Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS)
Press Briefing in DC
Anonymous:
I just got back from Washington! The press conference went absolutely fantastic! You guys have got to see all of the co-sponsors of "A START", it is literally almost all of the Doctors in America LOL! Obviously that is an exageration, but honestly groups such as the National Mental Health Association, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Child Welfare League of America, Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health, American Orthopsychiatric Association, American Association of Community Psychiatrists, and the American Psychological Association all co-sponsor this cause!!!! It is truly amazing how this is coming together... MUCH MUCH thanks is due to the acclaimed Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and the Dept. of Child and Family Studies at University of South Florida... They made this happen and will make much more follow...
I'm extremely exhausted right now, but I posted a little bit and some links on tbfight.com... I will write a full piece on it soon...
Once again this was awesome! And the response from Ken Kay was priceless!!! (He's calling all of these people wackos and clowns!! LOL)
[Admin edit: Link to tbfight.com is http://tbfight.com/ ]
CCM girl 1989:
I have not posted anything lately, but I have been checking, and rechecking to see how this went!!!! I am sooooooo thrilled. I have emailed atleast 5 different media organizations today in regard to the movie Self-Medicated, and the young man Monty Lapica who directed and wrote the movie. I'm hoping that he'll be able to shed some light on all this. The movie has it's premiere at the Hollywood Film Festival this Friday 10/21 at 4:00pm. It's been getting great reviews. I've exchanged some emails with Monty, and he seems like a great guy! Smart as hell too! I totally respect him, and what he's doing. Sometimes, it takes a movie like this to get the attention of the public, and the horrors that go on behind close doors of these WWASPS schools and others like them. I'll check out the sites you posted.
:wave:
Teen Advocates USA:
See http://www.teenadvocatesusa.blogspot.com
I have posted a copy of the offical press release from Bazelon about the conference. Not sure if any parents of children who very tragically, were KILLED while participating in a wilderness therapy program (or any other kind of teen help program) were in attendance but if so, I will try to post their remarks on the blog. Unfortunately, I believe there were many people from all over the country who wanted to attend the briefing but were not notified in time to make the necessary arrangements (e.g. some got 1-2 days notice). However, the list of Gulag survivors, their parents/friends, children's rights advocates, private investigators, etc. who are planning to testify before Congress and/or attend the hearings is extensive and growing larger every day!
Barbe
TAUSA
"Adolescence is NOT a conduct disorder, it is a rite of passage".
Anonymous:
This a great step towards ACCOUNTABILITY among these facilities. No more under the radar operations for such programs. It seems like Ken Kay?s concerns about this are that there are now going to be actually rules and regulations to follow (something WWASP has never liked, which is why they have overseas programs).
Thank you to all who made this happen,
Former WWASP Student.
BuzzKill:
Congress urged to help regulate boarding schools
Critic: The president of an association linked to three Utah facilities says hasty regulation would stop 'all the progress'
By Robert Gehrke
The Salt Lake Tribune
WASHINGTON - A group of mental health professionals and a former parent and student at a residential treatment facility urged Congress to pass legislation to help regulate the schools they said are abusive, harmful to the teens, and deceptively marketed to parents.
Robert Friedman, chairman of the Department of Child and Family Studies at the University of South Florida, said he has been alarmed by stories of children being mistreated at unlicensed and unaccredited facilities, and said there are no data to show the programs work.
?Some of these programs are exploiting the desperation of parents and mistreating the youth that they serve,? Friedman said. ?We don't have a shred of legitimate data on the overall long-term and short-term effects on the youth they serve.?
But Ken Kay, president of the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs, which is affiliated with a network of boarding schools, including three in Utah, said claims like Freidman's ignore the benefits of programs like his.
?These people who want to stop all the progress because they have all the answers are wackos. They are just out of control,? Kay said.
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., has introduced legislation seeking to offer states incentives to regulate the boarding schools within their borders, but his bill has not yet had a hearing. Miller also plans to ask the Government Accountability Office to review the practices of the teen boarding schools.
Currently, a dozen states regulate their schools, said Cheryl Johnson, a staffer to Miller. In its most recent legislative session, Utah passed a bill to impose new licensing standards, although those still are being formulated.
Kathryn Whitehead said she was sent to a Montana program at age 13 after she skipped school, tried to run away and attempted suicide. She said students were forced to work and exercise for long hours, tormented by staff, and received inadequate care and little education.
Cristine Gomez sent her son to a residential facility in Montana for 16 months. She said he was isolated and given inadequate medical treatment before being sent to a companion school in Jamaica, where he complained about poor sanitation and abuse by staff. He returned home thin, traumatized and behind in school.
?In my opinion, these programs use cruel and inhuman treatment to modify behavior,? she said.
Nobody wants children abused, but opponents of the schools have not carefully thought out the impact of mandatory licensing and regulation of the facilities, Kay said.
?Where are they going to get this money and what is their plan?? asked Kay. ?What these clowns want to do is shut all these down as an option and in the meantime we don't have the proper options for everybody and they're not willing to listen.?
Kay's own chain has had problems. A school in Mexico was shut down by authorities there last year and is unlikely to reopen. Another, Ivy Ridge in New York, had to return more than $1 million to parents in August after the New York attorney general found it was distorting its academic credentials. Last year, there were allegations of abuse by staff at Majestic Ranch in Utah and one staffer pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version