18th Birthdays

[Antigen]

Did she ever check on the validity of the court order? I know of a few people who thought they were court ordered to Straight but it turned out to be bogus.

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
--Albert Einstein

[Anonymous]

If I am not mistaken, I believe even if a kid is court-ordered but they are over 18, they have the right to challenge/contest the order.  Would imagine that's easier said than done considering how these kids have so little access to the outside world.  Hopefully, the parents of this girl will not pursue a court order, but if they do, make sure you find out whether your friend can challenge it, and if so, whether she is willing to do so.  Good Luck!!!

 :smile:

[Anonymous]

She's not court ordered.

As far as I've been able to find out from her close friends, there was darned little reason for sending her there in the first place.

IMO, the parents are flakes and she was inconvenient and has a personality type too different from theirs.

Not to mention that she had the temerity to actually get angry when her parents did flaky things on a whim that adversely impacted her.

And some of the things they did *anyone* sane with any self-respect would have been mad at them.

The *parents*, IMO, *do* need therapy.  They just need *competent* therapy instead of something premised on the kid's anger being all the kid's fault instead of actually justified by the parents treating her badly.

And based on what I've heard, some of that treatment bordered on actionable neglect, and probably crossed the line to it.

They don't have anything on which to *get* a real court order.

And there's already a lawyer who's volunteered to help out if they try to keep her past 18.

I know there are some situations where the kid's really challenging and you can almost feel for the parents even if you don't agree with their choices.

This isn't one of those.

[Anonymous]

Why can't she just walk out when she turns 18 and have you or a friend waiting there to meet her?

Or the lawyer can get a writ of Habeus Corpus issued through the courts. This would work 100%.

Being held against her will when she is 18 would be illegal. The writ of Habeus Corpus would take care of this. Check with you attorney friend.

[Christopher Riner]

I spent 18 months in costa rica, and turned 18 after about 10 months of being there.  I graduated the program and then turned nineteen like a few months later.  In Costa rica, it was hard as hell to leave when you turned 18.  A lot of kids wanted to.  There are TONS of things that get in your way; first of all, after doing months and months of work to get where you are, just WANTING to leave showed signs of lack of progress.  You were SUPPOSED to be there to help yourself, and wanting to leave showed that you weren't committed to that.  We were told that at 18 we were allowed to walk through the gates and right out the door, but only like one person actually did it, and he was picked up by staff after a while.  We weren't promised plane tickets or anything- that's what we were told. There were 18 year olds who did successfully leave, and it was always a complicated situation.  When you are limited to your communication with your parents (which is pretty much the only outside communication you had), it is hard to find someone to come and pick you up or something.  The secret to actually getting out was very hush hush.  I personally think that when kids know they can get out when they are 18 retards their progress, and I am hella glad that I stayed.  It really did suck while I was there though.  Another influencing factor is the family rep.  To my knowledge, this is the person that has control over the situation when you turn 18, in terms of booking plane tickets or whatever.  We all knew we could walk out the door, but what if we didn't make it back to the states?  We would be illegal residents in Costa Rica.  And like I said, if you acted on it and failed, then you were level one, with zero points alllll over again...

[Kiwi]

On 2004-04-16 07:58:00, Christopher Riner wrote:

"We were told that at 18 we were allowed to walk through the gates and right out the door, but only like one person actually did it, and he was picked up by staff after a while."

By "picked up" do you mean he was found wandering around with no money and nowhere to go and persuaded to return, or kidnapped and illegally detained?

[Anonymous]

Okay, so wherever she is on her 18th birthday we will make sure she has someone there to get her to the embassy and airport, and money, and plane tickets if she's out of the country, and someone with a car and money for her, who can arrange transportation wherever she wants to go if she's somewhere else.

Her parents can hold her against her will until she is 18, but be damned if they're going to hold her against her will a day longer without legal action.

She *will* be informed by attorneys and/or the police---people official enough that she can be absolutely sure it's not a test---that she *can* leave, and that she *has* choices of multiple places to go to stay while she gets back on her feet, and that she *can* get pretty much wherever she wants and get started getting established and into school.

She is *not* going to be illegally detained without one hell of a fight and one hell of a load of consequences for any perpetrators.

Grrrr.

