Any info on Boulder Creek Academy in Bonners Ferry, Idaho?

[AuntieEm]

I have a niece in Boulder Creek Academy, Bonners Ferry, Idaho. They are affiliated with at least two other facilities in the area: Ascent and Northwest Academy. Also seems to be some connection to Rocky Mountain Academy.  Her parents believe all the marketing.

* Does anyone have experience with BCA they are willing to share? Or relevant info from Ascent or Northwest Academy? Is BCA the same as Rocky Mountain Academy?

* I am particularly interested in what happens after she turns 18. Have you seen them keep adult teens in the program? How? What specific tactics are used to keep 18-year olds in BCA or similar programs?

* Can we expect any support from local law enforcement (Boundary County Sheriff, for example) if we go there when she turns 18?

I appreciate all the information here. My heart goes out to those who went through these programs and felt abandoned and invisible.

[Covergaard]

When the program was closed in 2005 it had some element from the infamous Synanon Cult in it. The founder was working with the cult before he started the chain of facilities Boulder Creek is a part of.

The present owner - Universal Health Services - is a huge chain owning many facilities. Here is a list.

Where the former owner was in the business for the cause the present owner are in it for the money - nothing else.

I am working with the both the history of these lock-ups and their present structure. Here is the page about Boulder Creek. They are keeping their cards close, so it is not very much - yet. But as you can see, I have the exact position on a satellite photo.

http://www.fornits.com/wiki/index.php/B ... ek_Academy

The position could help you a little legally, but it is difficult. You can not drive down to the facility and find her and they are not some fundamentalist fools, who drags their detainees of the nearest church like they do other places, so you can not pull a "Kaye" (The story is printed at a compeditor) on them and that is a shame.

Here is their weekly schedule and there is nothing mentioned about forced church.
http://www.bouldercreekacademy.net/camp ... hedule.pdf


What she needs is to sign a Emancipation Request if that is possible in Idaho so she can go to juvenile court. See a laywer and if the state laws allow it, sneak near the facility and get those papers signed.

[AuntieEm]

Thanks for your reply. They may still be using the Synanon model. Former director under CEDU, Paul Johnson, is still the current director, and many staff members were rehired by Universal Health Services.

Are they in it for the money? No doubt. Tuition is $6900/month, and they get all that unpaid student labor, as well.

What she needs is to sign a Emancipation Request if that is possible in Idaho so she can go to juvenile court. See a laywer and if the state laws allow it, sneak near the facility and get those papers signed.

Yes, emancipation documents would at least get a court hearing, but you say "sneak near the facility" -- you think we could get anywhere near her on "campus"? She will be 18 before the end of the year--but I don't think they'll let us see her even then. We're working on finding an attorney in Idaho.

Thanks again. I'll watch your site.

[try another castle]

Is BCA the same as Rocky Mountain Academy?

Rocky Mountain Academy was the first CEDU Idaho campus. It occupied the same space that BCA and NWA do now.

I cold called NWA several months ago, linked here:

http://wwf.fornits.com/viewtopic.php?t=21142

Probably most of this information won't be of much help to you, since I talk lingo, such as "raps are now called groups" and "they still have propheets". But all in all, with the exception of the introduction of 12 step, it sounds pretty much the same.

If you really want to know about CEDU culture, I recommend that you read my Post about CEDU lingo

It speaks volumes about what the place is like. (I should probably see about making that a sticky.)

I attended Rocky Mountain Academy, which was, of a sort, a predecessor to the other two schools. RMA did still exist simultaneously when CEDU and Brown owned them, but it moved to Naples when NWA took over the main lodge on the cow creek campus, I believe.

RMA no longer exists. NWA, BCA and Ascent are the three schools that remain of the CEDU legacy.

As to her recourse when she turns 18, well... by then she might be so brainwashed that she wants to stay. I know I did. Back when I was there, to my knowledge, if someone was 18, they could walk out, but RMA sure as fuck wouldn't help them with that. They had to get the hell out of there on their own two feet and walk the several miles to Bonners Ferry to call someone.

I'm not sure about the sheriff's department. I know that they always returned runaways if they caught them, but not sure what they would do if someone was 18. I don't think they could do anything.

