Teen Challenge follows the Straight Inc. exampleTeen Challenge is a ministry of the Assemblies of God. Teen Challenge is a national Faith-based residential treatment program operating in many states including CA, WA, TX, AL, AZ, AR,CO, CT, ID, IL, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY,OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, UT, VA. The programs have no medical basis. Instead, the treatment modalities center around prayer, Bible study, and religious conversion.
Teen Challenge states its purpose is, "To evangelize and disciple those with life-controlling problems." Their guide, "The Teen Challenge Therapeutic Model" states, "traditional residential substance abuse rehabilitative structures clearly do not provide an analogy for the Teen Challenge model... Teen Challenge is, in all issues of therapy, direct and indirect, a purposeful comprehensive focus on the whole life of the student relative to that student’s functionality as a Christian disciple [after s/he is evangelized].”
Teen Challenge currently operates five drug abuse treatment centers in Texas, none of which have a state license. Two of the centers have formally registered their status as a Faith-based facility exempt from state licensing. As exempt, Faith-based drug treatment centers, Teen Challenge facilities are not required to have licensed chemical dependency counselors, conduct staff training or criminal background checks, protect client confidentiality rights, adhere to state health and safety standards, or report abuse, neglect, emergencies and medication errors. Prior to its exemption from state licensing, a 1995 state inspection revealed that Teen Challenge was not compliant with numerous state health, safety and quality of care standards.
These Teen Challenge centers have close ties to Melvin Sembler, the Drug Free America Foundation, Straight Inc. and the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. John Castellani was executive director of Teen Challenge, a “Faith-based” rehab program owned by the Assemblies of God denomination that was believed to exaggerate its success rate statistics. He is quoted as saying “I'm hoping that Teen Challenge will not have to go through the licensing procedures that clinical organizations have to go through.” [John Castellani during the Assemblies of God “Mission America” meeting in 2000].
Teen Challenge U.S.A. has been reported to hire staff who are registered child sex-offenders. Teen Challenge in Winthrop, Maine hired two registered sex-offenders on staff and there is direct recruitment of ex-convicts as ministers and staff. Teen Challenge-New England boasts that 90-98% of their staff is recruited from former “graduates” of the program. Teen Challenge-New England was directly recruiting from within the prisons, including an in-house program at Dartmouth House of Correction. The court system still court-orders persons into Teen Challenge in lieu of jail time.
Medical vs. Faith-based model for rehabilitationTeen Challenge of South Texas asserted that its counselors refused to trade in their Faith-based approach for a "medical model" that saw alcoholism as a disease rather than a manifestation of sin. Teen Challenge facilities in Texas and in Florida were unlicensed and unregulated, although investigators and child protective services tried to establish regulatory control over the teen rehab industry in light of continuing complaints. Teen Challenge opted for the alternative accreditation program that did no inspections as it wanted no regulation.
Are Teen Challenge programs effective? There is little reliable research to support effectiveness claims of religious programs like Teen Challenge. Instead, there is ample evidence that abuse as occurred in such facilities leads to long-term emotional problems. Social scientists pointed out that the 86 percent success rate of Teen Challenge is misleading. It does not count those who dropped out during the program. Like many religious and private charities, Teen Challenge picks its clients.
Before acceptance, most addicts have completed detoxification, reported Rev. John Castellani, president of Teen Challenge International U.S.A. During the program's first 4-month phase, Castellani said, 25-30 percent drop out. In the next eight months, 10 percent more leave. This raised questions for David Reingold, a researcher at the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs. A study that Reingold recently completed of social services in Indiana found that religious programs are more likely than their secular counterparts to serve limited clientele. Reingold concluded, ''It's an extreme exaggeration to say that religious organizations are more effective.''
Teen Challenge boasts unbelievably high success rates and uses this to promote their Faith-based treatment program. However, the last statistically significant evaluation of Teen Challenge was done in 1975 on a sample of Pennsylvania Teen Challenge graduates from 1968 (39 years ago). It could be asked why there is no other outcome study of Teen Challenge’s program, which boasts over 200 residential treatment centers in the U.S.A.
