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1
Tacitus' Realm / MK-ULTRA: Family sues gov't over death of scientist father
« on: November 29, 2012, 10:32:59 AM »
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCIENTISTS_DEATH_LAWSUIT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-11-28-16-47-42

Family sues US over scientist's mysterious death

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The sons of a Cold War scientist who plunged to his death in 1953 several days after unwittingly taking LSD in a CIA mind-control experiment sued the government Wednesday. They claimed the CIA murdered their father, Frank Olson, by pushing him from a 13th-story window of a hotel - not, as the CIA says, that he jumped to his death.

Sons Eric and Nils Olson of Frederick, Md., sought unspecified compensatory damages in the lawsuit filed in federal court, but their lawyer, Scott D. Gilbert, said they also want to see a broad range of documents related to Olson's death and other matters that they say the CIA has withheld from them since the death.

Olson was a bioweapons expert at Fort Detrick, the Army's biological weapons research center in Maryland. Their lawsuit claims the CIA killed Olson when he developed misgivings after witnessing extreme interrogations in which they allege the CIA committed murder using biological agents Olson had developed.

The CIA had a program in the 1950s and `60s called MK-ULTRA, which involved brainwashing and administering experimental drugs like LSD to unsuspecting individuals. The project was investigated by Congress in the 1970s.

Olson consumed a drink laced with LSD by CIA agents on Nov. 19, 1953, the suit says. Later that month, after being taken to New York City purportedly for a "psychiatric" consultation, Olson plunged to his death.

At the time - when Eric and Nils Olson were 9 and 5 years old, respectively - the CIA said he died in an accident and did not divulge to his family that Olsen had been given LSD.

But in 1975, a commission headed by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller released a report on CIA abuses that included a reference to an Army scientist who had jumped from a New York hotel days after being slipped LSD in 1953. Family members threatened to sue, but President Gerald Ford invited the family to the White House, assuring them they would be given all the government's information. CIA Director William Colby handed over documents and the family accepted a $750,000 settlement to avert a lawsuit.

In an email, CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood said that while the agency doesn't comment on matters before U.S. courts, "CIA activities related to MK-ULTRA have been thoroughly investigated over the years, and the agency cooperated with each of those investigations." She noted that tens of thousands of pages related to the program have been released to the public.

In a statement, Eric Olson said that the CIA has not given a complete picture of what happened to his father.

"The evidence shows that our father was killed in their custody," he said. "They have lied to us ever since, withholding documents and information, and changing their story when convenient."

2
Public Sector Gulags / Eckerd facility reopens
« on: March 24, 2012, 02:48:09 AM »
http://www.journalpatriot.com/news/arti ... f6878.html

Eckerd facility reopens

Posted: Friday, March 23, 2012 2:23 pm | Updated: 2:27 pm, Fri Mar 23, 2012.

Jule Hubbard | 0 comments

After nearly a year of dormancy, the Eckerd property in Boomer is alive again with trained staff counseling and teaching youths with behavioral problems.

In partnership with the N.C. Department of Public Safety’s Division of Juvenile Justice, the 600-acre Eckerd property on the western end of High Rock Road is home to a new short-term, residential, campus-style program.

Linda Hayes, chief deputy secretary for the N.C. Division of Juvenile Justice, and Eckerd Chief Operating Officer Ron Zychowski attended an open house there today and discussed the property’s transition from an Eckerd therapeutic “wilderness camp” to the short-term, campus-style program.

The wilderness program, called Camp E-Ma-Etu, operated for about 10 years before it was closed last spring after Eckerd lost a state contract for serving youths referred by the state juvenile justice system. Camp E-Ma-Etu was among Eckerd’s four remaining wilderness camps in North Carolina. All four are closed now and only two remain elsewhere—both in Florida.

In North Carolina, Clearwater, Fla.-based Eckerd transformed itself from focusing almost exclusively on serving youths in wilderness camps to a wide range of child welfare, behavioral health, and juvenile justice services.

Eckerd announced in May that the N.C. Division of Juvenile Justice had awarded it a multi-year contract for providing the new residential program in the Montgomery County town of Candor and then announced in September the award of a second the program in Boomer, celebrated today.

Officials said today that the new Eckerd program reflected increased emphasis nationwide on the importance of letting troubled youths remain with their families in their home communities as much as possible and less on long-term residential programs like the wilderness camps.

“If you treat a youth without his family, you don’t have as much success,” said Cindi Blackburn-Jones, who is program director for Eckerd’s new short-term residential service in Boomer. “We always had an emphasis on transitioning youth back to their home community, but it wasn’t as intensive or supportive as it is now.”

