Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => Aspen Education Group => Topic started by: Ursus on October 29, 2010, 01:37:53 AM
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First, here's an earlier article from last year to provide some background.
The article below appears to be an updated version of one published two days prior; the earlier version was posted (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=29113&p=350067#p350067) last November 3rd in the Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down thread.
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KTVZ.com
November 5, 2009
Mt. Bachelor Academy Updates Its Defense (http://http://www.ktvz.com/news/22440035/detail.html)
Says it will seek hearings, that some allegations pre-date changes
From KTVZ.COM news sources
The Oregon Department of Human Services has concluded a seven-month investigation into the programs of Mt. Bachelor Academy by ordering immediate closure of the specialty boarding school for troubled teens east of Prineville, accusing it of "abuse and neglect," and "serious violations of Oregon's licensing standards."
The closure of the school (http://www.mtba.com/ (http://www.mtba.com/)) was deemed "temporary" in the announcement, but will continue "until further notice." The school said Wednesday it is working "dilligently" to place students elsewhere, but also revised and expanded its defense of its procedures, claiming it has yet to see the full state report but that some allegations apparently pre-date its revised procedures in 2002.
It's another major blow to the parent Aspen Education Group (http://www.aspeneducation.com (http://www.aspeneducation.com)), which is dealing with an investigation of its Redmond-based SageWalk Wilderness School after a student died on a wilderness hike earlier this year.
Here is the full text of information about the Mt. Bchelor Academy investigation, provided late Tuesday by the state:
Mt. Bachelor Academy has been under investigation by the Department of Human Services Office of Investigations and Training (OIT) since March 2009, due to allegations of abuse. The OIT investigation is now complete and resulted in nine substantiated findings of child abuse and neglect against both the school's leadership and the therapeutic boarding school as a whole.
The DHS investigation revealed abuse and neglect, as well as serious violations of Oregon's licensing standards. As a result, DHS has determined that there is a serious and immediate health or safety risk to the children and Mt. Bachelor Academy. At this time, parents are being asked to begin making arrangements for their children to be removed from the Mt. Bachelor Academy.
November 2, 2009
Background Information: Mt. Bachelor Academy
Children, Adults and Families Division, Oregon Department of Human Services
Investigations conducted by the Oregon Department of Human Services at Mt. Bachelor Academy (MBA), a therapeutic boarding school located near Prineville, have resulted in nine substantiated findings of child abuse and neglect against the school's leadership and therapeutic program.
As a result of the abuse investigation and violations of Oregon's licensing standards, the state has ordered Mt. Bachelor Academy to temporarily cease all therapeutic, educational and residential services to children until further notice.
The abuse and neglect findings centered on the program as a whole, as well as the school's Executive Director, and involved five children who attended Mt. Bachelor Academy during 2007-2009. The results of the investigation are being provided to local law enforcement officials.
The investigation was conducted by the Office of Investigation and Training (OIT) at DHS. Investigators with OIT reported that all students at MBA were required to participate in "emotional growth" workshops, called Lifesteps, which included activities that were coercive, intimidating and humiliating -- including sexualized role play and reenactment of past traumatic events, such as prior physical or sexual abuse.
While the initial reports described concerns about Lifesteps, the investigation ultimately revealed serious safety concerns about MBA's curriculum and program as a whole. The experience of the five students was consistent with that of other children enrolled at the school. The report concluded that the experiences of "these five youth are exemplars of the program's treatment of its students as a whole."
As a result of the OIT investigation, DHS Children, Adults and Families Residential Treatment Services and Licensing found violations of state licensing standards for therapeutic boarding schools, and state officials will require MBA to cease providing therapeutic, educational and residential services to children.
The licensing program determined in its investigation that there are conditions present that immediately endanger the health and safety of the children enrolled at MBA. The program found that MBA's methods of educational instruction, emotional and behavioral intervention and daily interaction with students create an immediate threat which places all children at risk of harm.
Further, the investigation revealed that MBA has subjected children to Lifestep workshops as a therapy technique that is harmful and damaging to their health or welfare. In addition, that MBA has not provided the therapeutic treatment necessary for children to overcome or improve with substance abuse issues, mental health issues, eating disorders and other issues, nor provided qualified staff to treat such conditions.
The substantiated incidents of abuse or neglect are shown below:
- Mt. Bachelor Academy Executive Director neglected the care of four children by failing to ensure individualized and therapeutic treatment plans were developed to address past abuse and significant emotional and behavioral issues.
- The Mount Bachelor Academy program abused a child in 2007 by requiring the child to engage in sexualized role play in front of staff and peers.
- The Mount Bachelor program abused a second child in 2009 by requiring the child to make obscene and self-degrading comments out loud, in front of staff and peers. In addition, the Mount Bachelor program neglected the same child during 2008-2009 by failing to provide adequate medical care and supervision.
- The Mount Bachelor Academy program neglected a third child in 2009, by failing to provide adequate supervision during an international trip.
- The Mount Bachelor Academy program abused a fourth child in 2008 by requiring the child to engage in degrading activities such as acting out sexualized role play and physical abuse, and by being subjected to obscene and degrading comments by staff in front of other staff and peers.
- The Mount Bachelor Academy program abused a fifth child during 2009 by requiring and/or permitting staff to use derogatory names, phrases, ridicule and harassment.
- The Mount Bachelor Academy program neglected five children between 2007 and 2009 by failing to provide individualized treatment to meet their diagnosed mental health needs.
- The Mount Bachelor Academy program abused five children between 2007 and 2009 by requiring them to engage in activities that were coercive, intimidating, harassing, and/or humiliating.
The substantiated incidents meet Oregon's legal definition of child abuse because they were inconsistent with recommended and appropriate treatment or care, used derogatory names/phrases, profanity, ridicule, harassment, coercion, and/or intimidation that was likely to endanger the child's health or welfare. In addition, the activities subjected children to a substantial risk of harm to their health or welfare, and the adults failed to supervise or intervene when the child needed assistance or care, in an activity that was likely to endanger their health or welfare.
An expert in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry consulted by DHS as part of the investigation concluded: "In general, coercive, degrading and humiliating treatment is harmful to young people, especially those with psychological vulnerabilities. Young people (male and female) who have been victims of abuse often hold themselves responsible for the abuse, and develop sexualized behavior for reasons they often don't understand. To confront them and humiliate them about these behaviors in an effort to force them to see themselves more clearly and consequently change their behavior can be very destructive. It has the risk of reinforcing self-blame and self-loathing attitudes already present in traumatized individuals. It is essentially retraumatizing."
Today's report also includes a substantiated allegation of child abuse against the Executive Director of MBA as "the individual responsible for delivery of therapeutic care to MBA students." In that role, the Executive Director "administers through staff an ‘emotional growth' curriculum in which all students must participate regardless of their emotional, behavioral or mental health needs, and regardless of their own trauma histories. This curriculum is delivered by staff who are not trained to treat the broad range of issues the children bring, and who routinely degrade and humiliate them." The report concludes that the Executive Director, "knew or should have known what happens to students in [the] program."
Mt. Bachelor Academy is a licensed Therapeutic Boarding School, located in a rural area, 26 miles east of Prineville, Oregon, licensed originally in 1988. The school admits both male and female students who are from age 14 to 17.5 at the time of admission, although some children are admitted pursuant to an exception as young as age 13. The total capacity is 125 students and the average length of stay is 14-16 months. Tuition is $6,400 a month with an additional up front, one time $2,200 enrollment fee. Other service fees are not included. In 2008, Mt. Bachelor was reorganized and became a program of Aspen Education Group. Aspen was recently acquired by CRC Health Group, Inc. In March of 2009, MBA had approximately 77 staff and 88 boarding students.
Last March, the state received reports of child abuse against Mt. Bachelor Academy, initially concerning the Lifesteps program at MBA. OIT is a division of DHS that investigates allegations of abuse by paid staff in various therapeutic or treatment settings, and OIT handled the investigation of the reports of abuse at MBA. There were two investigators primarily assigned to go to Prineville and interview people on campus. In addition, the office used three other investigators to conduct witness interviews of people in- and out-of-state. The investigators conducted interviews involving 65 witnesses, including MBA students and staff, along with licensed therapists familiar with individual students. Investigators consulted with a medical expert certified in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and they reviewed documents and photographed materials used as part of the MBA therapy program.
At the same time, the DHS Licensing program investigated standards for health and safety and looked at the school's compliance with Oregon Administrative Rules related to their license as a therapeutic boarding school. Licensing notified MBA that they were prohibited from conducting their own investigation into the allegations of abuse reported to have occurred; prohibited from destroying or otherwise concealing school or student records; prohibited from disciplining or threatening discipline to students interviewed during the investigation; prohibited from conducting Lifesteps activities until further notice. Parents of students were notified of the investigation.
A "Therapeutic boarding school" is a program that is primarily a school and not a residential care agency (as defined in OAR 413-215-0506). Therapeutic boarding schools are licensed to provide both educational services and care to children for 24 hours a day and hold themselves out as serving children with emotional or behavioral problems by providing therapeutic services or assuring that children receive therapeutic services.
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Revised statement from Sharon Bitz, Executive Director, Mount Bachelor Academy
"The state's action on Monday was deeply disappointing to Mount Bachelor Academy after all of our cooperative efforts these past months. We intend to do everything possible to defend the excellent record of our staff of dedicated professionals built over more than 20 years at Mount Bachelor, and to refute these erroneous allegations.
We are told that the state's order to suspend operations at Mount Bachelor was largely based on a 200-page report that we still have not been given. However, from what we read in the media, it appears that the report includes allegations that date back as far as 10 to 12 years, many of which were based on a prior treatment process that was overhauled in 2002.
Mount Bachelor places a high value on compliance and being viewed by the state as a good operator. As a result, our staff cooperated fully throughout the DHS inquiry, and made a number of changes based on the limited information the state shared with us about its concerns.
The state's sudden action was not only erroneous but also created an unnecessary burden of distress and disruption for our students and their families. At this point, we are doing everything we can to protect our students and assist our families in making orderly and appropriate arrangements for their children in alternative programs.
At the same time, we are aggressively pursuing legal options, including requesting hearings to overturn the order issued by DHS and to contest the findings by the Office of Investigations and Training.
For decades, Mount Bachelor Academy has enjoyed a solid reputation as a quality, accredited therapeutic boarding school for teens with behavioral, emotional or motivational problems or special learning needs.
We remain proud of Mount Bachelor's record of life-changing, positive results for young people in our care, and confident in the professional conduct of our staff who have committed their careers to making a difference in the lives of young people and their families. Mount Bachelor has been recognized for comprehensive therapeutic best practices and safety protocols, and has independent verification of its success through participation in third-party outcome studies with oversight by the Western Institutional Review Board.
Throughout the inquiry, we have been heartened by the overwhelming support from Mount Bachelor Academy alumni and current students and families. More than 100 individual letters and a letter with roughly 200 signatures were filed with the Oregon DHS in support of our school."
Copyright 2010 KTVZ.
