Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Topics - hurrikayne

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 6
1
Open Free for All / Hey
« on: March 23, 2012, 09:58:07 PM »
Just popped in to say howdy.  What happened to the bitch box?  Hmmm.  How is everyone?

2
Roloff / Wiley B. Cameron has passed away
« on: December 27, 2009, 01:01:00 PM »
I do not have an official obit yet, will be on the lookout for it.  Sources indicate he died December 25th.

3
Open Free for All / A Recovery Bill of Rights for Trauma Survivors
« on: April 25, 2009, 08:10:47 PM »
Some may find this helpful, I know that I have...

By Thomas V. Maguire, Ph.D.
Copyright 1995-97 Thomas V. Maguire, Ph.D. Ver. 3.0 (04/97)
All rights reserved, except that permission is hereby granted to freely reproduce and distribute this document, provided the text is reproduced unaltered and entire (including this notice) and is distributed free of charge.
 

By Virtue of Your Personal Authority You Have the Right to . . .

Manage your life according to your own values and judgment.

Direct your recovery, answerable to no one for your goals or progress.

Gather information to make intelligent decisions about your recovery.

Seek help from many sources, unhindered by demands for exclusivity.

Decline help from anyone without having to justify the decision.

Believe in your ability to heal and seek allies who share your faith.

Trust allies in healing so far as one human can trust another.

Be afraid and avoid what frightens you.

Decide for yourself whether, when, and where to confront fear.

Learn by experimenting, that is, make mistakes.


To Guard Your Personal Boundaries You Have the Right to . . .

Be touched only with, and within the limits of, your consent.

Speak or remain silent, about any topic and at any time, as you wish.

Choose to accept or decline feedback, suggestions, or interpretations.

Ask for help in healing, without having to accept help with everything.

Challenge any crossing of your boundaries.

Take action to stop a trespass that does not cease when challenged.

 
For the Integrity of Your Personal Communication You Have the Right to . . .

Ask for explanation of communications you do not understand.

Express a contrary view when you do understand and you disagree.

Acknowledge your feelings, without having to justify them.

Ask for changes when your needs are not being met.

Speak of your experience, without apology for your uncertainties.

Resolve doubt without deferring to the views or wishes of anyone.

 
For Safety in Your Personal Dependency in Therapy You Have the Right to . . .

Hire a therapist or counselor as coach, not boss, of your recovery.

Receive expert and faithful assistance in healing from your therapist.

Know that your therapist will never have any other relationship with you— business, social, or sexual.

Be secure against any disclosure by your therapist, except with your consent or under court order.

Hold your therapist's undivided loyalty in relation to all abusers.

Obtain informative answers to questions about your condition, your therapist's qualifications, and any proposed treatment.

Have your safety given priority by your therapist, to the point of readiness to use all lawful means to neutralize an imminent threat to your life or that of someone else.

Receive a commitment from your therapist that is not conditional on your "good behavior" (habitual crime and endangerment excepted).

Make clear and reliable agreements about the times of sessions and of your therapist's availability.

Telephone your therapist between scheduled sessions, in urgent need, and receive a return call within a reasonable time.

Be taught skills that lessen the risk of re-traumatization:

containment (boundaries for recovery work);

control of attention and mental imagery;

systematic relaxation.

Enjoy reasonable physical comfort during sessions.

4
Open Free for All / Etnic Italian cooking...
« on: January 04, 2009, 12:43:32 AM »
Okay, lemme just say that I appreciate spaghetti & pizza, as much as any red blooded American...but I am really tired of living in such close proximity to ethnic Italians.  They make this dish, which smells very similar to stinky sock soup...and it makes me ILL.  I have no clue what the hell they are doing down there, but it turns my stomach and I do not like it.  Damn it.  Okay, done ranting.  :)

5
News Items / Author calls for end to residential program abuse
« on: January 03, 2009, 07:12:20 PM »
Author calls for end to residential program abuse
By Rebecca Nuttall | Published  12/31/2008 | Metro | Rating:
 
Author Ron Howard is hoping for enforcement of the “Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008.” Until it is implemented and enforced, Howard sees little hope for the many children he says are being abused in residential programs across the country.

“A lot of people are just overlooking this whole thing. I’ve been preaching this for over a year now,” Howard said. “The problem with this bill is it has to be enforced and that’s gonna take manpower and more money.”

Though the bill was passed in the House of Representatives June 25, it is still awaiting approval from the Senate as well as the president. Howard said if the bill is enforced each incidence of child abuse can be assessed for up to $50,000.

“If you were to check around and try to find any success stories coming out of residential treatments you would find zero,” Howard said. “Parents need to understand their rights, and organizations need to be held accountable.”

Howard said children in residential programs are the victims of neglect as well as violent abuse that has sometimes led to death. In his book, “Children on Layaway,” he includes the personal stories of children who have suffered these traumas.

“There’s a mentality that runs the residential programs that these kids did something wrong,” Howard said. “They’re treating them more like inmates. If you treat a person long enough like an inmate, that’s how they’re going to respond.”

Another issue, Howard said, is that children with behavioral problems are put in the same homes as children who had to be taken from their parents because they were being abused or neglected.

“They mix them all together, which is one problem there. These kids that are being snatched out their homes after they’ve done nothing wrong, shouldn’t be put in a home with a kid that’s been acting out,” Howard said. “They should be separated. If you put a good child in with a bunch of bad kids, eventually that good kid is going to dissolve right in with them.”

In researching the backgrounds of criminals, Howard found many had been through residential programs as youths. “Where are the results?” Howard said. “There’s no concrete results coming to these kids. It’s all on paper, but when you get in the field you’ll find none of this is actually happening.”

Howard, who worked in a residential program and has a degree in developmental psychology, blames the lack of results on underqualified staff. He recalled one staff member who had a degree in cosmetology, and could not remember anyone who had a degree to qualify them for working with youths.

“They’re calling them ‘youth counselors’ but really they’re security guards. It looks good on paper and it makes the parents bring their kids to them,” Howard said. “Make them hire people who are qualified to do this kind of work.”

Howard said children might be afraid to report abuse because they are afraid of retaliation. Likewise, he said parents might be afraid to report abuse because they do not want their children kicked out of the program.

Larry McKinney, Holy Family Institute’s director of residential and clinical services, said his staff undergoes training to help keep abuse from occurring.

