Inculcated – thanks for your response & info. I checked your links but don’t think any of those places are related to Renaissance / the Renaissance Project. I’m almost positive it’s NY-based only. Part of my frustration is not being able to find any info online – if you check Renaissance’s actual website, you’ll see there’s very little info on it:
http://www.renaissance-project.org/.
In NY in the ‘80s, the most well-known TCs/rehabs were Phoenix House, Daytop, and Renaissance, all of which were run by old school ex-dope fiends. It was all very hardcore back then. There was no 12-step anything – in fact, they actively dissuaded meeting attendance. They thought AA/NA was for people too weak to stay clean on their own. TCs – at least those 3 – were straight out of Synanon: strict behavior modification kind of shit, but I think that was the beginning of the end of that kind of modality in “addiction treatment.”
I left in ’83. For the rest of that decade, these places were overrun and overwhelmed by the crack epidemic and by HIV/AIDS. And perhaps changes in thinking about the 12-steps as well, because I think the late ‘80s and ‘90s saw a significant shift in “treatment”– including a wholesale embrace of the 12-Step movement and the rise & proliferation of the entire for-profit TTI.
I wonder if anyone’s ever done a historical or sociological study of this shift in TCs during this time?
Sorry, I geek out sometimes...
My point being, I don’t know much about the whole Troubled Teen Industry. It’s only been the last few days that I’ve found out just how pernicious the industry is. I mean, I knew there’d been huge growth in these boot camps and places for teens; I didn’t know how unregulated these facilities were, how little oversight there was. And I didn’t know anything about Wwasps, or these people who just open up places under new names when they get closed down.
I mention this for context (and for contrast): Renaissance was run by old school true believers, but unlike Phoenix House and Daytop, Renaissance never became a money-making business; they don’t do any marketing or major fundraising. I mean, just look at their website. Then compare it to PH or Daytop’s. I guess that’s part of the reason I assumed they closed down – I heard little about them after I left.
In addition to their residential facility in Ellenville, they always had a number of smaller out-patient sites throughout Westchester County. It looks like their main office is still in New Rochelle, NY; they used to have outpatient programs in Portchester, Yonkers, and a couple of other towns outside of NYC but that was the extent of their presence.
The only other thing I learned recently about Renaissance is that the most recent Director of the Ellenville facility was a guy named Jim Colarell, who died last summer. I knew Jim…he was older than me and ahead of me in the program, but I remember him. Which lends more credence to my theory that Renaissance has remained small and off-the-grid, with the same kind of true believer ex-addicts still running it. That and its lack of marketing/fundraising make it different than what Daytop and PH have become.
Sorry for such a long rambling missive. I should probably explain: the reason I’m suddenly interested in this is because I recently found out about the Family School Foundation for Truth – a group trying to expose the abuses at that facility. I know The Argiros family well - I was there in the early days, in 1984, before they became a school. I know the founders and their kids (who now run it). It was a rough gig for sure, but nothing like the stories I’ve read about it lately.
At some point in the past 15-20 yrs,The Family School Foundation seems to have become much more of a money-making venture (like so many other places, save Renaissance) and apparently much more abusive. I couldn’t believe some of the stories I read – they took me right back to my own adolescent nightmare. And apparently awakened my own demons - I’ve spent the last few days obsessively looking for any info I can find on Renaissance. I suspect I’ll have to dig for company records or filings from them and probably go to their New Rochelle facility in person for answers.
Sorry to geek out again, but I’ve got a theory – maybe others here who are well-versed in this world can offer some insight? It seems to me there are basically 2 types of these “treatment” places today: those that are run by money-grubbers like WWasp and others for whom this is strictly about $$ and who have little to no regard for the kids; and then there are (seemingly fewer) places run by the “true believers,” who still really believe that behavior modification & the TC model actually work – places like Renaissance, who apparently still labor in relative obscurity and with little fanfare. And what The Family used to be before it morphed into the $60K/yr “school” modality (Tony & Betty were true believers; their kids, a little less so).
Then again, maybe not. Maybe I’ve just spent too many hours this week reading up on all this stuff and am a little punchy now!
Thanks again for your reply.
