Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => New Info => Topic started by: Anonymous on August 07, 2004, 01:46:00 AM
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I'm interested in receiving any information from former students about their experiences, whether positive or negative, at any of the Aspen Education Group facilities. You can either post here or email me at: [email protected]
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I am currently investigating an Aspen place, as well Academy at Swift River and Mt Batchelor have been posted about either here or elsewhere. If you can't find the postings, I'll help. Search this forum for both. What I do know I general about Aspen is they try to keep their nose clean. I compared them with Enron and WWASPS with the Mafia, several people in the know thought that was an apt description. Aspen's buying up schools right and left, some former WWASPS and not doing a ton to change administration. They are a $100 and growing swiftly corp. and settle cases out of court, so no way of knowing what kind of crap they've been dishing. Their contracts are atrocious and are generally thrown out of court as non-negotiable. Most Aspen programs use the same boilerplate BM model, no communication, no real assessment, most don't have staff competent for what they say they treat. I know of one case which I can't go into detail about yet, but gross malpractice with a suicidal kid and another of severe maltreatment at one of their wilderness programs. I suspect that within the next year or so the Aspen stories will start to come out because of how quick they've been to buy up so many schools. Sorry I'm not a former student.
I wish more people were posting about Aspen. I wonder if they even realize they're kids are at Aspen Schools. To double check, since they've grown: http://www.aspeneducation.com (http://www.aspeneducation.com) I notice on the package I recently got that there was no mention of the school being owned by Aspen. Hmmm.
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I've encountered a lot of what you're saying about keeping their nose clean, having worked at one facility and turned in a sexual and harassment abuse report by a few of the staff. I think they're getting ready to go public, thus the need to buy up more facilities and keep that profit margin high.
I can say that they put very little money into the program for the kids. Office staff drive brand new vehicles, and the program vehicles for the kids have 200,000+ miles on 'em, van side door that doesn't open, no brakes, and extremely loose steering. 100 degree weather and the kids sleep in lofts with windows that won't open (due to security), no fans, no air, just sweltering heat.
They use discipline that is against state law. They just had a duct tape incident that was swept under the carpet by the Sheriff's Office, Child Protective Services, and the State Licensor. This happened in Utah where the Mormons are all related, or have ties, to someone else . . . the sexual offender is a police informant, CPS lady is a blood relative of the Aspen facility Director, and the State Licensor lady's husband works for another Aspen facility in a different city. Very cozy working relationship, to say the least. They removed the victim from the offending institution to another one of theirs up north in Utah.
I've heard that the mother of the victim is still pushing for answers and so am I.
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I desparately want to find out anything I can about the Aspen facilities. My adorable 14 year old granddaughter was recently kidnapped (at her parents' request), and wisked off to a wilderness camp in Idaho run by SUWS (now owned by Aspen), and then sent to an Aspen boarding facility, which I think is probably in Utah. I am completely heartsick because this little girl has never been into drugs, alcohol, never been on a date, let alone had sex, never been in trouble with the law, etc. Her only sin has been talking back to her dictatorial, arrogant stepfather, who did legally adopt her so can do whatever he wants with her. She was sent away prior to any form of traditional counseling being attempted. I can't believe that these kids can be taken over state lines against their will and incarcerated without due process, all at the wim of a parent who is the one who needs the behavior modification. It is also interesting that eventhough Aspen's corporate headquarters are in California, a state relatively protective of children's rights, most of their facilities are in states such a Utah, where childrens rights are essentially non-existant. I would like to become active in protesting this disgusting situation and working toward laws to stop it. I live in California, any suggestions?
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[ This Message was edited by: hurleygurley on 2004-10-20 15:34 ]
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[ This Message was edited by: hurleygurley on 2004-10-20 15:35 ]
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if you send me a private message with your email (if you trust me) i'll send you email with more information.
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I was in Aspen's wilderness program in southern Utah for 2 1/2 months in the winter 0f 1994. I was subjected to long periods of forced fasting, and solitary placement, as well as malnourished severely. It doesn't surprise me to hear people say that they save money by skimping on the kids, because when I was there, we didn't even have real backpacks; we were forced to carry around tarps wrapped up with seatbelt straps on our shoulders, always at weights above 80 pounds.
Aspen should be avoided by anyone at all costs. The other stories of abuse I could tell you would probably sicken you all. Anyone who would like more information can ask me here.
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So, how do you feel today about your experiences with Aspen? Seems like everyone counters me and my problems in trying to work for them as necessary evils 'cause the kids need help. I'm looking for any abuse since 3 responsible agencies have closed the case without so much as any investigation. I want to hang the state, Aspen, and the Sheriff's office. I live in southern Utah, although not in Loa where the Aspen Achievement Academy is located.
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Please do what you can to get your granddaughter out. I went through a program many, many years ago and it was absolutely the wrong place as I was just an insecure kid with depression and academic issues--but not a bad kid at all.
People do not know how bad these places really are and that you are coerced to never say anything negative. (If you do, they tell your parents lies about you or say you are just manipulative--the same thing they say to all parents. The kid has no power over what happens to them.) A lot of the abuse is emotional/mental/psychological and leave lasting scars--it changes you. I can't tell you how many peopel this happened to who never--even as an adult--explained this to their parents but are still coping with it years later.
These places don't give you self esteem, tehy take it from you. Sometimes kids start "acting" or "performing" better at school etc. but are still seriously damaged.
If you can't talk to the mother, talk to the father--anything to get her out. Tell the mother how these schools operate and how abuses are pushed under the carpet and they judt call your kids a liar so you keep them in. Maybe even offer to talke the kid in if things are so contentious w/the stepfather.
Good luck!
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Spirithelps -
You know, it's been a really long time since I was there, and just as long a time of trying to forget about what I went through when I was there. I used to get that same argument from people that you get, about it being a necessary evil, and so since nobody who hasn't been through it themself could possibly understand what it was really like, I just stopped talking about it all together.
Having said that though, I know that what they did there was child abuse, and that it was wrong; i just still feel the way we all got to feeling: nobody's going to help us because we have no rights, and I stopped trying to do anything about it. Did it stop my drug problem? As much as locking me in a closet would have, I guess. What really stopped my drug use was the death of my best friend while I was at RMA. So, do I feel like it was a necessary evil? Yes and no. And I hate that I have to answer it like that, but I'm still conditioned now, even ten years later.
As Far as specific crimes, the therapist they sent me to before I went into the field violated my patient doctor privilage by telling my parents everything that we spoke about; I'm pretty sure that that was illegal, although Aspen told me that privilage didn't exist for minors in Utah. The other more awful crimes I can tell you about if you'd like to hear. I feel like I'm rambling.
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Well, please do ramble on . . . it's what I need to hear. Actually, there are a couple of us in here who want to help. I don't know how much I can do, but I can certainly raise awareness. I'm pretty good about raising a big fat stink, and I don't shut up and go home til the job's done.
Utah is a terrible state for children rights, or so I understand. I'm beginning to think that kids all over the nation have no rights, seems the parents and the programs can do whatever they want.
From what I've witnessed, Aspen cleans up after their messes so well that no one can put a finger on them. My reports were kept secret from all other staff and all problems were swept under the rug.
But no one is that perfect. We've got tons on them already. All we have to do is get it together and get it into the right hands.
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i went to aspen achievement academy in loa utah in 2002 if you want any information about it i will give it to you i was there for like 2 months........
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What was your experience like? Good, bad?? I heard that the Loa facility had a bunch of drunks running it and they fired everyone and started over. Please do let me know what you think of it. You were there. You can email me at:
[email protected]
Sometimes email does not work very well, you know all of the interference these days!
Toni
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i went to academy at swift river. i probably wouldnt sue however i do carry deep emotional scars that i didnt have before i went. that place created such a manipulative enviornment for children to feel a false sense of belonging and upon leaving really fucked me up
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I just got out of Aspen Achievement academy on September 29, 2004. It sucked, it didnt help with anything except giving me more ideas on how to get what i want from whoever i wanted it from. The moment I came home i was back into my old habits. That program was a waste of 7 weeks of my life. Not to mention I just dissapeared from everyone at home when the escrots brought me there. My back still hurts from carrying that pack
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please let me know more info on aspen academy in loa, utah. i am considering sending my son there in the next month or so. he is currently at suws wilderness program & they're recomending Aspen Ranch.