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And... here's the more recent news:
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DHS, Mount Bachelor Academy Settle Case (http://http://www.ktvz.com/news/25258065/detail.html)
DHS Stands By Investigation; New School Eyed on Site
By Barney Lerten, KTVZ.COM
POSTED: 8:55 pm PDT October 2, 2010 · UPDATED: 9:57 pm PDT October 2, 2010
(http://http://www.ktvz.com/2009/1104/22440034_240X136.jpg)
PRINEVILLE, Ore. -- Nearly a year after the state Department of Human Services ordered closure of the Mount Bachelor Academy, a therapeutic boarding school for teens east of Prineville, a settlement has been reached that the shuttered school’s owners say should clear the way for them to open a new school at the location.
Early last November, the state gave Aspen Education Group, operators of the private boarding school 26 miles east of Prineville, 72 hours to remove students, claiming its seven-month investigation into the programs found several incidents of “abuse and neglect,” and “serious violations of Oregon’s licensing standards.”
Under the settlement, the state is withdrawing or modifying all of its orders and actions taken against the school, but says it still stands by its decision to investigate the facility, which had about 90 students and more than 75 staff as of early last year, with tuition of $6,400 a month.
At the time of the closure, DHS cited what it called nine substantiated claims of abusive practices, such as sexualized role-playing in front of other students in the “Lifesteps” program, sleep deprivation and extended manual labor as punishment. But it did refer to the closure as “temporary,” saying it would continue “until further notice.”
It was a second blow last year to Aspen Education Group, after a student at its Redmond-based SageWalk Wilderness School died during a wilderness hike.
News of the settlement was applauded by supporters of the school, including Elaine Povich, a Washington, D.C., freelance journalist, who credits MBA with "giving her son the tools he needed to study, graduate and go on with his education."
"Before MBA, he was floundering," she said. "He benefited immensely from the program, and developed important relationships with the staff there."
"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."
Below are the full statements as issued by a DHS official and the president of Aspen Education Group:
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Erinn Kelley-Siel, Director of Children, Adults and Families at Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) released the following statement today (Friday) re: settlement agreement between DHS and Mount Bachelor Academy (MBA), Aspen Education Group, CRC Health Group and former MBA executive director Sharon Bitz:
DHS takes its responsibility to the vulnerable young people enrolled in state-licensed programs, such as Mount Bachelor Academy (MBA), very seriously. Our first priority is to ensure the safety of Oregon children and youth.
In November, 2009, following a comprehensive investigation that revealed serious abuse and widespread violations of Oregon's licensing rules, DHS took immediate action to suspend MBA's license.
On September 28, following settlement negotiations with all parties, 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. Mount Bachelor Academy is closed and, by all accounts, will remain closed. Finally, the school and its parent corporations, as well as Ms. Bitz will dismiss all related legal actions.
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.
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A statement from Phil Herschman, President of Aspen Education Group, on behalf of Mount Bachelor Academy:
We are pleased that the ongoing legal dispute between Mount Bachelor Academy (MBA) and the State of Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) has finally been satisfactorily resolved. The DHS has agreed to withdraw or modify all of its actions against MBA and MBA’s former director. 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.
As we have repeatedly stated throughout this process, our fundamental disagreements with the DHS' original allegations and consequent actions were strong and deep. We had collected abundant evidence that disproved those allegations, particularly the most egregious ones.
Despite the tragic circumstances of Mount Bachelor’s closure, we hope to open a new, even more successful school on the MBA campus in the future, and wish to publicly thank our skilled and dedicated employees who touched the lives of thousands of troubled teens for more than two decades at MBA, and the loyal alumni and families who steadfastly supported us.
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As for the SageWalk case, the Lake County district attorney has yet to decide whether to accept a chief investigator's recommendation from earlier this year to file homicide charges in the August 2009 death of Sergey Blashchishen.
Kristen Hayes, communications director for Aspen Education Group, said, Saturday she does not believe there are plans to reopen anything at the Redmond location.
Copyright 2010 KTVZ.
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— BUMP —
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(Re-posted) Some feedback from a journalist who had a child:
"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."
...
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(Re-posted) Some feedback from a journalist who had a child:
"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."
Just to clarify in case it isn't already obvious, this is actually part of the above article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=31526&p=388228#p385223), perhaps even solicited opinion, and not unsolicited feedback to the news after it came out (as Whooter seemed to imply in another thread (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=30803&p=388227#p388223)).
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(Re-posted) Some feedback from a journalist who had a child:
"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."
Just to clarify in case it isn't already obvious, this is actually part of the above article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=31526&p=388228#p385223), perhaps even solicited opinion, and not unsolicited feedback to the news after it came out (as Whooter seemed to imply in another thread).
I am not following you, Ursus. You posted the article yourself further up and you must have read the comments by the journalist who had a child in the program. It is in the body of the news report (not in the comments section). As far as whether or not they solicited (or approached) all these people (DHS of Oregon, Aspen President etc.) is not mentioned specifically in the body of the article (or any foot notes). I imagine they were all approached for their statements as is typical in all reporting how else would they have gotten their comments. The reporter is given the assignment and he/she goes out and finds people to comment.
If you look after the quote it says.. "Povich told NewsChannel 21". This indicates to me that the reporter spoke to Povich or Channel 21 directly. The responses from DHS and Aspen were probably acquired the same way.
...
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(Re-posted) Some feedback from a journalist who had a child:
"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."
Just to clarify in case it isn't already obvious, this is actually part of the above article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=31526&p=388228#p385223), perhaps even solicited opinion, and not unsolicited feedback to the news after it came out (as Whooter seemed to imply in another thread).
I am not following you, Ursus. You posted the article yourself further up and you must have read the comments by the journalist who had a child in the program. It is in the body of the news report (not in the comments section). As far as whether or not they solicited (or approached) all these people (DHS of Oregon, Aspen President etc.) is not mentioned specifically in the body of the article (or any foot notes). I imagine they were all approached for their statements as is typical in all reporting how else would they have gotten their comments. The reporter is given the assignment and he/she goes out and finds people to comment.
If you look after the quote it says.. "Povich told NewsChannel 21". This indicates to me that the reporter spoke to Povich or Channel 21 directly. The responses from DHS and Aspen were probably acquired the same way.
Which part of the below quote do you have difficulty following?
...this is actually part of the above article...
[/list]
Nobody spoke about any "comments" yet, until you just brought them up. Are you trying to confuse folks again?
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(Re-posted) Some feedback from a journalist who had a child:
"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."
Just to clarify in case it isn't already obvious, this is actually part of the above article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=31526&p=388228#p385223), perhaps even solicited opinion, and not unsolicited feedback to the news after it came out (as Whooter seemed to imply in another thread).
I am not following you, Ursus. You posted the article yourself further up and you must have read the comments by the journalist who had a child in the program. It is in the body of the news report (not in the comments section). As far as whether or not they solicited (or approached) all these people (DHS of Oregon, Aspen President etc.) is not mentioned specifically in the body of the article (or any foot notes). I imagine they were all approached for their statements as is typical in all reporting how else would they have gotten their comments. The reporter is given the assignment and he/she goes out and finds people to comment.
If you look after the quote it says.. "Povich told NewsChannel 21". This indicates to me that the reporter spoke to Povich or Channel 21 directly. The responses from DHS and Aspen were probably acquired the same way.
Which part of the below quote do you have difficulty following?
...this is actually part of the above article...
[/list]
Nobody spoke about any "comments" yet, until you just brought them up. Are you trying to confuse folks again?
I brought up the word "Comments", I dont think anyone was confused, Ursus. If you click thru to the link I provided, the comments by the Journalist could be found in the body of the news article. The same article that had comments from DHS and Aspen.
I think we can both agree that everything posted was part of the original article. I feel we have been clear to the readers on this. Your original posting seems clear also, I wouldnt worry too much.
...
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More comments by Povich:
"Elaine Povich, a Washington, D.C., freelance journalist, who credits MBA with "giving her son the tools he needed to study, graduate and go on with his education."
"Before MBA, he was floundering," she said. "He benefited immensely from the program, and developed important relationships with the staff there."
...
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What I like to do is get back to the latest information at hand. A lot of things were said by DHS that they regret. Here is the latest article on MBA and a statement:
Link (http://http://www.ktvz.com/news/25258065/detail.html)
"DHS has agreed to withdraw or modify all of its actions against MBA"
...
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What I like to do is get back to the latest information at hand. A lot of things were said by DHS that they regret. Here is the latest article on MBA and a statement:
Link (http://http://www.ktvz.com/news/25258065/detail.html)
"DHS has agreed to withdraw or modify all of its actions against MBA"
BECAUSE THEY CLOSED.
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What I like to do is get back to the latest information at hand. A lot of things were said by DHS that they regret. Here is the latest article on MBA and a statement:
Link (http://http://www.ktvz.com/news/25258065/detail.html)
"DHS has agreed to withdraw or modify all of its actions against MBA"
BECAUSE THEY CLOSED.
The article goes further to say:
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.
...
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What I like to do is get back to the latest information at hand. A lot of things were said by DHS that they regret. Here is the latest article on MBA and a statement:
Link (http://http://www.ktvz.com/news/25258065/detail.html)
"DHS has agreed to withdraw or modify all of its actions against MBA"
BECAUSE THEY CLOSED.
The article goes further to say:
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.
Perhaps you read a little too hastily, Whooter. Both samples of the material you quote above are not actually part of the article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=31526&p=388548#p385223) written by Barney Lerten, but were excerpted from an accompanying statement furnished by Aspen Ed, clearly noted as such by the following header:
A statement from Phil Herschman, President of Aspen Education Group, on behalf of Mount Bachelor Academy: . . .[/list]
I'm not all that sure that Barney Lerten would appreciate your giving him credit for Phil Hirschman's words, but... I could be wrong! :D
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What I like to do is get back to the latest information at hand. A lot of things were said by DHS that they regret. Here is the latest article on MBA and a statement:
Link (http://http://www.ktvz.com/news/25258065/detail.html)
"DHS has agreed to withdraw or modify all of its actions against MBA"
BECAUSE THEY CLOSED.
The article goes further to say:
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.
Perhaps you read a little too hastily, Whooter. Both samples of the material you quote above are not actually part of the article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=31526&p=388548#p385223) written by Barney Lerten, but were excerpted from an accompanying statement furnished by Aspen Ed, clearly noted as such by the following header:
A statement from Phil Herschman, President of Aspen Education Group, on behalf of Mount Bachelor Academy: . . .[/list]
I'm not all that sure that Barry Lerten would appreciate your giving him credit for Phil Hirschman's words, but... I could be wrong! :D
I think he was aware (not positive). At the end of his article he said:
"Below are the full statements as issued by a DHS official and the president of Aspen Education Group:"
...
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What I like to do is get back to the latest information at hand. A lot of things were said by DHS that they regret. Here is the latest article on MBA and a statement:
Link (http://http://www.ktvz.com/news/25258065/detail.html)
"DHS has agreed to withdraw or modify all of its actions against MBA"
BECAUSE THEY CLOSED.
The article goes further to say:
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.
Perhaps you read a little too hastily, Whooter. Both samples of the material you quote above are not actually part of the article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=31526&p=388548#p385223) written by Barney Lerten, but were excerpted from an accompanying statement furnished by Aspen Ed, clearly noted as such by the following header:
A statement from Phil Herschman, President of Aspen Education Group, on behalf of Mount Bachelor Academy: . . .[/list]
I'm not all that sure that Barney Lerten would appreciate your giving him credit for Phil Hirschman's words, but... I could be wrong! :D
I think he was aware (not positive). At the end of his article he said:
"Below are the full statements as issued by a DHS official and the president of Aspen Education Group:"
I'm not too concerned over whether Barney Lerten is "aware" or not of whatever it is you seem to think he was.