Ms. Blackburn-Jones said Eckerd staff have extensive interaction with parents after their children complete the new program and return home. This includes helping parents implement certain structure for youths to make the transition home as seamless and successful as possible.

The goal of the new Eckerd program, which started in Boomer early last month and in Candor in October, is to provide participating youths with complete rehabilitative experiences in three to four months.

How do wilderness camps compare to the new short-term residential service? Housed with their counselors year-round in rustic, open-sided shelters with detached bathroom facilities, camp participants stayed an average of 10 to 12 months at Camp E-Ma-Etu. The shelters had heaters in the winter.

Two of three planned “dormitories” have been completed so far, each with their own names. Each have heating and cooling systems, bathroom facilities and bunk beds for participants and their counselors. Truth Hall is currently occupied by program youth, Wisdom Hall is completed in anticipation of the next group of youths and Honor Hall is under construction.

The new program utilizes experiential education, but the wilderness camp program had more of an emphasis on experiential education and group dynamics in an outdoor setting. Like the wilderness program, the new program’s school curriculum is accredited with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.

“The new program is designed to address each youth’s behavioral challenges through a strength-based approach with evidence-based practices,” stated Eckerd literature. Services include individualized treatment and academic plans using formal and experiential education, vocational education, community service, behavioral health and family counseling in a non-punitive environment.

Specific features include a “Forward Thinking” interactive journal program, social skills and life skills training, motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, community service work and individual, group and family counseling.

Camp E-Ma-Etu typically had around 60 male and female participants ages 10 to 17. When at full capacity, the new program in Boomer will be licensed for 36 youths ages 13 to 17, male only. It now has about 10 male youths receiving services.

Only adjudicated youths (youths found guilty of juvenile offenses) participate in the new program in Boomer. Although referral from a state juvenile justice official was needed in the wilderness camp program, adjudication wasn’t required.

Both level I and II offenders were accepted at Camp E-Ma-Etu, but the new program is only for level II juvenile offenders. Ms. Blackburn-Jones said a juvenile is designated a level II rather than a level I offender because of having more offenses rather than more serious ones.

Initially, youths from across the state will be accepted in the new program at Boomer, but there may be a shift to serve only youths from the region in the future.  

With the new program, said officials, Eckerd should eventually have about 40 employees on its property in Boomer.

3
The Troubled Teen Industry / Second Nature "Success" Story
« on: February 20, 2012, 05:32:06 PM »
http://www.psychforums.com/therapy/topic25992.html

Wilderness Therapy?

Postby JustTony » Tue Apr 08, 2008 2:40 am


I am not officially against psychiatry YET...key word yet, becaus I dont know all the facts and I am posting even this on pure suspicion and fear. Fear that I have been messed with beyond repair.

I was a troubled youth, i can admit that. My folks split up when I was young. I was raised by a single-mother who had alot of issues and was always bringing different ppl in the house for personal reasons. We also were not that well off financially, but my mom later got a govt. job and that changed 4 the better a little bit.

She also went from secular to devout christian in a matter of months and next thing I know my butt is stuck in christian camps and church schools learning how evil I was and how imperfect I am. I was also taught a bunch of #######4 morals that had nothing at all to do with Christianity, which ###$ me up alot honestly cause it was soo confusing.

Anyways I got kicked out of alot of schools because i couldnt tolerate verbal persecution and other injustices brought upon me so I chose to fight people. And one thing my hockey playing taught me, I was a great fighter and to this day have lost few, and have fought MANY. I also joined in with a "sub-culture" as my parents and teachers refferred to it, and began partying and drinking yadda yadda, honestly it was all typical teenage behavior blown out of proportion by a confused Christian parent with an even stricter Christian husband, who became known as my sted-father, who I suspect truly cares little about me and my siblings. And because the wilderness program I was basically kidnapped and taken to against my will was run by former military personnel, and he is a retired lt. colonel, I suspect it was his idea, not my REAL parent's.

Anyways I was out in the Utah dessert at a wilderness camp called 2nd Nature, based in Duchesne, for 4 months and did a month in "after-care" but I got kicked out. I was supposed to do 9 months but I said "###$ that" and caused a little arguement and got expelled. But while I was out there, we were over 50 miles away from ANY civilization and miles from any road. We had nothing except hiking and camping gear and ate dehydrated $#%^ the whole time except for a few special occasions, that werent too special if u ask me. They evaluated our every move, we were forced to write daily journal entrys and do psychological excercises and group therapy. We had NOTHING from the modern world, and were not kept up to date on anything, not news, not date, not even time of day.

