Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: Timoclea on May 07, 2005, 04:02:00 PM
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The big life lesson for teens about RTCs is that if you run away from home, you'd better make sure you never get found, and you'd better never go back.
In fact, to keep from getting found and picked up by "escorts" while walking down the street, you need to change cities and go to a city where nobody knows you.
Homeless shelters and soup kitchens are good, and construction is a good way to earn money since they take day laborers and hire illegals. You can also probably find out from the illegals when and where you can get work picking produce. Live like an illegal and you'll probably get by just fine. Just keep in mind that if your face ends up on a milk carton you may have a harder time hiding than an illegal. But probably not. Who remembers those faces, anyway?
Also, learn enough about stage makeup and method acting to change your appearance. Heavy makeup is conspicuous, but pads high in your cheeks to alter the shape of your face are not. Neither is long-wear lipstick that is either drawn just inside your lips to make them look smaller, or drawn just outside to make them look larger. Bangs or the absence of bangs can affect the apparent shape of your face. Learning to act casual without sneaking and wearing neutral colors, dying hair to a neutral brown if it's not already, make you unmemorable. Obviously, don't come to the attention of the police. Well, if you're a guy, growing or shaving beard or mustache is the thing.
Learn Spanish and glom onto a family of illegals. Brown contacts would be a good investment, as would fake-tan lotion. If you look like an illegal, people aren't likely to look at you twice. (If you're black, you've got it made--most people's eyes will skate over you anyway.) Just don't look WASP. If you're Asian, hang in a heavily Asian area to avoid notice. Let the other illegals think Daddy did "bad things" so they'll sympathize with you and won't turn you in---don't ham it up, just say your dad did "bad things" and refuse to talk about it.
Don't use drugs. It will screw up your ability to focus on surviving on your own.
Get *real* good at Spanish. If you come to the attention of anyone, just pretend you don't speak English and only talk Spanish. As long as they don't hand you to the INS--which they probably can't---it probably won't occur to them to think you might be a runaway. Eventually they'll have nothing to do but let you go. And if the INS gets you, you can admit who you are long enough to get out of their custody and *hope* you can find a chance to run again. If you tell the INS guy, in English, that you're legal to convince him and stick to your "Daddy did bad things" story and clam up about what those might be, the guy handling you may feel sorry enough for you to look the other way when you take off.
The cool thing for you is you can just hide out until you turn 18 and you're suddenly "legal" again.
It's an Unintended Consequence of the RTC industry. Running away now means you'd darned well better do it right and stay gone until *after* your 18th birthday.
The other thing is you could find out states ahead of time with liberal emancipation laws, know the rules, and play illegal until you qualify, then get legal aid to help you with the paperwork.
If you get in good with the illegal community, and work alongside them, the conservative latino values may provide some protections from the dealers and the pimps.
Yep, that's the lesson from the RTC industry:
If you run away, do it right, and whatever you do, don't go home before you're 18.
(For the stupid, this is all satire and not an actual attempt to get people to break the law. Don't really do this, kids.)
TimocleaThe way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.
--Benjamin Franklin, American Founding Father, author, and inventor
[ This Message was edited by: Timoclea on 2005-05-07 13:04 ]
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I totally understand and feel for you, it seems and I don't know you that you had a horrific experience. But - here comes the unpopular comment and please don't give many XXXX about it but try to understand; to tell people to run away - teens at that and how is an awful thing to do. Although in a lot of cases they may not be safe in a RTC or some of them, they certianly are not at ALL safe on the streets, they are exposed to awful things the streets are no life for anyone especially a child or teen. Shame on you. I know you have your opinion but as a parent 1st and foremost I disagree and am appalled at the posting. I also see you had lots of views but no one responded so I am.
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Timoclea - you ended your post as if it was a joke for "stupid" people that would take it seriously. So my question is, why would you even post this if you weren't halfway serious? :???:
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On 2005-05-08 16:39:00, Anonymous wrote:
Although in a lot of cases they may not be safe in a RTC or some of them, they certianly are not at ALL safe on the streets, they are exposed to awful things the streets are no life for anyone especially a child or teen. Shame on you. I know you have your opinion but as a parent 1st and foremost I disagree and am appalled at the posting.
Good! You should be appalled! Maybe you're starting to see the light! Speaking as a former teen who did time in a RTC and who escaped from time to time to "the streets" (actually, the interstate trucking culture and halfway houses plus juvenile detention for a month or so) I can tell you that RTC was, by far and away, the worst! And I got a front row pew view of the horrible, awful scenereo of being drugged and then gang raped while on the streets. That sucked! But it didn't suck quite badly enough to make me want to turn myself in and get sent back. In fact, it wasn't even bad enough to make me want to take the chance that maybe my dad would be home and maybe he wouldn't believe me when I told him why I didn't want to go back. So I hitchhiked right back up out or So. Florida, never even getting the few minutes w/ my brother that I'd paid so dearly to get.
I've been on the streets, hungry and friendless and I've been in RTC. Given the chance to do it all over again, I would not have done it any differently. When your body gets raped, you have the option of putting your mind somewhere else. In RTC you don't have that option.
Are you starting to get it now? When he [Califano] claims that the voters of Arizona and California did not know what they were voting for when they supported the two initiatives, he reminds me of the way Serbia's President Slobodan Milosevic reacted to recent election results in that country.
-- George Soros -- Sunday, February 2 1997; Page C01 The Washington Post
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My friend escaped a religous RTC and made it to California. Along the way she was raped by a trucker, which she said was far less traumatic than her experience at the RTC. She said she would run if she had it to do again.
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Maybe I am seeing the light? Ginger now listen or read rather, I am not here to argue with you, nor do I appreciate your every corner bashing me, I know who I am and what I do and am secure in all of this, I am terribly sorry you had such a horrific life and experiences, but please do not take this out on me or others especially those who do care. This only burns bridges, I know that things are not good in the RTC world, I also know that if at all possible whenever possible we should keep kids in their homes with appropriate supports, etc., but this does not give you a license to be the end all - be all - know all, because you are not. This is America everyone is entitled to their opinions and not everyone is out to harm children and families espcially me!
Once you realize this others will find it much easier to work with you, until then, I will pray and hope that you find some sort of peace in your life to be to move on from the horrors of your past (and I don't take them lightly either) and be a good advocate and succesful at it, until that happens, you will only burn bridges! Take it from one who has been there!