The one study was by the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago. They developed the survey instrument, located survey participants, conducted the personal interviews, and obtained a urine sample to test for drugs. The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded the first year of the study. 186 persons, divided into 3 groups, were interviewed:
•P1=70 people (students that entered Brooklyn Teen Challenge, but dropped out and never attended the Rehrersburg program.)
•P2=52 people (students that completed the Brooklyn program who later dropped out of the Rehrersburg program.)
•P3=64 people (graduates of the Rehrersburg Training Center program.)
Results claim that 67% of graduates (P3) are drug-free, indicated by urine test, although 86% stated they were drug-free on the questionnaire. That would mean that 67% of the P3 group, or 43 people remained marijuana and heroin-free seven (7) years after graduating from Teen Challenge.
The other 21 graduates and 143 people who left the program are ignored. Also, the test results do not indicate whether the graduates tested positive for other drugs such as alcohol, other narcotics, or nicotine.
This study suggested that Teen Challenge had a success rate of 86%. But Bill McColl, executive director of the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors, dismisses both the statistic and the study. He states that the study was done too long ago and conducted with an extraordinarily small sample group. This leads us to believe that this study has almost no statistical validity. (Thanks to “Karly” from Teen Challenge Cult Blog for this research)
Teen Challenge might not have survived without the help of then-Gov. Bush. Because Teen Challenge claimed it did “treatment,” it would be required by state regulations to employ persons qualified by academic degrees and clinical expertise. Teen Challenge did not hire counselors based on those criteria because Teen Challenge promoted the view that addiction is a “sin”- behavior prompted by a lack of religious commitment. Claiming spectacular outcome results –which turned out to false- the organization demanded that the laws change.
The result, called “Faith in Action: A New Vision for Church-State Cooperation,” was announced by Gov. Bush at a ministry in San Antonio. This report had concrete policy recommendations to exempt Teen Challenge from state licensure and oversight. In 1997, the Teen Challenge Bill changed the role of the TCADA to one which simply registered the names of programs in a one-page document (name, address, and what they do). Counselors no longer were required to get 270 hours of clinical training and significant levels of supervision as their acquired skills were evaluated for licensure. The need to conduct staff training or criminal background checks, protect client confidentiality rights, adhere to state health and safety standards, or report abuse, neglect, emergencies and medication errors were eliminated.
There was no requirement to meet strict guidelines to qualify for federal funding in the form of grants awarded according to usual NIDA prescriptive.
Teen Challenge converts clients to ChristianityTeen Challenge programs describe themselves in these terms:
“Being a Christian discipleship program, it endeavors to minister to the whole person, helping them to become mentally sound, emotionally balanced, socially adjusted, physically well, and spiritually alive through a relationship with Jesus Christ.” This applies to clients of any other faith.
According to Teen Challenge, “Addiction is a sin, not a disease.” Consequently, the program does not allow the use of medication. Many Teen Challenge clients are court-ordered into the program and, if they do not comply with program demands, they go back to jail. Often, there is no other alternative program for the defendant to request by default.
Teen Challenge has close ties to the prison management ranks, and pastors often perform “double duty” in a paid position at Assemblies of God and as a volunteer prison chaplain. Clients court-coerced into the Teen Challenge program often do not know that it is run by the Assemblies of God. These court-ordered admissions into Teen Challenge usually run from 1-2 years.
Teen Challenge counselors and peers deliberately humiliate and “attempt to down” people with addictions, using techniques that are known to do more harm than good. Reports say food deprivation has been used to force recalcitrant youth to obey those in control of the Teen Challenge center. This excerpt is from the St. Louis Teen Challenge documents: “The work experience program at Teen Challenge of St. Louis is directed to bring about a change in lifestyle and work habits. Work detail tests your maturity as a Christian and puts into practice what has been learned from the Bible. During work detail, a resident learns patience, tolerance, industry, faithfulness, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, and punctuality. The Bible emphasizes the importance of work in the verse that states, "He that will not work shall not eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10).”
