To whom it may concern:

My name is Kimberly Fee, I am 26 years old and live in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Now, 29 years old)

I lived in Bergenfield, New Jersey for most of my life and was in a rehab center in Hackensack, New Jersey for most of my teenage years for abusing drugs and alcohol. The rehab was named Kids of Bergen County until 1990 when the owner / director changed the name to Kids of North Jersey. The other reason I'm writing this is to do something about my nightmares. I'd like to keep this brief, but I don't think that's going to be possible.

I was informed a while back that 3 staff members were arrested for physical abuse, which only urges my protest against this place. I left Kids on Aug, 3, 1990, when I was 18 years old. A few times since then, I have contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, a local news station (Channel 9 in Secaucus), and even the F.B .I. to try and inform them of the illegal actions that I have witnessed and been a part of in that place. Nothing is ever done about it.

Miller Newton is owner and director of the non-profit organization. We were to call him: Dr. Newton, when he only had a PhD in Anthropology. He has owned and operated this place for about 13-15 years now. He also had branches in El Paso, TX, Norbelinda, CA, and Salt Lake City, UT which were all closed down for reasons such as: insurance fraud, physical abuse, and operating without a license. He has been affilliated with drug programs since 1979, when he was on staff at a program called Straight, in St, Petersburg, FL. Rumor has it, he also has recently applied for a license to open a halfway house in St, Petersburg.

All I'm trying to say is, this man controls people's minds so much to the point of putting third mortgages on their homes to afford to keep their children in his care, off drugs and alcohol, out of hospitals from starving themselves, overeating, acting out etc., because he makes them believe that if they dorl't keep their kids here they will surely die. He makes himself out to be some sort of savior when what he really does is called: physical abuse, mental abuse, brainwashing, holding people over 18 yrs. against their will, food and sleep deprivation. I guess all I can do is tell you what I've seen and been a part of in the 2 and 1/2 years that I was there .

I entered Kids on Feb. 27, 1988 at the age of 16. I do admit that I needed some sort of help and discipline in my life considering I was smoking a lot of Marijuana and drinking and my grades went from B's to F's in a short period of time. I also went from having plenty of goals and dreams for myself to thoughts of suicide on a regular basis, My parents tricked me into going to Kids and from that day on, my life was hell! .

I sat in "Rap" sessions for 12-13 hours a day with no contact with society for 2 and 1/2 years and no schooling either. There are 5 phases of the program, each of which earns you more privledges. First phase is usually the longest. I was on it for 18 months. This is where I don't get to go to school, I wasn't allowed to read, talk on the phone, listen to the radio, go outside, vvrite letters, recieve letters, or even see my parents for more than 4 hours a week at what he called an "Open Meeting " , which were held on Monday and Friday nights, and even that was at a distance of about 50- lOO feet. , had no contact with anyone in my family nor could I even give or get messages to them. I wasn't allowed to go to my own home. I stayed with other people on "higher phases " .I wasn't allowed to take showers or go to the bathroom without someone watching me which I feel is an invasion of privacy. I couldn't even leave my seat in the building without someone holding onto the back of my panst so I couldn't run. During "rap " sessions, we weren't allowed to go to the bathroom, but sometimes mother nature calls .Nobody takes you and I have myself and have seen others urinate themselves because of this.

At the open meetings we sat on one side of the room while the parents and siblings sat on the other. We could have no contact (not even eye contact) with our families unless it was "earned" .I could earn the right to speak to my family for 5 mins. by "doing what I was told" , but it's not that easy. If I so much as turned my head and looked away from the person who was talking, I lost that right. If I even hinted to my parents on that talk that this place was anything but good, or that I was being mistreated, I was yanked away from them and putback in group to be screamed at and belittled later. Sometimes you were "frozen" for doing the wrong things, meaning that you couldn't talk to your parents or sometimes even others in group until "staff said" it was ok.