:exclaim: :exclaim: :exclaim: :exclaim: :exclaim: :exclaim: :exclaim: :exclaim:
Andrea
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Andrea, please don't take my comment as a personal attack. It wasn't meant that way at all. I'm just frustrated after years of trying to state the obvious and so rarely being heard or understood. And I'm not the only one. At least it's been some consolation to find that out.
But please take a breath and read the original post again. Timo doesn't suggest anybody run away. Just that, if they do (and we know from all of human history that, in every generation, some teenagers will run away) there's no going back. And that's tragic as hell. You're right, the streets (or rural byways) are no place for a young person who's legally disabled by age and runaway status. Been there several times. You can't even get a job sweeping floors for long before someone gets paranoid about aiding and abetting or, worse, decides to take advantage of your vulnerable circumstance.
And yet, given the choice, I would never have gone back home the first time because my parents were involved in the Program. Hell, in my case, if it hadn't been for the Program, I probably wouldn't have run in the first place. I never was afraid of my dad's hollering and grounding or the hard work assignments he gave me for breaking rules. The only reason I ran was because my parents were talking about putting me in The Seed. And that scared me! I didn't want to be brainwashed and there wasn't a single adult in my life who would understand that and protect me from it.
My point is that the entire troubled parent industry is built on a pie-in-the-sky fantasy. Yes, we know that life is dangerous. We know that kids need the support, protection and guidance of caring adults to make it through to adulthood in relative safety. But some kids don't have caring adults who are able and willing to provide that protection and guidance. And the troubled parent industry preys on those families, promising this mythical safe and helpful alternative which, in reality, is often far more dangerous than just letting the kid go and far more harmful than helpful.
I believe your intentions are good, Andrea. But I think you're thoroughly vested in this lie. Unfortunately there is no cheat sheet for raising kids. There is nothing a parent can do to strong arm control of a kid who worries them. Good old fashioned love and support is the best anyone can do. And anyone who tries to sell you something better is lying to you and, likely, to themselves about it.
In my view, your "success" is mitigated at best in that you're not really addressing the major issue. Good for you, helping to chase one of the more notorious little gulags out of your state. But you cheerfully and blithely advise parents to cooperate w/ institutions that isolate children from their old friends and family and even each other on "home" visits. (if it's just a visit, hon, it's not home anymore)
I think you just have no clue how demoralizing that is. Here's a good read on how that works:
The tactics used to create undue psychological and social influence, often by means involving anxiety and stress, fall into seven main categories.
TACTIC 1
Increase suggestibility and "soften up" the individual through specific hypnotic or other suggestibility-increasing techniques such as:Extended audio, visual, verbal, or tactile fixation drills, Excessive exact repetition of routine activities, Sleep restriction and/or Nutritional restriction.
TACTIC 2
Establish control over the person's social environment, time and sources of social support by a system of often-excessive rewards and punishments. Social isolation is promoted. Contact with family and friends is abridged, as is contact with persons who do not share group-approved attitudes. Economic and other dependence on the group is fostered.
TACTIC 3
Prohibit disconfirming information and non supporting opinions in group communication. Rules exist about permissible topics to discuss with outsiders. Communication is highly controlled. An "in-group" language is usually constructed.
TACTIC 4
Make the person re-evaluate the most central aspects of his or her experience of self and prior conduct in negative ways. Efforts are designed to destabilize and undermine the subject's basic consciousness, reality awareness, world view, emotional control and defense mechanisms. The subject is guided to reinterpret his or her life's history and adopt a new version of causality.
TACTIC 5
Create a sense of powerlessness by subjecting the person to intense and frequent actions and situations which undermine the person's confidence in himself and his judgment.
TACTIC 6
Create strong aversive emotional arousals in the subject by use of nonphysical punishments such as intense humiliation, loss of privilege, social isolation, social status changes, intense guilt, anxiety, manipulation and other techniques.
TACTIC 7
Intimidate the person with the force of group-sanctioned secular psychological threats. For example, it may be suggested or implied that failure to adopt the approved attitude, belief or consequent behavior will lead to severe punishment or dire consequences such as physical or mental illness, the reappearance of a prior physical illness, drug dependence, economic collapse, social failure, divorce, disintegration, failure to find a mate, etc.
These tactics of psychological force are applied to such a severe degree that the individual's capacity to make informed or free choices becomes inhibited. The victims become unable to make the normal, wise or balanced decisions which they most likely or normally would have made, had they not been unknowingly manipulated by these coordinated technical processes. The cumulative effect of these processes can be an even more effective form of undue influence than pain, torture, drugs or the use of physical force and physical and legal threats.
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... =50#101071 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=9394&forum=9&start=50#101071)
God is the Asylum of Ignorance.
--Baruch Spinoza, Dutch-Jewish philosopher
_________________
Ginger Warbis ~ Antigen
Drug war POW
Seed `71 - `80
Straight, Sarasota
10/80 - 10/82
Anonymity Anonymous
return undef() if /coercion/i;
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If I was a teen again, threatened with being sent to a program again, I would run and never come back. If your parents can afford to send you to a program, they have enough valuables you can take with you to support yourself until you turn 18 and can work and live legally. This might offend some parents on this board, but you have never spent years of your teenage life locked up in hell. The problem is, teens have no idea these places exist. The escorts are waiting by your door before you have any idea anything is going on. If you go willingly, you are told it is a summer camp. :roll:
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It wasn't written as a "joke" on stupid people.
The reference to stupid people was because people who *aren't* stupid will "get it" the first time.
I suppose a free clue for stupid people doesn't work if someone is so stupid (or perhaps just ignorant and/or dense) they don't know that "satire" doesn't mean "joke."
If you don't understand what satire is, I just can't help you.
Program people have *made* it so that running away is both an irreversible choice for a teen with any sense of self-preservation, and an improvement over the damage many teens will suffer if they wait around to get "sent off." That's not funny, that's not a "good idea"--that's tragic. And horrific.
But it's what you've done.
Unintended Consequences.
Kids who normally would have turned their parents hair white as they navigated adolescence, maybe having some touch-and-go with the juvenile justice system along the way or some substance abuse problems that they'd find they didn't want to keep as they grew older----kids that would have grown out of their excesses on their own with no more legacy than being poor and having to bootstrap their education once they, as adults, understood it really was a good thing to have-----those kids are now made to choose between a horrific brainwashing experience or the streets (if they figure out the horrific experience *might* be coming).