Teen Challenge centers spread anti-Semitic sentiments as well. Teen Challenge admitted in Congressional testimony in 2001 that it does this--and that it had successfully converted some Jews who entered the program, using the term "completed Jews" for such converts. The application form for Minnesota Teen Challenge is very explicit about the Christian, Faith-based nature of the program. On the National Assemblies of God website, Teen Challenge is listed as one of their ministries. Questions have arisen about whether Teen Challenge violates federal policy in using tax dollars while engaged in overt religious bias both in hiring and in provision of services. In May 2001, during a congressional hearing Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) asked Teen Challenge Executive Director John Castellani if the organization hired non-Christians. Castellani said no. When asked if Teen Challenge serves non-Christian clients, Castellani said they did. He reported that some Jews who complete Teen Challenge programs become “completed Jews.”
Teen Challenge Minnesota had applied for $500,000 of federal funds for its program even in light of the Tom Petters Ponzi fraud scam which was linked to Frank Vennes who served on the Teen Challenge MN board and handled their financial affairs.
The federal agency USDA and CPS seek to close Teen ChallengeIn Dallas, Texas, two boys reported in 1998 that they had been sexually molested by a staff member who was a convicted drug trafficker. After many reports of child abuse at centers nationwide, Teen Challenge-San Antonio was informed by TCADA that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) had determined that residents of Teen Challenge centers in Texas were no longer eligible to receive food stamps because the centers were not state-licensed or inspected.
The San Antonio center’s director admitted that the facility depended on the food stamps for nearly half its annual food budget. Teen Challenge claimed that federal food stamp regulations hindered men and women working to overcome addictions at Teen Challenge treatment centers in 4 states. Reports had surfaced that the food purchased with the food stamps was sold on the black market while children in the Teen Challenge centers were fed water, white bread and peanut butter.
The Rhode Island Teen Challenge women’s program was managed by a registered sex offender, Shondi Barbato, but she was not the only sex offender on staff at Teen Challenge. State regulators in several states wanted to stop the direct access to children by registered sex offenders and violent criminal offenders in the Teen Challenge programs.
In most Teen Challenge centers, food stamp money provides a majority of their funding. Those in child protective services (CPS) were hopeful that this denial of food stamps would force compliance with regulatory protections. In several states, including Massachusetts and Vermont, officials halted benefits to Teen Challenge clients because the programs were not formally recognized by state officials, and because clients turned over their food stamps to administrators of the treatment program. The coupons were pooled together to buy groceries for those who live in dormitory-style housing for 18 months during their treatment. Through the USDA actions, federal authorities hoped to protect the human rights and body integrity of children in the care of Teen Challenge facilities. There had been food stamp fraud in Honolulu HI.
The cutoff of food stamps impacted Teen Challenge centers in Oregon, Florida, and Massachusetts. The Boston field office for USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) stopped food stamps to Teen Challenge-New England. In 2005, food stamps paid about $150/month per client in the Brockton, MA center. This totaled nearly $200,000 a year. The USDA informed Teen Challenge that "The basis for your denial was that your program is not licensed by the state of Massachusetts."
There was strong protest from Teen Challenge- New England’s director, Rodney Hart, the supervisor of Shondi Barbato, a registered sex offender. Hart, himself a 1976 graduate of Teen Challenge, advocated politically to create a separate category for Faith-based groups at the federal level, citing it was the key to solve "a serious glitch that needs to be fixed at a higher level." Teen Challenge-New England’s lawyer, Brad Martin filed a complaint against the government in 2005 on behalf of Teen Challenge-New England, which has centers in Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Teen Challenge New England Director Hart stated, "The government does not have a lens to interpret Faith-based recovery centers. It only recognizes the disease model, which is totally irrelevant to us.” Hart refused to obtain a state license, equating it to “obtaining an identity that doesn't correspond to who we are… It would be like getting a deer-hunting license to hunt crocodiles.” Stamped Out World Magazine, August 27, 2005, Vol. 20, No. 33
"Texas Freedom Network, a 23,000-member non-partisan grassroots watchdog group based in Austin conducted a five-year study of the policy and found, “As exempt faith-based drug treatment centers, [such] facilities are not required to have licensed chemical dependency counselors, conduct staff training or criminal background checks, protect client confidentiality rights, adhere to state health and safety standards, or report abuse, neglect, emergencies and medication errors.”