In these rap sessions you're made to "motivate " or flap your arms like a chicken to show you want to get called on to share incedents in your past (that are embarassing, humbling, depressing, guilt-filled, etc.) with over 100 people. If you don't motivate, you're made to. I've seen a boy get his arm broken from someone trying to make him motivate when he didn't want to. If you don't motivate, you're considered "rebellious" and a threat to yourself and others. Some people sit back and sleep in their chairs, they make fun of other people, whisper to others about how they plan on copping-out etc. but the minute they get caught, they are thrown to the cement floor and "restrained " with one person on each limb holding them down. You're held down with force to make it uncomfortable so you don't just lie there and s]eep. I have held many people down and been held down myself for things such as picking my fingernails, One girl I held down for over 4 hours and when a staff member came and asked if she was going to behave and she declined, we were told, "She'd better be in pain, girls," I do know a few people who have tried to sign out since they were over 18 yrs. old, and they were told, "Not without Proper Procedure." They have a "chain-of-command" that you're supposed to follow when you have questions or requests and requesting to sign out is something that never gets approved because nobody knows "proper procedure " because nobody has ever done it!

My parents awere divorced, while my father had visitation rights, and my mother placed me in Kids with legal custody of me, parents are supposed to be at every open meeting on Mondays and Fridays. My father, being an actor on broadway, couldn't just take these nights off and was given a very hard time and told that he didn't love me enough. The parents are also under heavy survellance and to attend "Parent Raps" to discuss the kids and their pasts and how things made them feel. My father disagreed with these things and decided to leave the program. I was told that he didn't love me and that he was an alcoholic and that he was bad for me by Mr. Newton and his staff. I wasn't allowed to speak to, see, or even relay messages via my mother to my own father. My father wrote a letter to Mr. Newton one time asking to see me to just say "hi" and he loved me and that he didn't want t.o remove me from the program and he was denied. I was never told of this. My step-brother was a "sibling:' in the program and stopped all drinking and doing drugs yet stilI listened to heavy metal music, had an earring and smoked cigarettes and when he refused to sign into the program, he was told to never come back to open meetings and he couldn't see me again and he had to move out of my parents' house! My parents could have no contact with him anymore either and I was told he was drinking and using drugs again and he didn't love me. He did no such thing and recently celebrated over 13 years sober .

My parents gave up a lot also. My mother had to leave her 2nd love as an organist at a church and a synogogue to take a 9-5 job so as not to conflict with open meetings. They were refused a trip to their vacation home in the Poconos for 1 weekend by staff. While my brother was a sibling, he drove a truck and the long open meeting hours affected him so badly that he fell asleep at the wheel frequently. A lot of time and money also went into this, People on lst phase go home with other higher phasers at night and the parents have to provide for their sleeping arrangements, eating arrangements etc. The number of kids coming to your home can total up to 15 and gets very expensive!

Many kids are very malnourished. I was a size 13 when I went in and went down to less than a size 1 in less than a year which is very gross and you could see my ribs and hip bones sticking out. The parents pay a certain amount each month for food which does NOT equal the amount we eat. I mentioned earlier that one of the other facilities was closed due to insurance fraud. I'm not sure of everything, but most insurance companies require a licensed therapist, or psychologist at every session, and that never happened. There is or was a psychologist employed by Kids, but we never saw him. I saw him once in 2 and 1/2 years for about 2 minutes and he asked me if everything was alright and how I was doing and then he signed a piece of paper that I noticed had my parent's signatures on it and that was all I saw of him except passing him in the halls. Of course I answered good to all his questions because there was a staff member present in the room!!! I do know that one of the secretaries had a rubber stamp of his signature and used it without his permission. His name was Dr. Adelman and his home / office is on Queen Anne Rd. in Teaneck, NJ.

One thing I don't understand is how he has a non-profit organization and yet he had a condo in Hackensack, a condo and a yacht in Madeira Beach, FL, he took trips to Rome etc. and always used limos to and from the airports and families are putting 3rd mortgages on their homes to keep him in business.