What I find troublesome is your quoting Aspen press release material and claiming or insinuating that it is from an article written by a bona fide reporter who has certain standards of veracity in what he has authorship of.
When you claim, "The article goes further to say...," you are averring that what preceded your words as well as what comes after them ... is from the article. In both cases, that simply isn't true.
Since I tend to view the veracity of Aspen press releases as being somewhat less believable than assurances that the moon is made of green cheese, I find your false claims quite telling.
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I'm not too concerned over whether Barry Lerten is "aware" or not of whatever it is you seem to think he was.
What I find troublesome is your quoting Aspen press release material and claiming or insinuating that it is from an article written by a bona fide reporter who has certain standards of veracity in what he has authorship of.
When you claim, "The article goes further to say...," you are averring that what preceded your words as well as what comes after them ... is from the article. In both cases, that simply isn't true.
Since I tend to view the veracity of Aspen press releases as being somewhat less believable than assurances that the moon is made of green cheese, I find your false claims quite telling.
Personally I think all the information is vital and important.
So, per your argument, lets remove the DHS press release and the Aspen Press release from the equation.... We are still left with:
News of the settlement was applauded by supporters of the school, including Elaine Povich, a Washington, D.C., freelance journalist, who credits MBA with "giving her son the tools he needed to study, graduate and go on with his education."
"Before MBA, he was floundering," she said. "He benefited immensely from the program, and developed important relationships with the staff there."
"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."
...
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So, per your argument, lets remove the DHS press release and the Aspen Press release from the equation....
Where did I argue for removing the DHS and the Aspen press releases? I never even mentioned removing them. Which hat did that rabbit come from?
I expressed concern over your insistence on misrepresentation and fraudulent attribution.
It wasn't "insistence" half a page back, but... since you still refuse to even acknowledge your error, I am forced to consider that your deception may be deliberate.
In case you need another refresher:
What I find troublesome is your quoting
Aspen press release material and claiming or insinuating that it is from an article written by a bona fide reporter who has certain standards of veracity in what he has authorship of.
When you claim, "The article goes further to say...," you are averring that what preceded your words as well as what comes after them ... is from the article. In both cases, that simply isn't true.
Since I tend to view the veracity of Aspen press releases as being somewhat less believable than assurances that the moon is made of green cheese, I find your false claims quite telling.[/list][/size]
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So, per your argument, lets remove the DHS press release and the Aspen Press release from the equation....
Where did I argue for removing the DHS and the Aspen press releases? I never even mentioned removing them. Which hat did that rabbit come from?
I expressed concern over your insistence on misrepresentation and fraudulent attribution.
It wasn't "insistence" half a page back, but... since you still refuse to even acknowledge your error, I am forced to consider that your deception may be deliberate.
In case you need another refresher:
What I find troublesome is your quoting
Aspen press release material and claiming or insinuating that it is from an article written by a bona fide reporter who has certain standards of veracity in what he has authorship of.
When you claim, "The article goes further to say...," you are averring that what preceded your words as well as what comes after them ... is from the article. In both cases, that simply isn't true.
Since I tend to view the veracity of Aspen press releases as being somewhat less believable than assurances that the moon is made of green cheese, I find your false claims quite telling.[/list][/size]
Sorry, Ursus, I am not that Anal about differentiating between portions of the same article. I find it important to include DHS's comments as well as Aspens comments even though you may feel they are press releases. Some people may feel government agencies like DHs are less credible. This isnt up to you or I to filter. We should present the whole article. If you feel the certain parts of the article are more credible then that is okay and is your opinion.
Personally I think DHS got a hold of some bad information which they based their decision to close MBA on. When they looked further into it they realized they screwed up (their info was not credible) and Aspen was suing them. No abuse occurred (as we now know) and the DHS press release was damage control as they slowly backed off. This is very evident to me. You may see it differently which is fine.
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The emotional growth curriculum included but was not limited to sexual role play in front of staff and peers requiring students to say derogatory phrases about themselves in front of staff and peers requiring students to reenact past physical abuse in front of staff and peers permitting staff to engage in the usage of derogatory names phrases and ridicule of students and deprivation of sleep...
All students were required to participate...
This, among many other reasons, is why MBA was closed down. Just read the above passage, and if you're OK with it, then you ought to be strung up because it is blatant sexualized child abuse. That's a fact some here desperately want to avoid.
:nods:
The DHS reacted on poor information. After the investigation they reversed their position.
What I like to do is get back to the latest information at hand. A lot of things were said by DHS that they regret. Here is the latest article on MBA and a statement:
Link (http://http://www.ktvz.com/news/25258065/detail.html)
"DHS has agreed to withdraw or modify all of its actions against MBA"
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The emotional growth curriculum included but was not limited to sexual role play in front of staff and peers requiring students to say derogatory phrases about themselves in front of staff and peers requiring students to reenact past physical abuse in front of staff and peers permitting staff to engage in the usage of derogatory names phrases and ridicule of students and deprivation of sleep...
All students were required to participate...
This, among many other reasons, is why MBA was closed down. Just read the above passage, and if you're OK with it, then you ought to be strung up because it is blatant sexualized child abuse. That's a fact some here desperately want to avoid.
:nods:
The DHS reacted on poor information. After the investigation they reversed their position.
Says you.
A lot of things were said by DHS that they regret. Here is the latest article on MBA and a statement:
Link (http://http://www.ktvz.com/news/25258065/detail.html)
It says NOTHING in there about regretting anything they did. In fact, it actually says, "Under the settlement, the state is withdrawing or modifying all of its orders and actions taken against the school, but says it still stands by its decision to investigate the facility, which had about 90 students and more than 75 staff as of early last year, with tuition of $6,400 a month."
We don't know what the terms of the settlement were. It could very well be that Aspen Ed has agreed to suspend or disavow their "Lifesteps" and other violations found in the investigation.
"DHS has agreed to withdraw or modify all of its actions against MBA"
BECAUSE THEY CLOSED DOWN AFTER ALL THE VIOLATIONS WERE BROUGHT TO LIGHT
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It says NOTHING in there about regretting anything they did. In fact, it actually says, "Under the settlement, the state is withdrawing or modifying all of its orders and actions taken against the school, but says it still stands by its decision to investigate the facility, which had about 90 students and more than 75 staff as of early last year, with tuition of $6,400 a month."
Even Aspen agrees with the decision to investigate MBA. Based on the initial evidence DHS felt they had no choice but to close the facility down temporarily. But after after they reviewed all the evidence they found out that they were wrong and jumped the gun.
I think we all agree that the initial action was warranted based on the information they had. DHS has no authority to tell MBA they have to repopen the school. Now that all the children have been relocated to other facilities there is no rush to reopen the facility. The start up costs are high.
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I'm not too concerned over whether Barry Lerten is "aware" or not of whatever it is you seem to think he was.
What I find troublesome is your quoting Aspen press release material and claiming or insinuating that it is from an article written by a bona fide reporter who has certain standards of veracity in what he has authorship of.
When you claim, "The article goes further to say...," you are averring that what preceded your words as well as what comes after them ... is from the article. In both cases, that simply isn't true.
Since I tend to view the veracity of Aspen press releases as being somewhat less believable than assurances that the moon is made of green cheese, I find your false claims quite telling.
Ditto.
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I'm not too concerned over whether Barry Lerten is "aware" or not of whatever it is you seem to think he was.
What I find troublesome is your quoting Aspen press release material and claiming or insinuating that it is from an article written by a bona fide reporter who has certain standards of veracity in what he has authorship of.
When you claim, "The article goes further to say...," you are averring that what preceded your words as well as what comes after them ... is from the article. In both cases, that simply isn't true.
Since I tend to view the veracity of Aspen press releases as being somewhat less believable than assurances that the moon is made of green cheese, I find your false claims quite telling.
Barney Lerten stated himself: "Under the settlement, the state is withdrawing or modifying all of its orders and actions taken against the school,"
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The emotional growth curriculum included but was not limited to sexual role play in front of staff and peers requiring students to say derogatory phrases about themselves in front of staff and peers requiring students to reenact past physical abuse in front of staff and peers permitting staff to engage in the usage of derogatory names phrases and ridicule of students and deprivation of sleep...
All students were required to participate...
This, among many other reasons, is why MBA was closed down. Just read the above passage, and if you're OK with it, then you ought to be strung up because it is blatant sexualized child abuse. That's a fact some here desperately want to avoid.
:nods:
The DHS reacted on poor information. After the investigation they reversed their position.
Says you.
A lot of things were said by DHS that they regret. Here is the latest article on MBA and a statement:
Link (http://http://www.ktvz.com/news/25258065/detail.html)
It says NOTHING in there about regretting anything they did. In fact, it actually says, "Under the settlement, the state is withdrawing or modifying all of its orders and actions taken against the school, but says it still stands by its decision to investigate the facility, which had about 90 students and more than 75 staff as of early last year, with tuition of $6,400 a month."
We don't know what the terms of the settlement were. It could very well be that Aspen Ed has agreed to suspend or disavow their "Lifesteps" and other violations found in the investigation.
"DHS has agreed to withdraw or modify all of its actions against MBA"
BECAUSE THEY CLOSED DOWN AFTER ALL THE VIOLATIONS WERE BROUGHT TO LIGHT
:tup:
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Even Aspen agrees with the decision to investigate MBA. Based on the initial evidence DHS felt they had no choice but to close the facility down temporarily. But after after they reviewed all the evidence they found out that they were wrong and jumped the gun.
I think we all agree that the initial action was warranted based on the information they had. DHS has no authority to tell MBA they have to repopen the school. Now that all the children have been relocated to other facilities there is no rush to reopen the facility. The start up costs are high.
lol
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The substantiated incidents of abuse or neglect are shown below:
* Mt. Bachelor Academy Executive Director neglected the care of four children by failing to ensure individualized and therapeutic treatment plans were developed to address past abuse and significant emotional and behavioral issues.
* The Mount Bachelor Academy program abused a child in 2007 by requiring the child to engage in sexualized role play in front of staff and peers.
* The Mount Bachelor program abused a second child in 2009 by requiring the child to make obscene and self-degrading comments out loud, in front of staff and peers. In addition, the Mount Bachelor program neglected the same child during 2008-2009 by failing to provide adequate medical care and supervision.
* The Mount Bachelor Academy program neglected a third child in 2009, by failing to provide adequate supervision during an international trip.
* The Mount Bachelor Academy program abused a fourth child in 2008 by requiring the child to engage in degrading activities such as acting out sexualized role play and physical abuse, and by being subjected to obscene and degrading comments by staff in front of other staff and peers.
* The Mount Bachelor Academy program abused a fifth child during 2009 by requiring and/or permitting staff to use derogatory names, phrases, ridicule and harassment.
* The Mount Bachelor Academy program neglected five children between 2007 and 2009 by failing to provide individualized treatment to meet their diagnosed mental health needs.
* The Mount Bachelor Academy program abused five children between 2007 and 2009 by requiring them to engage in activities that were coercive, intimidating, harassing, and/or humiliating.
I am not saying whether people are right or wrong. The role play sounds identical to an exercise in the "Summit" at CEDU schools.
