Liars Born or Made?

[ajax13]

Dr. Ronald Dougan, a Registered Psychologist in the Province of Alberta, visited KIDS of Bergen County in 1989, on behalf of the Calgary Downtown Rotary Club. He was a member of the committee which hired Dean Vause, and served as a consultant on Dean's doctoral committee. He says of the AARC program:

“We very conscientiously and intentionally designed a program that was very different from the KIDS Inc. model.”

Over twenty years ago, the need for treatment services in Alberta for severely addicted teens was great but little was available to address the life-threatening nature of the disease. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s several Alberta adolescents were sent to Kids Inc. At that time Dr. Dick Thompson was a senior administrator with Alberta Child Welfare. He co-ordinated funding for the Alberta families attending Kids Inc., but as he gained more experience with the program he became very concerned. He closely watched the development of AARC and became a strong supporter of the process, and states it is much different than Kids was:

“We discovered that New Jersey was very rigid and restrictive in restraining the adolescents . . . They weren’t honest in dealing with the families and with us"."
http://www.aarc.ab.ca/qa.php#q7

[TheWho]

AARC is clinically honest and appropriate for the severe illness it is addressing . . . Dr. Vause left that program (Kids Inc.) because the Kids approach was inappropriate and I believe he has been driven by that experience to ensure that the AARC program in no way reflects the negative and dishonest culture that was prevalent with Kids. Kids Inc. was not transparent. We had great difficulty with accessing treatment plans, progress reports . . . AARC has been extremely transparent – very willing to work with community resources and programs. AARC makes a significant effort to be a part of the community and integrates the expertise of other community- based professionals into their team.”

“AARC is a treatment facility and organization which adheres to a governing board of directors and the legal community at large. Kids Inc. was not a treatment centre of any kind as it failed to include the community at large and excluded rather than included its clients into becoming fully responsible healthy youth and adults who could contribute to society at large.”

http://www.aarc.ab.ca/qa.php#q7

[ajax13]

"MS M. LAING: Mr. Speaker, my questions are to the chairman
of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission. Earlier
this session the chairman of AADAC assured the House that
checks and balances were in place for the controversial Kids of the Canadian West drug addiction program, which is scheduled to open this fall in Calgary, but now we find out that this is not the case. Government officials from several departments,
including Health and the Solicitor General, will meet soon to discuss how to license this facility and how to deal with its potential violation of Alberta laws. My question is: why weren't these issues examined and resolved before the government gave a $ 600,000 grant to the Kids program last year?

MS M. LAING: There seems to be some dispute about that.
My next question is to the Minister of Health. Research has
shown that up to 70 percent of adolescent drug abusers are
victims of childhood sexual misuse, an abuse of power by adults with authority. The Kids program represents a perpetuation of authority being used in an abusive manner, but complete
rehabilitation requires conditions of trust and nonabusive human relationships. Therefore, will the minister require mental health professionals in her department to do an in-
depth evaluation of
the mental health effects of the Kids program on its graduates and the drop-
outs from that program?
http://isys.assembly.ab.ca:8080/isysquery/irl1940/2/doc



MS M. LAING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to
the minister responsible for human rights. Kids of the Canadian West, an affiliate of the American Kids program, continues to experience difficulties in meeting its opening deadline due to concerns over human rights violations. Recently a third
American affiliate has been suspended by a state licensing
authority due to allegations of human rights violations. Will the minister responsible for human rights meet with the chairman of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission and demand
that he withhold funding pending a full-
scale investigation of
proven and alleged human rights violations by the American
parent agency in three separate states?
http://isys.assembly.ab.ca:8080/isysquery/irl1940/2/doc

