companies.
Proper clinical treatment costs them a few thousand dollars for provable, measurable results reported by a licensed professional.
Programs would cost them, on average, $60,000 for absolutlely no provable, measurable results.
Let's play your analogy game, shall we?
You wreck your car and bring it to an unlicensed, fly-by-night body shop who charges you twice the amount for which the car would be totalled. When you get it back, it's just as wrecked as when you took it in to the shop and is not drivable. Insurance would not cover the repairs.
You bring it to a licensed repair shop that charges you 10% of the amount for which it would be totalled and when it comes out it looks fine and is drivable. Insurance covers the repairs.
It's not that deep. Until programs are able to provide clinical trial evidence that they are effective, no insurance company would pay for them. They would be crazy to do so. It makes no sense from an economic perspective to pay a hundred times more for unproven, experimental treatment than proven, effective treatment. This is why it's referred to as the "Parent Choice" industry. Parents can be hoodwinked much more easily than insurance companies.
Insurance companies try their best not to cover services if they can avoid it... (it effects their bottom line). Most rehabs are only covered for 30 days..granted some go to 60 or 90. Programs run for 12 to 18 months and even if they invested their time and money to get their program clinically certified it would take years to convince insurance companies to cover them and even then (as history has shown) they would only cover a small portion of it.
So from the industries stand point there is no payback on investment and the risk of not getting coverage is too high. Why should they spend the money when their beds are full? What is the motivating factor?
Do you see what I mean?
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Programs run for 12 to 18 months and even if they invested their time and money to get their program clinically certified it would take years to convince insurance companies to cover them...
These programs have been around for forty years or more. If they worked it would have been documented. And if it were documented 35 years ago or 30 years ago, they would have been able to accept insurance 25 or 30 years ago. That argument is a non-starter.
Your business case is better. They already know a clinical trial will reveal either no change or a worsening (as documented by many youth studies in the past - aggregating distressed teens only makes them worse, as proven by the Surgeon General's report), so they avoid the subject altogether.
We both know, without a doubt, if these programs could be proven effective, it would already have been done looooong ago. It would be an absolute and immediate boost to the bottom line and would dismiss efficacy questions in perpetuity.
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Programs run for 12 to 18 months and even if they invested their time and money to get their program clinically certified it would take years to convince insurance companies to cover them...
These programs have been around for forty years or more. If they worked it would have been documented. And if it were documented 35 years ago or 30 years ago, they would have been able to accept insurance 25 or 30 years ago. That argument is a non-starter.
Your business case is better. They already know a clinical trial will reveal either no change or a worsening (as documented by many youth studies in the past - aggregating distressed teens only makes them worse, as proven by the Surgeon General's report), so they avoid the subject altogether.
We both know, without a doubt, if these programs could be proven effective, it would already have been done looooong ago. It would be an absolute and immediate boost to the bottom line and would dismiss efficacy questions in perpetuity.
Ask yourself what would motivate the industry to have all this testing and studies done. What motivates the drug companies to spend millions on clinical trials and get FDA approval? So that they can sell the drug in the United States. What motivates a person to get a drivers license? To prove to everyone they are a good driver or because they have to by law.
These programs are not going to spend their good money unless they can see a return on investment or they are forced to by law. The industry has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past 40 years. They have plenty of warm bodies to fill the beds. Why spend money on clinical trials and expensive studies?
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Ask yourself what would motivate the industry to have all this testing and studies done. What motivates the drug companies to spend millions on clinical trials and get FDA approval? So that they can sell the drug in the United States. What motivates a person to get a drivers license? To prove to everyone they are a good driver or because they have to by law.
These programs are not going to spend their good money unless they can see a return on investment or they are forced to by law. The industry has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past 40 years. They have plenty of warm bodies to fill the beds.
And that's really what it all boils down to, huh? How much money they can rake in by scaring the shit out of vulnerable parents.
Why spend money on clinical trials and expensive studies?
Because they don't want to hear or publish the results. It would hurt business.
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So from the industries stand point there is no payback on investment and the risk of not getting coverage is too high. Why should they spend the money when their beds are full? What is the motivating factor?
Do you see what I mean?
So, it's not really about helping kids then. It's about making money....which is what we've been saying for years now. Glad you can finally admit it.
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The program is closer to open.
Private school hopes for lodge (http://http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20100808/ARTICLES/8081037/1170), By Mark Schulman, Blue Ridge Now, August 8, 2010
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BlueRidgeNow.com
Private school hopes for lodge
Flat Rock council considers permit for girls' program (http://http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20100808/ARTICLES/8081037/1170)
By Mark Schulman
Times-News Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, August 8, 2010 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 11:10 p.m.
