Announcements

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Important Message for WWASPS Families from PA, DE, or NJ

Survivors and parents of WWASPS programs who resided in Pennsylvania, Delaware or New Jersey are asked to contact ISAC immediately.

Please send an email with your name, phone number and the state you lived in at the time of enrollment to isaccorp@yahoo.com.

Survivors Protest Kids Helping Kids in Milford, Ohio

On Friday November 30, 2007, protesters from the Greater Cincinnati area gathered in Milford, Ohio, a Cincinnati suburb, to express their opposition to a drug treatment program called Kids Helping Kids (KHK), a Pathway Family Center (PFC). The purpose of this event was to educate the public about KHK/PFC's systematic use of unethical, questionable, abusive, and harmful treatment methods, and to demand that KHK/PFC be held accountable for such intolerable so-called treatment methods. The protesters consisted of Kids Helping Kids and Straight Inc. survivors. Others who oppose this program also joined the protest.

Early Friday morning, the first protestor arrived in the freezing cold, armed with signs and informative flyers. Shortly thereafter, the lone protestor had the opportunity to talk with an interested citizen and inform her that KHK/PFC uses Straight Inc.'s treatment modality, that KHK is owned by PFC (also a Straight Inc. spin off program) and referred her to related websites. The curious passerby, already aware of Straight Inc.'s abuses, was so concerned she took notes! It wasn't long before another encounter occurred, this time with a KHK/PFC supporter. The KHK/PFC program parent was quick to point out that Kids Helping Kids has "changed" because it is called Pathway Family Center now. Of historical significance, Kids Helping Kids was a Straight, Inc. spin-off program, started in the early 1980's. Pathway Family Center used to be called Straight Inc. from 1986 until it was shut down in the early 1990's and then reopened within a few short weeks using a new name, Pathway Family Center. The past is relevant to this protest because the past is repeating itself in the current Straight-like program, Kids Helping Kids, a Pathway Family Center.

The main event occurred between 4pm-9pm when nine protestors assembled with their signs, anxious to share their message regarding KHK/PFC's harmful "treatment" methods: coercion, fear, isolation from society & family, forced confessions, humiliation, disproportionate punishment, just to name a few such practices. In short, KHK/PFC is based upon "tear down the child, then build them up in the KHK/PFC image." The potential harm this can cause varies but may include Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, increased drug and or alcohol abuse, severe depression, panic disorders, and in extreme cases, suicide.

The protest attracted interest from many concerned citizens who stopped by for information. The protest also prompted KHK/PFC supporters to join our demonstration with signs of their own in support of the program. One KHK survivor then had the opportunity to discuss the program with a recent KHK/PFC graduate. Another KHK survivor discussed the program at length with a man claiming to be a KHK/PFC parent and board member. This gentleman made numerous attempts to discourage that survivor's position against the program, to no avail. Although each side conveyed opposing opinions, which triggered emotional moments of disagreement, participants from both sides managed to remain largely peaceful.

The protestors were determined to carry on their demonstration in a peaceful, respectful and lawful manner so were dismayed when a disruptive stranger arrived, read signs from both sides with a bullhorn and repeatedly walked into the street. Fortunately, Miami Township Police arrived within minutes prompting the unruly stranger to run off into the night. The rest of the event continued without further incident.

At the end of the night, survivors and other participants all agreed that our protest was more successful than we imagined it would be. Despite the extreme cold, numb feet and hands, fatigue and KHK/PFC's unexpected participation, we felt more determined than ever to continue to educate the public about the harmful treatment methods used by Kids Helping Kids, a Pathway Family Center.

GAO Report Completed and Presented to Congress

On October 10, 2007 the Government Accountability Office released it's much-anticipated report on residential treatment programs.

The report entitled Concerns Regarding Abuse and Death in Certain Programs for Troubled Youth contains investigative findings on ten facilities where children have died.

The report was presented to the House Committee on Education and Labor in an effort to pass national regulation of troubled-teen programs.

ISAC would like to thank the GAO for it's efforts and for helping expose this dangerously unmonitored industry.

Download the Report

Watch the Video of the Hearing

Sue Scheff, PURE, and Others Accused of Fraud: "Horrific Acts of Child Abuse" Alleged at Academy Referred by Scheff

Written by: Paula Reeves

BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA (August 12, 2007): As the sun sets on one case after another involving Sue Scheff and her one-person company, PURE (Parents Universal Resource Experts), another case looms on the horizon.

