Fornits

Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora
An open discussion about the troubled parent industry

I have been listening to the debate "they do this", "no they don't" for so long (about 2-1/2 yrs), and feel quite exhausted with it today. I'm sure it will pass, but the debate just goes on and on and on. Not that it's a bad thing, we can't stop raising awareness. But I'm a solutions oriented type person. We could sit around for years identifying the problem, and trying to prove it exists.

I was daydreaming, and this thought occured. If I were Queen for a Day, I would assign a Watchdog to spend a month at a WWASP facility. Or, four Watchdogs for four consecutive weeks. Documenting, filming, interviewing, etc. The Watchdog(s) would make their way around to every program that exists.
Actually, if I were Queen they would be abolished  :scared:
One of you WWASP supporters please tell me where else in society are people treated so inhumanely? Oh yeh, I forgot,you don't believe it's happening.... :cry: we'll never get anywhere.

Well, back to reality...and the next round of "they are abusive"..."no, they aren't". :sad:

Deborah


[ This Message was edited by: Deborah on 2003-06-10 11:16 ]

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/5956508.htm

Posted on Wed, May. 28, 2003  
 
State probing Bethel Boys Academy
13 children were removed last week; no charges filed
By KAREN NELSON
THE SUN HERALD

LUCEDALE - Three state agencies are conducting a combined investigation of the church-based Bethel Boys Academy, the offshoot of an institution that has been the focus of similar investigations and allegations of abuse in the past.

Thirteen boys were removed from the home late last week and given a place to stay by the state's Department of Human Services. The state Health Department, which regulates residential homes, and the state Attorney General's Office are also investigating.

By Tuesday, no charges had been filed against the home. And home officials said they were awaiting an explanation for the removal of the boys before they comment.

The Bethel Boys Academy is sponsored by the Bethel Baptist Church of Lucedale. It takes at-risk adolescents from around the country into a military-style, disciplined environment.

According to the DHS, the boys removed last week were found to be abused or neglected. A spokesman for the agency said its priority is the welfare of the children, not whether the academy should be allowed to stay open.

The Attorney General's Office started the investigation based on a complaint by the parents of one child, said Nancy East, a spokeswman for the office. The state Health Department became involved because the academy is required to register with it as a residential home and must meet certain requirements.

The home is run by John Fountain, the son of Herman Fountain, who ran Bethel Children's Home. That home, founded in 1978 and predecessor to the academy, had similar investigations and children removed through the years. In the fall, the academy was investigated on allegations of child abuse and neglect but after interviews with dozens of children, no children were removed from the home and no charges were filed.

The academy must comply with the state Child Residential Home Notification Act, passed in response to problems at the Bethel Children's Home in the late 1980s. The act requires operators of homes for children to give health officials the names of the children, their parents and the home's staff members.

The Attorney General's Office can ask a Youth Court or Chancery Court judge to close the home or remove children if it fails to comply with the act or meet state Health Department inspections.

Children are usually placed at the academy by their parents and tuition for the 12-month program is based on their ability to pay. The military-style program calls its counselors drill sergeants and each dorm floor a platoon, but also uses biblical scripture and a religious program. Currently, without the 13 recently removed, the academy has 104 children enrolled with a staff of about 20.

-------------------------------------------

Home's record of problems

1988: State welfare officials with the help of police took custody of 72 children found to have been abused or neglected, prompting a new state law regulating residential homes for children. The law went into effect the next year.

1989: Two children were placed in the custody of the state by order of a Youth Court judge. An employee of the home was charged with assault on a police officer and resisting arrest during the initial raid and was later convicted.

1990: A Chancery Court judge ordered 13 more children removed from the home; the same judge closed the home based on non-compliance with the new law. Then a federal judge permanently enjoined the home from violating federal child labor laws.

1994: The home reopened as Bethel Boys Academy.


-------------------------------------------------
Karen Nelson can be reached at 769-5480 or at [email protected]

Hey Watchdogs,
Below is an email from a concerned half-brother
of a young woman who was recently incarcerated
at Cross Creek Manor. He is very upset that he
is not allowed contact with her and is need of
some specific advice.
Ultimately, it would be good if he could be in touch with Gina, since she's been there, done that. Gina, if you're active here, let me know how he might contact you.
Thanks for your assistance.
Deborah
*************
Deborah,
Thanks for the email.  I am interested in watch
dog groups and message boards.  What I am really
interested to know is if there is some way that I
can get a neutral third party, such as a child
advocate appointed, to make sure that my sister is OK.
I am allowed no contact with her.  She was living with my father during an extremely contentious divorce proceeding between my father and A's mother.
My father died January 19 two days before his divorce trial was to start.  A's relationship with
her mother was not good and my father did not want
A's mother to have full custody of her.  In
any event, this is why I want someone neutral to come in to act in the best interest of A but I don't know what agency to contact in the state of Idaho or Utah or even if one exists that can address this situation.
What I've been told is that A's mother has
full custody of her and has chosen to place her in this facility and that I need to accept this.  It's frightening to me that no else can step in to at least evaluate this situation.
Please forward me any information on watch dog
groups and bulletin boards.

