Author Topic: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down  (Read 35804 times)

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Offline joethebadass

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Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« on: November 03, 2009, 03:28:16 AM »
Ding dong the witch is dead! There is a god! I win and they lose and holy shit does it feel good.

Investigations conducted by the Oregon Department of Human Services at Mt. Bachelor Academy (MBA), a therapeutic boarding school located near Prineville, have resulted in nine substantiated findings of child abuse and neglect against the school's leadership and therapeutic program.


As a result of the abuse investigation and violations of Oregon's licensing standards, the state has ordered Mt. Bachelor Academy to temporarily cease all therapeutic, educational and residential services to children until further notice.


The abuse and neglect findings centered on the program as a whole, as well as the school's Executive Director, and involved five children who attended Mt. Bachelor Academy during 2007-2009. The results of the investigation are being provided to local law enforcement officials.


Investigators with the state's Office of Investigation and Training (OIT) reported that all students at MBA were required to participate in “emotional growth” workshops, called Lifesteps, which included activities that were coercive, intimidating and humiliating -- including sexualized role play and reenactment of past traumatic events, such as prior physical or sexual abuse.


While the initial reports described concerns about Lifesteps, the investigation ultimately revealed serious safety concerns about MBA's curriculum and program as a whole. The experience of the five students was consistent with that of other children enrolled at the school. The report concluded that the experiences of “these five youth are exemplars of the program's treatment of its students as a whole."


DHS Residential Treatment Services and Licensing also found violations of state licensing standards for therapeutic boarding schools, and state officials will require MBA to cease providing therapeutic, educational and residential services to children.


The licensing program determined in its investigation that there are conditions present that immediately endanger the health and safety of the children enrolled at MBA. The program found that MBA's methods of educational instruction, emotional and behavioral intervention and daily interaction with students create an immediate threat which places all children at risk of harm.


Further, the investigation revealed that MBA has subjected children to Lifestep workshops as a therapy technique that is harmful and damaging to their health or welfare. In addition, that MBA has not provided the therapeutic treatment necessary for children to overcome or improve with substance abuse issues, mental health issues, eating disorders and other issues, nor provided qualified staff to treat such conditions.


The substantiated incidents of abuse or neglect are shown below:

Mt. Bachelor Academy Executive Director neglected the care of four children by failing to ensure individualized and therapeutic treatment plans were developed to address past abuse and significant emotional and behavioral issues.
The Mount Bachelor Academy program abused a child in 2007 by requiring the child to engage in sexualized role play in front of staff and peers.
The Mount Bachelor program abused a second child in 2009 by requiring the child to make obscene and self-degrading comments out loud, in front of staff and peers. In addition, the Mount Bachelor program neglected the same child during 2008-2009 by failing to provide adequate medical care and supervision.
The Mount Bachelor Academy program neglected a third child in 2009, by failing to provide adequate supervision during an international trip.
The Mount Bachelor Academy program abused a fourth child in 2008 by requiring the child to engage in degrading activities such as acting out sexualized role play and physical abuse, and by being subjected to obscene and degrading comments by staff in front of other staff and peers.
The Mount Bachelor Academy program abused a fifth child during 2009 by requiring and/or permitting staff to use derogatory names, phrases, ridicule and harassment.
The Mount Bachelor Academy program neglected five children between 2007 and 2009 by failing to provide individualized treatment to meet their diagnosed mental health needs.
The Mount Bachelor Academy program abused five children between 2007 and 2009 by requiring them to engage in activities that were coercive, intimidating, harassing, and/or humiliating.


The substantiated incidents meet Oregon's legal definition of child abuse because they were inconsistent with recommended and appropriate treatment or care, used derogatory names/phrases, profanity, ridicule, harassment, coercion, and/or intimidation that was likely to endanger the child's health or welfare. In addition, the activities subjected children to a substantial risk of harm to their health or welfare, and the adults failed to supervise or intervene when the child needed assistance or care, in an activity that was likely to endanger their health or welfare.


An expert in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry consulted by DHS as part of the investigation concluded: "In general, coercive, degrading and humiliating treatment is harmful to young people, especially those with psychological vulnerabilities. Young people (male and female) who have been victims of abuse often hold themselves responsible for the abuse, and develop sexualized behavior for reasons they often don't understand. To confront them and humiliate them about these behaviors in an effort to force them to see themselves more clearly and consequently change their behavior can be very destructive. It has the risk of reinforcing self-blame and self-loathing attitudes already present in traumatized individuals. It is essentially retraumatizing."