Program parents' excesses have affected even the wild kids of *non* program parents. Because those kids can't be sure they're not going to be awakened in the middle of the night by goons with handcuffs.
You think the word is not going to get around among teens? For various reasons it's been slow, but once it makes it into the teenage underground of word-of-mouth "wisdom," there'll be no getting it out of there.
And then even kids whose parents would never dream of putting them in a program will run and stay gone---because they can't be sure, can they?
Program parents have *created* a worse social problem than the one they fought, and what they created is ramping up to become an even worse plague on us all.
This could be kept quiet when it was only something a few oddballs did to some "really hard core juvie" kids most other kids had never met.
Now, as it gets more likely that kids have known someone in their school who wasn't all that bad to just "disappear" and turn out to be in a Program, or the grapevine "knows" about a kid the next school over, and as it turns up in print all over everywhere that these places wake and kidnap kids in the middle of the night-----
Now, everyone who *isn't* stupid can see the rest of the iceberg of worse social problems these programs have caused.
Stuff get absorbed into teen conventional wisdom. Everything from urban legends like smoking dried banana-peel screpings to who the go-to guy is for good fake id's to how to scam a drug test.
And once it gets into that body of the teen oral-tradition, you can't get it out.
You don't think the *teens* will have their own version of "how to run away" and "you better stay gone, dude" and "dude, your parents are psycho like that--you gotta run, dude"?
If you don't think it's coming, then you really are hopelessly stupid to a degree that's beyond help.
And if you think that I think it's a *good* thing that programs have made running away a *lesser* threat to the teen's mental survival than a program, and made running an act from which there's no return, then whatever weed you're smoking is too wacky for me.
But then, that's the whole problem with Program Parents. They're gullible, short-sighted, impenetrably thick-skulled, and utterly convinced of their own rectitude. They're so determinedly myopic that they can't see the consequences of their actions no matter how hard it's smacking them in the face.
They're a menace.
TimocleaHave you considered that system of holy lies and pious frauds that has raged and triumphed for 1500 years.
--John Adams, U.S. President
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If put in the same situation again, I surely would have taken to the street, and worked as a prostitute. I seriously doubt that pimps are as sick and sadistic as the staff at PCS.
Pimps may hit you, but I'm from an Irish-catholic family, and was used to that. I would have worked my way into an upscale escort service. And by age 18, I would have pride and dignity knowing that I was creative and independent and working and supporting myself, in a career that offers flexibility and an excellent income.
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Offers flexibility? I would think that for prostitution it would be a job requirement.
Or at least good on a resume.
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
I think as a society we have to consider the ramifications of sudden, middle of the night parent-sanctioned abductions and facilities that are so "tough" that living on the streets is less unpleasant and less traumatic.
Even if every single one of the survivors who report abuse was lying, as the programs claim, the fact remains that teenagers are exposed to those claims on the internet, and even the programs' cheerleaders admit the programs are "tough."
I don't want my kid or other kids in my community running away and living on the street because the street is a better alternative than what they *think* is about to happen to them.
We adults need to make really sure that noplace a teen can be sent to legally, short of juvie, is worse (or is perceived to be worse by the teens) than living on the streets.
Even if there are parents who want to send their kids to places tougher than the streets, or perceived so by the kids, as a wake-up call, the rest of us in society have a strong vested interest in protecting our *own* teens by not allowing those parents to do that.
If my kid, who is more likely than most to go through a rough adolescence because of her special needs, has a friend who gets sent to one of these places and develops the mistaken belief that her daddy and I might be about to send her, *my* kid could run away and get hurt.
Making sure there *are* no programs tougher than the streets, or perceived so by the kids who "don't graduate," is vital for those of us who would never consider using a program or would never feel we'd need one. It's a matter of protecting *our* kids from unnecessary risk.
TimocleaReligion is all bunk.
--Thomas Edison, American inventor
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Okay, that one particular kid may run from Program fear may be a stretch, but my point is that kids living on the streets is a bad thing, and the Programs, being what they are, are virtually certain to have caused kids to run who otherwise wouldn't have.
The more kids come to be aware of Programs, the more kids will develop the belief, founded or not, that they are personally about to be sent and will run.
They're not just "tough," they're horrible. Not being allowed to talk, having to stay in one position in an isolation room or write long essays confessing fault for minor breaches of the rules, not being able to wear your own clothes, having to "earn" having a single candy bar a week, even having to make your bed *perfectly* every day.
They suck.
I certainly would have run rather than be sent to one. And I would have stayed gone. That is, I would have run if I was in one of my more stable moods when I decided my parents were seriously considering it. In a less stable mood, I would have faked sick to stay home from church and slashed my wrists in a bathtub of warm water after taking a load of aspirin or tylenol--I wouldn't have threatened or given warning.
I never, ever, ever threatened suicide, even though I thought about it a lot and carefully figured out how to do it. I was too petrified of making an unsuccessful attempt and being institutionalized. Being institutionalized was my absolute worst fear in high school.
But my chosen method would have worked, because the warm water stops the clotting even if you don't know to slash lengthwise. And my parents were typically gone for two hours on Wednesday night. Enough to bleed out, easy.
But I wanted and actively cooperated with outpatient treatment for the depression.
And I would have been okay with inpatient if I had known the place would be kind and not harsh.
If my parents were seriously considering someplace like WWASPS or any of the Aspen facilities or ALA or similar, I'd have been dead or gone faster than you can say disaster.
I wouldn't treat a dog like these places admit they treat lower level kids.
Timoclea
...it is worth discussing radical changes, not in the expectation that they will be adopted promptly but for two other reasons. One is to construct an ideal goal, so that incremental changes can be judged by whether they move the institutional structure toward or away from that ideal. The other reason is very different. It is so that if a crisis requiring or facilitating radical change does arise, alternatives will be available that have been carefully developed and fully explored."
Milton Friedman
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FYI it is not allowed in MA licensed and I repeat LICENSED residential schools to keep a child from contact with family at all it is a violation of their civil rights as well. In MA we do not have RTC's they are Residential Schools = and you have no clue what I do. They are monitored closely, parents are allowed to visit and encouraged to and kids go home on weekends. Desisto was another story in itself, the licensing agency fought them to license, they had to go to court, the parents of the kids their were believers and ran their own support groups and went by their own rules. Parents from MA generally did not place their children there.