1160 Alberta Hansard May 10, 1990
"The next vote I would like to look at is vote 7: Kids of the Canadian West, funded by AADAC. I have grave concerns
about this program. I have raised it before. I have grave
concerns because of the treatment modality that is used. As far as I can tell, it teaches an external locus of control. It teaches through fear of punishment, and it does not teach children how to cope with life's stress. But further, I have concerns about violations of human rights legislation and the Child Welfare Act. I have raised this concern with the chairman of AADAC, and he has assured me that monitoring will be done to ensure that no human rights are violated and that the Child Welfare Act will not be violated. But he has not indicated when this monitoring will be done, by whom, and how. I would ask for the specifics of this process of monitoring.
I also know that AADAC has an assessment protocol to determine appropriate placement and treatment modalities for young people who are involved in drug and alcohol abuse. I have no sense and have been given no sense of the assessment procedures and protocols in place in this program. Is it simply a referral by parents that are extremely distressed with their child's behaviour? So again I would ask for assessments procedures and protocols and who will do them."
No monitoring procedure for placement, treatment modalities nor any other aspect of AARC was ever implemented. AARC simply ignored the rule of law, and in true undemocratic fashion set up their church in direct contravention to the will of the people as expressed through their elected representatives.
http://isys.assembly.ab.ca:8080/isysquery/irl1940/1/doc

"MR. NELSON: Mr. Speaker, AADAC has been involved with
assistance in developing the program of the Alberta Adolescent
Recovery Centre since its inception originally as Kids of the
Canadian West.
http://www.assembly.ab.ca/Documents/isy ... /doc/#hit1

[Anonymous]

"MS M. LAING: Mr. Speaker, my questions are to the chairman
of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission. Earlier
this session the chairman of AADAC assured the House that
checks and balances were in place for the controversial Kids of the Canadian West drug addiction program, which is scheduled to open this fall in Calgary, but now we find out that this is not the case. Government officials from several departments,
including Health and the Solicitor General, will meet soon to discuss how to license this facility and how to deal with its potential violation of Alberta laws. My question is: why weren't these issues examined and resolved before the government gave a $ 600,000 grant to the Kids program last year?

MS M. LAING: There seems to be some dispute about that.
My next question is to the Minister of Health. Research has
shown that up to 70 percent of adolescent drug abusers are
victims of childhood sexual misuse, an abuse of power by adults with authority. The Kids program represents a perpetuation of authority being used in an abusive manner, but complete
rehabilitation requires conditions of trust and nonabusive human relationships. Therefore, will the minister require mental health professionals in her department to do an in-
depth evaluation of
the mental health effects of the Kids program on its graduates and the drop-
outs from that program?
http://isys.assembly.ab.ca:8080/isysquery/irl1940/2/doc



MS M. LAING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to
the minister responsible for human rights. Kids of the Canadian West, an affiliate of the American Kids program, continues to experience difficulties in meeting its opening deadline due to concerns over human rights violations. Recently a third
American affiliate has been suspended by a state licensing
authority due to allegations of human rights violations. Will the minister responsible for human rights meet with the chairman of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission and demand
that he withhold funding pending a full-
scale investigation of
proven and alleged human rights violations by the American
parent agency in three separate states?
http://isys.assembly.ab.ca:8080/isysquery/irl1940/2/doc

1160 Alberta Hansard May 10, 1990
"The next vote I would like to look at is vote 7: Kids of the Canadian West, funded by AADAC. I have grave concerns
about this program. I have raised it before. I have grave
concerns because of the treatment modality that is used. As far as I can tell, it teaches an external locus of control. It teaches through fear of punishment, and it does not teach children how to cope with life's stress. But further, I have concerns about violations of human rights legislation and the Child Welfare Act. I have raised this concern with the chairman of AADAC, and he has assured me that monitoring will be done to ensure that no human rights are violated and that the Child Welfare Act will not be violated. But he has not indicated when this monitoring will be done, by whom, and how. I would ask for the specifics of this process of monitoring.
I also know that AADAC has an assessment protocol to determine appropriate placement and treatment modalities for young people who are involved in drug and alcohol abuse. I have no sense and have been given no sense of the assessment procedures and protocols in place in this program. Is it simply a referral by parents that are extremely distressed with their child's behaviour? So again I would ask for assessments procedures and protocols and who will do them."
No monitoring procedure for placement, treatment modalities nor any other aspect of AARC was ever implemented. AARC simply ignored the rule of law, and in true undemocratic fashion set up their church in direct contravention to the will of the people as expressed through their elected representatives.
http://isys.assembly.ab.ca:8080/isysquery/irl1940/1/doc

"MR. NELSON: Mr. Speaker, AADAC has been involved with
assistance in developing the program of the Alberta Adolescent
Recovery Centre since its inception originally as Kids of the
Canadian West.
http://www.assembly.ab.ca/Documents/isy ... /doc/#hit1