“Obviously our main line of attack is through training of our staff. I personally meet with our staff and let them know our kids have been in numerous placements before they got to us, “McKinney said. “We try hard to make them aware of the types of abuse they have been subjected to. We help them in understanding the background.”

McKinney said staff members monitor each other and know to step in when a staff member seems to be getting stressed and losing patience with one of the children.

“The other thing is too, if somebody does do something—and I have to admit that has happened from time to time—there is a statewide investigation,” McKinney said. “Kids know their rights. They all have child advocates who check in periodically.”

Although McKinney is not familiar with the “Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008,” he said it might address concerns similar to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1975. He also said legislation passes by his desk frequently regarding child safety.

http://http://newpittsburghcourieronline.com/articlelive/articles/43098/1/Author-calls-for-end-to-residential-program-abuse/Page1.html

6
News Items / Patient's parent speaks out on dangers at Tampa Bay Academy
« on: January 03, 2009, 06:35:53 PM »
Patient's parent speaks out about dangers at Tampa Bay Academy

By Rebecca Catalanello, Times staff writer
In print: Saturday, December 20, 2008

TAMPA — Sharon Meyer listened with more than passing interest this week to news that an east Hillsborough County mental health facility was being shut down by the state.

She wasn't surprised.

Her 16-year-old daughter was among those living at Tampa Bay Academy. The girl had been there a year and, at least three times, the state has investigated claims of abuse or neglect against her.

The Department of Children and Families substantiated one claim — that a staff member at the Riverview residential treatment center choked the girl.

"My daughter is coming out of there 10 times worse than when she entered," said Meyer, founder of the Foundation for Large Families, an Internet support group for adoptive parents.

Meyer offered a glimpse of what it is like for parents who, at wit's end, turn to professionals for help, only to discover even more cause for worry.

Tampa Bay Academy, one of 45 residential treatment centers in the state, is fighting to stay open in the wake of findings by the Agency for Health Care Administration that the 20-year-old facility is rife with problems that include unreported sex assaults by minors.

The Agency for Health Care Administration ordered a moratorium on admissions there and, by Friday, had moved 17 of the 54 residents, agency spokeswoman Shelisha Durden said.

Andrew Rock, an attorney for the Academy, declined to respond to Meyer's statements about the school.

Rock appealed to the 2nd District Court of Appeals on Wednesday to stop the state's efforts to close it down, arguing in part that the claims are unfounded.

"While it's under the consideration of the court, we think it's appropriate not to try to litigate it in the press," he said.

Meyer said her daughter was admitted to the program after being diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a condition that began manifesting itself about the age of 10. The illness eventually made it unsafe for the girl, who had been adopted at birth, to be around the other children in the family, Meyer said.

Meyer was thankful Tampa Bay Academy could help her daughter, who she believes to be a danger. At one point her daughter got into a scuffle with staff members, and one employee was punched and another pushed.

But in the time the girl has been at the facility, Meyer has had numerous occasions to question the level and quality of supervision and safety there:

• When the girl entered, she didn't have scars. Now, she has what Meyer described as nine large gashes on her arms.

• The girl became seriously ill after staff members administered Haldol to the girl, though the parents repeatedly advised it would cause an adverse reaction.

In April, the girl's father rushed to her aid and took her to an emergency room after being summoned to the campus by a staff member who said they couldn't reach any of the center's medical staff. Bob Meyer found the girl drooling and barely able to walk, a condition the parents said doctors attributed to the drug.

• Though the teenager has been there for a year, it was about five months before the family started receiving treatment reports from Tampa Bay Academy. It was six months before she started getting report cards, she said.

• Her daughter once disappeared from the facility for five hours.

• Her daughter had such easy access to medication that she repeatedly stole and took other people's prescribed drugs.

• Meyer said that on one occasion, she was advised that a former female staff member came back to the campus, kissed her daughter and told her that pictures of the girl decorate her house — a situation that prompted other staffers to intervene.

"I think it's even more widespread than they're reporting," Meyer said of the charges against the residential treatment center.

Terry Field, a DCF spokesman, said a cursory review of abuse and neglect investigations at the Academy turned up at least 30 complaints in the past year.

Though two pending 2006 lawsuits against Tampa Bay Academy allege child-on-child sex abuse at the facility, neither DCF nor the Agency for Health Care Administration said they were aware of the lawsuits until this week.

The Health Care Administration, which has been licensing state residential treatment programs since 2006, said its most recent investigation was prompted by an anonymous complaint.

State law does not require residential treatment centers to report such litigation to the licensing agency, said Health Care Administration officials Laura MacLafferty and Polly Weaver.

That's something state Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, said needs to change.

"There needs to be a thorough review — not just of this facility or of what went wrong," she said. "We need to analyze and assess the other facilities that are intensive therapy facilities. How can we prevent this in the future?"

Altogether, there are just 743 beds available in Florida for children under the age of 18 who require the level of intensive mental health care provided by residential treatment centers.

A firm number on the length of the waiting list was not available Thursday or Friday, but lawyers say the need is great.

Nancy Bostock, a Pinellas County commissioner who has personal experience navigating mental health treatment programs for kids, said the stories coming out of Tampa Bay Academy are worrisome to any parent who has felt the need to entrust their child into the care of professionals.

"Any time you put a lot of troubled kids together, you're going to have troubling behaviors," she said. "But that's why we sent our kids to (places like) Tampa Bay Academy."

Rebecca Catalanello can be reached at rcatalanello@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3383.

http://http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article944052.ece

7
News Items / 7 Utah schools face accreditation woes
« on: January 03, 2009, 04:55:58 PM »
7 Utah schools face accreditation woes
Warnings » Some schools improved status, others declined.

By Lisa Schencker

The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 01/02/2009 07:47:49 PM MST

Seven Utah public and private schools face serious accreditation problems, according to a report the Utah State Board of Education will discuss Thursday.

The Northwest Association of Accredited Schools (NAAS) and the Utah State Accreditation Committee are recommending accreditation for the vast majority of Utah schools this year and want to place six on "advised" status, meaning they have problems that threaten their accreditation. They're recommending "warned" status for one other school, which is one step closer to losing accreditation than "advised."