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Hi,
I was at Aspen Acheivement Academy from January to March 1994. I don't know anything about Aspen Ranch, but if there's any connection between that and the Aspen program that I attended in Loa, I would recommend not sending your child there.
The conditions were subhuman, there physical difficulty of the program caused multiple injuries to children in my group, and they even caused the death of a child later in 1994. Your child will be deprived not only of physical neccesities, but also of their dignity and self respect, as they are broken down physically and mentally until they can be reshaped by the program, which in my case did nothing beyond giving me years of nightmares.
I know that there really are children out there who need outside help, but sending your child to a program like this is outside of what can be considered good parenting. Maybe look into some kind of problem-specific program, ie. a drug rehab program, or short-term inpatient psychiatric treatment, coupled with out-patient therapy. But, please don't send your child to these people. They have no accountability and they abuse children. Thanks, and if you need to talk to someone about it, feel free to IM me. :smile:
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My daughter's best friend was kidnapped at the end of August 2004 and taken to Aspen. We just got a letter from him. He hates the place. His father says he will be there for THREE MORE YEARS. His name is Jesse Zipperman. Did you meet him? How can we communicate with him, GET HIM OUT OF THERE. His father is a psycologist with a very smooth-talking story.
CPS says the father has a right to send his son there. Please e-mail me at [email protected] if you have any sugestions. I am asking everyone I know to send Jesse letters and post cards. AAA, Loa, Utah 84747. If Jesse gets a thousand letters, maybe they will be nicer to him?
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Hi,
I'm sorry, but I was there over 10 years ago so I haven't met the Jesse that you talk about. And, as far as what you can do to help get him out, I really don't know any legal recourse that you could take to try and get him removed from the program. The reason that so many of these programs are located in Utah, is it's lack of child protection legislation, and the difficulty to work within it's system as an outsider. For example, in opposition to the regulations afforded for doctor-patient confidentiality in all of the other 49 states in the union, Utah has no such protection for children; therefore, they can take what should be protected speech between the kids and the therapists, and pass that information on to their parents in an attempt to get them to commit their children for longer periods, by twisting their words and secrets against them.
I am really sorry that I don't have any good news for you; I had friends who wanted to spring me from the two programs that I spent 3 years in, but with no success. I wouldn't recommend it either, as doing so would constitute kidnapping. It's a terrible bind. If you have any other questions, or just would like to discuss their situation, please feel free to IM or email me. Good luck, and take care.
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yes im a former student at aspen achievement academy if you have any questions about it my email is [email protected]
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yeah there is some definite negative stuff that went down at the school..but as speaking as a former counselor at the school i know that all the staff there that i was associated with truly did care about the kids there...
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I would like to know what else happened at Aspen Achievement. My father is trying to send my brother there and I have heard so many bad things about these wilderness camps. please respond.
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What kind of negative stuff? I am fearing for my brother.
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Hi,
the negative things that were going on at Aspen when I was there in the early 90's ran the gambit abuse, from witholding of food and water to physical restraints all the way to serious danger from exposure and exhaustion. I was in no way an easy kid to deal with at that time, but I was also detoxing from a serious Herion and Cocaine problem, and was denied any type of medical assitance. Other members of my group who refused to eat or drink would still be marched up to and exceeding 10 miles a day, and many of them collapsed and were injured. On a solo period a boy in my group was cooking unsupervised with pork fat and received 3rd degree burns on his legs and pelvis. When I collapsed on the second day from lack of food(they give you no food for the first 72nd-ish hours), I was dragged by my backpack (which consisted of nothing more than a tarp tied together with a seatbelt strap, and weighing 100lbs.) for almost a mile over rocks and through dessert plants and the occasional stream, and all of this while only weighing 120lbs. myself.
This program is criminal and negligent, and the fact that it has not been shut down is a testament to the absolute absence of children's rights in the great theocracy that is the state of Utah.
No child should be forced to endure this torture; it is child abuse, no more and certainly no less.
I don't believe in God, but just in case, I'll pray for the children who now inhabit that God-forsaken stretch of desert. They need it. : :sad:
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It's interesting to me (being Jewish) and having moved to Utah from California, how absolutely backward the rest of the country is with regard to "Mormons," or "LDS" people. In the treatment industry it happens that the state has effective laws making it a good place to have such businesses. But without fail, when I see negative press on the treatment industry, these amazingly backward, self-righteous bigots from around the country (who obviously know virtually nothing about Mormons) spout stupidity like the Mormons are behind it all, and that they are somehow inbred and all related. Hello! They all have horns too, stupid! Well, bigots always need a soapbox to stand on. I guess this is just as good as any. But honestly, I've never known a more generally sophisticated, upstanding group of people in my life. It amazes me that they are so obviously "normal" notwithstanding everything I heard about them before I got here. So are they dominating this industry? I doubt it. People are populating this state from all over the country. But if they do dominate the industry, do you know why they do? Because the rest of the country is morally bankrupt, they're destroying their children, and the Mormons are the only ones able to provide any kind of intervention (because their kids are sane). I look at these posts and it's no wonder your kids are falling to pieces. They were raised by you. Stop pointing at the Mormons, an industry, and go look in the mirror ..... Bigots. :flame:
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Yeah, I guess that's why Utah is the Prozac capital of the world.
Here's a clue. These people who calim that Mormons dominate the troubled parent industry come to know that's true because THEY LANDED UP IN AN ABUSIVE MORMON TREATMENT FACILITY!
And there happen to be a whole lot of them. Do Mormons dominate the industry? I honestly don't know. I thought Bethel was a Baptist place, but I was just fooled by the name. Pretty sure Mission Mountain is Baptist, but I could be fooled again. I'm pretty certain that VCA/Rolloff/Rebeka is Baptist. So there's one that's not Mormon. Where did DeSisto come from? And how does the Straight line of programs compare, by size, to the CEDU/Provo line? I don't know. If you want to make your case, try looking into some damned FACTS!
Sorry, I'm particularly offended by your remarks because they're so DAMNED ignorant! Don't you know that you sound just like a Nazi sympathyzer (like, for example, Henry Ford or Prescott Bush) cir 1940? "Aw, people are so quick to judge the good Germans! They say such terrible, unbelievable things!" :roll:
Sometimes terrible unbelievable things that people say turn out to be true.
If you ask the Government for the right to assemble you deserve to be told no .
--Jim Lesczynski, Manhattan LP chair, on "unorganized" gathering @ Central Park
_________________
Ginger Warbis ~ Antigen
Seed sibling `71 - `80
Straight South (Sarasota, FL)
10/80 - 10/82
Anonymity Anonymous
Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps.
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http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... rt=0#15008 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=2505&forum=9&start=0#15008)
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... rt=0#17746 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=2825&forum=9&start=0#17746)
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... t=90#26427 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=3515&forum=9&start=90#26427)
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... t=20#40608 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=3142&forum=9&start=20#40608)
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... rt=0#49888 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=5533&forum=9&start=0#49888)
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You mentioned your child was at SUWS wilderness camp (in Idaho?). How do you feel about that program? It has been recommended for my son.
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I was at the academy in 1994 also and am hoping to find out how everyone tured out. Do you think that you may be able to help? When did you come back home? Thanks alot!
Mindi
P.S. The reason I ask is because I have managed to block most of it out, and would like to know what I have forgotten. I guess it was just to traumatic for me!! (:
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I was at Aspen Achievement Academy in either 1993 or 1994. I was in group 203.
I didn't like the program while I was there, but, believe it or not, I do have some fond memories of my time spent there. It has become an integral part of my childhood memories and has shaped my life beneficially.
After I left AAA I got "better" for a period of about 6 months, then really went off the deep end. I became very heavily involved in drugs/alcohol/general delinquency.
I had an awakening myself in my early 20's and realized I needed to do something myself. I was able to draw on experiences from AAA and came through to become successful and a contributing member of society.
I'd love to reconnect with couselors/students from class 203.