With the influence of President George W. Bush, the federal government cleared the way for Teen Challenge clients in recovery programs to resume receipt of food stamps under Charitable Choice.
“In a joint opinion issued by the Secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA), and Health and Human Services (HHS), it has now been determined that residents of such treatment programs are eligible for Food Stamps, so long as the programs are operating in compliance with provisions of the Public Health Services Act. Under the opinion, state agencies which administer Food Stamps must recognize such programs as "operating to further the purposes of Part B of Title XIX" of the act – however, it also specifies that such programs are not required to be licensed by states in order to be eligible.”
Rodney Hart’s thesis reported that in 2007, Teen Challenge-New England had 589 beds and revenue of about $7 million. The centers’ staff was 95% graduates of the program and there were 125 salaried staff. To learn more about the beliefs of Hart, as director of Teen Challenge-New England, see his Doctoral thesis.
Establishment of alternative accreditation to evade inspectionsIn Florida and Texas, Teen Challenge centers were accredited by the Texas Association of Christian Child Care Agencies (TACCCA) and the Florida Association of Christian Child Care Agencies (FACCCA). In Florida, the heads of the Department of Children and Families and Department of Human Services are both former Straight, Inc. leaders.
West Florida Teen Challenge Boys’ Ranch in Bonifay, FL is a rigid program. The contract parents must sign states that the FACCCA intends to "insure the physical and spiritual health, safety, and wellbeing" of children and that the boys’ ranch must meet FACCCA’s "minimum standards." Parents must agree to hold the ranch and its employees harmless from "any and all liability" for injury to the child, "even injury resulting in death." Parents must agree "that God desires that they resolve their dispute with one another within the church and that they be reconciled in their relationships in accordance with the principles stated in I Corinthians 6:1-8, Matthew 5:23-24, and Matthew 18:15-20." If they cannot resolve their disagreement privately within the church, parents must accept resolution through "biblically-based mediation" by rules of the Association of Christian Conciliation Services. There is no refund of tuition or deposits if the boy leaves the ranch before 15 months, even if the ranch has expelled him. Many residential treatment centers were run with no insurance liability policies and these legal waivers were used to prevent liability lawsuits. Parents were told that, because they signed the waiver, they had no legal rights even if their child was injured.
Further protections through official State Liaison positionsTo further insulate Teen Challenge from government regulation and oversight, Gov. George W. Bush’s advisory board made recommendations that legislated creation of official state liaison positions in several key government entities. Texas was also the first state to create a formal Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI). These acts were part of larger cultural and structural shifts that redefined the boundaries between church and state in Texas. An adviser was appointed by Gov. Bush to change key agencies to alter their regulatory procedures and protocols to make them more receptive to Faith-based programs. Appointees chosen were receptive to the new policies and assumed positions of power and authority on state governing boards.
In Texas, Gov. Bush was closely allied with leaders of the evangelical community, such as Joe Loconte, Marvin Olasky, Stanley Carlson-Thies, and Carl Esbeck. The Bush administration created far-reaching changes in state government policy. The state-level implementation of “Charitable Choice” did not create new funding for Faith-based organizations, but consisted of a symbolic alteration in the relationship between church and state that was manifest in laws, policies and procedural practices.