High schools must be accredited in order for the credit they give students to be considered valid. Accreditation status is based on a number of factors including curriculum, counselor to student ratio and assessment.

In all, of 293 schools that applied for accreditation, 169 Utah schools were recommended for approval and 116 were recommended for approval with comments about areas to be improved. Many of the comments criticize schools for giving teachers excessive class loads.

Four schools that were placed on advised status last year -- Granger High, Hillcrest High, Provo High and Navajo Mountain High -- improved this year and will likely move back to regular "approved" or "approved with comment" status.

This year's report noted that Hillcrest and Provo made "good progress in reducing teacher loads."

Schools that will be recommended for advised status this year include: Rich High School; charter school Liberty Academy; the private Meridian School; and residential programs Renaissance Private Academy, Triumph Youth Services and Hightop Ranch School.

Karl G. Maeser Preparatory Academy, a charter school in Lindon, is being recommended for "warned" status. Schools that receive two consecutive "warned" ratings face loss of accreditation.

Maeser was given "warned" status because it didn't submit an annual report by a certain date, according to the report. Maeser headmaster Justin Kennington said the school has worked to comply with all other accreditation standards and parents shouldn't be concerned.

"It just boiled down to a question of getting the report in given the fact we were still reshuffling our administrative team," Kennington said. "We're doing everything else that needs to be taken care of."

Rich High was given a recommended "advised" status because its report was received late. Attempts to reach the school's principal Friday were unsuccessful. Charter school Liberty Academy received "advised" status because its report was "incomplete and difficult to understand," according to the report.

Liberty Managing Director Rob Muhlestein, however, said the school got advised status because it had a ninth grade last year but doesn't have one now. Only schools with grades nine and up are required to become accredited through the NAAS.

Muhlestein said the school decided to apply for continued accreditation anyway because Liberty leaders might still add a ninth grade next school year. The school now includes grades K-8.

"It's pretty hard to be accredited for 9-12 when you have no students," Muhlestein said.

Meridian School, which is private, earned a recommended advised status because it has "19 underqualified personnel," according to the NAAS report. Attempts to reach school officials Friday were unsuccessful, but the school's director of public relations said last year, when the school received a similar status, that all its K-6 teachers are state-licensed. Some teachers in the middle and upper grades, however, were not licensed but had advanced degrees or significant experience in the fields in which they taught, she said.

Meridian is also listed as a candidate member of the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools, another accreditation organization.

Hightop Ranch School Director Justin Sorenson said he was surprised by his school's advised status recommendation and wasn't aware there were issues. Hightop was placed on advised status because of an incomplete report, and for failing to submit a staff list and credit policy, according to the report.

Attempts to reach the Triumph Youth Services director of operations and Renaissance Private Academy officials on Friday were unsuccessful. A state board of education committee will likely review and approve the recommendations at the board's next meeting on Thursday.

http://http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_11358741

8
News Items / Oregon slow to deal w troubled facilities for troubled kids
« on: January 03, 2009, 04:29:35 PM »
Oregon slow to deal with troubled facilities for troubled kids
by Michelle Cole, The Oregonian
Saturday December 20, 2008, 3:29 PM

SALEM -- Authorities knew of problems at two institutions that house Oregon's most troubled children: Kids getting the wrong medication; workers with criminal records; a teen with a broken collarbone after a fight with staff; and unsupervised mentally ill youths.

But instead of closing the institutions, state licensing officials spent several months warning the Kirkland Institute near Burns and the Pendleton Academies in eastern Oregon.

It was only after authorities feared that children were in danger that they cracked down and blocked new admissions. At Kirkland, for instance, another teen in state protective custody was taken to the emergency room after a run-in with staff. At Pendleton, a 17-year-old was charged with raping a 13-year-old girl.

Why did the state wait months to act?

The answer is complicated and may be considered by the Legislature next year.

Few places in Oregon -- especially rural Oregon -- will take in kids with severe behavioral or mental health issues, and officials worried there would be nowhere else for these children to go.

Also, Oregon has only two licensing specialists to oversee 240 so-called private child caring agencies -- a category that includes everything from boarding schools to mental health treatment centers.

Erinn Kelley-Siel, interim director of the state's Children, Adults and Families Division, said she's considering asking the 2009 Legislature to allow the state to levy fees in order to hire more staff and to grant the legal authority to impose civil penalties at the first sign of trouble.

"Short of suspending their license, we have no alternative kind of remedy," Kelley-Siel said. "I think this could make a big difference in the lives of hundreds of kids."

Typically, group homes, mental health treatment centers and other state-licensed child care agencies get a visit from a licensing specialist once every two years.
Rejected boys

It was during one of those visits that licensing coordinator Monika Kretzschmar discovered serious problems at the Kirkland Institute for Child and Family Study, where the Oregon Youth Authority sends boys and the Department of Human Services puts teen boys who have been rejected by family foster homes or other group placements.

Kretzschmar learned that some on Kirkland's staff had criminal histories and others lacked the qualifications for their job. Neither the state nor Kirkland would discuss the specifics of those criminal histories with The Oregonian.

She also found medication logs indicating the boys did not receive their prescribed meds, were given another boy's pills or, in one instance, a teen was taken to the hospital because staff gave him an accidental overdose.

Kretzschmar followed with a letter listing 19 corrective actions Kirkland must take to retain its license. A few weeks later, Kirkland named a new executive director.

"We're trying to do everything we can," Rich Streeter, Kirkland's newly hired executive director told The Oregonian. "You're talking about some of the most difficult kids in Oregon, and some of the most difficult to place. We're making sure we're providing them with a safe, secure environment when they're here."

But problems continued.

In September, the state received a report that a Kirkland employee broke a teen's collarbone while trying to subdue him. An investigation by the state Office of Investigations and Training found that the actions taken by Kirkland staff constituted child abuse.

On Sept. 19, Erin Fultz at the Oregon Youth Authority e-mailed her supervisor: "I just feel uncomfortable with our youth staying there since there have been so many red flags over the last several months."

Just before Thanksgiving, the state received a report of a Kirkland teen taken to the emergency room after a run-in with staff. That's when state authorities closed Kirkland to new admissions and began finding places to move the 22 teens who were there.
A rare licensing move

It was a rare step. State licensing authorities said they've closed admissions on only half a dozen programs over the past five years.