The violence in Kids is inexcusable. A friend of mine used to cut in his arms as a child and teen and he got a hold of a razor in group, He sliced his wrists to commit suicide and wasn't even brought to a doctor or hospital for stitches when you could see clear to his veins and bones, Kids get restrained with no regards to the fact that the floor is cement or the fact that there are chairs and other people around to get hurt. People have gotten broken bones, cuts, bruises, and deep gashes with blood pouring out of their heads and recieved no medical attention. Many kids try to runaway and get very hurt in the process. Some have jumped off roofs, buildings and jumped through windows trying to get away. Some have run out of homes in their underwear in the freezing winter in NJ! There is a team of parents and staff members who chase these kids that get away to bring them back to the program with no qualms about how they go about it. Kids get beat up on the way back to the building. Kids over 18 yrs. get brought back against their will. Staff members have been arrested for abusing kids that runaway.

You may ask, "Why do parents keep their kids here? " Mr .Newton somehow makes kids and their parents believe that if the child does not stay in his "care " , they will do their compulsion and die. Almost everyone believeshim. He says his program is based on A.A.. Some of this is true, but most is his own fabrication. When kids do leave or are terminated, anyone still involved in the program can have nothing to do with those people and can't even mention their names! In A .A., no matter how many times a person slips, there is always help and they are always welcome back.

Another thing taught in A.A. is that you're an alcoholic and you're going to have urges to drink etc ., and as long as you talk to someone and don' t do it, you're ok. In Kids, if you have even a thought of drinking, doing drugs, smoking, listening to heavy metal music, overeating, purging or whatever the compulsion, you're screwed up and your whole program is wrong and you get put back on first phase most of the time to start all over . Humiliation is another thing they like to do. I guess it's to break you down, make you see your life, and then build you back up, The only problem is they forget the building back up part. Their justification to the humiliation is that you need to be humbled and know that you're a piece of crap and you know nothing about getting sober and you need other people to constantly tell you and yell it at you and scream it at you and spit it in your face that you know nothing and they know how to help you and help you change from the piece of shit that you are. I was called many names in school (that I hated) making fun of my height and weight. I stayed friends with these people because they were the "cool crowd" and I wanted to be accepted. In kids I was made fun of in the same way and then called a "kiss ass" for staying friends with these people in school and humiliated about it. I know a boy who was overweight and had a nervous twitch and stutter and was always called on so people (mainly staff) could make fun of him. In girls raps, we were to talk about things that were improper for the guys' side to hear and these were very humiliating, sexual things. Many times these things were talked about in fulI group and in the staff office between other staff members to joke about. One girl had never had sex and admitted that she wanted to. She was brought into the guys' rap and humiliated. Staff had guys stand up and tell her what they'd do with a naieve little girl like herself. They said things like, "I'd f--- you and leave you!" and "I'd break you in two!" Mentally and emotionally this had to have been very traumatizing .

Anyway, I left Kids on Aug. 3, 1990. I was 18yrs, old. I ran from my own house when I made it to 2nd phase for the 3rd time. What made me finally leave was one night l was rebellious during an open meeting and Mr. Newton was graduating someone and saying things like," Go into the world of A .A ." etc ., I had heard this, speech many times before, but this time it really sounded like an act. It sounded like someone trying to play God letting another life into the world. It sounded too dramatic, I decided that night that I would lie my way to 2nd phase and leave. I snuck out my basement window and RAN 4 miles to the next town where I went into a gas station bathroom and changed clothes. I hadn't spoken to any of my friends in over 2 years and didn't know who I could trust not to tell my parents and not to take me back to Kids. I couldn't even call my own father because I thought he didn't love me. Plus, I was made to believe that all my oId friends were on drugs and my friends that didn't do drugs would turn me in because they cared about me, I ran around 3 towns for 10 hours in the hot sun thinking that everyone I saw and every car that went past me was someone affiliated with Kids and was going to take me back, I came to a main road and saw my step-father driving down the road. With nowhere to run, I stopped and talked to him, keeping my distance from the car so he couldn't grab me. He said to get in, that my mother wanted to speak to me. Yeah..right. He said he wouldn't take me back and I said he lied to me to get me in there, and he'd lie to me to get me back in there. I said they could meet me at the Baskin-Robbins in the shopping center. (A very public place) He left to get my mom and I hid outside the center making sure nobody familiar walked around ready to ambush me. It was like a spy movie. My parents went in first, and I stayed outside looking around and when I was sure that they were alone, I went inside.