Today's report includes a substantiated allegation of child abuse against the Executive Director of MBA as "the individual responsible for delivery of therapeutic care to MBA students.” In that role, the Executive Director “administers through staff an 'emotional growth' curriculum in which all students must participate regardless of their emotional, behavioral or mental health needs, and regardless of their own trauma histories. This curriculum is delivered by staff who are not trained to treat the broad range of issues the children bring, and who routinely degrade and humiliate them.” The report concludes that the Executive Director, “knew or should have known what happens to students in [the] program.”


Mt. Bachelor Academy is a licensed Therapeutic Boarding School, located in a rural area, 26 miles east of Prineville, Oregon, licensed originally in 1988. The school admits both male and female students who are from age 14 to 17.5 at the time of admission, although some children are admitted pursuant to an exception as young as age 13. The total capacity is 125 students and the average length of stay is 14-16 months. Tuition is $6,400 a month with an additional up front, one time $2,200 enrollment fee. Other service fees are not included. In 2008, Mt. Bachelor was reorganized and became a program of Aspen Education Group. Aspen was recently acquired by CRC Health Group, Inc. In March of 2009, MBA had approximately 77 staff and 88 boarding students.


Last March, the state received reports of child abuse against Mt. Bachelor Academy, initially concerning the Lifesteps program at MBA. OIT is a division of DHS that investigates allegations of abuse by paid staff in various therapeutic or treatment settings, and OIT handled the investigation of the reports of abuse at MBA. There were two investigators primarily assigned to go to Prineville and interview people on campus. In addition, the office used three other investigators to conduct witness interviews of people in- and out-of-state. The investigators conducted interviews involving 65 witnesses, including MBA students and staff, along with licensed therapists familiar with individual students. Investigators consulted with a medical expert certified in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and they reviewed documents and photographed materials used as part of the MBA therapy program.


At the same time, the DHS Licensing program investigated standards for health and safety and looked at the school's compliance with Oregon Administrative Rules related to their license as a therapeutic boarding school. Licensing notified MBA that they were prohibited from conducting their own investigation into the allegations of abuse reported to have occurred; prohibited from destroying or otherwise concealing school or student records; prohibited from disciplining or threatening discipline to students interviewed during the investigation; prohibited from conducting Lifesteps activities until further notice. Parents of students were notified of the investigation.


A "Therapeutic boarding school" is a program that is primarily a school and not a residential care agency (as defined in OAR 413-215-0506). Therapeutic boarding schools are licensed to provide both educational services and care to children for 24 hours a day and hold themselves out as serving children with emotional or behavioral problems by providing therapeutic services or assuring that children receive therapeutic services.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
Joe - "So what if a kid gets sent here who doesn\'t need or deserve it?"

Staff - "Bans."

Offline Anonymous

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #1 on: November 03, 2009, 03:47:54 AM »
source? link? date? author?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline psy

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #2 on: November 03, 2009, 06:01:16 AM »
The place is so much like Benchmark it's not even funny...  Down to your sig of
Quote
Joe - "So what if a kid gets sent here who doesn't need or deserve it?"

Staff - "Bans."

Pretty sure I recall a conversation with staff almost exactly like that.  Bans this bans that.  Now I hear they've renamed it "noncom".  I don't doubt MBA will claim to stop using LifeSteps seminars and start calling it something else (to avoid the "temporary" shutdown becoming permanent).


PS: sources would be great, like the above guest notes.  I'd love to look at some of the documentation the investigators photographed if it's available, especially any LifeStep training manuals / scripts.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
Benchmark Young Adult School - bad place [archive.org link]
Sue Scheff Truth - Blog on Sue Scheff
"Our services are free; we do not make a profit. Parents of troubled teens ourselves, PURE strives to create a safe haven of truth and reality." - Sue Scheff - August 13th, 2007 (fukkin surreal)

Offline slynch2112

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #3 on: November 03, 2009, 09:23:16 AM »
Yeah, as psy posted, and the Guest, it is important to note where this came from, so that it can be attributed, and fact checked. Until then its rumour at best, and wishful thinking at worst.
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Offline Troll Control

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #4 on: November 03, 2009, 10:42:02 AM »
What is very disturbing to me is that there is an obvious trend here.  It seems that Aspen facilities are getting exposed as abusive and, in at least one recent case, murderous (at least negligent homicide or depraved indifference).  There are many stories now percolating out of traditional media outlets that substantiate that Aspen programs are unsafe and do not provide any treatment or therapeutic services as defined by law in the states in which they operate.

These are giant red flags for any potential Aspen parents.  These facilities are extremely risky to life and limb of your children and Aspen has already publicly admitted, in open court, under oath that they provide no treatment of any kind whatsover.