The last boy was moved out of Kirkland on Thursday, Streeter said.

Kirkland is working with the state so that it can once again accept new admissions, he said.

Meanwhile, in Pendleton, the state Addictions and Mental Health Division informed Pendleton Academies on Nov. 17 that it intended to revoke the institution's certification to provide psychiatric treatment.

Pendleton Academies treats girls and boys ages 5 to 18 who suffer from bipolar disorder, psychosis and other severe mental disorders.

State officials say they've worked with Pendleton to iron out problems since 2005. But last August, they warned Pendleton Academies it needed to improve in eight areas or lose its certification.

Among those areas: ensuring that children receive appropriate treatment for their psychiatric symptoms and that children get adequate supervision.

State officials said they were alarmed that police responded to at least 56 calls at the institution in the first six months of this year.

"Many of the incidents requiring police intervention involved child-to-child assaults resulting in an injury to one or both of the children," notes an Aug. 20 letter from state officials.

The Pendleton Academies board replaced the executive director with Terry Edvalson, and state officials allowed the institution to continue operating.

"The staff has done a significant job in helping turn this place around," Edvalson said.

But state officials said they could not overlook what occurred Oct. 27, when a 17-year-old male is accused of coercing a 13-year-old girl to have sex.

Employees had been told not to allow the two within 15 feet of each other, yet records indicate the boy and girl were unsupervised.

"The people who were responsible for supervision are no longer with us. They were fired," Edvalson said.

Pendleton Academies can appeal to the state to be allowed to continue to operate. In the meantime, Edvalson said earlier this month that his staff was looking for suitable places to send the kids.

"You just don't pull the plug," he said. "Our kids are very fragile, and we need to get them out of here as carefully as we can so we don't do them damage."

-- Michelle Cole; michellecole@news.oregonian.com

http://http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/12/oregon_slow_to_deal_with_troub.html

9
News Items / Troubled Tampa Bay Academy lays off most of its workers
« on: January 03, 2009, 02:43:27 PM »
By Rebecca Catalanello, Times Staff Writer
In print: Saturday, January 3, 2009

TAMPA — About 125 Tampa Bay Academy employees lost their jobs this week as state officials moved forward with plans to revoke licensing for the youth residential treatment center.

Kevin Sheehan, president and chief executive of parent company Youth and Family Centered Services, said the for-profit company was forced to make the dramatic cuts.

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration ordered all of the academy's 54 children and teenagers placed in other facilities before Jan. 9 amid concerns the treatment center was unsafe.

Most patients were gone by Tuesday and the layoffs were announced Wednesday.

"This kind of massive reduction in the census there has precipitated the layoffs," Sheehan said Friday by telephone from the company's headquarters in Austin.

But Sheehan said his ultimate goal is to re-establish a "top-flight" residential treatment program at the Riverview campus — a process he estimated could take months, not years.

"We're working hard with AHCA on the things we mutually agree on to get them corrected," Sheehan said.

About 15 employees who remain at the residential treatment center will help with the rebuilding effort, said executive director Rich Warden, who joined the facility in November.

"It's very stressful and it's not a part of the job that anyone enjoys," Warden said of the layoffs.

Health Care Administration officials wrote in December that poor staffing conditions at the 20-year-old Tampa Bay Academy fostered an unsafe environment for patients and employees, which included unreported sexual assaults on staff members. Though privately owned, the facility receives funding from Medicaid and the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Sheriff's deputies continue to investigate claims of previously unreported assaults by patients, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesman J.D. Callaway said.

Records show that in the past five years, deputies have responded to 793 calls for service to the campus, located at 12012 Boyette Road.

Situated on 24 acres south of the Alafia River, Tampa Bay Academy also houses a charter school and a group home, which is designed for children with less severe issues.

The group home was unaffected by the changes. But the 170- to 180-student charter school lost 54 students and four employees when students who lived at the residential treatment center were moved, Warden said.

The residential treatment center targets children ages 4 to 17 dealing with a range of mental health issues including depression, substance abuse, rage, promiscuity, eating disorders, trauma anxiety and sexual abuse victimization.

Sheehan said that, moving forward, the company plans to be more selective about whom it hires and whom it admits for care.

"Severe conduct disorder patients are not going to respond well to this program," Sheehan said, referring to a condition characterized by symptoms of aggression, frequent lying, running away from home overnight and property destruction.

Warden said that, in the past, the facility has admitted those hard-to-place patients even though their problems are more behavioral than psychiatric in nature.

Rebuilding the residential treatment program will be a slow process, Warden said, and could start with one 12-patient unit at a time. That's compared with the seven units that were in operation last month, records show.

Despite the severe nature of the patients' conditions, many of the staff positions at the residential treatment center are entry-level and do not require prior experience, Sheehan said.

Still, the CEO said the company seeks to hire those with experience and it "exceeds state requirements for training of new employees."

Health Care Administration officials referred to high staff turnover in their report on Tampa Bay Academy, noting that of 36 staff members working one of the academy's seven units during one week, 21 had been there less than three months.

Rebecca Catalanello can be reached at rcatalanello@sptimes.com and (813) 226-3383.

http://http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/article956470.ece

10
Facility Question and Answers / Allie's story - another NBGA Survivor
« on: January 03, 2009, 01:02:06 PM »
What is the name of the facility you were in?

New Beginnings Girls Academy, it was located in Pace, FL.

What kind of a program did they operate?

It all revolved around one thing and that one thing was God. I didn’t understand how they could get away with brainwashing girls and shoving religion down people’s throats. It made no sense to me. The program, when I was there, was unfair & misleading. I'm sure, without a doubt, it has not changed. I looked up their website and saw pictures of the girls. Some girls I remembered from when I was there. I know they’re unhappy. It's like being locked in a cage and having nowhere to run.

When were you there & how long did you stay?

I was there for 10 months in 2006. It was the longest & hardest 10 months of my life.

Whose idea was it for you to go to this facility?

My grandfather’s, he was "friends" with Brother McNamara. He said he was a good Christian man. Obviously my grandfather didn’t do his research. I came to my grandpa for advice because my mother had found out I had gotten on drugs. When I talked to my grandpa he automatically got up and went into the living room and grabbed his phone. The next day they asked me if I wanted to visit a place where I could get help. I said "I'll go check it out, but I'm not making any promises."