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Even Aspen agrees with the decision to investigate MBA. Based on the initial evidence DHS felt they had no choice but to close the facility down temporarily. But after after they reviewed all the evidence they found out that they were wrong and jumped the gun.
Nowhere did they say anything even close to that.
I think we (tsk, tsk, tsk.....that's a no-no) all agree that the initial action was warranted based on the information they had. DHS has no authority to tell MBA they have to repopen the school. Now that all the children have been relocated to other facilities there is no rush to reopen the facility. The start up costs are high.
lol
What, exactly, do you find so funny about this? It really is looking more and more like you just enjoy annoying people and being contrary. Maybe there's a program for that.
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Even Aspen agrees with the decision to investigate MBA. Based on the initial evidence DHS felt they had no choice but to close the facility down temporarily. But after after they reviewed all the evidence they found out that they were wrong and jumped the gun.
Nowhere did they say anything even close to that.
Well actually they did.
Barney Lerten stated himself: "Under the settlement, the state is withdrawing or modifying all of its orders and actions taken against the school,"
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Even Aspen agrees with the decision to investigate MBA. Based on the initial evidence DHS felt they had no choice but to close the facility down temporarily. But after after they reviewed all the evidence they found out that they were wrong and jumped the gun.
Nowhere did they say anything even close to that.
Well actually they did.
Barney Lerten stated himself: "Under the settlement, the state is withdrawing or modifying all of its orders and actions taken against the school,"
And that says nothing about jumping the gun or that they were wrong. We know nothing of the settlement. It could be that they withdrew the action(s) because the school shuttered it's doors and have agreed to not use any of the methods that were found to be abusive.
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I'm not too concerned over whether Barney Lerten is "aware" or not of whatever it is you seem to think he was.
What I find troublesome is your quoting Aspen press release material and claiming or insinuating that it is from an article written by a bona fide reporter who has certain standards of veracity in what he has authorship of.
When you claim, "The article goes further to say...," you are averring that what preceded your words as well as what comes after them ... is from the article. In both cases, that simply isn't true.
Since I tend to view the veracity of Aspen press releases as being somewhat less believable than assurances that the moon is made of green cheese, I find your false claims quite telling.
Barney Lerten stated himself: "Under the settlement, the state is withdrawing or modifying all of its orders and actions taken against the school,"
But THAT was not what you quoted in the post under discussion. Curious that you omitted that part of our banter, eh? Well... here's your post (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=31526&start=0#p388540) again, to refresh everyone's memory. READ CAREFULLY (compare the quote just above with the one just below which are in red), Whooter's being sneaky again:
What I like to do is get back to the latest information at hand. A lot of things were said by DHS that they regret. Here is the latest article on MBA and a statement:
Link (http://http://www.ktvz.com/news/25258065/detail.html)
"DHS has agreed to withdraw or modify all of its actions against MBA"
BECAUSE THEY CLOSED.
The article goes further to say:
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.
[/list]
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Even Aspen agrees with the decision to investigate MBA. Based on the initial evidence DHS felt they had no choice but to close the facility down temporarily. But after after they reviewed all the evidence they found out that they were wrong and jumped the gun.
Nowhere did they say anything even close to that.
Well actually they did.
Barney Lerten stated himself: "Under the settlement, the state is withdrawing or modifying all of its orders and actions taken against the school,"
And that says nothing about jumping the gun or that they were wrong. We know nothing of the settlement. It could be that they withdrew the action(s) because the school shuttered it's doors and have agreed to not use any of the methods that were found to be abusive.
lol, It could be that the state couldnt substantiate any findings of abuse. Read the whole article, the journalist who had a child in MBA, Aspens take on it and the DHS's take on it.
DHS backed off, plain and simple. Again I dont expect you to accept this anymore than you would a positive study on the industry!! lol I am just putting out the facts for the readers to review. Everyone gets to decide for themselves which is the beauty of the internet and open information.
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I'm not too concerned over whether Barry Lerten is "aware" or not of whatever it is you seem to think he was.
What I find troublesome is your quoting Aspen press release material and claiming or insinuating that it is from an article written by a bona fide reporter who has certain standards of veracity in what he has authorship of.
When you claim, "The article goes further to say...," you are averring that what preceded your words as well as what comes after them ... is from the article. In both cases, that simply isn't true.
Since I tend to view the veracity of Aspen press releases as being somewhat less believable than assurances that the moon is made of green cheese, I find your false claims quite telling.
Barney Lerten stated himself: "Under the settlement, the state is withdrawing or modifying all of its orders and actions taken against the school,"
But THAT was not what you quoted in the post under discussion. Curious that you omitted that part of our banter, eh? Well... here's your post (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=31526&start=0#p388540) again, to refresh everyone's memory. READ CAREFULLY, Whooter's being sneaky again:
What I like to do is get back to the latest information at hand. A lot of things were said by DHS that they regret. Here is the latest article on MBA and a statement:
Link (http://http://www.ktvz.com/news/25258065/detail.html)
"DHS has agreed to withdraw or modify all of its actions against MBA"
BECAUSE THEY CLOSED.
The article goes further to say:
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.
[/list]
Check the link I provided. I stand by what I posted, Ursus. All the quotes I provided were taken from the article.
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lol, It could be that the state couldnt substantiate any findings of abuse.
It could be because of a number of things, so quit stating unequivocally that they "jumped the gun and found nothing wrong".
DHS backed off, plain and simple.
BECAUSE THE SCHOOL CLOSED IT'S DOORS AFTER ALL THE ABUSES WERE BROUGHT TO LIGHT
Again I dont expect you to accept this anymore than you would a positive study on the industry!!
As soon as you find one I'll be happy to at least read it.
lol I am just putting out the facts for the readers to review.
Now that one IS funny. You putting "facts" out there. :roflmao:
Everyone gets to decide for themselves which is the beauty of the internet and open information.
Except yours isn't "open".....it's an agenda that you twist everything to fit.
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I'm not too concerned over whether Barney Lerten is "aware" or not of whatever it is you seem to think he was.
What I find troublesome is your quoting Aspen press release material and claiming or insinuating that it is from an article written by a bona fide reporter who has certain standards of veracity in what he has authorship of.
When you claim, "The article goes further to say...," you are averring that what preceded your words as well as what comes after them ... is from the article. In both cases, that simply isn't true.
Since I tend to view the veracity of Aspen press releases as being somewhat less believable than assurances that the moon is made of green cheese, I find your false claims quite telling.
Barney Lerten stated himself: "Under the settlement, the state is withdrawing or modifying all of its orders and actions taken against the school,"
Yes, but we weren't discussing what Barney Lerten said, now were we? We were discussing material that YOU claimed came from an article that Barney Lerten wrote, but which actually came from Aspen Ed's press release.
Tacking on some material from the article after the fact (chopped and out of context, as per usual) which really was written by Barney Lerten, and claiming it's the same thing, just won't cut it.
Here's the rest of Barney Lerten's sentence, which you somehow failed to include for context, emphasis added:
"Under the settlement, the state is withdrawing or modifying all of its orders and actions taken against the school, but says it still stands by its decision to investigate the facility, which had about 90 students and more than 75 staff as of early last year, with tuition of $6,400 a month."[/list]
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Except yours isn't "open".....it's an agenda that you twist everything to fit.
Its perspective, Anne, I dont see your information as being open either. You have an agenda of painting the industry as harshly as you can and you close your eyes to anything that may shake your beliefs.
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Yes, but we weren't discussing what Barry Lerten said, now were we? We were discussing material that YOU claimed came from an article that Barry Lerten wrote, but which actually came from Aspen Ed's press release.
Tacking on some material from the article after the fact (chopped and out of context, as per usual) which really was written by Barry Lerten, and claiming it's the same thing, just won't cut it.
Its all the same article, Ursus, the journalist comments, DHS's comments and Aspens comments. I really dont understand what problem you have with my posts. I have read then 3 or 4 times and my quotes come from Barry Lerten article.
Here's the rest of Barry Lerten's sentence, which you somehow failed to include for context, emphasis added:
"Under the settlement, the state is withdrawing or modifying all of its orders and actions taken against the school, but says it still stands by its decision to investigate the facility, which had about 90 students and more than 75 staff as of early last year, with tuition of $6,400 a month."[/list]
I addressed this earlier. Aspen agrees also that the information that DHS had warranted an investigation, no one is disputing this. DHS doesnt say it stands by it decision to shut the facility down though. DHS has reversed its position.
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Yes, but we weren't discussing what Barry Lerten said, now were we? We were discussing material that YOU claimed came from an article that Barry Lerten wrote, but which actually came from Aspen Ed's press release.
Tacking on some material from the article after the fact (chopped and out of context, as per usual) which really was written by Barry Lerten, and claiming it's the same thing, just won't cut it.
Its all the same article, Ursus, the journalist comments, DHS's comments and Aspens comments. I really dont understand what problem you have with my posts. I have read then 3 or 4 times and my quotes come from Barry Lerten article.
The problem is that you present a press release from Aspen's CEO as something that the author of the article has written, or imply that DHS said it. It's completely misleading and dishonest and you know it.
I addressed this earlier. Aspen agrees also that the information that DHS had warranted an investigation, no one is disputing this. DHS doesnt say it stands by it decision to shut the facility down though. DHS has reversed its position.
No, it didn't reverse it's position. It withdrew the action(s). There's a difference and you know that too.
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The problem is that you present a press release from Aspen's CEO as something that the author of the article has written, or imply that DHS said it. It's completely misleading and dishonest and you know it.
But the press releases from DHS and Aspen are part of the article. If we quoted the journalist who had a child there or comments from the people he interviewed this would not be his words either. The author quoted these press releases himself.
I dont see it as misleading at all. I provided the link to support my thoughts.
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Check the link I provided. I stand by what I posted, Ursus. All the quotes I provided were taken from the article.
Your "standing by what you posted" apparently doesn't mean much. The material you quoted came from the Aspen Ed Statement accompanying the article. Here's that statement again; I've highlighted the portions that you claim came from the article itself:
A statement from Phil Herschman, President of Aspen Education Group, on behalf of Mount Bachelor Academy:
We are pleased that the ongoing legal dispute between Mount Bachelor Academy (MBA) and the State of Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) has finally been satisfactorily resolved. The DHS has agreed to withdraw or modify all of its actions against MBA and MBA’s former director. 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.
As we have repeatedly stated throughout this process, our fundamental disagreements with the DHS' original allegations and consequent actions were strong and deep. We had collected abundant evidence that disproved those allegations, particularly the most egregious ones.
Despite the tragic circumstances of Mount Bachelor’s closure, we hope to open a new, even more successful school on the MBA campus in the future, and wish to publicly thank our skilled and dedicated employees who touched the lives of thousands of troubled teens for more than two decades at MBA, and the loyal alumni and families who steadfastly supported us.[/list]
After having had that pointed out to you, you went back to the article, and picked out some sentence that Barney Lerten actually did write (even though he was just paraphrasing the Aspen Ed statement), chopped off all the parts that didn't fit with your agenda, and tried to pass it off as the same thing. Here is the paragraph from the article that you used, said portion highlighted:
"Under the settlement, the state is withdrawing or modifying all of its orders and actions taken against the school, but says it still stands by its decision to investigate the facility, which had about 90 students and more than 75 staff as of early last year, with tuition of $6,400 a month."[/list]
I have read then 3 or 4 times and my quotes come from Barry Lerten article.