(http://http://www.blueridgenow.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=HT&Date=20100808&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=8081037&Ref=AR&MaxW=250&border=0)
Cat Jennings, left, executive director of the Lake House Academy, samples some locally grown produce while talking with Lauren Kolios, 11, Allison Aurbach, 12, and Ellie Alexander, 10. Jennings said the girls are potential Lake House Academy students if the Village of Flat Rock council approves changing LakeHouse Lodge and Spa into a private school.
MICHAEL JUSTUS/TIMES-NEWS
FLAT ROCK — The Village of Flat Rock is reviewing a permit application that if approved, would allow for a private school for struggling young girls to move into existing Highland LakeHouse Lodge and Spa.
Kerry Lindsey, who currently owns the property, submitted an application to the village June 16 to change its usage from a conference room-type environment to a private school. If Lindsey gets approval, he will sell the LakeHouse Lodge and Spa to Connecticut-based Greenwich Education and Prep, which plans to launch The Lake House Academy.
Flat Rock officials will hold a public hearing on the permit issue Aug. 30 at St. John in the Wilderness Parish Hall.
The academy offers programs for girls ages 10 to 14 with needs in developmental, emotional, social and academic areas, according to academy officials. They said the Lake House Academy academics are accredited by the N.C. Division of Non-Public Education.
Cat Jennings, executive director of Lake House Academy, has more than 25 years of experience with children who struggle with life's issues, and their families.
In 2005, Jennings led a similar program off North Rugby Road called the New Leaf Academy of North Carolina. It was open for six years, Jennings said.
New Leaf recently shut its doors for financial reasons; however, the program was consolidated with another location in Oregon. The North Rugby Road building will transition into the Talisman program, another program to help struggling children, according to Jennings.
"That was not a happy day," Jennings said about seeing the Henderson County location close. "But it's a happy day today."
One of the activities girls can participate in at the academy is gardening. On Friday afternoon, three young girls were at the garden near Lindsey's house picking fresh vegetables like cucumbers and peppers. They were there this week to talk with Lake House Academy staff about the possibility of attending the school in the fall.
The girls would attend The Lake House Academy if the lodge and spa is converted into the private school.
Ellie Alexander, 10, of Houston, Texas, was surprised at the beauty of the area.
"It's really neat here," she said. "I imagined when they said we would be swimming that it would be in a pool. Not in a lake."
Lauren Kolios, 11, of Atlanta, said she loves everything about the Highland Lake area.
"My favorite part is the lake," she added.
Classes
If Lake House Academy gets the OK and is located at Highland LakeHouse Lodge and Spa, the year-round school will offer academics, experience in nature, camping, team building and leadership activities.
Tuition is $5,800 a month, and students typically stay for about 14 months with sessions starting as early as September if approved, Jennings said.
There can be as many as 40 students with about 36 to 38 supervisors, and there will be someone to watch the girls at night, Jennings added.
"These girls are not 'at risk,' " she said. "They are struggling with middle-school life's demands. If no one helps a young girl put her life together, she could lose herself."
"We try to connect with (them) in healthy ways," she added. "We help them discover their strengths and talents and healthy relationships."
Screening process
Academy staff screen each student. The typical student "has not yet experienced" significant issues with substance abuse, sexual acting out, criminal behavior or running away, according to documents submitted from the Lake House Academy to village officials.
The school evaluates the history of each girl for a 90-day period before acceptance to ensure that she fits the criteria. The academy helps girls who suffer from anything from immaturity and tantrums to bi-polar behavior, anxiety, social phobias, mood disorders and Asperger's Syndrome, the documents say.
Those documents also say the academy does not take girls with homicidal thoughts, active suicidal intent, active psychosis, aggressive behavior outside the home, regular drug or alcohol abuse, cutting, sexually acting out and fire-setting.
Officials at the academy said students cannot have a history in stealing, vandalism or with the legal system.
The girls will not have access to vehicles and transportation will be provided by program officials.
Students will always be supervised and cannot have a past that involves drugs, alcohol and promiscuity nor be aggressive or dangerous, academy documents say.
Copyright © 2010 BlueRidgeNow.com
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Have you informed the Flat Rock Council about the history of the people trying to open this place?
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Have you informed the Flat Rock Council about the history of the people trying to open this place?
One might think, in a bad economy, that a new binnis in town would generally be considered to be a good thing by a town council... But as far as the rest of local townsfolk are concerned, their focus appears to be more concerned with property values and the like, as per the following article:
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BlueRidgeNow.com
Flat Rock neighbors argue for, against plan for girls' school (http://http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20100808/ARTICLES/8081038)
By Mark Schulman
Times-News Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, August 8, 2010 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 11:12 p.m.
Word spread throughout the community once Highland LakeHouse Lodge and Spa owner Kerry Lindsey submitted a permit application to have the property's usage changed to allow for a school for girls with social, academic or family issues.