Were you included in the decision?

Not at all, when we arrived to "visit" it was a trap, the papers were already signed. My mother had gone behind my back. Bro. McNamara kept smiling like ‘Hahaha I got you now’, kind of thing. It made me extremely uncomfortable. When I went into the dorms, he made the girls get up and sing. They looked like sad robots. He was the only one in the room with a smile on his face.

When my grandparents took me in the office with Bro McNamara, I remember seeing a wall of pictures of the girls when they first arrived. We all looked like we really needed help but not this kind of help. This was robotic brainwash crap that I was completely against. I was all about freedom and being who you wanted to be, not being forced to be someone you’re not.

How did you get there?

I was driven by my grandparents, who lied to me, and knew from the moment I got into the car with them that I was going to be away for a very long time. Everyone in my whole family knew, besides me.

What happened when you arrived? How did they process you into their program/facility?

Bro. McNamara basically put on a show in front of my grandparents and me. Showing off the girls singing abilities, quoting Bible verses, etcetera. When we got into his office my Grandma kissed my cheek and walked out the door. I had no idea what was going on. I freaked out, I tried to open the door but Bro. McNamara had already slammed it shut and said. "Welcome to New Beginnings."

He called a girl into the room, she was to be my "buddy". They basically are your little babysitters. When walking outside in line, we had to have our heads down & the “buddy’s” had our arms locked so we couldn’t run. I complained to a staff member that one of my “buddies” held my arm too tightly, she simply said, "Get over it".

Can you describe a typical day?

Wake up was around 5:30 a.m., you had to make your bed perfectly or that was 5 demerits. Ten demerits at the end of a week was a weeks worth of discipline. ‘Discipline’ was standing with your hands behind your back, nose on the wall. No looking away from the wall, you couldn’t breathe wrong or you would just get more demerits.

I stayed on ‘discipline’ the whole time was there. I was a good 195 lbs. when I went into the program, I came out weighing 167 lbs. because they made us do painful exercises, instead of them doing the pain to us they made us do it to our selves. After doing morning chores, we had to stay in line and go through what they called dress check and they made sure our hair was pulled back perfectly, or that was a demerit, made sure we had slips under our skirts, etc… We had to remain in line with straight posture holding and reading our Bibles with our heads down at all times.

We went to breakfast then headed to school. Sometimes Bro. McNamara would grab girls to work in the yard for the day, most of the time it was only trusted girls. After school we had lunch, if the Macs were in the mood, they'd give speeches on how stupid we were and how we were such sinners it disgusted them.

After school we went into the dorms had a time where we said scriptures, there was a name for this my memory is just blurry. We'd sit, most of the time we would have to stand if we sounded "lazy". It wouldn’t be over until we said it to their liking.

Then we had showers, dinner, chapel, or we'd sing. I remember one time I didn’t want to sing because I was light headed, being between all the girls, all the body heat, I wasn't allowed to sit, let alone not continue to sing. So, I forced myself and ended up passing out. They STILL made me get up and sing. After that we went back to the dorms and slept. I know I never slept, I couldn’t. It made me sick to my stomach to know that this country allows such things to go on.

Can you describe some typical rules?

Hair had to be pulled into a clip 4 inches from the top of your head. If they didn’t like it, that was like 2 demerits.

The waist of skirts had to be above or right at the belly button, which obviously isn’t comfortable for teens, especially me. It wasn’t because I was a "whore" or a "slut" as Mrs. McNamara called it. It was because to me it was not comfortable.

You were given limited toilet paper.

There was a ‘new girl rule’. I was accused of looking and "communicating" with them constantly by the girls that were "trusted helpers". The staff and the Mac's called me a liar almost every day. It hurt so much, but I knew I had to get out of there and make a difference so I went along with it.

That was until he said something out of line to me one day in the cafeteria and I finally said, “F you”. I was on discipline at the time; I sat down and refused to do anything. If he was going to sit there and humiliate me in front of everyone I just didn’t care anymore. I wanted to die. He had a girl attack me, pulling my hair to get me up. I wasn't going to move. After he called another girls name I grabbed the girl that was pulling my hair and got my hair away from her, they wrestled me to the ground. I kept fighting back. The next thing I know I have one girl digging her knee in my back, 4 girls on my legs; one girl with her arm on my face. I tried with all my strength to move but I couldn’t, I ran out of energy.

After that I was taken into the dorms and had to stay there. Later that night I walked into the shower area and sat in the shower stall turned the water on hot and wished to melt away. They tried to get me out but after an hour of me being in there they just left me alone.

To me, you didn’t get to have an opinion and you weren’t allowed to have a social life. You were made a ROBOT nothing else.

11
New Beginnings Girls Academy: Survivor Story Part I

Postby hurrikayne on December 07, 2008, 01:58:04
What is the name of the facility you were in?

Originally, it was called The Rebekah Home for Girls, based out of Corpus Christi, TX. However, due to some changes in state laws in 2001, the home was closed and the same administrators, Bill "Brother Mac" and Jennifer "Mrs. Mac" McNamara, sent half of the ninety girls home and moved the other half of us to Missouri temporarily. They eventually found us a permanent location in Pace, FL, and we moved there.

The name underwent some changes for legal reasons. For a while, it was called New Beginnings Rebekah Academy. Later, they decided to avoid any negative association with the original Roloff Homes so they officially named it New Beginnings Girls Academy, which still exists at that location. The McNamara’s have since gone on to operate New Beginnings Ministries in Missouri, which admits both girls and boys.

What kind of a program did they operate?

It was an extremely strict, Christian program, which is probably a lot of the allure for parents. But the reality of it isn't so simple. It's not just loosely Christian, like many parents assume. It's not much of an "academy." It's not like regular boarding schools.

People send their kids there out of desperation, and their kids end up having to deal with circumstances in an environment that they themselves could never cope with. They operate under the guise of being a tough love, Christian place where kids can come to terms with their problems in a caring, safe, secluded educational environment, but if I was only allowed to use one word to describe it, I'd call it "degrading."

We were constantly ridiculed. During my first week there, we were all gathered together for a little sermon or chapel service, and during that Brother Mac jumped up on a pew in front of me and called us a "bunch of faggots." Soon after being sent, girls realize that such situations are not uncommon - there's a lot of screaming and yelling and what was referred to as "open rebuke," which literally meant that we were individually verbally bashed and humiliated in front of everyone there. Brother Mac discussed and criticized a lot of our past errors openly.