They came from material which accompanied Barney Lerten's article, but they were not from the actual article itself. To be quite specific as to authorship: the material you originally quoted was not written by Barney Lerten.
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Check the link I provided. I stand by what I posted, Ursus. All the quotes I provided were taken from the article.
Your "standing by what you posted" apparently doesn't mean much. The material you quoted came from the Aspen Ed Statement accompanying the article. Here's that statement again; I've highlighted the portions that you claim came from the article itself:
A statement from Phil Herschman, President of Aspen Education Group, on behalf of Mount Bachelor Academy:
We are pleased that the ongoing legal dispute between Mount Bachelor Academy (MBA) and the State of Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) has finally been satisfactorily resolved. The DHS has agreed to withdraw or modify all of its actions against MBA and MBA’s former director. 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.
As we have repeatedly stated throughout this process, our fundamental disagreements with the DHS' original allegations and consequent actions were strong and deep. We had collected abundant evidence that disproved those allegations, particularly the most egregious ones.
Despite the tragic circumstances of Mount Bachelor’s closure, we hope to open a new, even more successful school on the MBA campus in the future, and wish to publicly thank our skilled and dedicated employees who touched the lives of thousands of troubled teens for more than two decades at MBA, and the loyal alumni and families who steadfastly supported us.[/list]
After having had that pointed out to you, you went back to the article, and picked out some sentence that Barry Lerten actually did write (even though he was just paraphrasing the Aspen Ed statement), chopped off all the parts that didn't fit with your agenda, and tried to pass it off as the same thing. Here is the paragraph from the article that you used, said portion highlighted:
"Under the settlement, the state is withdrawing or modifying all of its orders and actions taken against the school, but says it still stands by its decision to investigate the facility, which had about 90 students and more than 75 staff as of early last year, with tuition of $6,400 a month."[/list]
I have read then 3 or 4 times and my quotes come from Barry Lerten article.
They came from material which accompanied Barry Lerten's article, but they were not from the actual article itself. To be quite specific as to authorship: the material you quoted was not written by Barry Lerten.
I define the article as the "whole piece" from beginning to end including the statements from DHS, the journalist, parents and Aspen. They were not just added on to the article they were part of it because Barry Lerten referenced the statements from Aspen, and DHS himself.
The whole article belongs to Barry Lerten, some of which are his own words, other parts of it were words from happy parents, still others were from Aspen and DHS. I dont see any of this as mis leading.
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I define the article as the "whole piece" from beginning to end including the statements from DHS, the journalist, parents and Aspen. They were not just added on to the article they were part of it because Barry Lerten referenced the statements from Aspen, and DHS himself.
The whole article belongs to Barry Lerten, some of which are his own words, other parts of it were words from happy parents, still others were from Aspen and DHS. I dont see any of this as mis leading.
Yes you do. You know full well what you're doing. You just won't ever admit to it.
Trying to pass off a press release by Aspen's CEO as being written by either the author of the article or DHS is intentionally misleading and intellectually dishonest.
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Yes you do. You know full well what you're doing. You just won't ever admit to it.
Trying to pass off a press release by Aspen's CEO as being written by either the author of the article or DHS is intentionally misleading and intellectually dishonest.
lol, The article was about MBA and DHS and Aspen and the families it affected. They were all part of the article. The DHS had a press release and so did Aspen. The Journalist had her say as did some of the parents. The author pulled it all together.
Any part of the article can be quoted and used as reference, plus I provided a link so there was no attempt to be misleading.
I am beginning to think you want to leave out what Aspen said and keep the DHS press release as reference for the article.
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So Whooter lets say your right here, congratulations. I can just see you now genuflecting in front of your computer to your almighty Aspen, saying "I got them this time, look at me I'm worthy" as Phil Herschman, President of Aspen Education Group throws you your 30 bits to symbolize your significance.
Whooter once again we have to revert back back to your inability to recognize that children are being hurt here, MBA actually hurt children. They did not see fit to keep our children out of harms way. You know for a fact that "Lifesteps" being facilitated by inexperienced personal can only lead to complications which can have devastating psychological effects. You know this, we can all agree on this.
I am going to be a bit unprofessional here and go out on a line and say I bet there were some mothers and fathers on the investiagtion team from (DHS), we know there were. I'm sure some of their maternalistic/paternalistic emotions were involved. As a rational mother or father (while working for DHS) investigating apparent abuses of such outlandish behavior conducted because you are forced through peer pressure and with threats of retaliation by staff, you would be mortified. So thank god the initial reaction to suspend operations happened and the subsequent closure. Now we can all agree on this, right. DHS on a daily bases deals with abuses perpetrated on children, I think we all can agree they know how to do their job.
Now once the case gets handed over to the lawyers and they start to perform their ritual of two stepping, well all the smoke generated by this friction should not blind us to the reasons they were dancing in the first place. Children were abused, Whooter we can all agree on this.
As you say all the time to Anne and Ursus their are many programs out there they can not be all bad, well you may be right. This one (MBA) was. MBA wasn't selected out of a pool to be persecuted, they brought a investigation upon themselves. Professionals were sent out to perform their jobs, they did over a period of time and they put forth their results. What difference does it make what the lawyers worked out in a settlement. We all know that pales in comparison to the abuse kids are going through. Whooter you would really get this, if you gave a shit.
Samara, Anne, Ursus, DJ and others understand you more then you understand yourself. I don't believe in all good consciousness you are aware of the depth of pain children have endured while in these programs nor do I believe you want to. Picture this, our daughters at 14 being dressed up as whores made to sit on someones lap and gyrate all the while saying she is a no good slut. Have you got that pic in your head, I fucking almost break down every time I picture it or read it. Who the fuck do they think they are.
I told you before your sins you are committing here, you will have to answer for them at some point. Hopefully your God will show mercy.
You are not a person I could ever like, you do not make that possible.
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Yes you do. You know full well what you're doing. You just won't ever admit to it.
Trying to pass off a press release by Aspen's CEO as being written by either the author of the article or DHS is intentionally misleading and intellectually dishonest.
lol, The article was about MBA and DHS and Aspen and the families it affected. They were all part of the article. The DHS had a press release and so did Aspen. The Journalist had her say as did some of the parents. The author pulled it all together.
They are all part of the article package, as it was published on that particular occasion, and by KTVZ.com. Portions of that package, save the core article by Barney Lerten, may also be officially published elsewhere.
The statement by Phil Herschman, President of Aspen Education Group, on behalf of Mount Bachelor Academy, and published as part of that package, represents certain vested interests and a particular POV, which no one (save you, perhaps) would ever possibly attempt to pass off as an objective one.
Similar can be said for the statement by Erinn Kelley-Siel, Director of Children, Adults and Families at Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS), also published as part of that package, although in this case the vested interests lie not with the continued existence of Mount Bachelor Academy or its demise, but with the safety and welfare of its students which, by law and by the very type of governmental organization it is, DHS is beholden to prioritize.
And finally, yes, reporter Barney Lerten tries to pull it all together in the core article, presumably as objectively as possible, as that is part of what one does or is expected to do as a reporter.
These three parts, while all part of the same article package, are authored by three very different individuals or organizations with very different aims, vested interests and standards of objectivity. To try to pass any of these sections off as having been authored by another IS misrepresentation and fraudulent attribution.
Tell me, Whooter, when you see that Aspen press release on other websites, does it carry the byline of Barney Lerten? :D
Any part of the article can be quoted and used as reference, plus I provided a link so there was no attempt to be misleading.
Yes, of course any part of the article can be quoted and used as reference, but your deceptive means of quoting and presenting what you quoted WERE not only misleading but flat out dishonest. Your refusal to even acknowledge this, after several pages of this conversation, indicates to me that your deception may even have been deliberate.
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Yes you do. You know full well what you're doing. You just won't ever admit to it.
Trying to pass off a press release by Aspen's CEO as being written by either the author of the article or DHS is intentionally misleading and intellectually dishonest.
lol, The article was about MBA and DHS and Aspen and the families it affected. They were all part of the article. The DHS had a press release and so did Aspen. The Journalist had her say as did some of the parents. The author pulled it all together.
They are all part of the article package, as it was published on that particular occasion, and by KTVZ.com.
But the statement from Phil Herschman, President of Aspen Education Group, on behalf of Mount Bachelor Academy, represents certain vested interests and a particular POV, which no one (save you, perhaps) would ever possibly attempt to pass off as an objective one.
Similarly for the statement by Erinn Kelley-Siel, Director of Children, Adults and Families at Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS), although in this case the vested interests lie not with the continued existence of Mount Bachelor Academy or its demise, but with the safety and welfare of its students which, by law and by the very type of governmental organization it is, DHS is beholden to prioritize.
And finally, yes, reporter Barney Lerten tries to pull it all together, presumably as objectively as possible.
These three parts, while all part of the same article package, are authored by three very different individuals or organizations with very different aims, vested interests and standards of objectivity. To try to pass any of these sections off as having been authored by another IS misrepresentation and fraudulent attribution.
Tell me, Whooter, when you see that Aspen press release on Aspen's website, does it carry the byline of Barney Lerten? :D
Any part of the article can be quoted and used as reference, plus I provided a link so there was no attempt to be misleading.
Yes, of course any part of the article can be quoted and used as reference, but your deceptive means of quoting and presenting what you quoted WERE not only misleading but examples of fraudulent attribution.
Ursus you have had a problem with me posting in this thread from the beginning. You didnt like the comment by the Journalist which was in the body of the article and it gave you heart burn for some unknown reason. Now you are trying to imply that I was quoting Barney Lerten as saying what Aspens statement was. I did no such thing.
When you stated: Similarly for the statement by Erinn Kelley-Siel, Director of Children, Adults and Families at Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS), although in this case the vested interests lie not with the continued existence of Mount Bachelor Academy or its demise, but with the safety and welfare of its students which, by law and by the very type of governmental organization it is, DHS is beholden to prioritize.
You need to also consider that Erinn Kelley-Siel is trying to save her own job and her statement is damage control for jumping the gun and shutting down MBA. She has an agenda which is stronger than Aspens. She choose her words carefully to make it seem like she didnt screw up. She never said her shutting down of MBA was justified, only that the investigation was and Aspen agrees with her on this point.
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So Whooter lets say your right here, congratulations. I can just see you now genuflecting in front of your computer to your almighty Aspen, saying "I got them this time, look at me I'm worthy" as Phil Herschman, President of Aspen Education Group throws you your 30 bits to symbolize your significance.
Whooter once again we have to revert back back to your inability to recognize that children are being hurt here, MBA actually hurt children. They did not see fit to keep our children out of harms way. You know for a fact that "Lifesteps" being facilitated by inexperienced personal can only lead to complications which can have devastating psychological effects. You know this, we can all agree on this.
I am going to be a bit unprofessional here and go out on a line and say I bet there were some mothers and fathers on the investiagtion team from (DHS), we know there were. I'm sure some of their maternalistic/paternalistic emotions were involved. As a rational mother or father (while working for DHS) investigating apparent abuses of such outlandish behavior conducted because you are forced through peer pressure and with threats of retaliation by staff, you would be mortified. So thank god the initial reaction to suspend operations happened and the subsequent closure. Now we can all agree on this, right. DHS on a daily bases deals with abuses perpetrated on children, I think we all can agree they know how to do their job.