I do not believe that Residential is the answer and am sorry you are so tramatized by your horrific experiences, but some kids will need this level of education and care, and if they are to be placed by their parents I will make sure they know their rights, and they have many, I will make sure they are connected with other parents. I cannot nor will not tell a parent they are a bad parent if this is what they choose for their child, I am not here to judge, and until you have a clue on what goes on in MA and what I really do then don't comment. Yes I tell parents that working with a program is a good thing, and suggest strategies as well, but believe me when I tell you and their is not a provider in MA who won't stand up and say it either how to watch out for things, what to watch out for, and how to report incidents to the proper authorities etc. Providers will tell you I have ripped into them more than once, as will the state agencies.
When I started doing this - believe me I thought they all should be shut down, and we don't have troubled teens I HATE that label - all teens are troubled jeez they are teens, but when I got over our trauma, I became reasonable and know that their is a need, and as bad as I think it is at times in MA our LICENSED Programs and our Special Education Approved Residential Schools are some of the best in the Country. Desisto was neither.
Andrea
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On 2005-05-13 17:46:00, Anonymous wrote:
I do not believe that Residential is the answer and am sorry you are so tramatized by your horrific experiences,
Ok, you're talking to more than just me now. A couple of different people have chimed in agreeing that, given it to do over again, they'd split and take their chances.
but some kids will need this level of education and care, and if they are to be placed by their parents I will make sure they know their rights, and they have many, I will make sure they are connected with other parents.
And chosen friends, right? The default response to messed up parents is to seek out the love, support, encouragement and understanding you need from other sources. You wouldn't cut a kid off from those people they choose as friends, would you? I mean, they're locked down already. They can't leave, get drugs in or do any sort of harm to themselves or others. So what's the harm in their talking and writing and swapping reading material and otherwise socializing w/ people who they choose?
I cannot nor will not tell a parent they are a bad parent if this is what they choose for their child, I am not here to judge, and until you have a clue on what goes on in MA and what I really do then don't comment.
Do tell.
When I started doing this - believe me I thought they all should be shut down, and we don't have troubled teens I HATE that label - all teens are troubled jeez they are teens, but when I got over our trauma, I became reasonable and know that their is a need, and as bad as I think it is at times in MA our LICENSED Programs and our Special Education Approved Residential Schools are some of the best in the Country. Desisto was neither.
Andrea
No argument there, Desisto is notorious. And no longer operating in MA. Again, nice work.
But that doesn't mean it's a good idea to isolate teenagers. There's no "I" in team.
There's no "U" in team, either.
So... if you're not on the team and I'm not on the team, then who's on the fucking team?
yea, the team sux...down with the team
Anonymity Anonymous (http://fornits.com/anonanon)
return undef() if /coercion/i;
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Schools? Education? No RTCs???
ACADEMY AT SWIFT RIVER
CASTLE SCHOOL
STETSON SCHOOL
HARBOR SCHOOLS
Dynamy
COLD SPRING ACADEMY
John Dewey Academy
What's not RTC about these programs?
Mass has some pretty bad boys.
Are you ignorant about Mass programs are attempting to mislead?
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Children in RTC's do have rights - but those rights are circumvented and children are abused daily. The only time we hear about it is when one of them dies. Surely there were others treated with the same brutality and negligence - they just lived to tell. Whenever a child dies we hear the same things - "we thought they were faking it" or " they were totally out of control and we had to do this for our safety - yada yada."
Because children in RTC's are cut off from the outside world this type of institutional abuse with continue. All must demand that RTC's have pay phone, daily visitation hours and phone hours. All children must be allowed to see and talk to parents and family. This is not only therapeutic but necessary.
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Academy at Swift River yet another non licensed school in MA we have written to the state they have been in there and cannot or have not been able to prove they meet the standard for licensing - if someone has information on them especially if they know kids are there with IEP's please tell me I would be happy to pass it along to the right folks, we are trying. Dewey another unlicensed program that does not fit the criteria for licensing. The others well Castle is a pretty good program by most standards when you look across the country, they are licensed and so is Stetson. Cold Springs is not a MA school so I cannot comment. The licensed programs as a matter of fact both Castle and Stetson are not only licensed through the Office for Child Care Services but also 766 Approved meaning they are approved as a Residential School by the MA Department of Education all the licensing standards from OCCS are at http://www.qualitychildcare.org (http://www.qualitychildcare.org) check them out not the best but higher than most states and again. They do not license Residential Treatment Centers in MA they license and approve Residential Schools, that are paid for by School Districts, some parents pay private, some are paid for by the Mental Health State Agency here, and some are paid through the Child Welfare Department or even our Department of Youth Services (Detention). NO RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT CENTERS.
PS until you know don't try to knock me down, I have the knowledge about MA I live and breath this stuff - trust me I am on top of it.
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Forgot Harbor has gone through it's share of troubles but is on the right path new management etc. and we work for keeping kids at home, we provide those resources and information, as a matter of fact I sat in meetings for two years straight 4 days a week to change the way our child welfare agency helps children and families to keeping kids at home, out of residential and providing REAL Wrap Around Services, Family Centered, Family Driven, and that Residential Schools and or Group Home placements should be the last very last resort.
So until you have a clue and are out their busting your XXX daily instead of posting and complaining on a board that very few who care (there are people who do care and I understand all of your passion which is why I come here from time to tim)do not assume things. I know that some of you have had terrible times and experiences, so instead of just posting go do what I did and try to make a difference at least. Get out there like I did. And no I didn't have a single hand in Desisto it was a bunch of folks - it started from my letter of complaint of them not being licensed by the state but they sunk their own grave here in MA. You all can be angry at the world but that doesn't change things, and before you cut your parents down, know (maybe not all of them) but in some cases they are just doing the best they can do, maybe their were no other options put on the table for them. Go bash the Ed Consultants and the websites that post Coldsprings on them. Go after them and work with people like me who really do care a lot.
Andrea
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And Deborah I am not ignorant at all as a matter of fact in Texas the programs are horrific worse than in MA at least I made a difference and am helping some very wonderful parents who want the same their, their rights for their children different alternatives. So Deborah what are you doing in Texas if you know so much how come I have to help from MA to make the changes, ignorant not at all, you know nothing about MA and obviously not Texas either or you would be doing something about it.