They tried to keep us in a pretty constant state of shame. They used a lot of brainwashing tactics. We were constantly monitored, discouraged from befriending each other, poorly educated while there, and physically and mentally abused. With all of these atrocities, they hide behind the whole "tough love" facade, but there isn't any real love at all - only degradation to force good outward behavior. It's extremely traumatizing, to say the least. The cycle continues to this day, because no one really seems to believe "troubled teens" when they do get the courage to say they're being mistreated. People tend to assume they're just lying brats.

When were you there & how long did you stay?

I was there initially from January 2001 to January 2002. I went home for a few short months and then the administrators of the home and my guardians mutually decided that I should be sent back so that I could finish high school and help them out some since they were shorthanded. I know that I wouldn't have gone back had it been up to me, but at the time my family wanted me to go and I was still trying to "do right" by them as I was still pretty convinced that I was a terrible person.
I was only 16; they were sending me, so I thought I might as well go with at least a little dignity still in tact. In May 2002, they put me on a plane back to Florida. My status was technically "junior staff," which over time exposed me to a lot of things the average onlooker doesn't know about. Once I turned 18, I tried leaving a couple of different times, but I didn't have a lot of help or money. I was paid, but only enough to get some bare necessities; nothing even close to minimum wage.

I finally succeeded in leaving when I was 19, that was in 2005. They weren't happy, but the longer I was there, the more I knew that I couldn't be subjected to or associated with the things that were happening there. Everything was just so deceitful. I just wanted to run away and forget about it forever.

Whose idea was it for you to go to this facility?

It was my sister and her pastor's idea. Legal guardianship was awarded to my sister when I was 14. She had become a really strict, really conservative Christian, and it was understandably difficult for her to deal with the fact that I wasn't interested in Christian ideals. It really frustrated her and caused a lot of turmoil at home, because I was interested in school friends, secular music, and I wore black clothes. Prior to sending me to the home, she tried to send me back to my mom who lived in Seattle area, WA, and that was a doomed effort. To make a long story short, there were a lot of problems in her home, and I just didn't want to be there either. A few months later, my mom returned me to my sister who then made the decision to send me to the home.

Were you included in the decision?

Not at all; I had no choice <in the matter>. I felt that any kind of crazy, punitive efforts regarding me were just stupid, and this seemed like the ultimate punishment. It felt like being dumped off and exiled in a place they couldn't know that much about. I battled with a lot of past-related depression leading up to that. I guess, to an extent, I was pretty typical: I was a smart kid, intensely creative, but really anti-social and misread. It seemed like my sister wanted me to be someone else instead of encouraging the growth of my positive traits. So I fought her the whole way.

How did you get there?

My sister and her husband drove me. When I figured out where we were headed, I lost it; screaming, kicking, cursing, for several hours. The whole time, they kept saying that I had two choices: shackles and duct tape, or muscle relaxers. I learned later on that such methods were pretty common in getting girls to the home. When I finally tired out, one of them handed me pills, and I took them so that I could temporarily forget what was happening. I didn't wake up until Texas.

What happened when you arrived? How did they process you into their program/facility?

Most girls fight and have to be physically removed from their parents' vehicles, but I was tired and tried to be optimistic even though I had already done a little research on the place myself and read that there were scores of abuse allegations. I tried to believe my sister and her pastor, who said that the administrators were good Christians and those allegations couldn't be true about them.

As is typical procedure, we first met Brother Mac, whom I later learned was a completely different guy around parents and other outsiders. Next, the girls sang a song for us. It's a frequently-used ploy to show the girls as really docile and happy. Then, I met my "Buddy," a girl who follows her assigned new girl around and monitors her every move for her first thirty or so days. Last, they asked me to take a shower so they could finish separating what personal belongings I could keep from what had to be discarded or sent home. When all was said and done, I was left with a trunk of clothes I had never seen before, some toiletries, and a Bible.

Can you describe a typical day?

We woke up very early, made our beds and brushed our teeth, congregated to read the Bible and pray, returned to our areas to do more in-depth chores, and went to the school building to do what passed for school - no real teachers; just an unaccredited home school curriculum. Then, we worked off our acquired demerits, worked on Bible Memorization, had song practice, took showers, had a chapel or church service, had Bible reading and prayer time again, and, finally, went to bed. It was basically the same thing every day. Saturday was a work day.

The schedule differed if you were being disciplined in some way, were on Summer Tour, or were chosen to work outside that day. Some girls, even if they're suffering academically, do labor jobs on the property all day, surely in violation of child labor laws and school attendance requirements.

Can you describe some typical rules?

There were many reasonable rules but many more outlandish rules. The one that seems most harsh to people is that girls aren't allowed to talk at all unless asking Staff or Helpers a brief question, except for about an hour a week on Friday night. They're certainly not taught anything about rational communication. No talking, no humming, no popping knuckles, and your hair can't touch your face. You get six minute showers and five sheets of toilet paper. It's all about control of all aspects.

Offenses mean demerits, and demerits mean pain. Each demerit has to be worked off somehow - through very strenuous, forced exercise, etc... When I first got there, we got "licks" (corporal punishment) after the first 10 demerits acquired that day. Many simple offenses were worth 5 demerits; so you worked off the first 10 physically, and after that you got one lick per demerit, up to five licks. They were usually done by Mrs. Mac, and usually while Brother Mac watched.

When Mrs. Mac got physically tired of giving licks we'd have to write sentences overnight, one hundred per demerit, and some girls went some nights without sleep just to repeat it all over again the next day. Some of the rules may be different now because some of them have been exposed. Some of them may be less harsh and some of them may be more. If nobody knows for sure, and no one is really accountable for their actions, and you can't really check for yourself, then they could be doing practically anything they want with your child.

12
News Items / Facility to end Conn. contract for troubled youth
« on: December 13, 2008, 10:50:14 AM »
Facility to end Conn. contract for troubled youth
December 11, 2008

NORTH STONINGTON, Conn. - A North Stonington facility is ending its contract to treat adolescents in state custody who have drug problems or mental illness.

Stonington Institute cited a lack of demand for the inpatient programs, resulting from the state's increasing preference to send those youths to community-based programs.