If she *chooses* to stay that's her lookout, but she *will* be told by credible authorities outside of that institution or her parents what her full range of choices are.

"If people knew they could leave on their 18th birthday" indeed!

Grrrr.

Damn straight she'll know she can leave.  We can't make them allow access to officials to tell her before her birthday, but we for damn sure can set it up *on* her birthday.

[notworking]

On your friend's behalf, you can contact the State Department Overseas Citizens Services office at (202) 647-5225.  They can help you begin to set up things for your friend before her 18th birthday.  If having a passport is an issue, you can arrange for identifying information to be sent to the consulate where she will apply for a replacement passport.  The OCS can also help you set up a trust for your friend where you can deposit money for her to use to buy a plane ticket home.  I think there's a charge for this.  The OCS can advise you of the nearest place you can wire money (like Western Union).  If you can, make sure that your friend has the telephone number of the nearest consulate/embassy so she can call them for help when she is released.

As an aside, US law provides that minors 14 and older have to apply for their own passports in person.  So if a parent is attempting to send a minor overseas to a program and the minor doesn't already have a passport, the minor should refuse to sign the application.  If there is some sort of duress going on, the minor should tell the passport official.  With all the post September 11th protections, the federal government is very interested in children who are pressured into applying for passports, for whatever reason.  Moreover, children 14 and older are entitled to the assistance of the local US Consulate and may, under certain circumstances, be entitled to repatriation, regardless of parental consent.  If the local consulate seems to be "cozy" with the program, it might be helpful to frame the issue as one of child exploitation/human trafficking, since my understanding is that kids in overseas programs are forced to work for free.  Abducting a child -- with or without parental consent -- for forced labor is a violation of US and international law.

[spots]

The advice on how to work the US Department of State system in leaving a foreign country is very good.  However...BE ADVISED...

The Consulate of our State Department out of Tijuana, Mexico (for Northern Mexico) is in tight with the WWASPS facility (Casa by the Sea in Ensenada).  The attache, Al Anzeldua, in Tijuana, and his Ensenada representative, Greg Garner, are very good friends with Dace Goulding, Director at Casa by the Sea.  They make "surprise" visits/investigations on a very regular basis, have lunch, and tour the grounds escorted by these dear friends. Mr. Alzendua thinks the WWASPS model of behavior modification is really dandy, and sees no problems or abuse at the facility (even though he has been told repeatedly his visits are tightly-scripted visits with programmed escorts and only to areas deemed appropriate by the management).  Mr. Anzeldua has refused to allow requested welfare checks on American citizens in Mexico, even though that is the law and the written policy of the State Department. Mr. Anzeldua has refused to inform juvenile US citizens that by law they cannot be held against their will in a foreign country if they are over the age of 14.  Mr. Anzeldua has refused to act upon illegal interruption of US Mail going to US citizens in Mexico.  Mr. Anzeldua, when communicating his sympathy at the situation in our family that isolated our grandaughter from not only the outside world, but from any direct communication with her mother for nearly one year, suggested we just wait and "be there for her when she gets out".  

In short, if the young girl in question needs help from our Department of State office serving Northern Mexico, expect to get the minimum or none at all.

[Anonymous]

Spots - save it for someone who believes YOU.  You said whatever you could to make yourself right and in the end, was found without merit.  Give it up.  What you are saying is that this guy would risk his career for a friendship with Dace. That's a good dream, sleep tight.

[Anonymous]

On 2004-04-19 20:21:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Spots - save it for someone who believes YOU.  You said whatever you could to make yourself right and in the end, was found without merit.  Give it up.  What you are saying is that this guy would risk his career for a friendship with Dace. That's a good dream, sleep tight.  "

The kid we're talking about has about as much chance of being in Mexico on her birthday as she has of being on Mars, so one way or the other the Mexico/Casa/Dace thing is irrelevant to her.

That said, if you don't think that 18 year olds have the right to leave "programs" in foreign countries and be repatriated, then you're part of the problem, not part of the solution.

If I had my way, every one of the kids moved to a "boarding school" in a foreign country would be registered with the State Department, along with his/her date of birth, and would receive a visit from embassy personnel (accompanied by local law enforcement if necessary) on his or her 18th birthday offering immediate repatriation upon request.

And if you don't agree with that, then you're obviously up to no good.