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Well, if you understand about Swift River, you can't be all bad.
I had a friend sent there and she had to smuggle in a CD of e-books to have books to read. What kind of "school" thinks it's a good idea to force a child not to read?
Although they *did* let her have some books I sent her for Christmas. They were the only things anyone sent that got through, and those only because they were on an "approved" list her flaky mother had given and I sent them completely anonymously.
But I snuck in "A Handmaid's Tale" and Victor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning."
Not happy books, but *great* for their wisdom about surviving mind control.
TimocleaFaith means not wanting to know what is true.
--Freidrich Nietzsche, German philosopher
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Andrea, Deb's a good researcher. I think it's worthy of debate whether your direct efforts are more or less valuable than her research efforts. Drop the sanctimony, ok?
We're all burned and smartened up here, those who hang around. I believe you when you say that MA has less trouble w/ overtly abusive manifestations of the troubled parent industry. That's why so many players locate out in the wild west, despite the obvious gold pot in the east.
But overt abuse is easy to identify and condemn. The more subtle mindfuck is harder to describe but, in my view anyway, so much more insidious.
If you're intetested in the topics under discussion here, I assume you want to learn something; either about what we talk about or about your positions on same.
Don't take it personally. Slapping the issues around like a red headed step child is what we do here.
Drug War tells us everyone's body is common property
to be managed by the central government for our own
good, even if it kills us. This is Communism!
Drug Policy Foundation of Texas
--Bob Ramsey
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Andrea, you wrote, and I responded to:
In MA we do not have RTC's they are Residential Schools.
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Yes you are right Deb you did write but without any valuable knowledge and again we do not have RTC's we have Residential Schools - furthermore we do not have a troubled teen or a troubled parent industry - although we do have some Ed Consultants hooked up with one org that I am not happy with at all who do use those terms. We also have a Commissioner of our Child Welfare Agency that if he was to find any case where a child was transported by handcuff's or other aversive measures their would be HXX to pay - and he is a Man of his word. You have a huge problem out west but be assured especially in Texas that Parents are being educated in this area and how to fight for the changes we have made. I frankly do not come here everyday and nor do I post everyday I work and I go out their and make the changes - complaining here does no good - frankly few are watching who really care or who really can and are able to make the move to make change. I also would add that I truly understand that folks have been traumatized by past experiences in their lives - posting here may be a relief but truly is not healing. Also I have learned that parents who are having trouble with a child or teen that possibly does have a disability or not do not come here for advice at all. This is a great way for exposing the wrongs I check the site enough to see if their is anything on the radar screen that needs to be passed along to others who can make change and try to do so. To questions others honesty and knowledge is offensive especially when one has been doing this for years and has made positive changes, which makes me question the verasity (spell check prolly) of the posters and their knowledge. So the point being, if you have no clue which I believe some do not have, or don't have your facts - be careful on how you question people's posts you know you always don't have to be advesarial in order to work with others you need to develop new strategies or you will go unheard.
I will not defend myself any longer on this forum or my committment to children and families, or to the children who are in Residential Placements - I can lay my head on my pillow at night knowing I am doing the right thing, I can think of a few that you should be going after and I am not one of them.
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There is nothing more that we would like is to prove that unlicensed schools need to be licensed in MA - if anyone ANYONE has information of children with IEP's in these places that are not licensed please let us know also if you know of abuses (not past unfortunetly that is not helpful for the present) they can and should be reported to DSS in MA the Child Welfare Agency. This is the only way to stop these unlicensed programs; unfortunetly they can't always be stopped proving they take the required amount of special needs students is difficult and I will add much to MA credit the term special needs with OCCS is much broader than elsewhere. It was done with Desisto a few parents became educated on their rights and children's rights found us and started reporting incidents to the state, then the others came out of the woodwork like flies on fly paper, even former staff. Residential Schools are for a short term period of time or should be - most of them well the licensed one's in MA don't take your child/teen whose parents just think they are out of control, they turn away a lot of kids and families, these kids are suffering from Mental Health Issues, and Developmental Delay's, most often Addiction is secondary if involved, have been sexually reactive, and or PTSD. They have lots of differently challenged children but they don't take "parental dumps" per say. Kids have rights - parents have rights - and we encourage them to work with the programs (you get better information that way and also better outcomes) but never at the expense of health, welfare, safety, or service delivery. We have many state agencies in place for licensing, oversight, etc. and also use the Protection and Advocacy Agency in MA as well. It is not perfect or 100% abuse free but we are getting better - had you seen it from 97 - 02 you would have seen kids going home in body bags, rampant sexual abuse, miss medications, unjustified restraints from untrained staff, we are moving towards a 0 restraint model in a lot of places including the psych hospitals. Again better educated consumers!
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***Yes you are right Deb you did write but without any valuable knowledge and again we do not have RTC's we have Residential Schools - furthermore we do not have a troubled teen or a troubled parent industry - although we do have some Ed Consultants hooked up with one org that I am not happy with at all who do use those terms.
Andrea,
Are you in La-La land? The industry is alive and well in Ma. Where is the breakdown in communication? The programs I listed are RTCs. Call them ?schools? if you like, but they are primarily RTCs, with an academic component. I think it is inaccurate and misleading to refer to RTCs as 'schools'.
Dose the Child Welfare Agency review the records of warehoused children in order to ascertain whether or not they were delivered in handcuffs? I tend to doubt it, because if they aren?t licensed they are considered private corporations with all the right of such.
Complaining? That is typically what people do- check consumer products blogs. It?s part and parcel of sharing one?s experience. If I recall, you shared your experience here. I can?t imagine that you?ll convince anyone that doing so does ?no good?. Obviously you contradict yourself when you say, ?This is a great way for exposing the wrongs I check the site enough to see if their is anything on the radar screen that needs to be passed along to others who can make change and try to do so.
I think you should let others decide what gives them ?relief? and ?healing?. Talking about one?s experience can be very healing, same thing that happens in therapy. And to have others validate one?s experience can be further healing, since for many that has not been the case until they found other survivors. Many, like my sons do not trust therapists due to their experience. Five years later, my older son is just warming to the idea of seeking either a therapist or support group.