This week's decision comes two months after reports that employees forcibly injected medications into out-of-control teen boys last spring to restrain them.

That news prompted criticism over whether the state Department of Children and Families adequately monitors facilities that care for adolescents in state custody.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and state Child Advocate Jeanne Milstein called Stonington's decision "sad, but entirely necessary" as the state overhauls its handling of troubled youths under DCF authority.

13
What is the name of the facility you were in?

Originally, it was called The Rebekah Home for Girls, based out of Corpus Christi, TX. However, due to some changes in state laws in 2001, the home was closed and the same administrators, Bill "Brother Mac" and Jennifer "Mrs. Mac" McNamara, sent half of the ninety girls home and moved the other half of us to Missouri temporarily. They eventually found us a permanent location in Pace, FL, and we moved there.
 
The name underwent some changes for legal reasons. For a while, it was called New Beginnings Rebekah Academy. Later, they decided to avoid any negative association with the original Roloff Homes so they officially named it New Beginnings Girls Academy, which still exists at that location. The McNamara’s have since gone on to operate New Beginnings Ministries in Missouri, which admits both girls and boys.
 
What kind of a program did they operate?
 
It was an extremely strict, Christian program, which is probably a lot of the allure for parents. But the reality of it isn't so simple. It's not just loosely Christian, like many parents assume. It's not much of an "academy." It's not like regular boarding schools.
 
People send their kids there out of desperation, and their kids end up having to deal with circumstances in an environment that they themselves could never cope with. They operate under the guise of being a tough love, Christian place where kids can come to terms with their problems in a caring, safe, secluded educational environment, but if I was only allowed to use one word to describe it, I'd call it "degrading."

We were constantly ridiculed. During my first week there, we were all gathered together for a little sermon or chapel service, and during that Brother Mac jumped up on a pew in front of me and called us a "bunch of faggots." Soon after being sent, girls realize that such situations are not uncommon - there's a lot of screaming and yelling and what was referred to as "open rebuke," which literally meant that we were individually verbally bashed and humiliated in front of everyone there. Brother Mac discussed and criticized a lot of our past errors openly.
 
They tried to keep us in a pretty constant state of shame. They used a lot of brainwashing tactics. We were constantly monitored, discouraged from befriending each other, poorly educated while there, and physically and mentally abused. With all of these atrocities, they hide behind the whole "tough love" facade, but there isn't any real love at all - only degradation to force good outward behavior. It's extremely traumatizing, to say the least. The cycle continues to this day, because no one really seems to believe "troubled teens" when they do get the courage to say they're being mistreated. People tend to assume they're just lying brats.

When were you there & how long did you stay?  

I was there initially from January 2001 to January 2002. I went home for a few short months and then the administrators of the home and my guardians mutually decided that I should be sent back so that I could finish high school and help them out some since they were shorthanded. I know that I wouldn't have gone back had it been up to me, but at the time my family wanted me to go and I was still trying to "do right" by them as I was still pretty convinced that I was a terrible person.
I was only 16; they were sending me, so I thought I might as well go with at least a little dignity still in tact. In May 2002, they put me on a plane back to Florida. My status was technically "junior staff," which over time exposed me to a lot of things the average onlooker doesn't know about. Once I turned 18, I tried leaving a couple of different times, but I didn't have a lot of help or money. I was paid, but only enough to get some bare necessities; nothing even close to minimum wage.

I finally succeeded in leaving when I was 19, that was in 2005. They weren't happy, but the longer I was there, the more I knew that I couldn't be subjected to or associated with the things that were happening there. Everything was just so deceitful. I just wanted to run away and forget about it forever.
 
Whose idea was it for you to go to this facility?

It was my sister and her pastor's idea. Legal guardianship was awarded to my sister when I was 14. She had become a really strict, really conservative Christian, and it was understandably difficult for her to deal with the fact that I wasn't interested in Christian ideals. It really frustrated her and caused a lot of turmoil at home, because I was interested in school friends, secular music, and I wore black clothes. Prior to sending me to the home, she tried to send me back to my mom who lived in Seattle area, WA, and that was a doomed effort. To make a long story short, there were a lot of problems in her home, and I just didn't want to be there either. A few months later, my mom returned me to my sister who then made the decision to send me to the home.
 
Were you included in the decision?

Not at all; I had no choice <in the matter>. I felt that any kind of crazy, punitive efforts regarding me were just stupid, and this seemed like the ultimate punishment. It felt like being dumped off and exiled in a place they couldn't know that much about. I battled with a lot of past-related depression leading up to that. I guess, to an extent, I was pretty typical: I was a smart kid, intensely creative, but really anti-social and misread. It seemed like my sister wanted me to be someone else instead of encouraging the growth of my positive traits. So I fought her the whole way.
 
How did you get there?

My sister and her husband drove me. When I figured out where we were headed, I lost it; screaming, kicking, cursing, for several hours. The whole time, they kept saying that I had two choices: shackles and duct tape, or muscle relaxers. I learned later on that such methods were pretty common in getting girls to the home. When I finally tired out, one of them handed me pills, and I took them so that I could temporarily forget what was happening. I didn't wake up until Texas.
 
What happened when you arrived?  How did they process you into their program/facility?

Most girls fight and have to be physically removed from their parents' vehicles, but I was tired and tried to be optimistic even though I had already done a little research on the place myself and read that there were scores of abuse allegations. I tried to believe my sister and her pastor, who said that the administrators were good Christians and those allegations couldn't be true about them.
 
As is typical procedure, we first met Brother Mac, whom I later learned was a completely different guy around parents and other outsiders. Next, the girls sang a song for us. It's a frequently-used ploy to show the girls as really docile and happy. Then, I met my "Buddy," a girl who follows her assigned new girl around and monitors her every move for her first thirty or so days. Last, they asked me to take a shower so they could finish separating what personal belongings I could keep from what had to be discarded or sent home. When all was said and done, I was left with a trunk of clothes I had never seen before, some toiletries, and a Bible.
 
Can you describe a typical day?  

We woke up very early, made our beds and brushed our teeth, congregated to read the Bible and pray, returned to our areas to do more in-depth chores, and went to the school building to do what passed for school - no real teachers; just an unaccredited home school curriculum. Then, we worked off our acquired demerits, worked on Bible Memorization, had song practice, took showers, had a chapel or church service, had Bible reading and prayer time again, and, finally, went to bed. It was basically the same thing every day. Saturday was a work day.
 