Bush’s policy team in Texas worked with Carlson-Thies and Esbeck, the chief architects of Charitable Choice as it passed through the U.S.A. Congress. Both men went to Texas to help state agency heads understand the new law and to garner support for it there. These changes in policy were then presented to the executive directors of the state agencies (TWC-Texas Workforce Commission, DHHS-Department of Health and Human Services, TEA—the Texas Education Agency) and to certain key board members of those agencies. These pushed principles that Congress enacted in August 1996 as part of federal welfare reform. Texas added a “nondiscrimination” section in 1997 but did not label it as a Charitable Choice provision. The early political goal was to change the government culture from within, but without use of confrontation of state legislators to embrace legislative changes. Only ten states enacted 41 laws between 1996 and 2000 related to Faith-based initiatives. Since then, there has been an increased legislation specifically focused on the initiatives.
In July, 1999, presidential-candidate Bush delivered his first major policy address in Indianapolis. There he unveiled his new pro-faith agenda and painted himself as a “new kind of Republican” politically and fiscally conservative, but supportive of Faith-based nonprofit organizations to deliver help to those in need.
After the 2000 election of President Bush, 230 additional laws on Faith-based initiatives were enacted, and now 31 states have enacted some legislation. Several states of note are New Jersey, Oklahoma and Florida. In each of these states, G.W. Bush had close ties. NJ Gov. Christie Todd-Whitman was a close friend, as was OK Gov. Francis Anthony "Frank" Keating. Bush’s brother, Jeb Bush, was FL governor. Jeb Bush sought increased legislation including Faith-based prison wings supported by a new government office. An OFBCI was established in Florida in 2004.
Establishment of funding to Faith-based programsIn January, 2001, President Bush created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives by Executive Order. Later Executive Orders created centers for the Office within the Departments of Justice, Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Housing and Urban Development, Education, and Agriculture, as well as at the Agency for International Development. Shortly thereafter, the Compassion Capital Fund (CCF) was established in 2001 through HHS and distributed almost $200 million dollars to various faith- and community-based organizations. Through a series of executive orders and creation of separate faith-based centers in 11 agencies and departments within the federal government, President Bush expanded Faith-based initiatives significantly from a political standpoint. Some executive orders permitted religious organizations to discriminate in their hiring practices by making it possible for them to hire only those who share specific religious beliefs, despite the receipt of federal money.
President Bush actually promised $8 billion, during the campaign trail, but the Compassion Capital Fund fell dramatically short of that goal, leaving many that supported the Charitable Choice with added social responsibilities and no federal funding stream to cover expectations. These Faith-based initiatives first obtained their support mainly from the evangelical churches, but later support came from various black churches and the Catholic Church.
Many in religious circles saw “Charitable Choice” as a means to allow the churches greater religious freedom while performing social services. Critics maintain that vast funding amounts were funneled to political allies and Christian organizations that had supported candidate- Bush, such as Operation Blessing, a charity run by television evangelist Pat Robertson. Political bias in grant of funds appeared in the support given the InnerChange prison program. Gov. G.W. Bush supported Chuck Colson’s prison ministry, which became part of the Texas prison system. Colson was sent to prison for his involvement in the Watergate scandal. Colson was believed to be a member of the “Family” (also known as the Fellowship).
For many who politically supported the Faith-based initiatives these were just empty promises which did not increase funding for beleaguered and legitimate Faith-based social service programs. This was especially true for the smaller religious organizations, as they were still in competition with the larger, established, church-based providers, as well as community-based NGOs. There was a smaller pot of federal funds actually available due to welfare budget cuts. Charitable Choice federal funding did not fix problems of poverty. Instead, it seemed to benefit the chosen “politically correct” few. The shift of money in Faith-based programs moved from government-run welfare programs for the poor, serving minority, immigrant, migrant or disabled persons, to focus on upper- middle-class Christians with substance-abuse problems in unregulated private treatment centers.
