Government prosecution/ regulation

[djroycetec]

Hello all,

I recently happened upon this forum thanks to psy's posts on biglawboard.com
I have been reading the board for the past few days and horrified by what I have read. I can hardly imagine that this goes on in America. Having been a troubled teen myself, on occasion acting out to the point where you all were sent to these schools, I am amazed by just how different my life could have been had my parents made the same decision. I was lucky that they stuck by me and suffered until I was old enough to grow out of it. Having graduated from a top college, and now attending a top law school with a full scholarship, I can attest to the fact that being a troubled teen does not preclude one from success.

More to the point, since I am currently in law school now, and am interested in working for the government this summer, I was hoping some of you could give me insight into which departments might be in charge of regulating and/ or prosecuting these schools.  Does the FTC or the DOJ have any authority over these schools? After reading these boards I would love to spend the summer investigating and prosecuting these criminals. Please advise. Cheers

Also, I dunno if any of you have seen this, but it appears that there may be some regulatory progress....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXvuUE34DPw

[Ursus]

That YouTube clip looks like pre-election flag-waving. Note who put it up: the Republicans (who are generally anti-regulation re. issues like this). Note the date when it was put up: Oct. 23rd, just 12 days before the election. Given that less than one and a half dozen people had viewed it by the time I looked at it this morning, you can see what a deal-maker that was. Btw, that clip was from the GAO Hearings which took place in late April of this year (almost 7 months ago).

Re. the clip: after spending two and a half minutes rehashing everything that has gone on prior, Congressman McKeon states that it still needs to be determined whether these cases (being discussed by the GAO) represent "a few isolated incidents or whether they are part of a larger problem" (=paraphrase in case I didn't catch it all, but I think that is probably exact). Lol. The guy's a Mormon, did his mission, went to BYU, do ya think he doesn't keep up on Utah politics and goings-on? Utah, which has more programs than any other State by logarithmic standards. How many deaths have there been in Utah thus far?

Finally, with less than a minute to go, the REAL reason for his speech is made apparent: he requests that two pieces of testimony be included in the record, namely testimony from two young woman who had experienced "positive life-changing experiences at residential treatment centers."

One has to wonder whether these were family members or friends of the family?

From October 10, 2007 (last year):

The hearings have started, watch the hearings
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=23537&p=287621#p287621[/list]

One panel guy mentioned he had a few family members who went to these places and seemed pleased with their outcome. So it looks like they recognize the abuse doesnt apply to all places.

That would be Bucky McKeon. If someone has time, they might run him down and see if he has connects to the industry other than a 'couple of friends who sent their kids to programs'.
http://mckeon.house.gov/

You can't "recognize the abuse doesn't apply to all places". An impossiblity as has been shown in this hearing. Get Bucky to cough up the names of the programs and I'll see what I can find on them.

And from about a week later, October 18, 2007 (different thread):

Getting Tough on Private Prisons for Teens - Maia on regs
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=23652&p=289035#p289035[/list]

They all want self-regulation and they're using NATSAP as a vehicle to accomplish that.

No one on the committee, with the exception of McKeon, appeared the least bit impressed with NATSAP. Most expressed serious concerns and obvious disdain.

As a result of that hearing NATSAP is getting negative press. Miller's comment, "What the hell do you do?" is quoted all over the internet.

[Ursus]

Here, McKeon seems to be expressing disbelief that "a death" actually occurred at a program (given that the police didn't make any arrests):

Murder is OK now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X5gjsuTD1E[/list]

[Anonymous]

Hello all,

I recently happened upon this forum thanks to psy's posts on biglawboard.com
I have been reading the board for the past few days and horrified by what I have read. I can hardly imagine that this goes on in America. Having been a troubled teen myself, on occasion acting out to the point where you all were sent to these schools, I am amazed by just how different my life could have been had my parents made the same decision. I was lucky that they stuck by me and suffered until I was old enough to grow out of it. Having graduated from a top college, and now attending a top law school with a full scholarship, I can attest to the fact that being a troubled teen does not preclude one from success.

More to the point, since I am currently in law school now, and am interested in working for the government this summer, I was hoping some of you could give me insight into which departments might be in charge of regulating and/ or prosecuting these schools.  Does the FTC or the DOJ have any authority over these schools? After reading these boards I would love to spend the summer investigating and prosecuting these criminals. Please advise. Cheers

Also, I dunno if any of you have seen this, but it appears that there may be some regulatory progress....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXvuUE34DPw

Something important to remember is: parents who have their kids abducted are not just parents dealing with a troubled teen, they are abusive, mentally ill, negligent people, mostly. Their own deficiencies are why they imprison/abandon/abuse their kids, not their kids.

I really don't know who would prosecute these schools. Normally, when a crime is committed you report the crime and police act on it. This is not the case if you are an adolescent / reporting crimes against an adolescent perpetrated by an institution for “troubled teens” or their parents.

My friend ran away, reported abuse in CA. She was simply dragged back to her program by the district. She also reported abuse in Ct. Nothing was done. Would you like me to give you our story directly, and could you do something about what was done to her?

[Ursus]

Hello all,

I recently happened upon this forum thanks to psy's posts on biglawboard.com...

Btw, WELCOME djroycetec (forgot to mention that before I lit into a McKeon rant)!