Now once the case gets handed over to the lawyers and they start to perform their ritual of two stepping, well all the smoke generated by this friction should not blind us to the reasons they were dancing in the first place. Children were abused, Whooter we can all agree on this.
As you say all the time to Anne and Ursus their are many programs out there they can not be all bad, well you may be right. This one (MBA) was. MBA wasn't selected out of a pool to be persecuted, they brought a investigation upon themselves. Professionals were sent out to perform their jobs, they did over a period of time and they put forth their results. What difference does it make what the lawyers worked out in a settlement. We all know that pales in comparison to the abuse kids are going through. Whooter you would really get this, if you gave a shit.
Samara, Anne, Ursus, DJ and others understand you more then you understand yourself. I don't believe in all good consciousness you are aware of the depth of pain children have endured while in these programs nor do I believe you want to. Picture this, our daughters at 14 being dressed up as whores made to sit on someones lap and gyrate all the while saying she is a no good slut. Have you got that pic in your head, I fucking almost break down every time I picture it or read it. Who the fuck do they think they are.
I told you before your sins you are committing here, you will have to answer for them at some point. Hopefully your God will show mercy.
You are not a person I could ever like, you do not make that possible.
I have never personally been hurt or helped by a program so I hold a more unbiased and neutral point of view. I am not very likely to walk into an abortion clinic and put a hole in the doctors head for murder. I can see both sides of the abortion issues as well as the TTI issue. I understand the fringe groups passion but I also see how closed mined they are. Your thinking is clouded and I dont hold any animosity towards you for your attacks. People like yourself and Anne etal can only see one point of view.. "all programs abuse all the kids in them".
You never mentioned in your post that DHS made a mistake. You never mentioned the Journalist and other parents who were happy that the charges against MBA were dropped. You think that all these kids are abused when they are not. You never mentioned that the DHS is in damage control mode when they made that statement and isnt going to admit to anything unless they have to. She wants to keep her job and protect the reputation of herself and the people under her, we all know that but I am the only one to put it in writing here.
Do a search for MBA, no one is disputing DHSs's statement or Aspens statement. They are both accurate and complement each other. To try to disregard DHS's statement or Aspens statement is reckless in my opinion.
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Yes you do. You know full well what you're doing. You just won't ever admit to it.
Trying to pass off a press release by Aspen's CEO as being written by either the author of the article or DHS is intentionally misleading and intellectually dishonest.
lol, The article was about MBA and DHS and Aspen and the families it affected. They were all part of the article. The DHS had a press release and so did Aspen. The Journalist had her say as did some of the parents. The author pulled it all together.
They are all part of the article package, as it was published on that particular occasion, and by KTVZ.com. Portions of that package, save the core article by Barney Lerten, may also be officially published elsewhere.
The statement by Phil Herschman, President of Aspen Education Group, on behalf of Mount Bachelor Academy, and published as part of that package, represents certain vested interests and a particular POV, which no one (save you, perhaps) would ever possibly attempt to pass off as an objective one.
Similar can be said for the statement by Erinn Kelley-Siel, Director of Children, Adults and Families at Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS), also published as part of that package, although in this case the vested interests lie not with the continued existence of Mount Bachelor Academy or its demise, but with the safety and welfare of its students which, by law and by the very type of governmental organization it is, DHS is beholden to prioritize.
And finally, yes, reporter Barney Lerten tries to pull it all together in the core article, presumably as objectively as possible, as that is part of what one does or is expected to do as a reporter.
These three parts, while all part of the same article package, are authored by three very different individuals or organizations with very different aims, vested interests and standards of objectivity. To try to pass any of these sections off as having been authored by another IS misrepresentation and fraudulent attribution.
Tell me, Whooter, when you see that Aspen press release on other websites, does it carry the byline of Barney Lerten? :D
Any part of the article can be quoted and used as reference, plus I provided a link so there was no attempt to be misleading.
Yes, of course any part of the article can be quoted and used as reference, but your deceptive means of quoting and presenting what you quoted WERE not only misleading but flat out dishonest. Your refusal to even acknowledge this, after several pages of this conversation, indicates to me that your deception may even have been deliberate.
Ursus you have had a problem with me posting in this thread from the beginning.
Nope. I was actually kinda grateful that you did. No one else had bitten into a discussion at that point.
You didnt like the comment by the Journalist which was in the body of the article and it gave you heart burn for some unknown reason.
Nope. I had a problem with you chopping it up, quoting it out of context by leaving out the rest of his sentence, and by your trying to pass it off as being what you had quoted earlier.
What you had quoted earlier actually came from Aspen Ed's statement.
Now you are trying to imply that I was quoting Barney Lerten as saying what Aspens statement was. I did no such thing.
That's right you did not. Nor did I ever imply that. Which hat did that rabbit come from?
When you stated: Similar can be said for the statement by Erinn Kelley-Siel, Director of Children, Adults and Families at Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS), also published as part of that package, although in this case the vested interests lie not with the continued existence of Mount Bachelor Academy or its demise, but with the safety and welfare of its students which, by law and by the very type of governmental organization it is, DHS is beholden to prioritize.
You need to also consider that Erinn Kelley-Siel is trying to save her own job and her statement is damage control for jumping the gun and shutting down MBA. She has an agenda which is stronger than Aspens. She choose her words carefully to make it seem like she didnt screw up. She never said her shutting down of MBA was justified, only that the investigation was and Aspen agrees with her on this point.
Maybe true, maybe not. Personally, I think all parties called it a draw behind the scenes in order to avoid further hassle and litigation. But then, this was not exactly a point of contention, now was it? We weren't even discussing this yet, were we now?
We were discussing your attempt to pass off material from Aspen Ed's statement, on behalf of MBA, as being material from Barney Lerten's article. That was really kinda sneaky and dishonest, if you ask me!
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This is not about you Whooter. Children!!!!!
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We were discussing your attempt to pass off material from Aspen Ed's statement, on behalf of MBA, as being material from Barney Lerten's article. That was really kinda sneaky and dishonest, if you ask me!
No I didnt, Ursus. I usually take quotes from an article and post them. ( I dont post the whole article sometimes if I dont need to). You had already posted the entire article so I carve out pieces that we can talk about. I have been doing this for years. You are the only one on fornits who spends days posting the entire comments section of an article.
What I do is take one or two comments, post them and speak to it.
I consider Barney Letens words, the journalists words, parents words, Aspens words and DHS words all part of the article. It would not be complete without them in there. I think this is where we disagree.
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This is not about you Whooter. Children!!!!!
I think if you could have the opportunity to meet with some of the kids who benefited from these programs you would not be so quick to harshly judge these places. I dont think you would feel the same way about shutting the programs down and denying these kids the help they desperately need and cannot get at home.
When MBA closed it caused many people to lose their jobs and children to be uprooted once again and replaced into another facility. Nothing was gained really it was all downside. I doubt that people have much respect for the DHS in Oregon at this point. These are compassionate people, I understand that. We also know that if they really believe that kids are being put in harms way they would have quit their jobs before coming out with a statement like that and letting it continue if they really felt abuse was occurring there. I would never want to be part of a place that abused children, I dont think anyone would. Especially if you made the decision to allow them to continue to abuse kids and open up a new program.
Once the DHS reviewed the evidence they realized they made a mistake. I think that is very obvious.
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We were discussing your attempt to pass off material from Aspen Ed's statement, on behalf of MBA, as being material from Barney Lerten's article. That was really kinda sneaky and dishonest, if you ask me!
No I didnt, Ursus. I usually take quotes from an article and post them. ( I dont post the whole article sometimes if I dont need to). You had already posted the entire article so I carve out pieces that we can talk about. I have been doing this for years. You are the only one on fornits who spends days posting the entire comments section of an article.
What I do is take one or two comments, post them and speak to it.
I consider Barney Letens words, the journalists words, parents words, Aspens words and DHS words all part of the article. It would not be complete without them in there. I think this is where we disagree.
Tell me, Whooter, when you see that same Aspen press release on other websites, does it carry the byline of Barney Lerten?
I can assure that it does not.
You attempted to pass off press release material of a corporation doing aggressive damage control, a corporation that owns dozens of teen hell holes, in which kids have died in, as the words of a presumably objective journalist.
That is an egregious misrepresentation.
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We were discussing your attempt to pass off material from Aspen Ed's statement, on behalf of MBA, as being material from Barney Lerten's article. That was really kinda sneaky and dishonest, if you ask me!
No I didnt, Ursus. I usually take quotes from an article and post them. ( I dont post the whole article sometimes if I dont need to). You had already posted the entire article so I carve out pieces that we can talk about. I have been doing this for years. You are the only one on fornits who spends days posting the entire comments section of an article.
What I do is take one or two comments, post them and speak to it.
I consider Barney Letens words, the journalists words, parents words, Aspens words and DHS words all part of the article. It would not be complete without them in there. I think this is where we disagree.
Tell me, Whooter, when you see that same Aspen press release on other websites, does it carry the byline of Barney Lerten?
I can assure that it does not.
You attempted to pass off press release material of a corporation doing aggressive damage control, a corporation that owns dozens of teen hell holes, in which kids have died in, as the words of a presumably objective journalist.
That is an egregious misrepresentation.
I looked at the link you provided and I never mentioned Barney Lerten wrote anything that belonged to Aspens statement. I mentioned it was from the article, which it was. Go back and take a look. I think you read into stuff a little too much and maybe a little anal about lining things up.
We are all talking about the same article. Everyone can read and see for themselves, there is no possibility of someone perceiving it as deceptive.
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This is not about you Whooter. Children!!!!!
I think if you could have the opportunity to meet with some of the kids who benefited from these programs you would not be so quick to harshly judge these places. I dont think you would feel the same way about shutting the programs down and denying these kids the help they desperately need and cannot get at home.
When MBA closed it caused many people to lose their jobs and children to be uprooted once again and replaced into another facility. Nothing was gained really it was all downside. I doubt that people have much respect for the DHS in Oregon at this point. These are compassionate people, I understand that. We also know that if they really believe that kids are being put in harms way they would have quit their jobs before coming out with a statement like that and letting it continue if they really felt abuse was occurring there. I would never want to be part of a place that abused children, I dont think anyone would. Especially if you made the decision to allow them to continue to abuse kids and open up a new program.
Once the DHS reviewed the evidence they realized they made a mistake. I think that is very obvious.
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Whooter, children. What is so hard about this.
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This is not about you Whooter. Children!!!!!
I think if you could have the opportunity to meet with some of the kids who benefited from these programs you would not be so quick to harshly judge these places. I dont think you would feel the same way about shutting the programs down and denying these kids the help they desperately need and cannot get at home.
When MBA closed it caused many people to lose their jobs and children to be uprooted once again and replaced into another facility. Nothing was gained really it was all downside. I doubt that people have much respect for the DHS in Oregon at this point. These are compassionate people, I understand that. We also know that if they really believe that kids are being put in harms way they would have quit their jobs before coming out with a statement like that and letting it continue if they really felt abuse was occurring there. I would never want to be part of a place that abused children, I dont think anyone would. Especially if you made the decision to allow them to continue to abuse kids and open up a new program.
Once the DHS reviewed the evidence they realized they made a mistake. I think that is very obvious.
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Whooter, children. What is so hard about this.
Very simplistic, I think we agree here, Heretic. Their welfare should always be in the forefront. I believe DHS and Aspen came to the same conclusion.