Thanks
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Please do something about Academy at Swift River - they are not licensed by the state. Let us know if you all take any action.
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Why are you specifically concerned with Academy at Swift River? Are you former students or employees? What would you like to see happen re: ASR and why are you asking the list in general? Are you not able to do something yourself? (I don't mean that as an accusation.)
So more info, please?
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Considering sending my 16-year-old son to ASR but afraid of making a bad decision. What prompted your concern re: licensing (I did not realize they were not licensed -- as a school or as a treatment facility?)? Is your question the result of a bad experience or are you also in the decision-making stage?
Thanks.
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On 2005-09-16 09:01:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Considering sending my 16-year-old son to ASR but afraid of making a bad decision. What prompted your concern re: licensing (I did not realize they were not licensed -- as a school or as a treatment facility?)? Is your question the result of a bad experience or are you also in the decision-making stage?
Thanks."
ASW is a confirmedly abusive program. There is copious evidence showing their various problems including unlicensed counselors, unlicensed teachers, staff with unaccredited degrees, physical and psychological abuse of their clients and a long list of other trespasses.
Check the ASW threads on this site, and, by all means, check with ISAC.
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What's ISAC?
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I am urgently trying to collect relatively recent accounts of kids who've been through any Aspen Ed. program! If you can write a detailed account of your experience at AAA it will be included in a significant piece of research that I am gathering and will publish. It can be anonymous, but I'd need to know who you were or you can sign it. Your stories are the only way to penetrate the secrecy. I know it's tough to write these things and I wouldn't want to push any kid sore after release who isn't ready to rehash but if you are capable, please, please write!
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On 2005-09-16 17:51:00, Anonymous wrote:
"What's ISAC?"
It's a watchdog group that collects information on fraudulent/abusive programs.
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New forum on Aspen
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewforum.php?forum=48 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewforum.php?forum=48)To be an atheist requires strength of mind and goodness of heart found in not one of a thousand.
--Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet, critic, journalist, philosopher
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yes i went to aspen achievement academy and can give you all the details of my story i still have all my journals from there and all my stuff clothing the survival pack that they made us make every day out of tarp to carry all of our stuff in i still have my bow drill set that we had to make fires with every night to be able to eat hot food.....if you still need a good story from aspen i would love to give you my story its a good one....my name is laura and my email address is [email protected]
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My experience with SUWs of the Carolinas, an Aspen Wilderness camp has so far been very good. I am basing this on the letters that I am receiving from my daughter and the weekly conversations with her therapist. My daughter is 14 was just expelled from a boarding school and has major issues with being adopted and her learning challenges. I'll get a better sense of the truth when I pick her up next week. But from what I can tell she is in a better space than she was two months ago when she was threatening to run away, drinking, and treating me like crap. Hope this helps.
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Please do not let them talk you into sending her to a long term residential program, which they almost always try to do. If you are tempted, please seek help at home first, with a competent professional. Many of the programs out there do more harm than good, and very few offer any type of real therapy. Also, in case you aren't aware, many of the residential programs have no licensing requirements and are subject to no oversight by state child protective agencies. Montana, for one, has absolutely no regulation of private residential programs. Beware of any facility that limits outside contact and restricts family visitation.
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We just visited Aspen Ranch as a possible placement for our son who is currently at Redcliff Ascent.
I didn't care for it personally. They had a nice facility but something didn't feel right.
We got to talk to several of the kids and ask them questions but I had the feeling that they didn't feel able to really talk.
The food looked pretty distastful as well especially considering you pay almost 7K a month.
We went to another facility in New Mexico and the feeling was totally opposite. The kids were all talking and smiling and eating pizza and and a healthy green salad. The school was clean and the kids just seemed more relaxed.
Could be that this one was non-profit where Aspen Ranch is definately for profit -- big profits.
As a Parent I would say that if you would consider any of these places, check them out up and down. Check out web sites such as these as well as the state and local authorities.
Check out the local newspaper for stories. You can also try to call the local law enforcement people to see if there have been any complaints.
There is no substitute for a personal visit. Show up early or unannounced... Stay a while and look around -- if they want you to only see what they want you to see you will be able to tell that there is something not right.
The one we chose let us have free run of the place. They spent quality time with us and let us go where ever we wanted and talk to who ever we wanted and they also let us walk around on our own...
Big difference -- If you get a bad vibe at all -- trust your gut.
Good luck.
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yeah i went to aspen achievement academy and i was there for over a month and got kicked out i ran away all the way to a town in one nite 22 miles and didnt get caught till later the next day...... i have a huge long story about aspen that no one else has because not alot of people get kicked out for being there over a month... well my email address is [email protected]
i still have everything from aspen the sleeping bag all my clothes everything that they gave me all the school work we had to do..... has anyone been there lately.. i heard that brat camp 3 will be filmed at aspen in loa utah....
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My son is currently at Aspen Ranch in Loa. I just came back from a long Thanksgiving visit. The last visit was in October when there was a lot of firing of staff and new managment.
Matt Alexander is in charge and he seems to be a good guy. The therapist and teachers also are very good and dedicated. Non the less the program itself has many flaws and at 7100 a month I feel it should be flawless.
I don't really see any real abuse, yes they are a little hard on the kids but it's only because the babysitters as I call them are not smart enough to figure out the rules. They can't figure out the difference between freedom of speech and negative talk therfore the kids cannot voice there opinions as freely as they wish. Also, the condition of the school is a shamble the ropes course that they sell you on has not been in working order in 7 months. They sell you on the idea that if you have a bright child, which I do he can excelorate in his studies, well he really can't if the library and computers are not available on the weekends to use. Also, the food is really disgusting, although there are nice cook outs and they have treats now and then.
I'm in touch with many other mothers and we are always visiting talking to the kids and snooping around. I do agree that I don't think that it's the answer
to everything but if you have a kid that might end up dead from drugs or alchol etc. It's a fairly safe place and right now the staff is pretty good.
My son wants to go to another boarding school one that is a little more free one without levels and more demanding in school. He does not have a substance abuse problem he is very bright but is suffering from deppression and has to work at his own pace in school. He might have PDD a very slight case. I was looking into Oak Hill Academy in VA or Hyde school in CT anything bad about those schools? Any suggestions? He is great at debate loves the japanese language excels in verbal skills is weak in math and science. Nee!
ds struc
ture and a good therapist. Thank you KK:)
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For any parent thinking about enrolling their child in The Aspen Achievement program, please reconsider. As a former student of the program myself, I did not see any of the literature provided to my parents until after my return from the program. After the initial review of videotape, and several pamphlets provided by the program I was shocked. The program did not accurately portray itself. According to advertisements for the Aspen Achievement Academy, the program resembled a rugged and therapeutic summer camp experience. In reality this could not have been farther than the truth.
It has been nearly twelve years since I spent those two months in the Utah wilderness, and my experience still haunts me to this day. The extensive neglect and abuse that my fellow students and I experienced was unacceptable. My parents were shocked when I came home and they saw the evidence in my backpack, and heard my stories.
I?ll never forget the morning of May 11th, 1994. It?s a date that will haunt me for the rest of my life. Two strangers awaked me at 5 am. They ordered me to get up and get dressed because I was going to Utah. I told them I couldn?t go to Utah; I had to go to school that day! It turned out I had no choice. After a lengthy struggle I found myself forced onto a second rate airplane (who?s ever heard of ?Morrissey? airlines anyway) bound for Salt Lake City. It remains one of the most emotionally devastating and difficult things I have ever been through.
I remember before the program even started, they took us to a consular, or maybe he was a physiatrist in Provo Utah to be evaluated. One of the worst moments in my life was when he looked me in the eye and told me that he did not believe that I was a good candidate for the program. He said he I seemed like a relatively normal and stable teenager, but that he was going to recommend that I attend despite this. He said that he thought the program would be good for anyone, even himself. He also told me that my parents had agreed to pay $23,000 for my time in the desert. I don?t know where that money went, because it certainly did not go to proper care and feeding of my fellow students and I.