The White House OFBCI sent letters to all state governors in 2002, 2004, and 2006, encouraging them to create their own OFBCIs. There were no guidelines on how to establish the offices, or how to fund them, such that an unorganized program implementation resulted. There are three primary means by which states have implemented the Faith-based initiatives:
1) Creation of liaison positions and/or offices,
2) Passage of legislation and administrative policies
3) Sponsorship of conferences
Three states have added Charitable Choice provisions to legislation. These are: Arizona (1999), California (1999), and Mississippi (2004). Since 1996, legislative appropriations processes in 16 states have offered some type of funding to Faith-based organizations (FBOs) or OFBCIs, leading to 42 separate appropriation bills which have allocated approximately $70 million. In 2007, a total of 10 appropriation laws were passed in 10 states, increasing overall funding for the initiatives. Florida passed appropriations bills directed to Faith-based and community groups for teenage pregnancy prevention programs, granting them $1,500,000 of non-recurring maternal block-grant trust funds. New Jersey has allocated approximately $3 million a year since 1998. Public money has been allocated to Faith-based groups, but the lack of standardized oversight once the funds are distributed is a concern, as is whether or not there is political bias in selection of recipients.
The vast majority of OFBCIs and related positions have been created administratively, and some states have given these positions greater permanence by enacting them with legislation. Kentucky (2005), Iowa (2004), Missouri (2007), Virginia (2002), Louisiana (2004), North Dakota (2005), Ohio (2005), Alaska (2007), and Maryland (2008) have created Faith-based legislative positions or OFBCIs by statute.
References and citations:
1. Missions of the Assemblies of God – USMissions.AG.org,
http://usmissions.ag.org/ The Assemblies of God U.S. Missions is comprised of six departments, which includes Teen Challenge. USMissions.AG.org,
http://usmissions.ag.org/top/faqs.cfm There is link to the Teen Challenge Mission on the Assemblies of God website by going to the links on the left of their website and clicking on "Missions" and then "U.S. Missions", AG.org,
http://ag.org/top/ The Teen Challenge websites do not make the public aware that Teen Challenge is actually a Mission of the Assemblies of God Church.
Official Website Assemblies of God Home Missions
http://homemissions.ag.org/2. Sullivan, Amy, “Faith Without Works”, Oct. 2004, Washington Monthly, After four years, the president's faith-based policies have proven to be neither compassionate nor conservative. There is no evidence that faith-based organizations work better than their secular counterparts; and, in some cases, they are actually less effective. In one study funded by the Ford Foundation, investigators found that faith-based job training programs placed only 31 percent of their clients in full-time employment while the number for secular organizations was 53 percent. And Teen Challenge's much touted 86 percent rehabilitation rate falls apart under examination, the number doesn't include those who dropped out of Teen Challenge and relies on a disturbingly small sample of those graduates who self-reported whether they had remained sober, significantly tilting the results.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/featur ... livan.html3. “Church based projects lack data on results”, New York Times, April 24, 2001, NYTimes.com,
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/24/us/ch ... sults.html4. Public Broadcasting Service, “Religion and Ethics, Teen Challenge”, February 23, 2001 Episode no. 426 PBS.org
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethi ... cover.html5. Religion and Ethics, PBS.org
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethi ... cover.html6. Ross, Ross, “Proselytizing Report: Teen Challenge”, July 26, 1984 Religious Advisory Committee to the Arizona Department of Corrections, RickRoss.com,
http://www.rickross.com/reference/teen_ ... enge1.html7. TeenChallengeExposed.com
http://www.teenchallengeexposed.com/contactus.html8. Dog Emperor, Daily Kos, Mon Apr 28, 2008 at 02:04 PM PDT, Teen Challenge: A typical week in the "Jesus Gulag"
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/28 ... 453/5039819. Daily Kos – Teen Challenge, DailyKos.com,