Now that Im back, I am SOOO different. I used to have friends and do ALOT of sports and activities. I could get along fairly well with others and loved to be "nice" to other ppl. NOW, my life sucks! It already sucked but now it is living hell. I obsess about the smallest $#%^. I cant even hold a decent conversation with my own family, let alone one of my old friends. I feel brainwashed, I feel they told me a great big lie that I cant even re-call. All I know is now the world is crashing down on me, and it wasnt before I went. I have even heard ppl from my group tell me they put $#%^ in the water we drank out there, which they forced us to drink nearly a Gallon per day to "avoid dehydration." I was not depressed b4 I went out there, now I am, and was prescribed Lexapro which I took for about a month, hated it, and quit cold turkey. $#%^ is worse than it has ever been tho. Everything I say offends ppl, Im arrogant, Im provocative. I feel like $#%^, my family and friends hate me, and I feel crazy... Why all this $#%^ happen after 2nd Nature. How could my own parents do this $#%^ to me? Am I really such a failure? Did I really deserve to be put through this living hell? everyday is torture, what do I do? And can I reasonably place any blame on 2nd Nature, or is that just looking for an excuse? I dont even know anywore!!!!

4
http://www.reflector-online.com/news/ex ... yzMYch0pew

Experiencing reparation therapy

By ZACK ORSBORN

Published: Friday, February 3, 2012

Updated: Friday, February 3, 2012 10:02


In mid June 2008, Beth, a student of Mississippi State University, boarded a plane with no luggage and no idea about what she was about to experience. All her father told her was she was going to camp in Utah.

 "I didn't really know that it was going to be so terrible. I didn't want to go, but I wasn't refusing to go because I thought it was going to be kind of like summer camp. I figured there would be therapy there. I didn't realize that it was going to be like boot camp," she said.

Raised in a conservative home, Beth's "lifestyle choices" were deemed immoral and wrong by her parents. Beth first discovered she was a lesbian in the sixth grade.

 "I just kind of never liked boys. I liked girls," she said.

The only gay person in her family, Beth had apprehensions about telling them. She wanted to be able to control her sexuality.

"If I didn't want to become gay, I should be able to make myself not gay," she said.

In high school, Beth developed self-esteem issues due to being teased. The word "DYKE" was written on her car.

The only guidance Beth had was from her open-minded friends and her theatre troupe.

When her family found out about her sexual preference, they were shocked. They believed it was just a way for her to act out and get attention. To them, being gay was just a phase.

To get rid of the phase, Beth's father sent her to boot camp, thinking time in nature would be therapeutic for her. Beth traveled to a secluded area in Utah. In the airport, a man dressed in hiking attire held a sign bearing the camp's name. Driving out into the wilderness, Beth was supplied with clothes and boots to wear. Trekking into the woods, she wondered when she would be able to leave.

Eventually, she met a group of six girls and another counselor. The other girls were at the camp for different reasons: car-jacking, running away from home, drugs and promiscuity. Beth was to be handled on the same level as a criminal. Beth's father believed her sexuality was a behavioral problem.

"I felt like I was in jail. Worse than jail," Beth said.

Living arrangements were appalling. The campers slept on the ground.

"They gave us a tarp and a sleeping bag and a bag of food, and the tarp was our tent. If we couldn't find trees, we had to tie the tarps to bushes. It was very uncomfortable. They suggested for us to dig a hole in the ground to put your hip in while you were sleeping," said Beth.

After waking up 30 minutes after sunrise, the group members hiked all day in 100-degree weather. The campers also had to worry about scorpions in their sleeping bags. The group members were only given a bag of rice, a bag of granola, an apple, an orange and a jar of peanut butter for the whole week. In order to cook her food, each camper had to make her own fire using rocks and sticks. If she failed to do so, she had to eat her rice dry.

The campers could contact their family; however, the therapists gave them assignments to write.

"I had to write about whatever they told me. Like what I appreciated about my family and what they meant to me, and how I was going to change my behavior when I got home," she said.

Every week, Beth met with therapists who tried to figure out the "roots of her problem." The therapist asked her why she became gay. Beth's desperation to leave camp led her to answer the questions with what the therapist wanted to hear.

"I was trying to get out of there. You just stayed until they released you. There were girls that had been there for 12 weeks. I just went along with what they said. He asked leading questions, so I could guess what to say," she said.

However, Beth had a different philosophy on sexuality than her therapist.

"I don't think anything led to my homosexuality. I think that it is just a natural thing that you are born with. At first, I didn't feel natural. But I do now," she said.

The day after Beth's 18th birthday, her father came to pick her up. After 42 days, Beth was physically and mentally exhausted. The happiest moment of her camping experience was her exit. Camp helped her to appreciate the things she had in her life, like shelter and food, but, to this day, Beth is still a lesbian.

"I don't think you can stop being gay. I think you can stop your homosexual behavior. That's like being abstinent. You're always going to have the thoughts and feelings," she said.