We were starving in Utah; I lost over 20 pounds. We simply were not provided wit adequate amounts of food. Often times we were given no food at all, or forced to hike, exhausted for many miles before any food was provided. On a good day, in the mornings we were able to eat half a cup of cold instant oatmeal, and then at night if we were lucky we could eat the same amount of cooked potatoes and rice. If we could not start a fire this food was consumed raw.
Furthermore, the healthcare was unacceptable. There were three specific instances that come to mind concerning this subject. The first concerns my knees. I was born with knee problems (a tendency for my kneecaps to dislocate). During my time with Aspen my knees dislocated twice. This was a preexisting condition, and in no way created by Aspen. However, after each incident I was allowed to rest for a few minutes and then was soon forced to hike on the injury. As a result I have had persistent problems to this day. In fact, a couple of months ago I finally opted for surgery. The surgeon found extensive scar tissue and damage. For the last month I also walked on what felt to be a broken toe. I was never examined, so I can?t be sure, but the pain was excruciating for several weeks.
At one point I contracted the stomach flu during the program. I spent three days hiking and vomiting. Eventually after I had finally fainted several times from the exhaustion, medical help was brought in. This was not an acceptable response.
During my two months there, I was allowed to bathe only twice, both times in the same mud and cow filled stream that we drank from. The second bath came at the end of the program, right before our parents came. Before they saw us, we had to wash and change into fresh clothes. My Mom didn?t see the tattered truth of what I really wore until we were back home. I remember her crying when she did. As a student I had no rights, I was not even treated like a human. I was a prisoner.
Often times we drank from streams with high sulfur content that made us very sick. Sore often than not the water in my jug was brow, with brine shrimp swimming in it. I?ll never forget the feeling of them squirming on my tongue as I tried to swallow the gritty water, always to the sound of a counselor ?come on SUCK IT DOWN!? We had to drink it; we had no choice.
As a member of Aspen Group 211, I saw a thirteen year old girl turn purple and then blue as the staff sat by waiting for her to get herself up off the ground and keep walking. We walked in circles, up and down mountains, in the heat, in the cold and in the dark. We were always lost. For most of the time we carried a pack made of a blue tarp with seat belt material for straps. It was painful and awkward.
My hiking boots were new at the start of the program, and by the end the tread on the bottoms had worn down completely, they were flat. We could not know where we were or how long we would be there. There were ?no future questions? allowed. I remember walking along sheer cliffs with no safety ropes or harnesses, eating from dirty and rancid dishes, and having to use our bare hands to dig up and ?relocate? human "waste" on several occasions.
On my high school transcripts there are credits for classes from ?Wayne County High School?. The3y are really from my time at Aspen. These ?classes? consisted of the completion a series of ?curriculum? packets. They were really just confusing worksheets, that had obviously been typed out by one of the Aspen staff members.
There was a wonderful older man by the name of ?Levoy? who was supposed to be the teacher. He would come and visit rarely, and when he did it was never for an actual academic lesson. I do remember that never the less, his visits were one of the few pleasant things about the whole experience.
Actually, the academic instruction was a responsibility delegated to myself, and another one of the older students. We of course did not understand anything included in the curriculum anymore than the other kids, yet were the ones expected to ?teach?. They told us it was a reward, because we were always the first ones packed up and crushing the coals from the fire. It seemed like a strange reward to me.
Aspen markets itself as a ?therapeutic? environment. There was very little actual ?therapy? involved. Once a week, for half and hour a ?therapist? would come speak with us. This was an occasion we looked forward to because for one, the therapist would bring each of us an apple to eat, and for two, it got us out of having to hike for a couple of hours. These therapy sessions were to brief and far between to be of any help. The only other mention of therapy came each morning when one of the 19-21 year old staff members would ask us to use a single word to describe how we felt for that day. The ?therapy? was a joke.
Apparently the ?therapist? had periodic phone conversations with my parents. I don?t know what they could have talked about; the therapist knew little of me, or my daily experiences in the program. My main connection to my parents was the letters that we wrote back and forth. The staff had to sensor them all. I never sent or received a sealed envelope. I had to be careful about what I wrote. I tried to tell my parents what was happening, but it was hard. When I got home I found out that they warned our parents that we would exaggerate and not to believe our first hand descriptions of the program.
To this day we rarely if ever talk about Utah. About once every few year I casually bring up the subject. They never do. I still have a hard time finding the ability to forgive them in my heart. I hated them like never before during the program. I was not happy when they arrived in Utah for the last 2 days of the program, nor did our relationship improve once we got home. It got worse, and to this day I still hold a grudge because of the experience.
Before I went to Utah, I was a relatively good kid. I was seventeen years old. I had tried smoking cigarettes, tried smoking pot (and hated it) and had sex with two people. When compared to my peers I was fairly normal. Aspen didn?t care; they?ll take anyone whose parents will pay. After I came back from the program I had lost all sense of self worth and self-respect. I decided I didn?t care; it no longer mattered if I continued to resist the bad things in life, because I had already been punished. Within a month of my return I had tried hard-core drugs such as Crystal Meth, become a heavy smoker, had a lot of casual unprotected sex, and even had an affair with a man in his late twenties. Before Aspen I wouldn?t have done any of this. For many years after the experience I was tormented by nightmares about Utah and my time there. I?ve been back to the state, and even out into the desert where the program was held, all in an effort to make peace with the memories. Slowly, over time I did recover. I think my parents are still paying off the loan they took out to pay for Aspen. I wish they had used the money to help me in school instead.
Eventually I recovered, and got on a good track. But, I feel that had I not been sent to Aspen, I would have become a healthy productive adult much sooner.
In recent years I have heard that the program has been altered slightly. Apparently students now progress through the program at their own rate. It is no longer an issue to wait for everyone in the group to complete a task. Maybe this helps to control the animosity and resentment that existed in my group. Still, no matter how many changes are made in the program, or how many favorable accounts they post on their web site, I would NEVER recommend this program to anyone.
Now, despite the ?Aspen Experience? twelve years later I have been able to successfully graduate from college, find a healthy love relationship, a job as a teacher, and even (very recently) quit smoking. I have become the person my parents had hoped I would be. But, I still have nightmares of Utah. I remember Aspen T-shirts that read, ?You?ll go to Hell and Back?. They were half right, I went there, but it took nearly a decade for me to make it back.
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On 2006-01-20 15:44:00, Anonymous wrote:
"For any parent thinking about enrolling their child in The Aspen Achievement program, please reconsider. As a former student of the program myself, I did not see any of the literature provided to my parents until after my return from the program. After the initial review of videotape, and several pamphlets provided by the program I was shocked. The program did not accurately portray itself. According to advertisements for the Aspen Achievement Academy, the program resembled a rugged and therapeutic summer camp experience. In reality this could not have been farther than the truth.
It has been nearly twelve years since I spent those two months in the Utah wilderness, and my experience still haunts me to this day. The extensive neglect and abuse that my fellow students and I experienced was unacceptable. My parents were shocked when I came home and they saw the evidence in my backpack, and heard my stories.
I?ll never forget the morning of May 11th, 1994. It?s a date that will haunt me for the rest of my life. Two strangers awaked me at 5 am. They ordered me to get up and get dressed because I was going to Utah. I told them I couldn?t go to Utah; I had to go to school that day! It turned out I had no choice. After a lengthy struggle I found myself forced onto a second rate airplane (who?s ever heard of ?Morrissey? airlines anyway) bound for Salt Lake City. It remains one of the most emotionally devastating and difficult things I have ever been through.
I remember before the program even started, they took us to a consular, or maybe he was a physiatrist in Provo Utah to be evaluated. One of the worst moments in my life was when he looked me in the eye and told me that he did not believe that I was a good candidate for the program. He said he I seemed like a relatively normal and stable teenager, but that he was going to recommend that I attend despite this. He said that he thought the program would be good for anyone, even himself. He also told me that my parents had agreed to pay $23,000 for my time in the desert. I don?t know where that money went, because it certainly did not go to proper care and feeding of my fellow students and I.
We were starving in Utah; I lost over 20 pounds. We simply were not provided wit adequate amounts of food. Often times we were given no food at all, or forced to hike, exhausted for many miles before any food was provided. On a good day, in the mornings we were able to eat half a cup of cold instant oatmeal, and then at night if we were lucky we could eat the same amount of cooked potatoes and rice. If we could not start a fire this food was consumed raw.
