Author Topic: 5 Aspen programs closes  (Read 13725 times)

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Offline Oscar

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5 Aspen programs closes
« on: July 12, 2013, 06:55:17 AM »
5 program closes.

* Academy at Swift River
* Talisman Academy
* Stone Mountain School
* SUWS Adolescent & Youth Programs - Idaho
* Adirondack Leadership Expeditions

Instead of blaming the economy just state as it is. They just could not shut up those who survived and it is a killer for the marketing efforts.

Source:
Aspen Education Group Closes Five Programs (Struglingteens)
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Offline Matt C. Hoffman

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Re: 5 Aspen programs closes
« Reply #1 on: July 12, 2013, 01:06:43 PM »
Quote from: "Oscar"
5 program closes.

* Academy at Swift River
* Talisman Academy
* Stone Mountain School
* SUWS Adolescent & Youth Programs - Idaho
* Adirondack Leadership Expeditions

Instead of blaming the economy just state as it is. They just could not shut up those who survived and it is a killer for the marketing efforts.

Source:
Aspen Education Group Closes Five Programs (Struglingteens)

Absolutely Oscar instead of blaming the economy- just tell the truth.  They, these programs (Elan, Aspen, Straight,  etc) just could not shut up those who survived and it is killing their marketing efforts, you are most  correct kind sir.

It is funny that these programs are incapable of ever telling the truth or recognizing the truth,( they will try to blame their closing on the economy ,lol) these hell holes cannot hide from the truth of what they did ( or do ) to children in the guise of therapy, because there are survivors that  are alive to tell the truth about what went on in these places.

Burns my ears to listen Oscar. It  burned my eyes to see Oscar, firsthand what an abusive program like elan and what it's henchmen  did to children. The folks that run these places now need assistance in finding justice for the crimes of sadistic physical and emotional serial  child abuse that they heaped upon defenseless children- all for the love of money and well they  also enjoyed being serial child abusers. Criminally sick people run these type of places.

Sharon Terry ,Martin Kruglik ,and Jeffery Gottlieb the cretins that ran elan need to be put in prison -no doubt in my mind or many other elan survivor's minds about this.

It is nice to know Oscar, that many people like yourself realize that  it is not the economy , that  it the truth that is shutting down these Synanon spawned treatment centers, And  it is coming from survivors lips to the worlds ears.

Damn Oscar thank you for putting things right and in their proper perspectives, And to the survivors don't ever shut up!

Thank you Oscar
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Offline none-ya

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Re: 5 Aspen programs closes
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2013, 01:39:01 PM »
Matt,do you really think a couple of hundred disgruntled voices can stand in the way of real money being made? By anybody? Pretty naive.
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Offline Whooter

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Re: 5 Aspen programs closes
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2013, 11:17:22 PM »
Quote from: "none-ya"
Matt,do you really think a couple of hundred disgruntled voices can stand in the way of real money being made? By anybody? Pretty naive.

None-ya has a good point, The economy picture has had a tremendous influence over the past several years and a few disgruntled or even a few hundred vs the tens of thousands who have benefited from these schools, as None-ya has brought up, could not have had much of an impact.  If you look at the media reports there has been none (or very little) negative press to support the closings are due to this.  The economy has been a much more predominant driving force.

The fluctuation in the TTI will continue and as the economy rises and falls so will the specialty schools that are supported by "out of pocket" finances.



...
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Offline none-ya

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Re: 5 Aspen programs closes
« Reply #4 on: July 14, 2013, 05:02:45 AM »
Quote
Whooter wrote;
None-ya has a good point

Well there goes what was left of my credibility.
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Offline psy

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Re: 5 Aspen programs closes
« Reply #5 on: July 14, 2013, 09:21:28 AM »
Sadly, I think Whooter and none-ya actually do have valid points.  I think the economy probably has been the primary factor for a lot of these programs closing.  That doesn't mean that exposing them hasn't helped.  It just means that it hasn't been the only reason programs have been shutting down.
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Offline none-ya

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Re: 5 Aspen programs closes
« Reply #6 on: July 14, 2013, 03:13:32 PM »
I guess all the program pushing ed-con pimps are feeling the pinch too. Right Whoot?
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Offline none-ya

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Re: 5 Aspen programs closes
« Reply #7 on: July 15, 2013, 12:22:15 PM »
Quote
psy wrote;
Sadly, I think Whooter and none-ya actually do have valid points

Damn! I finally make a valid point, and it's "sad".
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Offline DannyB II

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Re: 5 Aspen programs closes
« Reply #8 on: July 15, 2013, 11:32:00 PM »
It does have more to do with the economy than anything else. Since 2008 more programs have closed than in the last 20 years. I would love to say this had to do with voices from sites like this one but this just wouldn't be true. None of the programs listed by Oscar were even close to the "hellholes" as Matt stated.
This economy has had a residual effect on corporation and their supporting companies. Take Apple and all the companies that support Apple or Ford etc....plus the housing market being crushed as it was and is. Your house lost money, your retirement account lost money and so on. This is where the money came from to pay for the enrollments.
Parents aren't reading this site or any other site any more than they were 10 years ago.
This is what is sad.
Watch! When the economy gears back up more programs will come back on line. Our job will be to advocate for better oversight.
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Offline psy

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Re: 5 Aspen programs closes
« Reply #9 on: July 16, 2013, 12:21:02 PM »
Danny. I don't think it's fair for you to speak for others and berate their experiences just because you believe your program to be "worse".  There are certainly enough bad stories about, say, ASR, to go around.  Also, just to correct a factual error: Apple did quite well despite the economy.  Like I said, I think the closure was a result of both people speaking out and the economy.
« 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 Oscar

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Re: 5 Aspen programs closes
« Reply #10 on: July 18, 2013, 02:31:13 AM »
I found this article mentioning the neighbors concern:

Quote
Outdoor program for troubled teens closing (Adirondack Daily Enterprise)

SARANAC LAKE - An outdoor recreation program for troubled teens that's operated here for 10 years is shutting down, leaving more than two dozen full-time employees and many more seasonal staff members out of work.