Eventually, Beth's father began supporting her, but her sexual orientation is not a subject they talk about.

For people who have experienced reparation camp or therapy, there is a safe place to get support on campus. Harry Hawkins, a graduate student studying mental health counseling, is the president of Spectrum. Spectrum is a student organization on the Mississippi State University campus dedicated to promoting awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/question issues. Hawkins said he also believes people cannot change their sexuality.

"The whole idea that someone can change their sexual orientation by going through this non-empirical and unethical therapy is ridiculous. It is on the same lines of ignorant as sending someone to therapy to change their ethnicity," he said.

Telling someone they are diseased because of their homosexuality harbors bad thoughts which can lead to low self-esteem and making them feel worthless.

"Homosexuality has been removed as a disease from the Diagnostic Statistical Manual many years ago," Hawkins said.

He said the role of the counselor should always be to do no harm.  The accreditation organization for MSU's counseling program has strict guidelines when it comes to being ethical. Therapists who practice reparation violate the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics., he said.

Hawkins also said he believes homosexuality is not a choice.

"I do not understand how one can choose to live a life where you know that you will have less rights than an illegal immigrant. Or how one can choose to live a life where they know that they will be ridiculed by some and misunderstood by others. To imply that it is a choice is just insulting,'' Hawkins said. ‘‘I can understand how it is hard for those who do not understand; however, it is the same as me saying you choose to be straight. I know those who are heterosexual will say that it is just a natural feeling. Well it feels the same way on the other side of the street."

5
Public Sector Gulags / Richland County SC Scared Straight Jail Program
« on: January 06, 2012, 12:44:14 AM »
http://www.thecolumbiastar.com/news/201 ... ional.html

RCSD goes national

Richland County Sheriff’s Department’s READY program airs on A&E

By Julia Rogers Hook


In 2010, a story was published in The Columbia Star about the Richland County Sheriff ’s Department’s program for troubled teens that imitates a night in jail. The teens are brought to the Sheriff ’s Department by parents who are frustrated and feel like their children are headed for trouble or worse…. going to jail for real.

Headed by Investigator Gerald Walls, the program is called the READY program, an acronym for Richland (County) Educating And Deterring Youth. The basic idea is to give problem teens a taste of what jail is like before it becomes a reality. The department does it twice a month, one time with male teens and one time with female teens. Walls said there is no difference in the treatment of the kids. Boys and girls alike are still treated as prisoners.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said that when he started the program he wanted it to be tough, but he also wanted the area youth to realize the community and the police cared about their well-being.

The officers working with the kids in the READY program do not treat it as a trial run. An actual arrest is imitated from the handcuffing and searching of the teens to traveling in a paddy wagon to a real jail cell at the court house and all that goes with it. “ It’s not just about locking them up and leaving them to the justice system,” Lott said. “It’s about helping to get them on the right track. This program, under Investigator Walls, has proven to be invaluable for the students in the county.”

And the agenda is clearly working because earlier this year, the program grabbed the attention of A& E’s series “Beyond Scared Straight” producers, and they ran a segment of Columbia’s version on their nationally aired show.

“ When they got in touch with me, they said they had found us online,” Walls said. “ They came down here in April to see what we did, and then they decided to run it.”

The segment ran December 8 and showed troubled male teens spending a terrifying night in jail with the participating deputies doing their best to show exactly how hard institutional life can be. Now, the RCSD and Investigator Walls is receiving calls from across the country from other law enforcement agencies that want help starting a similar program in their area and even some from parents themselves who want to send their children to Richland County.

“It’s amazing…I got a call from a mother in California who wanted to bring her daughter to our program,” Walls mused. “This morning a detective in Wyoming called and wants our help in starting up a program there. Parents are willing to fly themselves and their kids across the country to do this program. I guess it just shows how many parents are frustrated and at their limit.”

Sheriff Lott said he was pleased with the national reaction to the show and the READY program.

“ To have so many parents and other agencies interested in what we are trying to accomplish lets us know that we are on the right track in saving our youth one by one with each session we conduct,” the sheriff said.

The RCSD program is one of the toughest out there as most deterrent programs just involve a visit to a jail and maybe speaking with inmates.

“ The difference in our program is that, as far as I know, we are the only program that keeps the kids overnight,” Walls said. “ We do have a program that just takes the kids to talk to the inmates as well, but the READY program is intense and intended to really scare these kids.”

Walls said the point is to reach the kids before they get into serious trouble.

“A lot of these kids are not really bad kids,” said Walls. “ They may be from a single parent home, or they may have hooked up with the wrong crowd. The purpose of our program is to make them realize that the paths they are choosing are not necessarily the paths they want to take.”