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People like yourself and Anne etal can only see one point of view.. "all programs abuse all the kids in them".
YOU keep saying that we say that but I never have. I've said that all programs that use LGAT-type methods are abusive in nature, but I've never said that "all programs abuse all the kids in them".
You never mentioned in your post that DHS made a mistake.
They didn't. They've withdrawn the action BECAUSE THE SCHOOL HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN.
You think that all these kids are abused when they are not.
Your opinion. My opinion is that they were abused by being subjected to the methods of "treatment" that MBA used.
You never mentioned that the DHS is in damage control mode when they made that statement and isnt going to admit to anything unless they have to. She wants to keep her job and protect the reputation of herself and the people under her, we all know that but I am the only one to put it in writing here.
Why would he? That's YOUR take on it.
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YOU keep saying that we say that but I never have. I've said that all programs that use LGAT-type methods are abusive in nature.
We differ here.
They didn't. They've withdrawn the action BECAUSE THE SCHOOL HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN.
I read through the article a few times and never saw this. Do you have a link?
Your opinion. My opinion is that they were abused by being subjected to the methods of "treatment" that MBA used.
DHS thought the same thing too initially.
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YOU keep saying that we say that but I never have. I've said that all programs that use LGAT-type methods are abusive in nature.
We differ here.
Yeah, no shit Sherlock. You keep saying that we've said things we haven't. Yeah, that's a bit of a difference.
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Here's another article on this development, which came out shortly after Barney Lerten's piece for KTVZ.com posted (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=31526#p385223) above. Jason Chaney's article (below) goes into a little more detail re. the conditions of the settlement reached between Aspen Ed/MBA and the state of Oregon's DHS:
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Central Oregonian
Mount Bachelor Academy, DHS reach settlement (http://http://www.centraloregonian.com/archives/Story.aspx/11503)
Oregon Department of Human Services agreed to dismiss or modify abuse findings, school will stay closed
Jason Chaney
October 07, 2010
Nearly a year after the Oregon Department of Human Services ordered Mount Bachelor Academy to discontinue therapeutic services, the two parties have reached a settlement.
Although a settlement has been reached, the possibility of the therapeutic boarding school for teens re-opening is still in question.
"We are pleased that the ongoing legal dispute between Mount Bachelor Academy (MBA) and the State of Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) has finally been satisfactorily resolved," Aspen Education Group President Phil Herschman said in a written statement on behalf of MBA. Aspen owned MBA and still owns other therapeutic boarding schools in several states throughout the country.
Last November, DHS completed a seven-month investigation into numerous allegations of child abuse by the MBA staff, finding several substantiated incidents of abuse. As a result, DHS ordered MBA to suspend therapeutic services and residential services, giving them 90 days to correct the violations. The violations were not corrected and the school remains closed.
According to the settlement recitals, one month after the order, MBA requested a hearing to contest the complaint and corrective order and suspension order. The recitals went on to state that in March 2010, MBA reached an agreement with DHS regarding the orders.
The recitals also recounted four legal proceedings initiated by MBA and its executive director Sharon Bitz between December 2009 and July 2010.
First, Bitz sued DHS in December 2009 to contest allegations against her. Then in April 2010, MBA and Bitz separately submitted notices of claim for damages to the Oregon Department of Administrative Services. Finally, in July 2010, MBA filed a lawsuit to contest the DHS abuse allegations.
According to the agreement, DHS will modify the findings of its investigation while MBA and Bitz will withdraw any legal action they have pursued.
"The findings as regards MBA will be modified to replace the 'substantiated' with the following two sentences: 'Based on the evidence available to the Department (DHS), the Department found that there is reasonable cause to believe that abuse or neglect occurred. The Department's conclusion is based on evidence collected solely by the Department as of Nov. 2, 2009 and not on information provided or available after that date.' "
These modifications are reflected in a statement released by Erinn Kelley-Siel, DHS director of children, adults and families.
"MBA acknowledged that based on the evidence available to DHS on Nov. 2, 2009, the agency had reasonable cause to believe that abuse or neglect occurred at the school as uncovered by the investigation," the statement said. "In addition, MBA agrees that DHS had a reasonable basis to investigate the allegations of abuse and neglect and to seek corrective actions."
Herschman, on the other hand, suggested in his statement that the agreement shows the DHS lacked the grounds to shut MBA down.
"The DHS' withdrawal of its order suspending MBA's license supports out position that they did not have justification for that order in the first place," his statement reads. "The DHS has acknowledged with this settlement that in fact there was additional evidence no abuse had occurred."
In addition modifying the finding against MBA, DHS will withdraw the substantiated findings against Bitz on the condition that she enrolls in and successfully completes a two-year course in child/adolescent psychology. The course must be pre-approved by DHS. If she fails to complete the course, DHS will enter the findings into their computer system.
The agreement further requires the dismissal of any legal action or claims pursued by MBA or Bitz with the understanding that no new actions will be filed.
As far as the future of MBA is concerned Kelley-Siel's DHS statement said that school is closed and, "by all accounts, will remain closed."
Herschman does not dispute that MBA is closed, but he expressed the intent to install a new school on the property at some point.
"Despite the tragic circumstances of Mount Bachelor (Academy's) closure, we hope to open a new, even more successful school on the MBA campus in the future," his statement said.
© 2009 | Eagle Newspapers, Inc.
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Nice follow up, Ursus. Once more Whooter has been proven to be lying and has been exposed and caught with his pants down yet again without any facts.
DHS kicked MBA's ass, sanctioned the director and shut the shit hole down for abuse and neglect. End of story.
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"The findings as regards MBA will be modified to replace the 'substantiated' with the following two sentences: 'Based on the evidence available to the Department (DHS), the Department found that there is reasonable cause to believe that abuse or neglect occurred. The Department's conclusion is based on evidence collected solely by the Department as of Nov. 2, 2009 and not on information provided or available after that date.' "
I had not seen this yet, thanks Ursus, I think the wording says a lot. Both parties (MBA and DHS) agreed that based on the evidence presented in November of 2009 that DHS has reason to believe there was abuse occurring at MBA and that and investigation was warranted.
"MBA acknowledged that based on the evidence available to DHS on Nov. 2, 2009, the agency had reasonable cause to believe that abuse or neglect occurred at the school as uncovered by the investigation," the statement said. "In addition, MBA agrees that DHS had a reasonable basis to investigate the allegations of abuse and neglect and to seek corrective actions."
It was the information that became available to DHS after that that lead them to believe no abuse had occurred and therefore they are modifying their records. MBA has dropped all their lawsuits against the state.
"The DHS' withdrawal of its order suspending MBA's license supports out position that they did not have justification for that order in the first place," his statement reads. "The DHS has acknowledged with this settlement that in fact there was additional evidence no abuse had occurred."
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Nice follow up, Ursus. Once more Whooter has been proven to be lying and has been exposed and caught with his pants down yet again without any facts.
DHS kicked MBA's ass, sanctioned the director and shut the shit hole down for abuse and neglect. End of story.
Ursus eats Whooter's lunch yet again. Classic. Whooter may want to take note that continuing to lie in the face of the published facts won't change anything. MBA is gone and Bitz is forced to take child psychology classes to atone for her child abuse and to be allowed to operate in Oregon again.
Now you might want to ask "Why was Bitz running a program for children with no credentials?" That would be a good discussion.
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Here's another article on this development, which came out shortly after Barney Lerten's piece for KTVZ.com posted (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=31526#p385223) above. Jason Chaney's article (below) goes into a little more detail re. the conditions of the settlement reached between Aspen Ed/MBA and the state of Oregon's DHS:
-------------- • -------------- • --------------
Central Oregonian
Mount Bachelor Academy, DHS reach settlement (http://http://www.centraloregonian.com/archives/Story.aspx/11503)
Oregon Department of Human Services agreed to dismiss or modify abuse findings, school will stay closed
Jason Chaney
October 07, 2010
Nearly a year after the Oregon Department of Human Services ordered Mount Bachelor Academy to discontinue therapeutic services, the two parties have reached a settlement.
Although a settlement has been reached, the possibility of the therapeutic boarding school for teens re-opening is still in question.
"We are pleased that the ongoing legal dispute between Mount Bachelor Academy (MBA) and the State of Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) has finally been satisfactorily resolved," Aspen Education Group President Phil Herschman said in a written statement on behalf of MBA. Aspen owned MBA and still owns other therapeutic boarding schools in several states throughout the country.
Last November, DHS completed a seven-month investigation into numerous allegations of child abuse by the MBA staff, finding several substantiated incidents of abuse. As a result, DHS ordered MBA to suspend therapeutic services and residential services, giving them 90 days to correct the violations. The violations were not corrected and the school remains closed.
According to the settlement recitals, one month after the order, MBA requested a hearing to contest the complaint and corrective order and suspension order. The recitals went on to state that in March 2010, MBA reached an agreement with DHS regarding the orders.
The recitals also recounted four legal proceedings initiated by MBA and its executive director Sharon Bitz between December 2009 and July 2010.
First, Bitz sued DHS in December 2009 to contest allegations against her. Then in April 2010, MBA and Bitz separately submitted notices of claim for damages to the Oregon Department of Administrative Services. Finally, in July 2010, MBA filed a lawsuit to contest the DHS abuse allegations.
According to the agreement, DHS will modify the findings of its investigation while MBA and Bitz will withdraw any legal action they have pursued.
"The findings as regards MBA will be modified to replace the 'substantiated' with the following two sentences: 'Based on the evidence available to the Department (DHS), the Department found that there is reasonable cause to believe that abuse or neglect occurred. The Department's conclusion is based on evidence collected solely by the Department as of Nov. 2, 2009 and not on information provided or available after that date.' "
Lawyers two stepping....for financial reasons not because they give a shit about the children. Don't be blinded by the smoke."
These modifications are reflected in a statement released by Erinn Kelley-Siel, DHS director of children, adults and families.
"MBA acknowledged that based on the evidence available to DHS on Nov. 2, 2009, the agency had reasonable cause to believe that abuse or neglect occurred at the school as uncovered by the investigation," the statement said. "In addition, MBA agrees that DHS had a reasonable basis to investigate the allegations of abuse and neglect and to seek corrective actions."
Guilty!!!!
Herschman, on the other hand, suggested in his statement that the agreement shows the DHS lacked the grounds to shut MBA down.
"The DHS' withdrawal of its order suspending MBA's license supports out position that they did not have justification for that order in the first place," his statement reads. "The DHS has acknowledged with this settlement that in fact there was additional evidence no abuse had occurred."
In addition modifying the finding against MBA, DHS will withdraw the substantiated findings against Bitz on the condition that she enrolls in and successfully completes a two-year course in child/adolescent psychology. The course must be pre-approved by DHS. If she fails to complete the course, DHS will enter the findings into their computer system.
Guilty!!!!
The agreement further requires the dismissal of any legal action or claims pursued by MBA or Bitz with the understanding that no new actions will be filed.
As far as the future of MBA is concerned Kelley-Siel's DHS statement said that school is closed and, "by all accounts, will remain closed."
Guilty!!!
Herschman does not dispute that MBA is closed, but he expressed the intent to install a new school on the property at some point.
Guilty!!!!
"Despite the tragic circumstances of Mount Bachelor (Academy's) closure, we hope to open a new, even more successful school on the MBA campus in the future," his statement said.
