It's like playing the game, "Connect the Dots."
I just read two BLOGS on the CAICA website that were designed to discredit 'ONE' Mother's claim that her child was abused at Whitmore Academy. I found these BLOGS to be childish and unprofessional.
I would say to this Mother, "People have a way of hanging themselves." In time all this will come around full circle to bite these so-called "Child Advocates" in the butt.
It would be nice if we could push a rewind button and go back to 1989 when a Mother named, Deborah McMahon, after discovering that her son, Jon, suffered abuse while in the now de-funct Challenger program. Her words to Utah Department of Health and Human Services, Ken Stettler, were, "Someone is going to die!!" Myself, along with other Mother's to follow, tried to warn the same department, and people. Our pleas have fell upon deaf ears.
Can we blame Gayle (Palmer) DeGraff for the paperwork that must have been filed, and approved, which gave her a provisional license to kill? Can we blame Gayle (Palmer) DeGraff for allowing one of her counselors to slip through the cracks and receive employment? This person filled in the blank for position desired with "slave." We later learned this man was an ex-felon. We CAN blame Gayle for lying to Michelle and her family. We CAN blame Utah Department of Health and Human Services for allowing Gayle to take children out in the desert, with inexperienced, illequipped, unprepared people.
I am 'ONE' of four Mother's, (there could be more) who received a letter from former Governor Rose Mofford, expressing her empathy for us in our time of grief. I later learned that former Governor Rose Mofford sat on the Board of Directors for Arizona Boys Ranch.
I believe in my heart that if anything is going to be done to put a stop to the neglect, abuse, molestation and manslaughter of our children, we need to follow the money trail. Fact is, the children who have suffered in this industry, don't have lobbiest.
I feel that we need to focus on who, and what, CAN make a difference. I know for a fact that if the kids who have suffered as a result of this industry joined together and filed a 'Class Action Suit' filled with their personal claims, positive change would come about.
There will always be controversy when it comes to these programs. Even amongst the Child Advocates. I feel that a TRUE Child Advocate isn't interested in tooting his or her own horn, as I found in the recent BLOGS I just read. I feel that a TRUE Child Advocate shouldn't involve his or herself in the battles between Parent Consumers who claim their child suffered abuse, and the Program Owner, OR, Referral Service, suffering the claims against them.
I believe that NO ONE, and NO PROGRAM, within this industry deserves this kind of loyalty!! Let's not forget that we are up against an Unregulated, Out-Of-Control, Lucrative Industry, that has claimed the lives of many children through their open window of loss, while other children were left with scars that include traumatic stress disorder.
Sincerely,
Michelle Sutton Memorial Fund, Inc.
Catherine Sutton