To get the teens into the READY program, parents have to agree to drop them off at the Sheriff ’s Department and leave them there overnight. They sign a permission slip and pay $10 to cover the uniforms and food for the night. And then the parent must leave the kids, often with both the parent and child in tears.

“It’s not an easy thing to do because we explain to the parents that it will be a tough night,” Walls said. “But one night of a mock arrest can prevent years of real nights in jail. These parents are at the end of their ropes.”

The officers working with these kids do not treat it as a trial run at all though. An actual arrest is imitated from the handcuffing and searching of the teens to traveling in a paddy wagon to a real jail cell at the court house and all that goes with it.

The officers are waiting for the kids to arrive and are bellowing out orders that echo in the parking garage of the jail as the teens are hurried out of the paneled van while still in cuffs. No one is smiling, and it all seems real. If a teen cracks a smile or tries to act tough, one of the officers will quickly end it, as can be seen on the A&E show.

There’s a scene where a teen is told to do a sitting squat against the wall. He makes the mistake of telling RCSD Officer Kelvin Griffin “This hurts man.”

Griffin gets close to the teen and screams into his ear.

“ I ain’t your ‘man’ and you don’t call me ‘man’ do you understand me? Do you?”

The teens are told they are to answer with only ‘yes sir/ mam’ or no sir/mam’ and deputies do another search before the kids are given prison jumpsuits and are put through rigorous calisthenics and assessments. They speak to counselors who try to get them to tell them why they are acting like they are. Most of the time the crime is as simple as ditching school or breaking curfew.

“If we can get them before they move on to bigger mistakes or get caught for smoking pot or stealing CDs, then we have a really good chance of making an impression that can really change their lives,” Walls said.

Lott said that he hears good things from a lot of people involved in the program.

“I think the success stories we hear from both the parents and the students themselves tell the story,” he said.

One of the main requirements of the night is that each teen write a letter of apology to their parent or parents.

“ We want them to admit what they have done wrong,” Walls said. “ We want them to realize why they are there.”

Nothing is sugarcoated through- out the night in jail. They are roused from a troubled sleep in a solitary cell on a bench that serves as bed, table, and chair. On the A& E show one teen is shown pacing the small walking area before he finally tries to lie down and sleep the night away. A few minutes later the lights flash on and officers raid all the cells to get the boys up to once again work out.

“It’s to show that in jail, time is not your own,” Walls said. “In jail your life is not your own. You do as you’re told and when you’re told. It might seem cool to hang out with your buddies and act tough on a street corner, but I haven’t seen one yet that comes through one of these nights without breaking.”

One mother said that after her son spent the night in the READY program, he told her he never wanted to go back because that place smelled awful. When she related the story to Walls, he just smiled and looked satisfied.

“That’s what I like to hear,” he chuckled. “That’s the whole point of the program. We don’t do it to show them a good time. We do it to make them never want to see the inside of a jail again.”

6
The Troubled Teen Industry / Lost or Running Away?
« on: January 05, 2012, 06:42:39 PM »
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... 0f31a.html

Phoenix teen says he ended up in St. Louis accidentally, got little help

By Jonah Newman

It seems crystal clear that Erik McBee got on a Southwest Airlines flight from Phoenix to Tulsa, Okla., that departed at 10:15 a.m. Dec. 28.

From there, things get a bit fuzzy.

As they told Phoenix TV station KPHO earlier, the 15-year-old and his mother told the Post-Dispatch on Wednesday that on the flight that was supposed to take him to a boarding school, Erik popped on some headphones, fell asleep ... and woke up in St. Louis.

Erik said he slept through the landing in Oklahoma, the 40 minutes the plane spent on the ground there and through the takeoff as the plane continued on its way to St. Louis.

Not sure where to go after landing in St. Louis, Erik said he sought help from a man in a yellow uniform just outside the terminal at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and others after he left the airport and wandered the area on foot.

"I was just trying to find a city where people would actually help me," he said.

Little of what Erik and his mother told the Post-Dispatch could be verified. What can be checked leaves more questions than answers.

Erik had a ticket to Tulsa, Southwest spokeswoman Ashley Dillon said. Passengers Erik's age can fly alone on Southwest without being shepherded by airline personnel.

Once the plane landed in Tulsa and passengers got off, the flight crew did a routine head count to make sure the number on board matched the number of people who were supposed to be aboard continuing on to St. Louis and, after that, New Orleans.

Erik said he snoozed in his seat through this part, but Southwest said somehow the count didn't show an extra person on board, and off the plane went to St. Louis. The airline is investigating what might have happened with the count.

When he didn't arrive in Tulsa, a teacher who was supposed to be meeting Erik to take him to a school he attends there approached a Southwest representative and then called his family, Keena McBee, Erik's mother, said.