Furthermore, the healthcare was unacceptable. There were three specific instances that come to mind concerning this subject. The first concerns my knees. I was born with knee problems (a tendency for my kneecaps to dislocate). During my time with Aspen my knees dislocated twice. This was a preexisting condition, and in no way created by Aspen. However, after each incident I was allowed to rest for a few minutes and then was soon forced to hike on the injury. As a result I have had persistent problems to this day. In fact, a couple of months ago I finally opted for surgery. The surgeon found extensive scar tissue and damage. For the last month I also walked on what felt to be a broken toe. I was never examined, so I can?t be sure, but the pain was excruciating for several weeks.
At one point I contracted the stomach flu during the program. I spent three days hiking and vomiting. Eventually after I had finally fainted several times from the exhaustion, medical help was brought in. This was not an acceptable response.
During my two months there, I was allowed to bathe only twice, both times in the same mud and cow filled stream that we drank from. The second bath came at the end of the program, right before our parents came. Before they saw us, we had to wash and change into fresh clothes. My Mom didn?t see the tattered truth of what I really wore until we were back home. I remember her crying when she did. As a student I had no rights, I was not even treated like a human. I was a prisoner.
Often times we drank from streams with high sulfur content that made us very sick. Sore often than not the water in my jug was brow, with brine shrimp swimming in it. I?ll never forget the feeling of them squirming on my tongue as I tried to swallow the gritty water, always to the sound of a counselor ?come on SUCK IT DOWN!? We had to drink it; we had no choice.
As a member of Aspen Group 211, I saw a thirteen year old girl turn purple and then blue as the staff sat by waiting for her to get herself up off the ground and keep walking. We walked in circles, up and down mountains, in the heat, in the cold and in the dark. We were always lost. For most of the time we carried a pack made of a blue tarp with seat belt material for straps. It was painful and awkward.
My hiking boots were new at the start of the program, and by the end the tread on the bottoms had worn down completely, they were flat. We could not know where we were or how long we would be there. There were ?no future questions? allowed. I remember walking along sheer cliffs with no safety ropes or harnesses, eating from dirty and rancid dishes, and having to use our bare hands to dig up and ?relocate? human "waste" on several occasions.
On my high school transcripts there are credits for classes from ?Wayne County High School?. The3y are really from my time at Aspen. These ?classes? consisted of the completion a series of ?curriculum? packets. They were really just confusing worksheets, that had obviously been typed out by one of the Aspen staff members.
There was a wonderful older man by the name of ?Levoy? who was supposed to be the teacher. He would come and visit rarely, and when he did it was never for an actual academic lesson. I do remember that never the less, his visits were one of the few pleasant things about the whole experience.
Actually, the academic instruction was a responsibility delegated to myself, and another one of the older students. We of course did not understand anything included in the curriculum anymore than the other kids, yet were the ones expected to ?teach?. They told us it was a reward, because we were always the first ones packed up and crushing the coals from the fire. It seemed like a strange reward to me.
Aspen markets itself as a ?therapeutic? environment. There was very little actual ?therapy? involved. Once a week, for half and hour a ?therapist? would come speak with us. This was an occasion we looked forward to because for one, the therapist would bring each of us an apple to eat, and for two, it got us out of having to hike for a couple of hours. These therapy sessions were to brief and far between to be of any help. The only other mention of therapy came each morning when one of the 19-21 year old staff members would ask us to use a single word to describe how we felt for that day. The ?therapy? was a joke.
Apparently the ?therapist? had periodic phone conversations with my parents. I don?t know what they could have talked about; the therapist knew little of me, or my daily experiences in the program. My main connection to my parents was the letters that we wrote back and forth. The staff had to sensor them all. I never sent or received a sealed envelope. I had to be careful about what I wrote. I tried to tell my parents what was happening, but it was hard. When I got home I found out that they warned our parents that we would exaggerate and not to believe our first hand descriptions of the program.
To this day we rarely if ever talk about Utah. About once every few year I casually bring up the subject. They never do. I still have a hard time finding the ability to forgive them in my heart. I hated them like never before during the program. I was not happy when they arrived in Utah for the last 2 days of the program, nor did our relationship improve once we got home. It got worse, and to this day I still hold a grudge because of the experience.
Before I went to Utah, I was a relatively good kid. I was seventeen years old. I had tried smoking cigarettes, tried smoking pot (and hated it) and had sex with two people. When compared to my peers I was fairly normal. Aspen didn?t care; they?ll take anyone whose parents will pay. After I came back from the program I had lost all sense of self worth and self-respect. I decided I didn?t care; it no longer mattered if I continued to resist the bad things in life, because I had already been punished. Within a month of my return I had tried hard-core drugs such as Crystal Meth, become a heavy smoker, had a lot of casual unprotected sex, and even had an affair with a man in his late twenties. Before Aspen I wouldn?t have done any of this. For many years after the experience I was tormented by nightmares about Utah and my time there. I?ve been back to the state, and even out into the desert where the program was held, all in an effort to make peace with the memories. Slowly, over time I did recover. I think my parents are still paying off the loan they took out to pay for Aspen. I wish they had used the money to help me in school instead.
Eventually I recovered, and got on a good track. But, I feel that had I not been sent to Aspen, I would have become a healthy productive adult much sooner.
In recent years I have heard that the program has been altered slightly. Apparently students now progress through the program at their own rate. It is no longer an issue to wait for everyone in the group to complete a task. Maybe this helps to control the animosity and resentment that existed in my group. Still, no matter how many changes are made in the program, or how many favorable accounts they post on their web site, I would NEVER recommend this program to anyone.
Now, despite the ?Aspen Experience? twelve years later I have been able to successfully graduate from college, find a healthy love relationship, a job as a teacher, and even (very recently) quit smoking. I have become the person my parents had hoped I would be. But, I still have nightmares of Utah. I remember Aspen T-shirts that read, ?You?ll go to Hell and Back?. They were half right, I went there, but it took nearly a decade for me to make it back."
Anon,
I would very much like to get in touch with you. Please email International Survivors Action Committee (http://www.isaccorp.org)
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I have worked as a wilderness instructor at Aspen SUWS program. Most of the kids have stuff to work on, but it is a result of where they are comming from and that is what we are missing, yet the kids are the ones sent away to do the work while parents continue on in their lives with little changes. The program I worked saw amazing opening up of situations and short term changes in the kids, some were real, some were the kids doing their best to act the way we asked them to, and who knows how real or lasting it is. In situations where the kids life is on the line these intense programs are better than the ER or the morgue, But they have costs, I believe they are tramatic for some kids and can be really hard on the body, doing long lasting damage in some cases. There are gentler ways of doing therapy. And sometimes what the kids are in need of they can't get in the program. Often deception is needed to get kids to enter the program, info is misrepresented to parents and kids, and if they are even told much detail and accuracy at all the parents and kids rarely grasp how harsh the conditions will be for the youngsters, especially when physical and emotional state are combined. And even though kids are under 18 and have little legal say over their welbeing holding people against their will doesn't seem right, no matter what age. The kids bear the brunt of a problem that is much bigger than them, they are afterall kids, they grew out of the environment they were raised in.
Sometimes the situation is the result of unfortunate situation beyond anyone's control, like death or adoption, however many times there is a whole lot to be improved in the home life and with the parents or guardians, and this is the limiting factor of programs because parents are not willing to hear this and kids get sent off and the parents just talk to therapists for a handfull of hours on phone calls, rather than being able to be there as part of the program like the kids. I meet many parents and understand why the kids have so many issues. But it's the parents who are sending the kids off to be "fixed". I would preferr to work with whole families instead of with one member of the family, the kid, who is often reacting naturally to a very out of balance surrounding where they are not able to get their needs met in a healthy way. So I would prefer to look at the larger picture of creating healthy local cultures for kids to live in and be nurtured by rather than spending loads of money to send them away to boarding school. In most instances there is still relapse risk involved on the part of the child and parent so boarding school is the next best thing, if you are ok with having other people raise your kid for you. And if youre sending a 11 year old off to boarding schooll think something is wrong at home, 11 is pretty young.