My question then becomes "Why would any parent anywhere send their child to an Aspen program?"  There is no upside to it.
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Offline Anonymous

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #5 on: November 03, 2009, 10:43:54 AM »
Mount Bachelor is an Aspen program?  Has anyone confirmed yet that it shut it's doors?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Whooter

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #6 on: November 03, 2009, 11:06:10 AM »
Quote from: "Dysfunction Junction"

My question then becomes "Why would any parent anywhere send their child to an Aspen program?"  There is no upside to it.

I can see why you ask this question based on the information that is presented here on fornits.

What you need to look at is the bottom line.  If you speak with the kids and parents who have been thru an Aspen program you will see that Apen programs are able to turn an at-risk child around and place them on the right path with an  incredible success rate.  There is no doubt that they have their hands full trying to cope with the expanding industry.  But more importantly they are able to respond and help more and more kids each year.  This is the important thing we need to focus on.
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Offline Anonymous

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #7 on: November 03, 2009, 11:16:56 AM »
Quote from: "Guest"
Quote from: "Dysfunction Junction"

My question then becomes "Why would any parent anywhere send their child to an Aspen program?"  There is no upside to it.



Quote
What you need to look at is the bottom line.  Aspen kills kids.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ss ... nd_di.html

Portland teen collapses and dies during wilderness camp hike
By Steve Beaven, The Oregonian
September 01, 2009, 2:44PM

The Lake County Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of a Portland teen who collapsed during a hike as part of a wilderness camp exercise, a spokesman said today.

Sergey Blashchishen, 16, died Friday after collapsing about 2:30 p.m., said Deputy Chuck Pore. An autopsy was performed on Sunday but the results are incomplete and a cause of death has not been determined, Pore said.

Investigators are trying to find out if Blashchishen, who lived in Northeast Portland, had any medical problems that might have contributed to his death, Pore said. He had passed a physical the day before he died.

Blashchishen was attending the SageWalk wilderness school, a program for troubled teens based in Redmond. He was hiking with a group in northern Lake County between Burns and Bend when he got sick.

"He said he didn't feel good and shortly after that collapsed," Pore said.

The Bureau of Land Management has suspended the permit for SageWalk to operate on BLM land, pending the outcome of the investigation. It could not be confirmed if Blashchishen was on BLM property when he collapsed.

"SageWalk considers student safety our number one priority and takes this incident very seriously," SageWalk Executive Director Mike Bednarz said in a statement.


Lyudmila Blashchishena, Sergey's mother, said she was told that her son vomited and then passed out during the hike, adding that he did not suffer from any medical conditions.

"We are still so shocked," she said. "He always did sports, never had any disease. How could he pass away just from hiking?"

Blashchishen dropped out of Parkrose High School last year, his mother said, and enrolled in the wilderness school on Thursday.

He had worked construction and lived with an uncle before deciding to go to SageWalk.

"He asked me to place him in the boot camp," his mother said. "He really wanted to change his behavior."

--Stephen Beaven; [email protected]
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Offline AuntieEm2

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #8 on: November 03, 2009, 11:22:30 AM »
Yes, Mount Bachelor Academy is owned and operated by Aspen Education Group, the largest conglomerate of schools, which is owned and operated by multi-billion dollar global investment giant CRC Health/Bain Capital.

Follow the money.

Auntie Em
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Offline Troll Control

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #9 on: November 03, 2009, 11:26:34 AM »
No, I don't need to interview any Aspen parents to find out how Aspen facilities work.  They are being shut down currently in Oregon for neglect and abuse.  The states are notoriously bad at moving on items like this.  They (state watchdogs) have to have incontrovertible evidence that neglect and abuse have occurred in order to move forward with disciplinary action.  

In the case of MBA, they have found many disturbing incidences of neglect and abuse, such as humiliating, sexualized role play disguised as "therapy."  If any parent approves of MBA's actions, they are either ignorant of the state's findings, or they simply don't care about their own child.

Sorry, "Guest," but I tend to believe evidentiary findings of abuse investigators over your marketing spin that has exactly zero factual basis to back it up.  I understand you are frustrated with the state of affairs at Aspen, but you should be working to shutter these abusive facilities if you really want to help children.  Supporting Aspen is tantamount to advocating for child abuse and neglect.

Aspen has taken some big hits recently, and deservedly so.  They have committed negligent homicide against children in their care.  They have abused children.  They have neglected children.  This has all been proven factual by the investigation.  They admitted under oath that they don't and never intended to provide treatment for anything.  For what reason would anyone send their kid to an abusive, neglectful facility that admittedly provides no treatment for anything?

Why would anyone support this family of abusive instiutions?  Sadly, the answer seems only to be "for profit."
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Offline Whooter

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #10 on: November 03, 2009, 11:34:07 AM »
Firm data shows the public sector is even worse.  Problems within the teen industry are several orders of magnitude less than what we are experiencing in public sector.  I could post examples all day long.  The list is endless.