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/28 ... 453/50398110. Minnesota Teen Challenge has several locations in Minneapolis. They are notorious for being abusive to their clients, 2008, TruthWinsOut.org,
http://www.truthwinsout.org/blog/2008/12/1474/For some firsthand accounts of abuse go to these sites:
Teen Challenge Exposed, TeenChallengeExposed.com,
http://www.teenchallengeexposed.com/Teen Challenge Cult, TeenChallengeCult.blogspot.com
http://teenchallengecult.blogspot.com/Teen Challenge USA links to Exodus Ministries - an Ex-Gay Ministry -it's listed second on this link list, TeenChallengeUSA.com,
http://teenchallengeusa.com/links.php11.E-Democracy forums posts on this topic are available, Forums.e-democracy.org,
http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/mp ... bGZGqcPClZ12. Assemblies of God Official Website, AG.org,
http://ag.org/top/13. Birkey, Andy, Minnesota Independent, “Teen Challenge: Ramstads Recovery Policy Included Faith-based Earmark”, MinnesotaIndependent.com,
http://minnesotaindependent.com/19501/r ... ed-earmark 14. OMB Watch “Government Teen Challenge Record on Food Stamps”
http://www.ombwatch.org/node/519815. Teen Challenge Cult blogspot – Food Stamp Fraud, TeenChallengeCult.blogspot.com,
http://teenchallengecult.blogspot.com/16. The Honolulu Advertiser “Food stamp fraud in Honolulu and elsewhere”
http://www.the.honoluluadvertiser.com/a ... ln09a.html17. DailyKos.com Teen Challenge Your Tax Dollars Paying for Institutionalized abuse
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/05/0 ... ised-abuse 18. World Magazine, WorldMag.com,
http://www.worldmag.com/articles/10969 19. Schaler.net,
http://www.schaler.net/inthenews/washblade.html 20. Under Charitable Choice provisions TANF provided extensive financial support to Teen Challenge., CRS Report - Charitable Choice, Faith-Based Initiatives, and TANF Vee Burke, Domestic Social Policy Division, Digital.Library.unt.edu,
http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/675 ... 3Sep30.pdf 21.OMB Watch.org
http://www.ombwatch.org/ 22. Rodney Hart’s Doctoral Thesis, TCNewEngland.org,
http://www.tcnewengland.org/resources/R ... ersion.pdf 23.Texas Association of Christian Child Care Agencies Inc is located at 2000 16th St Garland, TX. Phone: 972-278-2146
24. Florida Association of Christian Child Care Agencies Inc is located at Lake City, FL. Phone: 386-752-2900.
http://www.faccca.com/Information.htm 25. Escobedo, Duwayne, “Secrets in the Schoolhouse”, InWeekly.Net, It took 12 years for Rebecca Ramirez, 28 years old waves a sign that claims Michael Palmer, the founder of the all-girls boarding school, Victory Christian Academy, raped her when she was a 16-year-old student in 1992. The Victory Christian for $1,200 a month, offered parents a "faith-based" program that promises to help their rebellious and troubled daughters. Girls attending the school are sent by their parents for everything ranging from behavioral problems, drug abuse and depression. The courts in California shut him down when he refused to be licensed by the state. California authorities investigated a variety of complaints, including allegations of abuse. State authorities looked into the 1988 death of a 15-year-old girl, while she helped build a new part of the school. Her death was ruled an accident. And in September, Mexican authorities closed Genesis-by-the-Sea, a similar school Palmer owns near Rosarito Beach, Mexico, after immigration and child abuse complaints. Some former students and parents say neglect and abuse happen, not only at Palmer's Victory Christian Academy, but other schools in Santa Rosa County and across the state that all belong to the same organization—Florida Association of Christian Child Caring Agencies. FACCCA is a volunteer, non-profit group established by Florida law in 1984 that allows the private, faith-based schools to operate with little state oversight. Instead, they're monitored by FACCCA. FACCCA oversees about 31 schools, including New Beginnings, Rebekah Academy in Pace, run by Pastor Wiley Cameron and his wife, Faye. For years, the Camerons ran the Roloff Group homes in Corpus Christi, Texas. The homes provided strict, Bible-based education and training for troubled girls and boys, as well as some adults.
http://www.inweekly.net/article.asp?artID=71326. Association of Christian Conciliation Services. P.O. Box 81130, Billings, Montana 59108, (406)256-1583,
http://www.peacemaker.net/site/The Christian Concilliation Handbook on alternative ADR
ccr4peace.org/CCRHandbookBound.doc