If you are thinking of sending your kid to a program you can email me at [email protected] for any questions about my experience as a head instructor with the SUWS program
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Aspen worked well for my daughter, who had many behavioural problems. She returned with new self confidence, self esteem that had hit rock bottom and is now a happy, relaxed teenager who is focussing on her future. She has made many changes to her life since she came home - she's returned to her studies, mixes with people who have a positive attitude to life and is polite and thoughtful. A happy, relaxed, confident teenager.
However, we as a family have worked hard to ensure that she didn't return to the same influences and situation that she left. We had lots of help, support and advise from Aspen, we analysed our family's strengths and challenges, we looked at our own characters to see where the triggers were and how we reacted in certain situations... we looked at how we were parented and how that has influenced our own parenting.
We all learnt to listen actively and to actually HEAR what each member of our family had to say. We put behavioural contracts in place and started a weekly family council night. We continued family therapy, which prior to going to the camp was totally ineffective because our daughter refused to cooperate.
We didn't expect miracles and we knew, no matter how well Aspen had performed for our daughter, we had to work hard and do our bit too otherwise, within a few months we would have been right back to where we started. We made sure that on our daughter's return that we supported her, worked with her and with ourselves. The result is that we have moved forward positively as a family and we are all much happier in our relationships with each.
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i think you are just bitching, honestly. i went to aspen about a year ago and it was a great experience. sure the food wasn't great but if you've ever gone camping you would know it's pretty hard to have great food keep for a week. and of course they supply enough food, we had instances where we ran out but that was because we didn't save it earlier in the week.
i didn't hurt myself while i was there but people in my group did and they got proper medical care. part of the program is learning to deal with things even if you do not want to. for instance one day my friend was puking everywhere and she still kept hiking because she knew we had to get to camp so that she could get to the doctors. we hiked 8 miles that day and climbed a mountain at the end, and she made it.
some of the things you talk about have definitely improved with time, such as the water. we either get filtered water or from a stream or river and sanitize it.
most of the things that you mention are all part of the program, such as no future information, and hiking, and those crappy packs.
it isnt supposed to be a good, fun, lighthearted time, obviously. its supposed to be hard, really really hard. i dont understand why you still dont get this after 12 years?
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I sent my daughter to Aspen Acheivement Academy 1 1/2 years ago and I truely believe it saved her life. It's a rigorous program. But it has made her stronger than she could ever have been without there help. She had been living with her father for 2 years before going to aspen and had developed a very serious meth addiction. after trying outpatient treatments (she really wanted to stop) that didn't provide enough structure, I hired the escorts to take her to Aspen. It was not an easy decision.
it was less than 8 weeks! and she has been off meth ever since. She admits it was tough but she is happy she went. she read the your posts and walked away laughing. She said it was worth it. she wouldn't be where she it today without them. she probably would have been dead, or in jail by now.
if you went to Aspen your parents cared enough to do there best for you. If you couldn't benefit from it that's your problem. stop whining.
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I sent my daughter to Aspen Acheivement Academy 1 1/2 years ago and I truely believe it saved her life. It's a rigorous program. But it has made her stronger than she could ever have been without there help. She had been living with her father for 2 years before going to aspen and had developed a very serious meth addiction. after trying outpatient treatments (she really wanted to stop) that didn't provide enough structure, I hired the escorts to take her to Aspen. It was not an easy decision.
it was less than 8 weeks! and she has been off meth ever since. She admits it was tough but she is happy she went. she read the your posts and walked away laughing. She said it was worth it. she wouldn't be where she it today without them. she probably would have been dead, or in jail by now.
if you went to Aspen your parents cared enough to do there best for you. If you couldn't benefit from it that's your problem. stop whining.
I would like to thank everyone (the above two posts, being the obvious exception) for his or her posts and upfront contributions to this subject. All of the posts including first hand student accounts, parents, and former employees have been very helpful. You have all contributed thoughtful and eloquent ideas. I was pleased to note that there were posts both in favor, and against this program. Thank you to everyone for you opinions and insights into the Aspen program.
However, in response to the two most recent posts?
It is quite obvious that you and your daughter are responsible the above two posts in this forum. Unfortunately both of your posts jeopardize the integrity of an otherwise respectable discussion.
Through the way that you portray yourself through your words and attitude, I too have no doubt that your daughter would have ended up in jail if it weren't for Aspen. Obviously you are an immature and vindictive person, and should not be a role model for a young teenager. It has been said that those who wonder where this younger generation is headed, would do well to consider where it came from!
You betray yourself and your argument with the disrespectful, harsh and immature way that you have approached the topic and responded to the other contributors. Why must you resort to such disrespectful and insulting tactics?
I get the sense that you are from an uneducated, blue-collar type of background; perhaps you yourself come from a rough background. Am I correct in this assumption?
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I worked at a facility owned by aspen education in Utah. I as a parent would NOT send my child there. I would like to know if anyone knows anything about how they cover up their sexual harassment cases. I reported harassment following ALL of the procedures. Has anyone else been envolved with something similar? What happened in your instances?
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Might post in the Aspen Forum
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewforum.php?f=48 (http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewforum.php?f=48)
Or the Troubled Teen Forum
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewforum.php?f=9 (http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewforum.php?f=9)
They get more activity than this one.
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I worked at a facility owned by aspen education in Utah. I as a parent would NOT send my child there. I would like to know if anyone knows anything about how they cover up their sexual harassment cases. I reported harassment following ALL of the procedures. Has anyone else been envolved with something similar? What happened in your instances?
Please get in touch with me at [email protected]. I'm a former staff member from 3 springs. I need to talk to you about something important.
sorry wrong email addy.
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*le bump*
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Academy at Swift River... went there... questions??/
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Academy at Swift River... went there... questions??/
When were you there?
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I was there august of 2004 till sept 2004..i got sent to peninsula village from there thanks to ASRs Dr. Cohen... I got kicked out of ASR because I was a leader of a run away attempt with 3 others... There was a lesbian couselor there that made me uncomfortable...she was fired later on for making out with a student... ASR was "interesting"
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I was there august of 2004 till sept 2004..i got sent to peninsula village from there thanks to ASRs Dr. Cohen... I got kicked out of ASR because I was a leader of a run away attempt with 3 others... There was a lesbian couselor there that made me uncomfortable...she was fired later on for making out with a student... ASR was "interesting"
interesting? How so?
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So far I have got this information about the facilities mentioned in this tread:
http://www.secretprisonsforteens.dk/US/ ... tRiver.htm (http://www.secretprisonsforteens.dk/US/AcademyAtSwiftRiver.htm)
http://www.secretprisonsforteens.dk/US/AspenRanch.htm (http://www.secretprisonsforteens.dk/US/AspenRanch.htm)
http://www.secretprisonsforteens.dk/US/ ... cademy.htm (http://www.secretprisonsforteens.dk/US/AspenAchievementAcademy.htm)
http://www.secretprisonsforteens.dk/US/Suws.htm (http://www.secretprisonsforteens.dk/US/Suws.htm)
If you can locate errors, please inform me.
I know some of the programs have altered some of their strategies during the years and fashion changes from Adventure therapy to boot camp in relationship with wilderness therapy and level systems contra peer preasure systems in TBS.
One example is SUWS. It started up at Adventure therapy - changed into boot camp and soften a little due to the deaths of detainees.
ASR changed a lot over the years. There was the quick startup to gain money for continued operations. Then there was the CEDU-inspired period, next came upscaling of the program so they could accommodate more detainees and giving up some of the psycodrama which evidently was too much for even the staff. (In the book one of the staff took a job in a cafeteria because it was too much.)
But as always. Send into to Denmark, so I can improve the site.
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I also went to SUWS of the carolinas...ill look over the sites for SUWS and ASR and let you know what I know...
Seems Ive had my share of these shitholes...haha :o
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I worked at a facility owned by aspen education in Utah. I as a parent would NOT send my child there. I would like to know if anyone knows anything about how they cover up their sexual harassment cases. I reported harassment following ALL of the procedures. Has anyone else been envolved with something similar? What happened in your instances?