Someone recounted a story of the local sheriff finally getting up the curiosity to ask to sit in on a rap to find out what the hell the school was all about. After he did, he said he would never send any kid back to that place. I have no idea if that story is true or not. I can't even remember who on this board mentioned it, and the search function doesn't seem to be working too much any more.

Good luck, Em. I hope you can get her out of there. It's a shame when parents buy the propaganda. The scary thing is, most of the times, the kids help to spread it because they are under the influence of the program, or they are being intimidated and threatened to put up a good front.

In addition, her mail and phone calls are most likely being monitored and censored, so she probably wouldn't even be able to tell anyone on the outside anything negative about the place, and if she does, the faculty will tell her parents that she is being lying and manipulative.

[mad]

Consult with a family lawyer in the state in which your niece's parents reside.  If they were to seek extended protective custody -- usually until age 21 unless your niece has a substantial psychiatric history, including many inpatient hospitalizations -- they would file in their home state.  If they do not seek, or are not granted protective custody (usually termed by the section in the state's legal code e.g., Section 7 & , your niece will be free to walk off the campus on the day she turns 18. They will not hold her against her will after she turns 18 unless the school has legal protection against liability.

Best, M

[Anonymous]

I have a niece in Boulder Creek Academy, Bonners Ferry, Idaho. They are affiliated with at least two other facilities in the area: Ascent and Northwest Academy. Also seems to be some connection to Rocky Mountain Academy.  Her parents believe all the marketing.

* Does anyone have experience with BCA they are willing to share? Or relevant info from Ascent or Northwest Academy? Is BCA the same as Rocky Mountain Academy?

* I am particularly interested in what happens after she turns 18. Have you seen them keep adult teens in the program? How? What specific tactics are used to keep 18-year olds in BCA or similar programs?

* Can we expect any support from local law enforcement (Boundary County Sheriff, for example) if we go there when she turns 18?

I appreciate all the information here. My heart goes out to those who went through these programs and felt abandoned and invisible.

I left BCA 5 years ago, before the change in ownership to UHS, but I can tell you a little about the issue of extended custody as it pertains to BCA students. I remember a few of my friends turning 18 there, and this is the story I got from them...

- BCA's staff will do everything they can to pressure the parents to pursue extended custody in court. For some of them, their jobs depend on it.

- The legal system in Idaho is very fond of ruling in favor of the parents in extended custody cases. When I was there, the judge that EC cases in that county would go before was well known for his support of the program and would grant extended custody almost 100% of the time.

- Of my friends that battled EC in court, only 1 of 11 won, and that was because one of his parents had a legal record.

[Anonymous]

I went to tour Boulder Creek Academy a few months ago. Their campus is fairly open and you can drive up with no problems.  I was touring it to see about placing my son and they took me through the whole facility and among the students. If you were to take a tour, you would almost certainly encounter your relative.

[If u want to know..then a]

what MADE them want to send  your niece there?  I mean was she out of control, did they not know how to handle her adolescence?  I'm not asking these questions to be condescening in the least.  I went to BCA from 96-99.  The things that I was doing, was normal to me, not my mother.  I was involved in a gang, I drank, I skipped school, I fought, I got kicked out of every school in the district within a 3 month timeline.  But it was MY counselor who found BCA and helped her to believe that it was the thing to do.  I DID thank her however, for NOT sending me to Provo Canyon School even after we watched the "video" on it.  

So what IS it?  I mean, there are things that are normal for teenagers to grow through.  It is part of life, growing AND education.  But to just give up and throw them to these schools is what is going to make them worse coming out.  I never snorted more coke in my life than I did when I came out.  Simply for the fact that I couldn't keep friends in the real world seeing as how I was TAUGHT and TRAINED to speak "deeply, and with emotion" with people.  I'm not blaming the school on my going back to drugs and having a heavier problem then when I got sent there, but I DO blame them for making me feel abnormal, weird, sick, demented, and giving me NO transition back into the real world where people simply don't give a damn about your 'feelings' even if they just shot you.

I have a four year old son, who is already growing over 4 feet tall, with size 12 kids shoes and has biceps, triceps, pecs and wing muscles, DEFINED!  I EXPECT him to cause problems, to get in trouble and maybe even occasionaly fight.  I WILL NOT condone him acting out, but we ALL did it as teenagers.  It will continue to the end of time.  The only thing we have ANY control over is HOW they approach situations, view them and either walk away or at least know and CARE ABOUT the consequences from their desicions, good or bad.

