All the court ordered kids in the seed and many other programs were not allowed to leave,even if they wanted to go to jail instead. I know, I was one of them. I DID escape,and I DID go to jail. I don't regret it for one minute.At least in jail they fed us.
Well, I do not know how the program for kids works. I would assume that Teen Challenge staff is legally mandated to follow certain protocol for court order juveniles.
I was 24 years old when I went into the program though, and had the choice to leave if I wanted to. That's just the way our judicial system works, it has nothing to do with Teen Challenge.
Look, I didn't come in here to discuss semantics. I understand that there are at least a few bad apples on every tree... I just wanted to share a personal, positive testimony about this program because I would probably have overdosed or been locked behind bars by now if it weren't for Teen Challenge.
Every organization on the planet has some bad seeds, including most religious organizations - I just hope that people aren't berating this program because it is faith-based.
I know probably 20 people just off the top of my head who probably wouldn't be where they are today if it weren't for Teen Challenge. I just want to urge everyone on here to get all the information, get every side to the story before they start to form any negative opinions of this program. I can personally get several Teen Challenge graduates to share their testimonies on here, and maybe that would change your opinion..??
Teen Challenge has over a thousand centers world-wide. Are there some centers that are run better than others? Absolutely. Are there some centers that are lead by people who make poor financial decisions or moral decisions? Probably. But they are changing thousands of lives! That has to be worth something...