I would very much like to get in touch with you. I know several people who would like to talk to you and whom you would probably like to talk to. Please get in touch with me via www.isaccorp.org (http://www.isaccorp.org)
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What information do you have?
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What information do you have?
Was that question directed at me? I am not sure what you are asking.
Please email the address I gave above. If you don't want to reveal your email address you can register with Fornits and send me a private message instead.
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I've encountered a lot of what you're saying about keeping their nose clean, having worked at one facility and turned in a sexual and harassment abuse report by a few of the staff. I think they're getting ready to go public, thus the need to buy up more facilities and keep that profit margin high.
I can say that they put very little money into the program for the kids. Office staff drive brand new vehicles, and the program vehicles for the kids have 200,000+ miles on 'em, van side door that doesn't open, no brakes, and extremely loose steering. 100 degree weather and the kids sleep in lofts with windows that won't open (due to security), no fans, no air, just sweltering heat.
They use discipline that is against state law. They just had a duct tape incident that was swept under the carpet by the Sheriff's Office, Child Protective Services, and the State Licensor. This happened in Utah where the Mormons are all related, or have ties, to someone else . . . the sexual offender is a police informant, CPS lady is a blood relative of the Aspen facility Director, and the State Licensor lady's husband works for another Aspen facility in a different city. Very cozy working relationship, to say the least. They removed the victim from the offending institution to another one of theirs up north in Utah.
I've heard that the mother of the victim is still pushing for answers and so am I.
Can you please provide me with specifics about the above incidents. I have been trying to track down this info you posted about the blood relative of Aspen working in the State Licensing Department. There is a licensing hearing going on right now regarding the death of a boy at Youth Care. this information is very pertitent to this case. I need any of the following information you can provide.
I need the date of the incident.
Case number for the police report/which county the report was filed in
the name of the CPS employee and the relative at Aspen.
If the mother of the victim wants to get in touch with me she can email it to at [email protected]
Thanks.
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After spending an hour, putting together a post with dates, names, etc. from my file, it all just disappeared. Posting this one quickly and from Word!
My witnessing of sexual abuse and receipt of employee harassment occurred on June 26, 2004. My formal complaint was filed with TAR on June 27, 2004. Max Stewart was the TAR Director at that time (he has since retired).
His female cousin (name unknown) was a boss in Panguitch Child Protective Services. She was the boss of Virgil D. Sickels who told me on Friday, July 30, 2004 that he would not give up on this one. His formal letter to me closed the case the following Monday, Aug. 2, 2004.
Every agency closed the case on Aug. 2, 2004: CPS, State Licensing and Sheriff.
I filed my complaint with the Garfield County Sheriff on July 3, 2004 (no official copy ever obtained by me). Our Escalante deputy, John Chambers, called me back and told me that he already had concerns due to a duct tape incident which happened the very night I turned in my complaint to TAR (which I also witnessed). I asked why I wasn’t interviewed by them as witness in their duct tape investigation and requested that they do so (they never did). (Deputy Chambers was shot and killed in Escalante, I believe, about a year later.)
I contacted State Licensing via email on July 3, 2004, and on July 6, got an email response from Suzanne Chavira of the St. George office that everything was AOK and good at TAR because they had let the 2 employees go who were involved in the duct tape incident. I laughed and asked who told you that. She said Max Stewart. I told her that the man involved (Tom Alvey) still worked there (and he still does to this very day) and that the woman involved had already given her notice before the incident and was already in the process of moving out of state.
I found out that Max had not abided by state law and notified State Licensing of my sexual abuse complaint against the Roundy Manager, Wayne Stinson. (complaints against managers must be reported by the facility to the state)
On August 7, 2004, through local, native Mormon residents, I was told that:
State Licensing Suzanne Chavira’s husband also worked at an Aspen facility in St. George.
CPS boss of Virgil Sickels is Max Stewart’s cousin.
The TAR sexual abuser manager Wayne Stinson was previously a Salt Lake City cop, dismissed for behavior and attitude problems. In Escalante, he worked for the local Sheriff Dept. as an undercover informant (residents always wondered why he was constantly driving up and down all of Escalante’s streets).
I’m happy to scan documentation into a pdf and will email to those of you whom I’ve had ongoing relationships in this forum and know. I don’t trust others and will not mail to anyone I don’t know. Sorry, but I don’t trust Mormons, the power of “The Churchâ€
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Deputy John Chambers was not shot and killed, that was a previous one.
The employee Tom Alvey, who was involved in the duct tape incident and who still works at TAR today, tried to run me off the road 3 times after I filed my complaint.
Each time he was driving a TAR truck with 3 or more male students inside. On the first 2 occasions, I drove off the side of the road to avoid a collision. On the third, I held my ground and our side mirrors barely missed each other. That was the last time he tried to do it.
What I thought was even stranger was that my then husband didn't think this was bad behavior on Tom's part at all, even though we all could have been killed or maimed in 45 MPH headon wreck.
After my complaint, TAR transferred one of the locally known sexual abusers included in my complaint to a different facility (no longer at the remote place with only other male staff, never enough female staff for this semi-wild first stop facility, never enough females to meet state requirements), and he quit rather than working with the regular staff, at the regular facility.
Toni
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I’m happy to scan documentation into a pdf and will email to those of you whom I’ve had ongoing relationships in this forum and know. I don’t trust others and will not mail to anyone I don’t know. Sorry, but I don’t trust Mormons, the power of “The Churchâ€
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Max Stewart, Turn-About Ranch Director at the time, investigated my complaint by individually drilling female students. Other TAR employees who were there at the time told me that Max talked with some of them for over an hour and that all of the girls were crying extensively when he was done.
I worked the evening shift and came in at 5:30 pm and none of the girls who I personally supervised in the past would have anything to do with me. They looked me in the eye, then diverted their eyes, one got "sick" during supper and had to be moved into a private room, and others got up and moved away from me at the supper table.
Max never did inform the TAR, professionally licensed counselors of my complaint and allegations. By state law, he could not have interviewed them one-on-one, by himself as only a male counselor (plus his professional counseling license was not current with the state).
During his "investigation", he did not remove the female students that he questioned from the abusers influence and care.
Max never talked to me personally about my complaint. After his investigation, he gave a "TAR employee token" to my husband with the instructions to tell me that everything was OK and not to worry! Ah, this is how the Mormons work too . . . the wives are supposed to do what the husbands say!
Toni
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wow....
Nice place they got going there.. would you care to be interviewed?
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Interviewed for what ??
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Check the facility questions and answers forum... in particular check the Peninsula Village thread. Mainly I seek to try to bring out as much information as possible about these places.
I'm former staff myself so I think we could pull off one hell of an interview.
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I've encountered a lot of what you're saying about keeping their nose clean, having worked at one facility and turned in a sexual and harassment abuse report by a few of the staff. I think they're getting ready to go public, thus the need to buy up more facilities and keep that profit margin high.
I can say that they put very little money into the program for the kids. Office staff drive brand new vehicles, and the program vehicles for the kids have 200,000+ miles on 'em, van side door that doesn't open, no brakes, and extremely loose steering. 100 degree weather and the kids sleep in lofts with windows that won't open (due to security), no fans, no air, just sweltering heat.
They use discipline that is against state law. They just had a duct tape incident that was swept under the carpet by the Sheriff's Office, Child Protective Services, and the State Licensor. This happened in Utah where the Mormons are all related, or have ties, to someone else . . . the sexual offender is a police informant, CPS lady is a blood relative of the Aspen facility Director, and the State Licensor lady's husband works for another Aspen facility in a different city. Very cozy working relationship, to say the least. They removed the victim from the offending institution to another one of theirs up north in Utah.
I've heard that the mother of the victim is still pushing for answers and so am I.
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Quote from: Guest on January 20, 2006, 05:44:00 PM
For any parent thinking about enrolling their child in The Aspen Achievement program, please reconsider. As a former student of the program myself, I did not see any of the literature provided to my parents until after my return from the program. After the initial review of videotape, and several pamphlets provided by the program I was shocked. The program did not accurately portray itself. According to advertisements for the Aspen Achievement Academy, the program resembled a rugged and therapeutic summer camp experience. In reality this could not have been farther than the truth.