From there, "hundreds of calls were made" to try to locate the boy, McBee said.

Erik said his various efforts to get help — from the uniformed man outside the airport, from 911, at a Bridgeton police station — were fruitless.

Southwest said it had no record that Erik approached any airline agent that afternoon.

Jeff Lea, a Lambert spokesman, said airport police started looking for Erik after the teenager's grandmother contacted them about 9:30 a.m. Dec. 29.

Relatives had also called Southwest, which contacted authorities in St. Louis, Dillon said.

"We did everything we could to locate him right away," she said.

Later that afternoon, Erik said, a good Samaritan dropped him off at a Florissant police station. Officers there called Erik's family and took him back to the airport, police spokesman Sgt. Kevin Boschert said.

Erik said a Florissant officer accompanied him until he was safely seated on a Phoenix-bound plane. The airline flew Erik home at no charge, Dillon said.

Erik plans to take another shot at getting back to his school next week. His mother said this time she will drive him.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... z1id71Sq5P

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

It sounds to me that Erik didn't want to go to his boarding school in Oklahoma. Maybe he hid out on the plane or slumped in his seat to avoid the flight attendants. The airport has no record of him approaching anyone in St Louis about the matter. Was this a poorly executed attempt to avoid being sent back to a program?

I think there are some regular boarding schools in Oklahoma for Native Americans, but I wasn't able to find any programs there. Is anyone aware of any BM facilities in the Tulsa Oklahoma area?

7
Feed Your Head / Caleb Jensen Lawsuit
« on: December 31, 2011, 12:58:50 AM »
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/53206 ... n.html.csp

Doctor dismissed from wilderness therapy wrongful death suit

By Aaron Falk

The Salt Lake Tribune
First published 7 hours ago
Updated 5 hours ago

A prominent Utah doctor has been dismissed from a wrongful death lawsuit involving a southwestern Colorado wilderness therapy program.

Last week, a 3rd District Judge approved a request from both sides to dismiss the claim against Keith R. Hooker, who worked for decades at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center before retiring this year, in connection with the 2007 death of 15-year-old Caleb Jensen.

An attorney for Hooker said he could not comment on the dismissal agreement, citing confidentiality issues.

"He was never called with regard to any of the symptoms that were going on in the field," attorney Dennis Ferguson said. "That became apparent through the course of discovery."

Ferguson called Hooker, who was named the state’s top physician in 2010, "a very good and very caring doctor."

"We finally just put an end to this," he said.

The now-defunct Alternative Youth Adventures of Colorado, its parent company and the program’s director are among the remaining defendants in the wrongful death suit, which seeks $45 million in damages.

The lawsuit alleges that Jensen died in southwestern Colorado, where he had been sent by Utah juvenile justice officials, from a staphylococcus infection that went untreated despite his symptoms.


In 2009, a Colorado grand jury handed down indictments against Hooker and others involved with AYA and its New Jersey-based parent Community Education Centers Inc. but all criminal matters were later dismissed.

A CEC spokesman on Friday said the company does not comment on ongoing litigation.

According to indictments, Jensen was admitted to the wilderness program in March 2007 and began showing symptoms of illness the next month.

In his journal, the teen wrote that he was "burning up, vomiting and having trouble hiking."

The boy spent his last week of life lying in his own urine and feces, the court documents alleged.

Field staff said they called officials at AYA base camp but no one responded and no medical attention was ordered, according to the indictments.

Efforts to reach Jensen’s family and their attorney this week were unsuccessful.

[email protected]

Twitter: @aaronfalk

8
The Troubled Teen Industry / One Who Got Away
« on: December 31, 2011, 12:47:20 AM »
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/f ... o_rehab_i/

In 2003 a 17 year-old young man from the Washington DC area was kicked out of school after he was discovered by a school x-ray machine to have a marijuana pipe in his bookbag. His parents gave him the option of going to rehab or leaving home. He chose to leave home. Some time later his parents learned that he was staying with a relative and called him to apologize. They asked him to come home and he did. While eating dinner two goons suddenly appeared blocking the two exits of the kitchen. One dangled handcuffs and basically said: 'we can do this the easy way or the hard way'. Apparently he chose the hard way because he attacked one of the ex-cops with a stool hitting him in the knee and knocking him to the floor. Unfortunately the other one tackled him and got cuffs on him.

They had been hired to transport him to Second Nature in Georgia. At some point during the drive they stopped at Popeye's to eat and didn't put the handcuffs back on him. Later when they stopped to get gas around 3 or 4 in the morning he told them he had to go the the bathroom. As soon as he got out of the car he took off running into the woods. He climbed over a fence but got chased out by a dog and lost a shoe in the process. Finally he got a ride to Salisbury NC and bought a train ticket back to DC (the goons hadn't taken his wallet and he had about $100). He spent the next several months till he turned 18 living with friends.