As to summer legal jobs of interest to you, that would be partly dictated by location and salary requirements. If neither of those are an issue for you, you might want to pursue going directly to the source of that which most appeals to you. If nothing else, they might be able to point you towards a more specific and feasible job, e.g., an internship at a particular legal clinic. Many, if not most, law schools also have one or more of these clinics associated with them. Some are more specialized as to area of concern than others.

Many governmental departments also routinely offer summer legal internships, especially when the said office is located in the vicinity of a law school. Sometimes the employer is more versed as to what those internships actually are, sometimes the law school is. It's probably best to poke your head in as many doors as you can; persistence pays off!

Good luck!!

[Anonymous]

The programs that break the law set up shop in locales where their teen industry is completely 100% unregulated. They murder kids, rape them, torture them, brainwash them, abuse them in every possible way imaginable mentally and physically and nothing is done. Some parents ignore their responsibility of due diligence and just don't know, a lot of parents just don't care, and some parents want their kid punished in ways which would be illegal to practice at home. One lawyer working in the government somewhere is not going to do anything to effect this problem, that's the sad hard truth. If kids being squished and suffocated to death by a staff for no reason at all don't bring change to this industry, what will? It's legal to hike a young kid to death in the 105F Arizona heat and call it therapy. The world is black, and most see it as white, truly a twilight zone situation going on with this particular industry.

It's great that new people want to get involved and bring change, but there have been lawyers and advocates working on this for a long time, and I'm sad to report that the deaths, abuse, torture, brainwashing, broken families, lies, ultimatums, mutilated psyches continue to be churned out with profitable regularity. The problem isn't so much there isn't enough regulation, because deaths occur just as often in regulated than non regulated programs. Seldom are the murderers and torturers held to account for their actions. In only the most publicized cases does this happen, and only then when another issue is involved such as race (when they kill a black kid). Some middle class white kid being restrained to death in the desert doesn't garner attention for some reason, go figure. Torturing and brainwashing an upper class white kid in a private prison until they see no choice but to end it all, nobody (with the power to change things) cares.

I applaud the efforts of all who work to bring an end to this industry, but at this moment I am not overly optimistic of this industry declaring defeat, closing shop and going home. They birthed a devil goose that continues to lay golden eggs, and let us not forget these people are little more qualified to be pizza delivery drivers. Seriously though, no offense to pizza delivery drivers. They do the world a needed and welcome service. Who doesn't like pizza brought to their door piping hot? I sure do. God bless the fucking pizza delivery drivers, for they do no harm, in fact they do the world much good. These quacks who refer to behavior modification, and wilderness therapy, and finding an inner child - they do the world great harm, in ways they cannot possibly comprehend. Those who do comprehend it... well... not much can be said about that.

[psy]

Would you like me to give you our story directly, and could you do something about what was done to her?

Well.  I'd like to hear it, for one.  As for anything that can be done about it, I can't promise that, but at the same time, you never know...

[Anonymous]

Work for a state CPS (child protective service). you can also work for a school board, or any agency which regulates schools within your state.

you can try the FBI (many schools, such as those belonging to WWASPS, are international organizations run by career conmen. Same applies for the IRS, as many schools (Hidden lake academy, cough cough) embezzle money. (at HLA they asked for charitable donations to build a chapel, the chapel was never built (nearly a decade after the fund was initiated) and the money disappeared (there was an "accidental" fire which supposedly eliminated all their records - including student records (there is no record of me graduating from there)).

The GAO is a good start too.

[hurrikayne]

ghosts, e-mail me at [email protected].  I have posted several survivors stories in an effort to promote awareness.  I'd be happy to discuss posting yours.

[djroycetec]

Thank you all for the kind responses. As for the Youtube clip: I just thought I'd bring it to your attention, in case it hasn't already been disseminated, oh well. I actually live in Washington, DC, and have access to a great many government organizations. Since I was going to be applying to many of them anyway, I thought it would be wise to apply to some of their divisions which deal with matters of interest to me. Since finding this board, I have been fascinated with the legal issues surrounding this matter, and was hoping to focus my efforts this summer on an area in which I can do some good. I understand that this had been a problem for a great long while, and that many dedicated advocates have worked to help bring an end to these schools, but I'm positive one more voice wont wreck the choir. I shall seek out more information about the agencies that are working toward resolving this issue, and would be grateful for any assistance this board could provide. I will keep you updated as to my progress.

For those of you who have been victimized by these schools, I'm sorry. Hopefully sometime soon your suffering will abate, and your efforts will prevent future generations from suffering the same fate. If anything, take solace in the fact that we are all here temporarily, and now that your lives and futures are your own, you can make whatever you wish out of the rest of your stays here. I, for one, hope to always look forward, treading a new path - disconnected from the old. Every morning I wake up I am a new person, with the amazing ability to redefine myself, my life, and my purpose.

[AuntieEm2]

djroycetec, there is an organization in DC called the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, http://http://www.bazelon.org/. They have been working on this issue in partnership with the University of South Florida as part of an organization called A START, http://http://astart.fmhi.usf.edu/ (though A START no longer has funding).

Opinions here vary about the effectiveness of these organizations, but I believe they share a common desire to protect teens and so you might want to talk to them about their work and about opportunities for employment and research.

Auntie Em