The case filed by the Green family in late July 2007 alleges that Scheff, “[S]et up PURE based on the business model of a Utah entity known as WWASP [World Wide Association of Specialty Programs],” an organization to which Scheff referred children and against whom Scheff later engaged in protracted litigation. The civil complaint alleges that Scheff lied about the money she received from private children’s programs and, instead, pretended to be “a volunteer who used proceeds from a successful lawsuit and from a trust fund to support her work and her organization . . . .”

The complaint alleges that other defendants, Boyd Hooper followed Scheff’s lead and likewise misrepresented that he was an “education specialist.” In reality, Hooper was Scheff’s public relations agent and fees were paid to Scheff and others, according to the complaint.

Focal Point Academy in Mesquite, Nevada is the place to which Scheff referred the Green family, according to the case. Focal Point was reportedly marketed by Scheff as a therapeutic boarding school. It was later discovered that Focal Point was not licensed as a school, but as a foster home, with no foster children present.

The Greens were willing to spend more than $5,000 a month for their son to receive the intensive psychiatric help they felt he needed. Instead, their son was reportedly not provided the specialized treatment promised by Scheff, Hooper, and Focal Point. They say their child was beaten and subjected to perverted sexual acts by other “students” that continued even after Focal Point Academy was notified. Focal Point reportedly refused to notify authorities.

The defendants’ answers to the allegations have not yet been filed. The defendants are expected to deny all assertions of fraud and breach of fiduciary duties.

Like her counterpart, WWASP, Scheff has been in litigation a number of times where others have made accusations of fraud and deceit. This time, however, it appears that trouble may be brewing for Scheff.

Copyright 2007 www.paulareeves.com

Reprinted with permission

http://greenversussuescheff.blogspot.com/2007/08/sue-scheff-pure-accused-of-fraud.html

www.paulareeves.com

Click Here to Read the Lawsuit

The Teen Help Industry: Is Fornits.com Taking On and Taking Down Sue Scheff and PURE?

Internet Warfare: Who is Ginger Warbis of Fornits.com?

Written by: Paula Reeves

The “Internet Wolverine” Ginger Warbis responds to threats by Sue Scheff, her company PURE (Parents Universal Resource Experts), and others in the private “teen help” business: “Hit me with your best shot, cowards! At the end of the day, I can take it. You can’t.”

Ginger Warbis, living somewhere in Pennslyvania, is no ordinary woman. She began her controversial electronic publishing site at Fornits.com over five years ago. Warbis is fearless in her exposure of the burgeoning and dangerously unregulated industry called the “troubled teen” or “teen help” industry.

If you dare enter Ginger Warbis’ Web World, you are forewarned that it is not for the weak of heart. The posts are crude and nasty at times, but most hit to the heart of a uniquely American tragedy.

“Oh, the irony of it all,” Ginger Warbis exclaims in a recent post on her site as she writes under the pen name of “Scarlett Chiclet.” In the span of a few years, this angry advocate has transformed herself from a rough hewn virtual-vigilante to a witty, raunchy publicist who isn’t afraid of anyone, anywhere, anytime. Whether you like her or not, one cannot help but admire the tenacity of Ginger Warbis and her band of mischievous Internet crusaders.

Warbis’ arch-enemy at the moment is Sue Scheff, a self-proclaimed “resource expert,” who places children in programs, sometime unsafe ones, that pay Scheff substantial sums of money. According to bloggers, Scheff recently tried to shut down the Fornits.com site and silence Ms. Warbis’ prolific criticism of Scheff and others like Scheff.

In response, Warbis moved her Internet presence to Canada. The Fornits.com site is now spawning anti-Sue Scheff sites too numerous to track, such as www.sueschefftruth.com.

Why is Ginger Warbis so tenacious and tough? She characterizes herself as a “prisoner of war” who survived the now defunct Straight Program. As a child in the early 1980s, Warbis said she was held against her will for two years at Straight in Florida, deprived of a meaningful education, and forced to confess and engage in acts against her will.

In an apparent response to Sue Scheff’s attempt to take down Fornits.com, Ginger Warbis challenges: “Sue me! I beg of you, bring this fight back into the public eye in any way you can. . . .”

With the help of her lawyer, Warbis won dismissal of a 2004 case that Sue Scheff, the wealthy heiress, and PURE, filed against Warbis for defamation and invasion of privacy.

Underscoring her determination, Warbis writes: “You spoiled yuppie scumbags think a civil suit or public embarrassment or the prospect of losing some of your precious stuff is too horrible to even think about. I'm made of stone . . . . tough, so far beyond the need for creature comforts and social acceptance. . . .”