These are his words below from a reddit AMA, edited for clarity.

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/f ... o_rehab_i/

Quote
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/f ... o_rehab_i/

Sure, my folks were very conservative, Christian type people. Nice enough, but not accepting of any lifestyle that went outside of what they thought was proper. At school, the school cop saw a pipe [edit: for pot, no crack or meth or anything] in my bag on the X-ray machine and I was suspended indefinitely pending an expulsion hearing. My parents offered an ultimatum: go to rehab or get out of our house. I chose to leave, and took a train to Boston and lived in a youth hostel there for a while. I got in contact with a relative back home who offered to let me live at his place, so I went back and lived with him for a while. My parents found out and called, told me they were sorry, and wanted me to come over for dinner so they could apologize. When I got back to my parents house, we sat down for dinner and ate for a while, and all of a sudden, I look up from my food and there are two goons blocking both the exits to the kitchen. One of them holds up a pair of handcuffs and basically tells me we can do it the easy way or the hard way.

I grabbed a stool and got one of the guys in the knees. He went down but the other guy tackled me and got me in handcuffs. I was handcuffed for most of the way, but a few hours in they stopped and bought me Popeyes and didn't put the cuffs back on afterwards, which is how I was able to run later. Delicious chicken and helping me escape. is there anything Popeye's can't do?

They got me in DC, but the rehab facility was in Georgia. They were driving me down south, and when we stopped for gas, I asked to go to the bathroom. as soon as they let me out of the car I just ran into the woods and didn't stop.

I ran until I got to a fence, climbed it and immediately got chased out by a dog. Lost a shoe climbing back over the fence. Walked until I found a road, then walked down it trying to hitch a ride. Failed. This was about 3 or 4 in the morning. I kept walking until I got to a restaurant, sat down for a rest, and after a while a car drove up. I ran up to the car and begged them for a ride to the nearest town. They asked why I was there and I told them truthfully. Amazingly they gave me a ride and dropped me off at the train station in Salisbury, NC. The goons hadn't taken my wallet so I tried to buy a ticket back to DC. The station wasn't open until 8, and I only had one shoe, so I walked around trying to find somewhere to get a shoe. I ended up buying an Ace bandage at a Wal-Mart, and then amazingly found a shoe in the parking lot. I waited until 8, got a ticket, and took the train back to DC. I spent the next few months hiding out at various friends' houses in DC and NYC. Had the cops threaten a lot of my friends' parents, but they never found me. Once I turned 18 there was nothing my folks could do anymore.

I had a little less than $100 on me, and I didn't know how much a train ticket was going to be, so I wanted to spend as little as possible.

The goons were "recommended" by the rehab program, but my parents had to hire them. They were both ex-cops, and surprisingly nice.

They actually told me that only about 1% of kids fight back. I asked them if anyone had ever escaped and they said no. I guess I was the first.

It was indeed Second Nature. After that they were going to send me to Swift River Academy, which I actually heard is not that bad, but I have a seriously stubborn nature, and just the fact that I was forced to go somewhere I didn't want to be would have made me resist so much at Second Nature I doubt I would have ever gotten out.

When asked about his age, he said:

17 I'm 25 now BTW.

I got my GED after I turned 18 and didn't have to hide anymore.

When asked if he still smokes pot

Yes, but very infrequently. The last time I bought a gram it lasted me 3 months.

This was about 7 years ago, and I have fully restored my relationship with them.

I'm doing fine. I went to college and work in science now, so I can't complain.

I work for a major scientific journal. I'm not going to say which one because I'm at work right now, but seeing as I already posted a link with my full name it's probably not that hard to figure out.




9
Feed Your Head / Mexico Drug Rehab Deaths
« on: December 26, 2011, 01:34:52 PM »
http://www.salon.com/2011/12/26/5_die_o ... _center_2/

5 Die Of Food Poisoning At Mexican Rehab Center


Topics:From the Wires

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Medical officials say five recovering drug addicts died and 35 others were sickened by soy sausage served for Christmas dinner at a rehabilitation center in western Mexico.

Authorities were investigating whether the poisoning at the center in the city of Guadalajara was accidental or intentional. Drug cartels have taken over rehabilitation centers in parts of Mexico, forcibly recruiting addicts as hit men and smugglers. The invasions have led to mass shootings at the centers that have left dozens dead.

Alhy Daniel Nunez is a spokesman for the Red Cross in the western state of Jalisco, where Guadalajara is located. He said Monday that 37 people remained hospitalized, three of them in serious condition.