[notworking]

On 2004-04-19 18:08:00, spots wrote:

"The advice on how to work the US Department of State system in leaving a foreign country is very good.  However...BE ADVISED...



The Consulate of our State Department out of Tijuana, Mexico (for Northern Mexico) is in tight with the WWASPS facility (Casa by the Sea in Ensenada).  The attache, Al Anzeldua, in Tijuana, and his Ensenada representative, Greg Garner, are very good friends with Dace Goulding, Director at Casa by the Sea.  ".  



In short, if the young girl in question needs help from our Department of State office serving Northern Mexico, expect to get the minimum or none at all.   "

I would think that the answer here is to keep going higher up.  There's an ambassador to Mexico, so call his office and ask to speak with him.  Does it take time?  Sure.  But I cannot believe that Colin Powell is going to tell you that it's U.S. policy to leave citizen minors locked in work camps.  As I suggested, you can also contact organizations that deal with child exploitation, the American Red Cross, and Amnesty International.  You can bet that if it was my child/grandchild in one of these places, every human being I came into contact with would know about it.  Eventually, the school will get sick of the attention and allow the child to leave or the parents will get sick of the attention and bring the kid home.

The attache may NOT have to inform U.S. citizen minors that they can not be held.  I don't remember reading anything about an affirmative duty of State Department officials to advise people of their rights, unless they're asked.  However, if when asked, he is advising minors that they have no right to leave or, when they leave, turning them away from the consulate, then he needs to be reported.

[Antigen]

On 2004-04-20 10:24:00, notworking wrote:

"I cannot believe that Colin Powell is going to tell you that it's U.S. policy to leave citizen minors locked in work camps.

Ok, I think a little background might be in order here. If the facility were located in Italy, you'd find the founder of Straight, Inc. heading up the American Embassy. If it got to Colin Powell, he gave his endorsement to an outfit called American Buffalo Soldiers Reenactors:
More Info. http://www.kaet.asu.edu/horizon/transcr ... 9_2002.htm

I note, to his credit (or maybe just his handlers' acumen) that a search on American Buffalo Soldiers Reenactors and Colin Powell no longer turns up any results. But you begin to see the problem? This form of "treatment" is not only still in use, it's broadly accepted for treating troubling youth and those who suffer from getting busted in posession of certain substances. And it's endorsed by some pretty powerful people.

How high does it go? Well, look into the history and regarding National Families in Action

http://www.nationalfamilies.org/publica ... _band.html

http://www.nationalfamilies.org/

I think you're right, though. The best answer I can come up with is that we take it up the chain of command. Next step after the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary branches would be the IVth Estate.

Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.

--Mark Twain

_________________
Ginger Warbis ~ Antigen
Seed sibling `71 - `80
Straight South (Sarasota, FL)
   10/80 - 10/82
Anonymity Anonymous
It is wrong to leave a stumbling block in the road once it has tripped you.

[Deborah]

Other links on this topic:
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=231&forum=9

http://thebuffalosoldiers.com/theplan.htm
In 1995, at the request of General Colin Powell and the Phoenix Mayor's office, AAmerica's Buffalo Soldier CAPSAG Youth Programs were developed by ABSRA with a special emphasis on youth-at-risk of all culturally diverse arena. Development of CAPSAG Omega Academy and Fort Powell, America's Buffalo Soldier Military Academy, college prep boarding school are in progress. In-House Management
Colonel Charles F. Long II, President/CEO

http://www.ontheissues.org/Cabinet/Coli ... Values.htm

http://www.loc.gov/bicentennial/propage ... stor4.html

http://www.siue.edu/ALESTLE/library/spr ... life2.html

[Antigen]

On 2004-04-19 20:21:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Spots - save it for someone who believes YOU.  You said whatever you could to make yourself right and in the end, was found without merit.  Give it up.  What you are saying is that this guy would risk his career for a friendship with Dace. That's a good dream, sleep tight.  "

I don't think it's so much about social cliques or big money payoffs in smoke filled back rooms as it is about deeply entrenched religious fanaticism. I think the people who protect and promote these programs at the highest levels are no less sincere and dedicated to their cause than was Joseph Goebbels.

This year will go down in history! For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration! Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future!
         
http://www.aidoann.com/guncontrol.html' target='_new'>Adolph Hitler