It does not appear that Ginger Warbis will be folding Fornits.com anytime soon. In the meantime, Sue Scheff has hired a company to saturate the Internet with self-created positive comments and web sites about her and her company, in the hope of countering the mounting guerilla forces of Ginger Warbis and Fornits.com.

DISCLAIMER: The article expresses the opinions of the author. This article is based on over 75 Internet posts and blogs. Responses to this article, requests for corrections, and fair comments are welcome. Technical corrections have been made to this article.

Copyright 2007 www.paulareeves.com

Reprinted with permission.

http://sueschefffornits.blogspot.com/

www.paulareeves.com

Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora

Over the GW, Based on a True Story

Over the GW is an award winning film based on the real-life experiences of Nick Gaglia, survivor of an abusive teen-treatment program. The film opens in New York City on June 27, 2007. “Over the GW,” written and directed by Nick Gaglia, is a poignant story based on his experience in a cult-like rehab. This film exposes corrupt rehabilitation centers which prey upon vulnerable teens and their parents and are still widespread throughout the world. Tony (George Gallagher) and Sofia (Kether Donohue) are two troubled teenage siblings from the Bronx. Out of options, their mother brings them over the GW Bridge to a rehab in Jersey. What is meant to be a 30 day stay turns into a traumatic 2 ½ years in which Tony and Sofia experience abuse, brainwashing, and false imprisonment. The director of the program, Dr. Hiller (Albert Insinnia) leads Tony and Sofia to believe this is the only institution that will keep them sober and if they leave they will die…Instead, the siblings enter into a psychological and physical struggle for their lives! Click Here to Visit the Official Website Self-Medicated to be Released Nationwide Self-Medicated, an award-winning film directed by a survivor of Teen Help/WWASPS, is scheduled for nationwide release on August 31, 2007. Director Monty Lapica was forcibly detained at Brightway Adolescent Hospital, and if not for a daring escape, would have been transported to Paradise Cove in Samoa. Storyline from the Official Self-Medicated Website: Based on true events. Having recently suffered the death of his father, seventeen-year-old Andrew Eriksen's inability to cope catapults him down a path of denial, self-loathing, and emotional entropy. Once a promising young scholar, Andrew finds himself on a drug-addled path to self destruction. Resentful of his mother for her own drug addiction, Andrew withdraws only further at a time when they need each other most. His mother's last resort is to hire a company that kidnaps troubled teens and places them in a locked-down and corrupt psychiatric hospital. After being subjected to the secret physical and emotional abuses of the program, Andrew discovers the only way he will come to terms with the death of his father is to first face his own demons head-on. Please visit the Official Self-Medicated Website to get a full list of theaters, watch the trailer, and learn more about this important feature film. Interview with Director Monty Lapica, from the Honolulu Advertiser Learn more about Teen Help/WWASPS Randall Hinton Finally Arrested Randall Hinton, long-viewed as one of the primary thugs at the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS), has finally been arrested. Colorado police have charged Hinton with assault, false imprisonment, and child endangerment. In April 2005, Missouri officials decided NOT to sell the old Kemper Military Academy to Hinton and WWASPS owner Robert Lichfield. ISAC and its director, Shelby Earnshaw, were sued by Robert Lichfield for "interfering" with the purchase. The lawsuit was dismissed by the Utah courts in late 2006. Randall Hinton Banned From Contact with School and Students Randall Hinton Placed on Leave Following Arrest Randall Hinton, Long Time WWASPS Employee, Arrested for Assaulting Student Help at any Cost - An Important Book About the Troubled Teen Industry Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids by Maia Szalavitz has been published. Covers the incredible history of a billion dollar industry, which profits by convincing parents that their teenagers require harsh residential treatment in order to survive adolescent misbehavior. It shows how these programs prosper despite lack of any scientific evidence for their efficacy—and despite research showing that their "therapeutic" techniques can do great harm and often drive apart the families they are intended to bring together. You can order the book by clicking the photo above. As an Amazon associate, ISAC will receive a small percentage of the purchase price. Articles written by Maia Szalavitz: The Trouble with Tough Love New York Times Underplays Boot Camp Abuse Why Jesus is Not a Regulator Class Action Lawsuit Against WWASPS The Turley Law Firm has filed a class action against WWASPS and many of the programs and individuals involved in the organization. More information, including forms for former "students" and parents interested in joining the suit, can be found at www.wturley.com

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