I would like to apologize for my tangent ONLY IF someone took offense to this.  But I DO NOT apologize for my opinion.  We, as parents, coming from an alumni of BCA, CEDU, LIFE, need to be MORE involved with our children and not pawn them off on someone else who will 'fix' the children who are not broken to begin with.

[AuntieEm]

If you really want to know about CEDU culture, I recommend that you read my Post about CEDU lingo

This was very helpful, "try another castle," thank you, as were the rest of your comments.

Thanks also to "mad," "d7" and "guest" for detailed advice.

Re extended custody, looks like I need to find out where this issue would be decided--in her home state or in Idaho.

AuntieEm

[AuntieEm]

To "If u want to know...":

what MADE them want to send your niece there? I mean was she out of control, did they not know how to handle her adolescence?

I've gotten nervous about BCA people reading this, so I will have to go easy on the details.

Yes, I think they did not know how to handle her adolescence. She was not having problems (that I knew of) with drugs, gangs, trouble with the law. She was having emotional problems that I would classify as normal for a young person who had had traumatic events in her life. When I was around her, she seemed a very normal teenager. We assumed she was a good kid, treated her that way, and we saw no behavior problems. Ever. Parents reported a lot of problems at home and school with grades and emotional outbursts. (And so why is that? What is troubling her?) Parents had their own significant problems and I think they were just in over their heads. An educational consultant (grrrrrrrr) recommended a RTC, maybe BCA specifically, not sure.

Of course they told no one, no one, that they were going to do this. I think several family members would gladly have welcomed her into their homes. Parents never asked, never mentioned anything about this decision before it was a fait accompli, over, history, a done deal. No communication or home visits allowed since, for a very, very long time.

When she comes home, I want her to have a good and happy life--free, unfettered. My god, we all want this.  I fear that she will have difficulty with the transition, as you describe about your own experience. I want her to have the liberties she's been robbed of. I also want her to be safe, and know I will worry about that--don't know what to expect. I made mistakes in my youth--still do!--and there were consequences, but nobody sent me away. I can only imagine how abandoned she must feel.

Children live in occupied territory. -- P.D. James

AuntieEm

[If u want to know..then a]

Don't get nervous about BCA people reading this.  YOU'RE not the one who sent her away rather, the ONLY one doing the research that says to me "I love my niece".  I honestly believe her parents gave up.  Which is what will hurt later.  My mom told she was saving my life and in MY situation she probably was.  I don't think I would have made it to 15 had I not taken a 'vacation' from the streets.  However, the longer I was there, the more I saw kids come in who 'couldn't make friends easily' or who were 'emotional teenagers'.  OF COURSE they are emotional.  HELLO, HORMONES!   :lol:  

I comend you for speaking up on THIS forum though.  No matter what the opinion is that is being verbalized, it is REAL to that person, their experience and feelings.  So read what people write, take this back to your nieces parents, educate the FUCKIN therapist who apparently doesn't know their job very well!  One person may not change the world, but they may change another person who might!

[AuntieEm]

How long were people kept from communicating with family other than parents? How long without home visits?

AuntieEm

[If u want to know..then a]

Well lets see, it was 3 weeks before I could speak with my mom.  2 months before they let her come visit me, two years until I got to go home

[try another castle]

How long were people kept from communicating with family other than parents? How long without home visits?

AuntieEm

The way it worked when I was at RMA, you couldn't communicate with other family members until you went through the brother's keeper propheet. But my memory may be wrong about that.

The brothers keeper is still one of the propheets they have there, but I don't know when it is, because their curriculum is accelerated to about 17 months, isn't it? We had ours at around our third month in the quest family, so that would be nine months into the program.

In addition, this doesn't mean that the kid could just call any family member they wanted to. That family member had to be approved by staff first.

[Anonymous]

it's important to remember that it is forbidden to speak to any family members (including and especially parents) after any of the profeets. This is done very purposefully and the reasons are manyfold.

I also wanted to mention that siblings of the same age rarely were given communication rights. Most of the time letter writing agreements  could be extended to  grandparents and that was about it for the first year. After the first home visit or two I could contact most of my adult family but I'd have to wait until I could writie the selected friends before I could contact cousins.