Adirondack Leadership Expeditions, which is based in Saranac Lake and has sites in Onchiota and Gabriels, is one of five programs run by Aspen Education Group that will close this summer, according to an email sent to its employees last week by Andrew Eckert, CEO of CRC Health Group, which acquired Aspen in 2006. The email, a copy of which was obtained by the Enterprise, cites financial reasons for closing the facilities.

"While the need for residential treatment for teens with behavioral or substance abuse issues is arguably as big if not bigger than it was seven years ago, gone are the days of student loans for these programs which, when coupled with other national economic factors, has severely impacted parents' ability to afford this type of help," Eckert wrote. "Following serious deliberation about the current market and how we can best apply our resources to serve the broadest network of people, we have made the difficult decision to cease operations at certain of our therapeutic boarding schools and outdoor programs."

In addition to ALE, Aspen is also closing one other wilderness program, SUWS Adolescent and Youth Programs in Shoshone, Idaho, and three boarding schools: Academy at Swift River in Cimmington, Mass., Talisman Academy in Hendersonville, N.C., and Stone Mountain School in Black Mountain, N.C. Students in each site will complete their programs before its operations come to an end, Eckert wrote.

Tracy Edwards, ALE's executive director, didn't return a phone message left at her office in the program's Church Street administrative site. ALE also operates a base camp in Onchiota which includes cabins, an infirmary building and campsites, and a logistics building in Gabriels where equipment is stored and staff training takes place. The latter two sites are on land ALE has leased from Paul Smith's College.

Adirondack Leadership Expeditions opened in June 2003. It offers a "character-development wilderness program for troubled teens that promotes personal growth through a focus on insight-oriented experiences," according to its website. The program is geared for teenagers from ages 13 to 17 who have low self-esteem, substance abuse problems, defiant behavior, attention-deficit issues and other problems. It doesn't serve youth involved in the criminal justice system.

Several current and former ALE employees, who spoke to the Enterprise on condition of anonymity, said the number of students enrolled in its programs has dwindled over the last two years. While economic factors like those cited in Eckert's email played a role, the employees also said they didn't feel enough had been done to market ALE's programs to parents who could afford its expensive tuition. The program costs more than $460 a day, plus admission fees and other charges. Sessions can run from 30 to 90 days.

The employees told the Enterprise that ALE has a year-round staff of about 30 people, including administration, admissions, clinical, field instruction and operations staff, plus another 20 people hired seasonally. Some of the year-round workers who will lose their jobs have been offered severance pay, and some have been offered jobs at other facilities and programs run by ALE's parent company.

"We recognize and regret that the decision to consolidate services affects our valued employees," Eckert wrote in his email. "We are sincerely appreciative of our employees' years of hard work and determination, and their dedication to young people whose lives they have forever positively affected."

ALE's last student will reportedly complete the program in early September, and it will shut down for good by the end of the month.

In addition to the affected workers, the current and former ALE employees the Enterprise spoke with said local businesses that benefitted from its operations will also be hurt by the closure. They said that includes Nori's Village Market, where much of the food for the program's participants is purchased, and MC Motors in Gabriels, which has maintained ALE's fleet of vehicles, among other businesses.

ALE made news last year when a group of about 10 people who live near the program's Onchiota camp showed up at a Franklin town board meeting to raise concerns about the organization's oversight of students enrolled in the program. They cited several cases of teens running away from the camp and trespassing on their property, including one 16-year-old who stole a local resident's car and tried to drive it south before he was caught on the Adirondack Northway. In an emailed response to the Enterprise at the time, Edwards promised to review the organization's procedures and, where possible, enhance them.

With the closure of ALE and the four other programs, Aspen Education Group now has nine remaining programs across the country. Its parent company, CRC Health Group, is a large national health care corporation owned by Bain Capital, the private equity firm that 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney co-founded and managed in the 1980s and '90s.
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Offline DannyB II

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Re: 5 Aspen programs closes
« Reply #11 on: July 18, 2013, 10:16:38 PM »
Quote from: "psy"
Danny. I don't think it's fair for you to speak for others and berate their experiences just because you believe your program to be "worse".  There are certainly enough bad stories about, say, ASR, to go around.  Also, just to correct a factual error: Apple did quite well despite the economy.  Like I said, I think the closure was a result of both people speaking out and the economy.

Obviously you really don't know anything about Apple's stock value or their earnings...lol. But this is for another thread.
It is always fair to write my opinion, especially when many agree. You can believe what you want psy, just ease up on your judgment. Words and actions like "berating and speaking for others" are coming from you not me.
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