You said, ?Also I have learned that parents who are having trouble with a child or teen that possibly does have a disability or not do not come here for advice at all.?
That?s a pretty broad comment there. How have you learned this? I don?t doubt that some parents who have decided to warehouse their child may steer clear of survivor sites to avoid the discomfort it might cause, but I feel your comment in general, is inaccurate.
?To questions others honesty and knowledge is offensive?
Huh? Are you suggesting that readers should take your word at face value? That you are incapable of making a mistake or having your own agenda?
I can?t speak for others, but I?m not ?going after you?. If you weren?t so defensive, and desperately needing validation, you?d see it as an opportunity to answer questions posed to you which could possibly further your cause.
I will continue to question your comment that there are no RTCs in Ma. Why would you want people to believe that? I think the question has merit and deserves an answer. I personally would like to know if you consider all RTCs to be ?schools? and not ?treatment? warehouses.
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Andrea, do you still list or recomend Elan as an approved school?
A lot of the more troubled RTCs out west are just lately reinventing themselves as "schools". That's because Utah has just passed legislation strictly regulating RTCs. So now we don't say RTC, we say school. But nothing has changed.
And this is such an old and tired song and dance. Way back in the late `70's or early `80's, Florida started enforcing foster home regulations on The Seed and Straight and LIFE. Know how they solved that problem? They made us all quit saying "foster home" and start saying "host home" instead. Brilliant! :roll: Not!
Oh, and BTW, I know of several parents who have dropped in here looking for info on a particular placement and changed their minds. Never mind the ones who have gone and gotten their kids out after placing them and then looking around for more info than they are allowed on the program sponsored forums.
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.
--John Adams
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We seem to get a parent, what, about once a month?
But any parent who pulls their kid from a really bad place is a small victory.
At least MA is making a serious effort to make it harder for the bad places to operate. It's not "enough"---but it's more than a lot of states are doing.
If Utah, Missouri, Idaho, and Montana (forex) started acting like MA tomorrow, there would be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth among the program owners and operators.
I don't believe in making the perfect the enemy of the good. If every state copied MA's model tomorrow, it would help a lot. It wouldn't fix the problem, but it *would* help.
I can give MA credit for that much.
I think I somewhat agree with Ginger that legislation won't fix the problem. I just think it can *help*. I also think that good legislation addressing a problem sometimes makes it much easier to get the word out to consumers. I agree with Ginger that consumer awareness is vital. I just think both strategies work together to shrink the problem.
I'm kind of hoping that if enough voters become aware enough of the problem, that the involuntary commitment protections for juveniles will be tightened up to get a lot closer to those for adults.
And that all lockdown juvenile facilities--whether physically locked or locked by remote or inhospitable locations--should be either counted as mental facilities or prisons. And that all juveniles should have rights against lockdown in a mental facility unless they're dangerous, or a prison facility unless they've been convicted in an adversarial process at which they got a fair trial with representation by counsel.
Well, except for a kid being grounded in his or her own home. :smile:
I don't think anyone of any age should be subject to being locked up in some institution unless they're *fairly* proven dangerous or criminal.
Timoclea
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ELAN? What is that where is that? And again the programs you had listed previously are NOT RTC's they do not meet a standard at least the licensed ones; they may be called that by the ed consultants and out of state folks but they are wrong - they do not have that on their licenses and I have never heard them call themselves RTC either (which doesn't mean they are not saying it). RTC is an insurance based model. And for the over 1000 hits a day I get on my site and the hundreds of calls a month no I don' think some of us are doing so badly. We all can try to help in whatever way he have the capabilities and the tools, some help by just posting here and it is understandable due to their own traumantic history that they are limited as to how they can be helpful to others, everyone has their way of adding information - correct and valid information though is important because none of us have the power or the right to pose personal opinions on parents nor make choices for them - especially in a forum like this - to bash parents or others.
You all keep your days and nights busy by this forum - and I wish you luck.
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If you never hear Aspen hawking RTC, you must not be reading their website.
First hit on a search for 'aspen education massachusetts'
http://www.aspeneducation.com/news-marcus.html (http://www.aspeneducation.com/news-marcus.html)
"?What It Takes to Pull Me Through? Gives Parents Insights into Therapeutic Education Programs for Struggling and Under-Achieving Teens" (emphasis added)
Hmm... ASR in MA you say? Do we have any Anonymity Anonymous (http://fornits.com/anonanon)
return undef() if /coercion/i;
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Andrea,
?What is that where is that??
Do you have selective memory?
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... um=9#95537 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=6622&forum=9#95537)
Elan is an approved 766 School meaning it met the requirements brought forth by the MA Department of Education, if MA parents have information or anyone that would make our DOE change their mind/status about Elan than please contact them their site is http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa (http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa) let me know if you have problems.
Andrea pfrr
Everyone of those programs will be sold as an RTC or TBS. Doesn?t matter that Mass doesn?t consider them an RTC/TBS unless they are licensed as such. A 766 school? 666 school might be more appropriate, according to survivors.
What ?licenses? do they have? Does the Mass DOE issue ?licenses? or ?accredit? schools/programs academics? It would be highly unusual, for the DOE is concerned with academic accreditation. http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... nsing.html (http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives/2003/4/licensing.html)
What is your personal opinion of Elan, ASR, John Dewey? Do you refer parents to them because they have 766 status (what you consider ?licensed?) with the state? Accreditation would be second or third on my list of concerns. Have you read their websites? Have the licensing folks read them? Who determined their status to be just ?schools?? And based on what? Do you believe that parents are not sending their ?disabled kid? there to have their behavior ?therapeutically? modified?
