Here is an article that predates the Broward article by 13 days, and I think is a little more telling of the "issues", and was written by two of my childhood heroes to boot!
(empasis and bold mine}
U.S. Zeroes in on Seed Money, Methods
St Petersburg Times
city and state section,
Sunday, December 2, 1973
By Eleanor Randolph and Margaret Leonard
Committees of both houses of the U.S. Congress have begun investigations of the financing and methods of the Seed, Inc., a controversial Florida program that uses intensive peer pressure to change attitudes and habits of adolescents.
U.S. Sen Sam Ervin, D-N-C, has prompted one of the inquires to determine whether the consitutional rights of juveniles are being violated by the program.
Staff members of the Senate subcommittee on Constitutional Rights said the inquiries were started at the request of Ervin, who has been know for years as one of the senate experts on the U.S. Constitution.
At the same time, another investigation to find out whether the national institute of mental health (NIMH) has granted the Seed $1.4 million in federal funds without adequately evaluating the quality of the program.
Staff members of both committees said the investiagations were started independent of each other more than a month ago. The congressional inquiries about the program, however, have come just as NIMH is reviewing as much as $900,000 in additional requests from Seed programs in three Florida cities. And one staff member said privately that there is a possibly that the committe requests could delay the NIMH decisions on the Seed.
Ervin's Press secretary, Hall Smith, would not allow reporters from the times to talk to the senator. But Smith did confirm that Ervin's interest in rights for juveniles and his fear of behavior modification (changing a person's behavior by using punishment and rewards) sparked the staff investigation. One of the staff lawyer's for Ervin's subcommittee on Constitutional rights , Ms. Dorothy Glancy, said the committee has learned so far that NIMH did not ask for legal "assurance" from Seed president Art Barker that rights "seedlings" as participants are called, are not being violated."
Ervin's subcommittee is trying to determine whether youngsters are being placed in the Seed without their permission or without access to a lawyer if they want one, Ms Glancy said, a second question is whether programs such as the Seed are violating a peron's rights by changing his behavior without his permission.
Behavior Modification can involve the possibility of violating the privacy of an individual whose behavior is being modified , she said.
Art Barker, who says 5000 Seedlings so far have participated in the Florida program, established his program three years ago to treat drug abusers or potential drug abusers.
The program has been criticized, especially by the Health Planning council in Dade County, for its secrecy, its methods of changing behavior of youngsters and its use of pressure through influential parents of Seedlings.
Barker, who could not be reached for comment after repeated tries five days last week, boosts a 90 per cent cure rate for Seedlings who go to group sessions that involve tearing down a youngsters "bad" or "druggie personality and replacing it with such things as obedience to parents and teachers.
So far, about 800 to 1000 Seedlings have participated in the Seed program in Pinellas County. (my note....this after 5 months, most were still on the program)
The program, inspires strong feelings-parents who believe Barker has saved their youngsters from drug addiction and others who believe that he is turning youngsters into robots.
The House committee doing its preliminary study-the committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce-also oversees federal health programs including the NIMH.
Staff members for the committee said privately that the Seed program is being used as an example to determine whether NIMH is financing drug programs without evaluating the "quality of care" for those treated.
But rep Paul Rogers, D-FLA, a member of the House Commerce Committee, said the investiagtion eventually probably will cover a number of drug programs "to see which approaches are effectivce and which are not".
Rogers, who helped The Seed obtain its initial NIMH financing in Fort Lauderale, said the committee will lookinto the fiscal accountability of programs receiving public money as well as the effectiveness of the programs.
"Funds ought to be accounted for all the time", he said. "they should be constantly subjected to accountability and we are interested in the results".
Rogers is chairman of the subcommittee on Public Health and Environment, which oversees federal health programs.
The committee staff, according to one staff member, also plans to do its own evaluation of the Seed for comparison with the NIMH evaluation.
The Times has tried unsuccessfully during the past two months to obtain copies of any evaluation of The Seed by NIMH, which is a federal institute under the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
A staff member of the House committee said it also is studying whether Barker of the Seed needs ethe federal funds or can operate on private sources.
"we'd like to know whether NIMH has made any attempt to find out whether its true (that barker has enough money without federal help), a committee staff member said. "and if it is, why they gave him the money".
Staff members from both committees said their inquiries are only in the early stages at this point and they are unable to estimate when ther ecould be some committee action on the Seed.