Guilty!!!!
© 2009 | Eagle Newspapers, Inc.
Thank you very much Ursus. Your efforts are duly noted.
Whooter the Children....remember!!!!
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Wow. Bitz. I saw a Sharon and an Alex. Alex used to work for CEDU and I am positive his marriage to his new wife (not Sharon) at the time imploded as he got indoctrinated and treated her like a twit. When I was at Cedu, Alex was rising. So, it appears he is part of this fiasco with another (?) wife, Sharon?
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Wow. Bitz. I saw a Sharon and an Alex. Alex used to work for CEDU and I am positive his marriage to his new wife (not Sharon) at the time imploded as he got indoctrinated and treated her like a twit. When I was at Cedu, Alex was rising. So, it appears he is part of this fiasco with another (?) wife, Sharon?
Yes, Alex Bitz was one of the founding staff members at MBA. And... afaik, he and Sharon are married.
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Originally posted (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=29113&p=350143#p350143) on 4 Nov 2009 in the Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down thread:
An off-the-wall yet interesting aside: Like Jacob Moreno (http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_L._Moreno), founder of psychodrama, MBA's Alex Bitz is a Romanian expatriate:
(http://http://www.parentcheckin.com/upload/thumbnail.asp?image=/upload/images/staffPics/Bitz,%20Alex.jpg&width=150&height=150)
Bitz, Alex - Alumni Services Director
Educated in Film and theatre arts in Romania, Alex Bitz became a political refugee and came to the USA in 1984. He is a founding staff member of MBA. Since 1988 he has brought his creativity and passion to every aspect of the school (workshops, training, mentoring, arts, etc.). After more than 20 years of successfully working with children and families, Alex is as consumed with the work as he was his first day. Alex is a certified Life Coach and can often times be found traveling with students to Eastern Europe on the LaMancha Workshop.
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yep, he was at CEDU very very shortly after he emigrated.
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Thank you very much Ursus. Your efforts are duly noted.
Whooter the Children....remember!!!![/b]
I second that, thanks Ursus. I think this sums it up well.
Fast forward to 2010:
"The DHS' withdrawal of its order suspending MBA's license supports out position that they did not have justification for that order in the first place," his statement reads. "The DHS has acknowledged with this settlement that in fact there was additional evidence no abuse had occurred."
I think we can all agree that if DHS had any evidence of abuse they would not be handing back a license.
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"The DHS' withdrawal of its order suspending MBA's license supports out position that they did not have justification for that order in the first place," his statement reads. "The DHS has acknowledged with this settlement that in fact there was additional evidence no abuse had occurred."
I think we can all agree that if DHS had any evidence of abuse they would not be handing back a license.
Well, YOU can agree with Aspen's statement on behalf of MBA, as voiced by Aspen CEO Phil Herschman, all you want. You have only been doing so for... what is it now, 5 pages in this thread alone? I'm sure you can get a little more mileage out of that paragraph with a lil more chopping and rearrangement, not to mention your fancy footwork with hats and rabbits. And goodness, you now have another journalist whose name you can attribute your creative endeavors to.
But I think you'll have a bit more difficulty finding others who agree with you, especially when they are aware of, or perhaps just now realize, the kinds of deceptions you apparently can't help yourself from indulging in.
Of course, DHS had evidence of abuse. What they backed down on was a time line of when it occurred. They did so in return for MBA and Bitz dropping four lawsuits that they had initiated against DHS, and for Sharon Bitz's obligatory completion of a a two-year course in child/adolescent psychology. Clearly they have a pretty dim view of Ms. Bitz's comprehension of what constitutes a healthy behavioral treatment program for children.
Incidentally, speaking of hats and rabbits, who ever said anything about "handing back a license?" Mount Bachelor Academy was closed due to their not complying with the conditions of re-opening. It continues to stay closed. They have no plans of re-opening. If they want to open another school at the same location, they'll probably have to start that licensing process over again. But that's for another thread if and when that time ever comes. From the above article (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=31526&start=45#p388857) by Jason Chaney, emphasis added:
As far as the future of MBA is concerned Kelley-Siel's DHS statement said that [the] school is closed and, "by all accounts, will remain closed."
Herschman does not dispute that MBA is closed, but he expressed the intent to install a new school on the property at some point.[/list]
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Well, YOU can agree with Aspen's statement on behalf of MBA, as voiced by Aspen CEO Phil Herschman, all you want.
I don’t expect you to come out in this thread and state that we agree.
You have only been doing so for... what is it now, 5 pages in this thread alone? I'm sure you can get a little more mileage out of that paragraph with a lil more chopping and rearrangement, not to mention your fancy footwork with hats and rabbits. And goodness, you now have another journalist whose name you can attribute your creative endeavors to.
Oh, Ursus, calm down no one is chopping or rearranging. Its called looking closely at the report and quoting people. If you repost the article everytime you quote it no one would read it. We can quote the author, Phil Herschman or Kelley-Siel's because they are the players in this whole thing. Why does it bother you when people quote them?
But I think you'll have a bit more difficulty finding others who agree with you, especially when they are aware of, or perhaps just now realize, the kinds of deceptions you apparently can't help yourself from indulging in.
Lol, what deception? I think you are losing it Ursus. My quotes come directly from the article you posted here verbatim. There is no deception.
Of course, DHS had evidence of abuse.
They thought they did in 2009. MBA even agrees to the fact that an investigation was warranted based on the information that DHS had at the time. All parties agree here.
What they backed down on was a time line of when it occurred.
They backed down when various people threatened to sue them and they took a look at the evidence they had. DHS will never back down on children being abused. How could they sleep at night? They realized that they made a mistake and no abuse occurred.
They did so in return for MBA and Bitz dropping four lawsuits that they had initiated against DHS, and for Sharon Bitz's obligatory completion of a a two-year course in child/adolescent psychology. Clearly they have a pretty dim view of Ms. Bitz's comprehension of what constitutes a healthy behavioral treatment program for children.
Exactly, if DHS actions had caused the state to lose millions of dollars in damages then Kelley-Siel would have lost her job fairly quickly. The state saw the mistake, stepped in, and brought some reality into the situation.
Incidentally, speaking of hats and rabbits, who ever said anything about "handing back a license?" Mount Bachelor Academy was closed to their not complying with the conditions of re-opening.
The order to suspend the license was lifted by DHS.
It continues to stay closed. They have no plans of re-opening. If they want to open another school at the same location, they'll probably have to start that licensing process over again. But that's for another thread if and when that time ever comes. From the above article by Jason Chaney, emphasis added:
As far as the future of MBA is concerned Kelley-Siel's DHS statement said that [the] school is closed and, "by all accounts, will remain closed."
Herschman does not dispute that MBA is closed, but he expressed the intent to install a new school on the property at some point.
Whenever a school closes it needs to be brought up to the latest standards in order to reopen. If you look at an old local grade school you would notice that the school is barely complying with standards and many standards (classroom square feet , handicap ramps and bathrooms, ) are not complied with because of space constrictions and therefore the school is grandfathered from many requirements. But the minute the school closes down(even temporarily) it cannot reopen until it is fully upgraded to 2010 standards. So you never see local grade schools closing for a year or two to accommodate expansion and contraction of student flow otherwise they would never be able to reopen under state guidelines.
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You attempted to pass off press release material of a corporation doing aggressive damage control, a corporation that owns dozens of teen hell holes, in which kids have died in, as the words of a presumably objective journalist.
That is an egregious misrepresentation.
I'm going to disagree here, Bear. This is an outright lie perpetrated by a lying shill, namely, Whooter. This isn't a misrepresentation.
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I think we can all agree that if DHS had any evidence of abuse they would not be handing back a license.
Stop it. Right now!
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I don’t expect you to come out in this thread and state that we agree.
Then stop saying "WE can all agree"!!!!! I don't think there's even ONE of us that agrees with your interpretation of pretty much ANYthing.....so quit trying to imply that by saying things like "WE can all agree on _______________"!!
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I think we can all agree that if DHS had any evidence of abuse they would not be handing back a license.
Stop it. Right now!
I am not talking directly to you, Anne. But think about it. If DHS had evidence that a school was abusing its kids do you think they would be handing back their license. That is why I stated that I thought we could all agree here on this point.
DHS may back down on certain issues but never involving the abuse of a child.
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I think we can all agree that if DHS had any evidence of abuse they would not be handing back a license.
Stop it. Right now!
I am not talking directly to you, Anne.
I don't give a shit. Stop saying "we can all agree that _____________". You know it's not true, you know that virtually none of us agree with you on pretty much anything. So stop it. Now.
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I think we can all agree that if DHS had any evidence of abuse they would not be handing back a license.
Stop it. Right now!
I am not talking directly to you, Anne.
I don't give a shit. Stop saying "we can all agree that _____________". You know it's not true, you know that virtually none of us agree with you on pretty much anything. So stop it. Now.
I am not saying you have to agree with me. I am saying we can all agree ___________ . From reading here on fornits there are some assumptions that can be made and one of them is that we all know DHS and how they operate and if they see a child being abused they will take action and not back down. many times they step down rather than see a child put in harms way. So I base my statements on those assumptions. don't take it personally and I had indicated that I will not use the phrase directly towards you.
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I am not saying you have to agree with me. I am saying we can all agree ___________ . From reading here on fornits there are some assumptions that can be made and one of them is that we all know DHS and how they operate and if they see a child being abused they will take action and not back down. many times they step down rather than see a child put in harms way. So I base my statements on those assumptions. don't take it personally and I had indicated that I will not use the phrase directly towards you.
Bullshit. Stop using it period. You use it just as disingenuously as you do your quotes and "studies" and it's completely dishonest. You're trying to make it appear to anyone reading that "we" all agree on something when you know goddamned well that is the furthest thing from the truth. Now, knock it the fuck off!
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I think we can all agree that if DHS had any evidence of abuse they would not be handing back a license.
Stop it. Right now!
Here I will fix it for you then.
Most people would agree that if DHS had any evidence of abuse they would not be handing back a license to that facility, although, Anne Bonney feels the people working for DHS would re-license a facility with full knowledge that kids would be abused there.
Does that better reflect how you feel?
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I would say we can all agree that if no abuse occurred MBA would still be open for business and its director, Sharon Bitz, would not be forced into a mandatory educational program about child psychology and development. She had no idea what she was doing, no credentials and dozens, if not hundreds, of kids were abused on her watch.
We should discuss why Aspen feels that its facility directors don't need any education or training to run child care facilities. That's pretty scary!
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Does that better reflect how you feel?
Exactly my point. Why on Earth would you be posting about how ANYone feels except yourself? Stop using "WE".
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Does that better reflect how you feel?
Exactly my point. Why on Earth would you be posting about how ANYone feels except yourself? Stop using "WE".
So I take it you agree with my original statement. You just got pissed because we all agreed and you didnt want to admit it.
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We should discuss why Aspen feels that its facility directors don't need any education or training to run child care facilities. That's pretty scary!
Why does Aspen hire people with no education or credentials to run their kiddie jails?
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We should discuss why Aspen feels that its facility directors don't need any education or training to run child care facilities. That's pretty scary!
Why does Aspen hire people with no education or credentials to run their kiddie jails?
That would actually be an interesting thread, DJ. You should start one. I would be interested in contributing to the discussion.
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