Sorry, if that?s too much for you at one whack, but I?d really like to determine how knowledgeable you are on this subject. At this moment you seem a bit confused or ignorant, or perhaps a poor communicator. :
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I just found out Elan is 766 Approved but an out of state school - it means that they are approved by the MA Department of Education to educate children on IEP's with special needs, it is not a licensed school in or for MA at all. I agree it isn't perfect - one thing for sure no licensed Residential School in MA is locked unless it is specific to serving children in detention only. We do not and have fought them locking residential schools in MA. Their are alarms on some of the programs doors that go on at night - that is so folks are aware if a child/adolescent has booked, that is more for health, welfare, and safety reasons for the kids. No our child welfare system does not go in and check if kids were brought in with handcuffs and honestly I am not aware (which doesn't mean it hasn't happened) of it happening in any of our LICENSED programs if someone knows differently I would need an email with the students name and date of occurance and it would have to be in the present, believe me I would love to put the escorts and Ed Consultants out of business in MA that is for sure. I know they have what one would call RTC's in other states - I have been to conferences where I can see the major differences in other states to MA - most importantly parental and students rights, in a lot of other states they want kids dropped off to "fix" and we don't buy that here we know that you don't fix any human being they are not cars. Good luck in your efforts again I can see by many posts that people are traumatized and are very passionate about their feelings and I am not a therapist but am a parent whose child went through residential hell which caused me major hell in my life and I need to make changes and try to make it better so it doesn't happen to others.
Good luck to all of you, I just feel strategie is a huge component in getting the job done and ours are different is all.
Andrea
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So are these Mass programs considered RTC/TBSs by everyone except Licensing in Ma?
ACADEMY AT SWIFT RIVER (Aspen Ed) is a college preparatory therapeutic boarding school
http://www.strugglingteens.com/employme ... river.html (http://www.strugglingteens.com/employment/aeg-acadswiftriver.html)
Not a member of 766
CASTLE SCHOOL is a community-based, residential and day school, 12-month program offers a full-time school, a therapeutic living experience and an array of clinical services
http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... 501np.html (http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives/2005/1/castleschool0501np.html)
Is a member of 766
STETSON SCHOOL is a long-term (average stay is about 18-months), 120-bed residential treatment center
http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... 501np.html (http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives/2005/1/stetson0501np.html)
Is a member of 766
HARBOR SCHOOLS
a therapeutic residential program for troubled teens, was notified of being placed on probation by the Massachusetts Program Quality Assurances Services, Compliance and Monitoring, http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/news04/0302 ... roval.html (http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/news04/0302harbor_probapproval.html) based on concerns of not providing adequate supervision in activities on or off campus
http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... views.html (http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives/2004/4/apr04newsviews.html)
Is a member of 766
JOHN DEWEY ACADEMY- this controversial program http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... /oe04.html (http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives/2002/9/oe04.html)
Was even banned from Woodbury Report?s, and is most definitely a TBS
http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... sit02.html (http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives/1994/2/visit02.html)
Is not a member of 766
COLD SPRING ACADEMY is actually in Fl, but came up in a search for programs in Mass
?Ethics? of 766 ?special ed? members
http://www.spedschools.com/PlacementInf ... ctices.htm (http://www.spedschools.com/PlacementInfo/ethical_practices.htm)
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Spedschools.com is not a licensing agency it is a member agency a trade organization so the state has nothing to do with them or their practices. Well hmm Struggling Teens I think they speak for themselves, if you believe that paying folks airfare, hotel, and meals to come out and write a story about a program then well, I don't know what to tell you. As a matter of fact I emailed Lon Woodbury personally about Cold Springs he had nothing to say worthwhile my decision was after the emails and no return call that they paid for the advertising and they don't care where the money comes from - no standards there. Academy at Swift River is NOT LICENSED IN MA - what else can I tell you - they are not licensed and not referred to either by anyone with any stature or credibility. Harbor is approved and licensed went through some terrible things, major changes, and is up and running pretty well at least doing much better, Castle also licensed and approved and doing well. Stetson also licensed and approved for 766. Again what is your point here, the programs that are approved and licensed in MA are Residential Schools they are approved and licensed as that. Your information from woodbury reports is well exactly what it is, and 766 Member means nothing - it is a trade organization. What means something is Licensed by the Office for Child Care Services (the state licensing and oversight agency) and 766 Approved (means they are approved as a special education school in MA from DOE). You are arguing facts from websites that mean nothing NOTHING! I have given you the facts and still am not sure where you are coming from. SPEDSCHOOLS.COM AKA MAAPS is a member trade organization they promote their members programs, they also buy bulk insurance etc., I am not fond of them but at the same time they have a right to be there and do what they do. Struggling Teens is exactly what it is and I hate that term struggling teens we started a list serve which didn't pick up much to try to get folks steered from that. It makes me sick, the kids who do need thereputic residential schools are not struggling teens they are living with a disability. Big difference!
Bottom line - we are trying to stay on top of the programs in MA - they are up and running so we need to make sure they are safe or do our best to make sure. When they are not we are all over them all over them. Unfortunetly the information you got was from sites that are not the licensing agencies, one was a site I find very unreputable and the other was a trade organization site. Why do you continue to want to argue facts? Where is this getting you? Your fact finding is well, not have anything to do with what PFRR does or it's mission. It is links you found on two sites that are not of any issue with me, I can't control where programs advertise nor are a member of. Your hard work is commendable, and I can see you have a passion which is wonderful, but again to try to discredit my knowledge and our mission is not constructive at all, when you realize I am not one of the awful Ed Consultants - you will be fine, ask Shelby I do the right thing by children and families. I give them proper information, and also help them a lot when they call unfortunetly when they place in a Academy at Swift River or old Desisto - they reach me only after something has happened I let parents know when a school is properly licensed if they reach me before hand. It is the first Sunday morning with no rain in a long time in MA - I am going to try to plant my garden this morning before it rains. It has been an awful spring here loads of rain I am ready to build an ARK.
Good luck.
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Andrea, it's really very simple and obvious. These RTCs have done the two step shuffle for the licensing agencies but haven't actually changed what they do or how they do it. They're pulling the wool over your eyes.
And now you're going to go to the trouble of developing and promoting a website to promote those RTC that do the paperwork to get themselves listed as licensed.
Ok, I see, good luck w/ that. :roll:
Innocence implies the ability to restrain from the initiation of aggression, and to question those who don't.
Sorin Cucerai
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Paperwork to get licensed? Do you think that is honestly all it is? MA is known to be exactly not "just paperwork" it takes a long time to license, and their are site visits, both announced and un announced, proof, and then when open site visits announced and unannounced day, night, and weekends. I know that licensing in other states is just paperwork and that makes me sick it is not perfect here in MA but a lot better than elsewhere, and a lot more stringent as well. I am not going to argue this point with you anymore - it is obvious your trauma and belief are much too strong to see what people are doing is good, I am not part of the problem as a matter of fact have found a way to keep involved so as I can see and know what is going on and make changes. I never compromise on the health, welfare, safety, and service delivery of children. You go on and fight your fight, I hope you are succesful in making changes but again it isn't going to happen by posting here, and also not going to happen by bashing every parent who turns here because they are not educated in this area and are only looking for some help and or light at the end of the tunnel.