http://www.sltrib.com/2002/May/05292002/utah/740906.htm

Parents Sue Over Girl's Hiking Death
 Wednesday, May 29, 2002
 
 
BY MICHAEL VIGH
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

   Last Christmas Day teen-ager Katherine Lank was hiking in southern Utah with two of her classmates from a school for troubled youths when she slipped and fell down a deep crevice.
    Lank, 16, suffered massive head trauma and died three weeks later at a Las Vegas hospital. On Tuesday, her parents, Gregory and Moira Lank of South Carolina, filed a $6 million wrongful-death lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Red Rock Canyon School, based in St. George.
    School officials violated several state regulations and failed "to take all reasonable measures to ensure the safety of Red Rock School students," according to allegations in the lawsuit, filed by St. George attorney Bryce Dixon.
    The suit also says the hike was too difficult for inexperienced hikers and that there were an insufficient number of staff members to supervise it.
    Because he had not seen the lawsuit, Red Rock executive director Abe Dalley declined to comment.
    According to the school's Web site, Red Rock Canyon School is a state-licensed treatment facility for adolescents "with behavioral or emotional problems who require a level of structure and treatment beyond that which is available in traditional outpatient clinics, but who do not require inpatient psychiatric care."
    The suit says that on Dec. 25, 2001, four staff members took 10 students on a hike through the Naming Caves in rural Washington County. During the hike, Lank and two other students were allowed to hike unsupervised, the suit claims.
    A short time later, Lank was critically injured. She died on Jan. 13, 2002.
    The lawsuit alleges that Dalley waited about an hour before calling an air ambulance. It was another 1 1/2 hours before the chopper arrived from University Medical Center in Las Vegas.
    School officials should never have "taken a large group of students to a dangerous area" with only one radio and no medical equipment, the suit said.
    "Management did not have a plan in place to efficiently handle emergencies or accidents," the suit states. "Because of the defendants' breaches of their duties, Katie Lank suffered extreme physical and mental pain, shock, agony and suffering prior to her death."
    The suit, which accuses the school of negligence and breach of contract, asks for $5 million in compensatory damages, $1 million in punitive damages and attorney fees. The Lanks have also demanded a jury trial.
    [email protected]

Kudos !!! This Houston mom went to Costa Rico with 2 escorts and an Ed Con and broke her sons out of Dundee Ranch. Against the odds, she got them out of the country but now may face "kidnapping" charges.
Dundee Ranch is a WWASP Program.

http://nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/inde ... cue20.html

Newshawk: Suzy Wills
Pubdate: 10-17-02
Source: Dallas Morning News
Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Author: TANYA EISERER
Webpage Reference:
http://www.dallasnews.com/localnews/cit ... tyouthcamp
2.682ea.html
*****************************************************
Death of teen at therapy facility investigated Richardson 17-year-old died being restrained by staff in Hill Country
10/17/2002

By TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News
Authorities are investigating Monday's death of a 17-year-old Richardson youth who died while being restrained by staff members at a rural Hill Country program for troubled youths.

Charles "Chase" Moody died on the grounds of On Track, a private therapeutic program on a 6,000-acre former exotic-game preserve near
Mason.

"We all want to ... understand what happened so this never happens again," said
Marguerite Sallee, president and chief executive officer of The Brown Schools,
a company based in Nashville, Tenn., that owns and operates On Track.

Law enforcement officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday
night.

Charles Moody, the boy's father, said he has many unanswered questions. "I want the truth to come out," said Mr. Moody, a Dallas lawyer. "I certainly wonder whether it could have been prevented." He said his son, who had been having drug, alcohol and anger management problems, had been in the program for about a week.

Company officials said two staff members put the teen into a "physical hold" after he became physically and verbally aggressive. Staff members then called 911 for help.
By the time officers arrived, the youth was having difficulty breathing and paramedics were called, but he died before they arrived, company officials said.

Ms. Sallee said she thinks the preliminary investigation indicates that staff members followed proper procedures. She said she has met with a Texas Ranger who was investigating the death.

Mr. Moody's parents were immediately notified, as were the parents of the six
other youths at the facility, company officials said.

On Track is a 28-day program for struggling youths between the ages of 13 and 17. The camp usually accommodates between five and 15 youths.

E-mail http://www.tdprs.state.tx.us/Child_Care ... fessionals
/mncity.asp

Other interesting links:
CEDU acquired by Brown Schools
http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... ews03.html

Chris Kocurek of Austin created On Track
http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... een02.html

In 2000 Kocurek at SageWalk Wilderness Program in Bend, Oregon
http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... een01.html
http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... ews02.html

Bingo...here's the connection between Kocurek and Wardle
http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... een03.html
WARDLE HIRED BY SAGEWALK
(April 15, 2000) Chris Kocurek, Director of SageWalk, in Bend, Oregon, 800-877-1922, announced they have hired Mark Wardle for wilderness operations. Wardle had been Director of OnTrack Wilderness in Texas.
A year later Wardle is at Skyline Journey.
http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... een01.html

And remember, Sagewalk employed Aaron Bacon's murderer, Eric Henry during a 9 month diversion agreement following Bacon's death. Then went on to Obsidian Trails where another death occured.
http://www.contac.org/contaclibrary/tragedy28.htm