Citizens in the village wrote nearly 30 letters to the council expressing support or opposition to the plan to allow a school, which would be called The Lake House Academy, at the site.
Many in the community, including some in the Highland Lake village subdivision, do not want the school at the lodge and spa, which sits within a 200-acre resort that consists of gardens, wetlands and trails.
Highland Lake Village is across the street from Highland Lake resort. The main entrance is on Highland Lake Drive.
Several letters written to Flat Rock Mayor Bob Staton and the village council indicate the school does not have adequate land for the girls or enough supervision. Concerns also span traffic problems, diminished property values and noise disturbances.
Don Lane owns a duplex on the Highland Lake property and doesn't approve of changing the lodge into a private school.
“I have nothing against the girls,” Lane said. “It's just not the right place for a school. It doesn't fit.”
He bought the home because it's a recreation/retirement community.
“It has a tranquil setting,” Lane said, adding that he wants to preserve it.
“I don't know what they are afraid of,” said Jennings, executive director of the academy. "These girls are not broken — the family system is broken. We help the family get healthy."
The Rev. Ken and Loyd Kinnett of the Highland Lake community support the school.
“The girls are not juvenile delinquents but could become so without this program,” Ken said. “We do not believe their presence at the lake house or the field around the barn, etc., will in any way disturb our lifestyles or property values.”
Flat Rock Vice Mayor Nick Weedman said the council won't comment until the public hearing slated for Aug. 30.
Application scrutinized
In review of Lindsey's application, the Flat Rock Planning Board advised the village council to look into several issues:
- The impact the academy will have on the ambience of the Highland Lake community.
- The acreage of the area with respect to the lake being more than three acres of the total five acres required.
- Ratio of staff to students.
- Economic impact on the Highland Lake community and the village.
- Limit the age of the girls to 10 to 14 years old; require that no girl be allowed to drive while attending the academy even if the girl reaches 16; and that no girl exceeds that age.
The property
The LakeHouse Lodge and Spa is a three-story rustic-type structure nestled in the 200-acre Highland Lake resort, where guests could find an abundance of gardens, trails and foliage.
Lindsey opened the lodge at 447 Lily Pad Lane in 2006 to provide guests with a connection to nature in Flat Rock. He also once owned Season's Restaurant and Highland Lake Inn, which he sold in 1999 after 15 years of proprietorship.
The restaurant and inn on 26 acres is now owned by Jack and Linda Grup. Jack Grup said that, as a businessman, he cannot see “a whole lot of negative” aspects of Lindsey's decision to sell the lodge to Greenwich Education and Prep, which would then launch the academy.
The Grup's property is adjacent to the would-be school and Grup said the area has always accommodated schools and camps.
He says unsupervised children who come to the retreat with their families are a bigger problem.
“That is the norm,” he said of finding children on his property. He sees the positive side of having the academy as a neighbor.
“I see an opportunity to help a bunch of girls learn to be a better part of the community,” Grup said.
Acreage requirements
One of the usage requirements for turning the LakeHouse Lodge and Spa structure into a private school is that the property must sit on five acres, according to the village ordinance.
The building, parking lot and its boundaries cover five acres; however, three acres of it includes the lake itself. The village ordinance does not specify whether the five acres should consist of land, water or both, according to Judy Boleman, village zoning administrator.
Lindsey owns about 60 acres of land in Highland Lake and said he will let the school have access to much of the outdoor spaces. Lindsey said he is giving the school the right to use to a 30-acre lake and a 16-acre horse pasture on his property.
For sale
Lindsey said the lodge has been on the market listed as a bed and breakfast for two years and potential buyers couldn't get financed.
Greenwich Education and Prep was the first company that could provide the money to buy the lodge. Lindsey would not disclose the amount.
He believes the school would have a positive impact on the area's economy. He said every six weeks, the parents of 40 students would be there to be with their children for a weekend where they would lodge for that period of time.
Some of these families have already been coming here for the past several years, he said.
He added that the Highland Lake resort property, which will turn 100 years old this year, has accommodated schools and camps for most of its existence.
In 1915, Highland Lake Inn was a prep school for boys, according to the late Henderson County historian Louise Bailey, who was hired by Lindsey 15 years ago to trace Highland Lake Inn's history.
Website confusion
Some citizens question Greenwich Education and Prep's website, which states that students are already at the academy. Lindsey explained that Jennings had to go into an advanced marketing phase to get the necessary students for enrollment.
Greenwich Education & Prep's provides primary, supplementary and specialized learning services as well as educational consulting and individualized college prep courses to K through 12 students and their families, according to its website.
For more questions contact the Lake House Academy's Executive Cat Jennings at 828-707-3473 or cjennings@lakehouseacademy.com.
Copyright © 2010 BlueRidgeNow.com