We talked about the program and I explained why I left and that I didn't leave to do drugs or drink and I just wanted to have a normal life. I explained that I didn't want to hurt them, I just wanted to accomplish something other than completing that crazy rehab by the time I was 20! I said I wanted to go to school and even go to A.A. They were sort of relieved and said they were thinking about pulling me anyway, but they weren't sure how I would feel. At this point, a couple from the program walked in. This blew any trust I had just gained in my parents and I grabbed my bag and ran for the door. My mother yelled after me explaining that it was just a coincidence and they knew nothing about the other family being there. The other parents did try to talk me into coming back to the program, and they tried to have me talk to their daughter who was on staff at the time. They called the program and staff there said that if I wanted to talk to someone , I had to come in. And that wasn' t about to happen.

My parents and I worked out some house rules and they called the program and said that we would not be returning. They gave my parents some speech about how I'm going to die and they'II be sorry. While they were on the phone, a car full of parents were on their way to our house to try andget me back. I saw them coming and ran upstairs to my room to hide.

Three of the parents stayed downstairs and talked to my parents and one father came up to my room. He wasn't angry, arrogant, rude, or anything. He just wanted to see that I was ok. I' ll never forget it, he sat on the bed with me and just talked and asked me what I wanted to do with my life and how I thought I was going to get it done and if I planned on going to A .A . He was so caring and loving. When the other parents downstairs called him to say they were leaving, he stood up, gave me a warm tight hug, and said, "Good luck. You can do this." Then, he left and I've never seen him again. He was right .

Since then, I've gotten my GED, my drivers license, I've gotten married to the most wonderful man in the world, I have 4 georgous children, I graduated cosmetology school, I support myself, and I just live life to the fullest.

I still have nightmares about this place and sometimes, my husband wakes me up screaming and crying. Sometimes I even get scared that Newton was right because I haven't stayed "sober " (in his eyes) and maybe I should have finished this place and maybe I am just going to be a screw up for the rest of my life. It's been 11 years as of August 3rd since I left Kids and I think it's crazy that I still think this way and wonder if I don't need serious psychiatric help, especially when I hear of other friends signing themselves into other institutions to deal with post traumatic stress syndrome years after they have left. This is a scary, scary place and thing to go through. I still have friends that are in there! Some have been there for over 15 years! That's not normal but the scary thing is, is that they don't know anything else . They wouldn't know what to do in society today. To this day, I get scared when I hear his name or especially his voice. I heard an ad on the radio for Kids one time and I turned white as a ghost and started crying hysterically. My friend that was with me didn't know what to do. A few years ago, I saw him on a late night news broadcast about teens and drugs, I was up late waiting for my husband to get home from work, and I heard an announcer say something like, "Miller Newton with his views on teens using drugs. , , " and I froze. He spoke about how kids need a more structured lifestyle to stay off drugs and things like that and I just sat there and cried listening to him and seeing him on TV. I called the TV station that minute and they said they turn the station over, to a cable news channel during overnight hours. I caled that station the next day to tell them they need to check further into their resources before they use someone as a reference. They just agreed with me and thanked me to get me off the phone. When I hear that he is stil operating and ruining peoples' lives, I get rageful.

I can't believe nothing has been done to stop this man. Please help the others who are in there and even those of us who are out here and who really can't feel resolved with this whole thing that happened to us until he is stopped.