It has been nearly twelve years since I spent those two months in the Utah wilderness, and my experience still haunts me to this day. The extensive neglect and abuse that my fellow students and I experienced was unacceptable. My parents were shocked when I came home and they saw the evidence in my backpack, and heard my stories.
I?ll never forget the morning of May 11th, 1994. It?s a date that will haunt me for the rest of my life. Two strangers awaked me at 5 am. They ordered me to get up and get dressed because I was going to Utah. I told them I couldn?t go to Utah; I had to go to school that day! It turned out I had no choice. After a lengthy struggle I found myself forced onto a second rate airplane (who?s ever heard of ?Morrissey? airlines anyway) bound for Salt Lake City. It remains one of the most emotionally devastating and difficult things I have ever been through.
I remember before the program even started, they took us to a consular, or maybe he was a physiatrist in Provo Utah to be evaluated. One of the worst moments in my life was when he looked me in the eye and told me that he did not believe that I was a good candidate for the program. He said he I seemed like a relatively normal and stable teenager, but that he was going to recommend that I attend despite this. He said that he thought the program would be good for anyone, even himself. He also told me that my parents had agreed to pay $23,000 for my time in the desert. I don?t know where that money went, because it certainly did not go to proper care and feeding of my fellow students and I.
We were starving in Utah; I lost over 20 pounds. We simply were not provided wit adequate amounts of food. Often times we were given no food at all, or forced to hike, exhausted for many miles before any food was provided. On a good day, in the mornings we were able to eat half a cup of cold instant oatmeal, and then at night if we were lucky we could eat the same amount of cooked potatoes and rice. If we could not start a fire this food was consumed raw.
Furthermore, the healthcare was unacceptable. There were three specific instances that come to mind concerning this subject. The first concerns my knees. I was born with knee problems (a tendency for my kneecaps to dislocate). During my time with Aspen my knees dislocated twice. This was a preexisting condition, and in no way created by Aspen. However, after each incident I was allowed to rest for a few minutes and then was soon forced to hike on the injury. As a result I have had persistent problems to this day. In fact, a couple of months ago I finally opted for surgery. The surgeon found extensive scar tissue and damage. For the last month I also walked on what felt to be a broken toe. I was never examined, so I can?t be sure, but the pain was excruciating for several weeks. At one point I contracted the stomach flu during the program. I spent three days hiking and vomiting. Eventually after I had finally fainted several times from the exhaustion, medical help was brought in. This was not an acceptable response.
During my two months there, I was allowed to bathe only twice, both times in the same mud and cow filled stream that we drank from. The second bath came at the end of the program, right before our parents came. Before they saw us, we had to wash and change into fresh clothes. My Mom didn?t see the tattered truth of what I really wore until we were back home. I remember her crying when she did. As a student I had no rights, I was not even treated like a human. I was a prisoner.
Often times we drank from streams with high sulfur content that made us very sick. Sore often than not the water in my jug was brow, with brine shrimp swimming in it. I?ll never forget the feeling of them squirming on my tongue as I tried to swallow the gritty water, always to the sound of a counselor ?come on SUCK IT DOWN!? We had to drink it; we had no choice.
As a member of Aspen Group 211, I saw a thirteen year old girl turn purple and then blue as the staff sat by waiting for her to get herself up off the ground and keep walking. We walked in circles, up and down mountains, in the heat, in the cold and in the dark. We were always lost. For most of the time we carried a pack made of a blue tarp with seat belt material for straps. It was painful and awkward.
My hiking boots were new at the start of the program, and by the end the tread on the bottoms had worn down completely, they were flat. We could not know where we were or how long we would be there. There were ?no future questions? allowed. I remember walking along sheer cliffs with no safety ropes or harnesses, eating from dirty and rancid dishes, and having to use our bare hands to dig up and ?relocate? human "waste" on several occasions.
On my high school transcripts there are credits for classes from ?Wayne County High School?. The3y are really from my time at Aspen. These ?classes? consisted of the completion a series of ?curriculum? packets. They were really just confusing worksheets, that had obviously been typed out by one of the Aspen staff members.
There was a wonderful older man by the name of ?Levoy? who was supposed to be the teacher. He would come and visit rarely, and when he did it was never for an actual academic lesson. I do remember that never the less, his visits were one of the few pleasant things about the whole experience.
Actually, the academic instruction was a responsibility delegated to myself, and another one of the older students. We of course did not understand anything included in the curriculum anymore than the other kids, yet were the ones expected to ?teach?. They told us it was a reward, because we were always the first ones packed up and crushing the coals from the fire. It seemed like a strange reward to me.
Aspen markets itself as a 'therapeutic' environment. There was very little actual 'therapy' involved. Once a week, for half and hour a 'therapist' would come speak with us. This was an occasion we looked forward to because for one, the therapist would bring each of us an apple to eat, and for two, it got us out of having to hike for a couple of hours. These therapy sessions were to brief and far between to be of any help. The only other mention of therapy came each morning when one of the 19-21 year old staff members would ask us to use a single word to describe how we felt for that day. The ?therapy? was a joke.
Apparently the ?therapist? had periodic phone conversations with my parents. I don?t know what they could have talked about; the therapist knew little of me, or my daily experiences in the program. My main connection to my parents was the letters that we wrote back and forth. The staff had to sensor them all. I never sent or received a sealed envelope. I had to be careful about what I wrote. I tried to tell my parents what was happening, but it was hard. When I got home I found out that they warned our parents that we would exaggerate and not to believe our first hand descriptions of the program.
To this day we rarely if ever talk about Utah. About once every few year I casually bring up the subject. They never do. I still have a hard time finding the ability to forgive them in my heart. I hated them like never before during the program. I was not happy when they arrived in Utah for the last 2 days of the program, nor did our relationship improve once we got home. It got worse, and to this day I still hold a grudge because of the experience.
Before I went to Utah, I was a relatively good kid. I was seventeen years old. I had tried smoking cigarettes, tried smoking pot (and hated it) and had sex with two people. When compared to my peers I was fairly normal. Aspen didn?t care; they?ll take anyone whose parents will pay. After I came back from the program I had lost all sense of self worth and self-respect. I decided I didn?t care; it no longer mattered if I continued to resist the bad things in life, because I had already been punished. Within a month of my return I had tried hard-core drugs such as Crystal Meth, become a heavy smoker, had a lot of casual unprotected sex, and even had an affair with a man in his late twenties. Before Aspen I wouldn?t have done any of this. For many years after the experience I was tormented by nightmares about Utah and my time there. I?ve been back to the state, and even out into the desert where the program was held, all in an effort to make peace with the memories. Slowly, over time I did recover. I think my parents are still paying off the loan they took out to pay for Aspen. I wish they had used the money to help me in school instead.
Eventually I recovered, and got on a good track. But, I feel that had I not been sent to Aspen, I would have become a healthy productive adult much sooner.
In recent years I have heard that the program has been altered slightly. Apparently students now progress through the program at their own rate. It is no longer an issue to wait for everyone in the group to complete a task. Maybe this helps to control the animosity and resentment that existed in my group. Still, no matter how many changes are made in the program, or how many favorable accounts they post on their web site, I would NEVER recommend this program to anyone.
Now, despite the ?Aspen Experience? twelve years later I have been able to successfully graduate from college, find a healthy love relationship, a job as a teacher, and even (very recently) quit smoking. I have become the person my parents had hoped I would be. But, I still have nightmares of Utah. I remember Aspen T-shirts that read, ?You?ll go to Hell and Back?. They were half right, I went there, but it took nearly a decade for me to make it back.
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i havent been an ex student but visited that place once and it wasnt bad at all, pretty good memories i had
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I am at an Aspen Program right now, bromley Brook, this place is hell. fake beond belief, do not send your daughter away do NOT!!! It would be so much better for her with the acxessablility of her therapist and familys love and support, i am 14 and didnt do anything stupid and now i am stuck here, i have been sexually assulted and more. watch out and please help me
Pm me if you can