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On 2005-05-22 15:39:00, Anonymous wrote:
I am not going to argue this point with you anymore - it is obvious your trauma and belief are much too strong to see what people are doing is good...
:rofl: Yeah, that must be it. I'm too damaged to see that you're right. It's obvious to me that your bias and sanctimony are much too strong to give any creedence to those of us who have actually lived it.
Straight was licensed. All of the current incarnations are licensed. They put on a good old dog and pony show of ensuring safety and standards. But, at the end of the day, it's still thought reform. There simply isn't a kind or gentle way to reform someone's thoughts and behavior against their will. There's no complicated, mysterious trick to it. You just have to break their will first. Simple as pie.
Would you care to explain how you manage to regulate away emotional abuse?A multitude of laws in a country is like a great number of physicians, a sign of weakness and malady.
--Voltaire, philosopher (1694-1778)
_________________
Ginger Warbis ~ Antigen
Drug war POW
Seed `71 - `80
Straight, Sarasota
10/80 - 10/82
Anonymity Anonymous
return undef() if /coercion/i;
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Straight was not Licensed in MA and probably would not have met the standards, if they made it through licensing they would have been shut down a long time ago. I am sorry for all that suffered with Straight but they were not here, and I am doing everything I am to make sure that things are safe for kids and also I know about emotional abuse and yes it is against the law here in MA and probably all over only in MA they do try to support complaints against emotional abuse. I do what I do so parents, the kids/adolescents and others know they have rights that their kids have rights and until you "get that" you will never understand - give me some credit I am a caring person and emotional abuse is as bad if not worse than physical abuse I have seen it. Did you know that kids/adolescents as well as parents can file complaints at OCCS here in MA for the programs and they ALL GET INVESTIGATED AND ARE TAKEN SERIOUSLY?
Andrea
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***Again what is your point here, the programs that are approved and licensed in MA are Residential Schools they are approved and licensed as that.
HERE?S THE POINT ANDREA, FOR ABOUT THE THIRD TIME
You said:
In MA we do not have RTC's they are Residential Schools
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... =10#102598 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=9516&forum=9&start=10#102598)
and:
Yes you are right Deb you did write but without any valuable knowledge and again we do not have RTC's we have Residential Schools - furthermore we do not have a troubled teen or a troubled parent industry
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... =20#102800 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=9516&forum=9&start=20#102800)
This is misleading. There are RTCs, TBSs, whatever you want to call them, in Mass.
The rest of this discussion has been an attempt to understand how you define RTC/TBS and how you can claim that there are none in Mass.
Kudos for any improvements you make, but it?s pretty lame that Licensing can?t require RTCs such as ASR to divulge the services they offer and FORCE them to be licensed.
And by the way, licensing is not ?just paperwork? in other states. Mass doesn?t really appear to be much different. You give the impression that licensing is inspecting these ?residential schools? randomly during days, nights, and weekends. That is unheard of. I have never heard of an announced or unannounced visit occurring on nights or weekends, unless a complaint of abuse is filed and needs to be checked immediately, and then it?s usually CPS that makes that visit. And most licensing depts make visit about once a year, sometimes every two years, if the program has a 'good' record.
Is it really so different? How so, and can you document it?
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On 2005-05-22 18:33:00, Anonymous wrote:
Straight was not Licensed in MA
Check your history. Straight Soughton.Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic
for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has
happened once in 6000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to
the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail,
there will be anarchy throughout the world.
Daniel Webster
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On 2005-05-22 18:33:00, Anonymous wrote:
give me some credit I am a caring person and emotional abuse is as bad if not worse than physical abuse I have seen it. Did you know that kids/adolescents as well as parents can file complaints at OCCS here in MA for the programs and they ALL GET INVESTIGATED AND ARE TAKEN SERIOUSLY?
Andrea
Dear lady (not facetious) I do understand. I never doubted your intentions or your compassion. It's just that I've seen this song and dance so many times and you seem to think it's original material.
Whoopie! People filed numerous complaints against Straight w/ state and local law enforcement agencies. And they all poured barrels of ink and palets of paper into making a show of taking them seriously. The result? We use different words to describe what's going on.
The meaningful result? None whatsoever.
28 DAZE
This news segment by Alan Cohn of The Times (WAMI Miami) on SAFE, Orlando (a Straight spin off) aired just after the 2000 election, in spite of competing headlines. We're ever grateful to Mr. Cohn and WAMI for doing such a good job of exposing this outfit and for allowing us to distribute recordings.
The beating goes on, now under license by the state w/ endorsement by the governor!
If you want to know more about the later day Straights, you may be able to raise a reply from Jeff Henschel. He does drop in and post from time to time. Nice kid. You'd like him.
Government operates best when it allows all messengers to offer their views, allowing the American people to decide which take root and which wither away.
--Harold Furchtgott-Roth, member of the Federal Communications Commission
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And what's the difference between boarding and residential? Doesn't boarding mean food and lodging? Isn't that the same thing as a residence? Are we splittin hairs here, or roasting some hare?
Any policy that has Ted Byfield on the same side as many Rastafarians can fairly be said to have generated a consensus.
-- Ottawa Citizen August 28, 1997
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The licensing agency in the state that straight is in probably needs a reality check and some pressure as it wouldn't have happened (God I hope not I know so thousands would have come out in protest) in MA.
Now the difference between a boarding school and a residential school in MA, is that a boarding school (college prep etc.) takes a population that is high functioning, without special needs or disabilities, etc. and a Residential School such as the ones I am speaking of take children/adolescents with special needs, disabilities, etc.
Andrea
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And the difference between Residential Schools and Residential Treatment Centers/ Therapeutic Boarding Schools- which aren't licensed and have the same MO as other RTCs and TBSs around the country?
How do YOU classify the RTCs/TBSs I listed?
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On 2005-05-23 02:47:00, Anonymous wrote:
The licensing agency in the state that straight is in probably needs a reality check
This has been going on on a national level for over 30 years now. I think it's intentional.Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense.
--Francois Marie Arouet "Voltaire", French author and playwright