Rape:
http://http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2009_01_10_5th-grade_teacher_faces_child_rape_charges/srvc=home&position=1

A married South Shore teacher was so “obsessed” with a teen boy she had sex with him on his kitchen floor, in the shower and in the living room and it all began when he was 13 years old, prosecutors said today.
The alleged victim, now 16, said they had sex a total of 300 times - “possibly every other day,” according to a police report obtained by the Herald.


Murder:
http://http://www.fultoncountynews.com/news/2009-04-16/Local_(and)_State/Calif_Sunday_School_Teacher_Charged_With_Murder.html


A Northern California woman was charged Tuesday with murdering an 8-year-old girl whose body was found in a suitcase pulled from a pond.
San Joaquin County prosecutors also included in their allegations against Melissa Huckaby the special circumstances of rape with a foreign object, lewd and lascivious conduct with a child and murder in the course of a kidnapping.
The 28-year-old Sunday school teacher was due to be arraigned later Tuesday. Huckaby lived in the mobile home park in the town of Tracy where victim Sandra Cantu also lived.


So what you really want to look at it the success rate of the programs....Is there a risk?  Absolutely!!  But what is the risk of doing nothing for your child?  How safe is he or she on their current path and company?

Its not an easy choice to make, but it gets easier as you are able to gather the facts and balance out your options.
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Offline Anonymous

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #11 on: November 03, 2009, 11:40:25 AM »
Quote from: "Guest"

So what you really want to look at it the success rate of the programs.... ZERO.  In fact, the author of the book they keep touting shows that it has a 100% failure rate
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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #12 on: November 03, 2009, 11:46:36 AM »
The appropriate question is actually "Is it worse to do nothing than to guarantee your child will be abused and neglected by strangers far, far away?"  

Sending your kid to MBA is now impossible, as it was forced to suspend operations due to substantiated claims of abuse, neglect and sexualized role-play disguised as "therapy."

Stick with seeking help in your community, by a reputable, licensed facility with reputable, licensed mental healtcare providers.  Aspen provides no therapy, as they admitted in court, under oath.

I can see no benefit to sending a child to a known abusive, neglectful Aspen program.  By definition, your kid will get no treatment and will be abused and neglected.  The state of Oregon found the very program model to be abusive and the staff to be abusive as well.

Sure, there are isolated cases of abuse in public schools, but they are quite literally "one in a million" and perpetrated by a sick individual.  At Aspen facilities, the program itself is abusive and they hire uneducated, unlicensed hacks to "work the program."  This is a witch's brew of abuse.  Because of the abusive model it uses, MBA does abuse 100% of attendees (abusive program model), as found by the state of Oregon.  There is no comparison to public schools.
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Offline Whooter

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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #13 on: November 03, 2009, 11:58:29 AM »
There are presently over 500 programs serving our children and at-risk youth.  If you choose to focus on the one or two that are having problems that is your choice.  But like the example of the problems in the public school they dont represent the entire industry.

What I typically suggest parents to do is gather as much info as possible...talk to other parents who have had children in programs, talk to the professionals themselves and then weigh this information against how safe your child is in his present environment and path.

The more information a parent can gather on the subject the better.
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Re: Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
« Reply #14 on: November 03, 2009, 12:26:45 PM »
Oh, I believe it's more than "one or two."  Aspen recently admitted in court that they provide no treatment, so we can count up all of the Aspen facilities and take them off the top as ineffective.  How can they be effective when they deliver no services as they admitted in court?

Above and beyond that I believe we have seen several dozen programs shut down in the past few years due to abuse and neglect, sometimes ending in a child's death.  We have also seen many facilities that have killed children or abused them still under investigation currently.

So, out of 500 programs (not sure if that's accurate at all), I'd estimate at least 100 have been proven unsafe (all Aspen programs built on the abusive Aspen model, e.g. MBA, ASR, etc) and ineffective and the rest are yet to be investigated.  

Even if they weren't dangerous (which I believe they are) then we still have to consider the fact that they are totally ineffective and have no evidence to suggest they are otherwise.  Until a clinical study is done and proves efficacy, we all have to assume inefficacy.  No program has passed the scientific hurdle into credibility.

In contrast to this, there are tens of thousands of local schools and tens of thousands of local treatment centers which are not abusive or neglectful in any way.  This is opposed to the Aspen model which is built upon abusive and humiliating principles, as described by Oregon watchdog officials.

Sorry, but the evidence is clear from state investigations that the claims of efficacy and safety are undenialbly false and unsupported by any facts.
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