The schedule differed if you were being disciplined in some way, were on Summer Tour, or were chosen to work outside that day. Some girls, even if they're suffering academically, do labor jobs on the property all day, surely in violation of child labor laws and school attendance requirements.

Can you describe some typical rules?  

There were many reasonable rules but many more outlandish rules. The one that seems most harsh to people is that girls aren't allowed to talk at all unless asking Staff or Helpers a brief question, except for about an hour a week on Friday night. They're certainly not taught anything about rational communication. No talking, no humming, no popping knuckles, and your hair can't touch your face. You get six minute showers and five sheets of toilet paper. It's all about control of all aspects.

Offenses mean demerits, and demerits mean pain. Each demerit has to be worked off somehow - through very strenuous, forced exercise, etc... When I first got there, we got "licks" (corporal punishment) after the first 10 demerits acquired that day. Many simple offenses were worth 5 demerits; so you worked off the first 10 physically, and after that you got one lick per demerit, up to five licks. They were usually done by Mrs. Mac, and usually while Brother Mac watched.
 
When Mrs. Mac got physically tired of giving licks we'd have to write sentences overnight, one hundred per demerit, and some girls went some nights without sleep just to repeat it all over again the next day. Some of the rules may be different now because some of them have been exposed. Some of them may be less harsh and some of them may be more. If nobody knows for sure, and no one is really accountable for their actions, and you can't really check for yourself, then they could be doing practically anything they want with your child.

14
News Items / Spectrum Care Academy Inc. (KY)
« on: November 29, 2008, 03:40:35 PM »
Suit against teen center where girl died sealed
The Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- A judge has sealed a lawsuit against a treatment center for teenage girls accused of being poorly run after the center settled with the family of a patient killed after running into traffic.

Adair Circuit Judge James G. Weddle sealed the file shortly after the suit against Spectrum Care Academy Inc., settled in October. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Spectrum requested the sealing of the file.

Stephen L. Hixson, the attorney for the estate of the dead girl, told Weddle at a hearing on Tuesday that the public has the right to see the file, but Weddle said he would seal it.

Spectrum's attorney, Michael A. Goforth, told Weddle the file contains details that should not be publicly available, such as financial information and names of young patients.

Weddle cut off additional arguments from Hixson, telling the attorney to put his claims in writing or appeal.

"I've heard all I'm going to hear today, thank you," Weddle said.

The lawsuit says Spectrum Care, which caters to girls 13 to 17, is one of 17 facilities in the state. The suit centered on the death of 16-year-old LaKeesha Cline. Cline was in treatment at Spectrum Care in 2004 for mental and emotional problems, including bipolar disorder and a history of suicide attempts.

The suit says Cline broke away from staff members walking her and other girls and ran into traffic, where she was hit by two vehicles. A coroner's report says she died of massive injuries.

Hixson said the case highlights larger problems with state regulation of such facilities, including a state law does not require them to carry liability insurance.

LaKeesha's survivors got less than half the amount they could have expected if Spectrum Care had had liability insurance, Hixson said.

Vikki Franklin, a spokeswoman for the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said officials are discussing the issues Hixson raised.

Cline's mother and grandmother sued Spectrum Care and its owner, Ben A. Arnold. The lawsuit alleged that, if Spectrum Care had handled LaKeesha properly, she would have been hospitalized in a secure psychiatric ward.

The family claims that Cline wasn't transferred to a hospital because Arnold had promised a Spectrum Care supervisor, Brandy Hancock, a bonus for keeping the beds full at the facility, which would increase state reimbursements.

The lawsuit claimed that was a conflict of interest for Hancock, who, as clinical director, made decisions on treatment. LaKeesha was scheduled to be released twice before her death, but Spectrum Care canceled her release because there was no patient lined up to fill that bed, the lawsuit charged.

Arnold said in a deposition that Cline wasn't kept at Spectrum because of financial considerations.
Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com

http://http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/606433.html

15
News Items / Fired Jefferson County teachers get day in court (TN)
« on: November 29, 2008, 02:27:07 PM »
Fired Jefferson County teachers get day in court
Dismissals caused by outsourcing education to religious school at issue

By Jamie Satterfield (Contact)
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Related document

 * 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion in church-state lawsuit against Jefferson County school system

A divided federal appeals court is resurrecting a claim by Jefferson County educators that the school board unconstitutionally turned to a religious school to educate troubled students.

In a 2-1 vote, judges from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned U.S. District Judge Thomas Phillips' decision to toss out a lawsuit filed against the Jefferson County School Board by three educators who lost their jobs when the board outsourced its alternative school program to Kingswood Academy.

"We hold that there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Kingswood separates its residential program from its day program such that the Christian religious focus of the residential program does not affect day students," the opinion stated.

Educators Steve B. Smith, David Kucera and Vickie F. Forgety lost their jobs at Jefferson County's alternative school when the cash-strapped board decided in June 2003 to outsource the program to Kingswood for a claimed savings of some $170,000.

"Kingswood's promotional materials state that … 'Kingswood school is unique because we offer children a Christian environment of love and encouragement,'" the opinion stated. "The school's 2005 annual report states that 'Kingswood was founded with the intent to ensure that each child placed in its care receives Christian religious training.' "

Attorney Arthur F. Knight III, who represented the school board, argued there was no proof Kingswood infused Christian principles in its day school, where Jefferson County sent troubled students for daily instruction. He also insisted that even if the arrangement violated the Establishment Clause requiring separation of church and state, the teachers had no legal standing to sue since they weren't the ones being subjected to religious instruction at taxpayer expense.

Phillips agreed and tossed out the lawsuit. Attorney George F. Legg appealed for the teachers and won.

The appellate court opined the teachers suffered job losses as result of the allegedly unconstitutional contract and, therefore, had legal grounds to sue.

The court also noted sworn testimony from Kingswood officials who said the school's day school and residential program went "hand-in-hand," and the school's founder made it clear he "wanted to provide a Christian education as well as a residential program."

The case now returns to U.S. District Court in Knoxville. A trial date is not set.

Jamie Satterfield may be reached at 865-342-6308.

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 6