10
Open Free for All / Need Help Finding Article
« on: December 25, 2011, 11:06:08 PM »
I remember reading an article online recently about the difference between voluntarily engaging in stressful activities like survival training or high adventure activities and being forced to participate in stressful activities like wilderness programs. The article was scientific in nature and talked about stress hormones like cortisol and how the body responds to stress. The article argued that the body responded very differently to the stress depending upon whether it was voluntary or forced, that there were severe negative health consequences to being forced into such stressful situations.

Does anyone know what article I'm referring to and where I can find it? I had been reading a lot of stuff by Maia Szalavitz at the time, but I don't know if she is the author of this article.

Thanks for your help.

11
Feed Your Head / Innercept Treatment Runaway Found
« on: December 25, 2011, 12:50:07 AM »
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/d ... g-n-idaho/

December 23, 2011 in City, Idaho
Missing teen found, OK in N. Idaho
The Spokesman-Review

A 16-year-old boy who walked away from a residential treatment facility Thursday night wearing only a flannel shirt and pajama bottoms was found safe today following a search.

Jacob Lee left the Innercept treatment facility on Dodd Road about 11 p.m. Thursday.

Today, Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputies were joined by 15 members of the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Volunteer Search and Rescue and a helicopter from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Lee, whose parents live in Santa Clara, Calif., was found in the 6200 block of English Point Road, about six miles from Innercept. He was cold but OK, deputies said.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Program website: http://www.innercept.net/

12
Feed Your Head / "Saving Teens in Crisis" Scholarships for TTI
« on: December 20, 2011, 12:15:09 AM »
http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/sbwire-119161.htm

Saving Teens in Crisis Needs Your Help to Continue Providing Scholarships for Struggling Teens

Saving Teens in Crisis helps assist troubled teens and their families struggling with substance abuse and other emotional issues that need financial resources for interventions. They need your help in the upcoming year to continue with their mission of providing these scholarships to families in need.

Bonners Ferry, ID -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/19/2011 -- Woodbury Reports would like to announce on behalf of Saving Teens in Crisis Collaborative, a non-profit organization that assists troubled teens and their families struggling with substance abuse and other emotional issues who don't have the financial resources for quality intervention, the accomplishments of the 2011 year. “The goal is to get all of the scholarships that are available in one place so that people in need will have a single place to go to ascertain whether there is appropriate help available. This could be a family or perhaps an IECA member that is working pro Bono on behalf of a needy family. The key is that there is one reliable source for both for a complete list of options and a procedure for mapping those needs with a solution. Saving Teens will then use their methodology and volunteer consultants to match the families with the scholarships that are available, says John Reuben, Founder of Saving Teens in Crisis Collaborative.”

Organizations offering scholarships are featured on their website as collaborators if the donating programs desire it but the list of scholarships will be only accessible to the educational consultants looking for help for a particular family. That way STICC will insure that they have kids placed in programs based on the "fit" rather than the scholarship. Rueben says, “We hope you will contact us with any scholarship that you are aware of. The larger the pool of alternatives we have the more families we will be able to match with appropriate providers.”

Saving Teens has come a long way since our inception in 2004. Some of our accomplishments in our mission to help families include the following:

- We have fully funded several disadvantaged families through an entire continuum of care spanning over 12-18 months.

- We have fully funded over 60 aftercare scholarships to help needy families adjust after their child comes back from treatment.

- We have helped many other families with partial scholarships along with free or reduced service fees.

- We have received and managed a large grant from the United States Department of Justice.

- We have been selected as the official charity for The National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP).

- We are the recognized resource for families, professionals, and programs attempting to assist teenagers in crisis.

John Reuben says “Saving Teens is where families turn when they have given up all hope for providing their children the help they deserve but cannot afford. Thank you for making this all possible. Much has been accomplished as the result of your support. Will you make a gift today so that much more can be realized?” Please sign on to the STICC website and make a donation at http://www.savingteens.org.

Saving Teens® In Crisis Collaborative is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that assists troubled teens and their families struggling with substance abuse and other emotional issues who don't have the financial resources for quality intervention. If you have any questions please feel free to contact John D. Reuben, Chairman and Founder at 978-852-2144 or by email at
[email protected], or visit the web site http://www.strugglingteens.com.
Media Relations Contact

Lon Woodbury
Independent Educational Consultant
Woodbury Reports

208-267-5550
Email | Web
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Source: Woodbury Reports
Posted Monday, December 31 2011 at 10:51 AM CST - Permalink


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal grants to send kids to programs. I don't know much about the law, but doesn't accepting federal money bring the program under federal jurisdiction. Does this in any way increase civil rights protections or add another avenue for lawsuits?

13
Feed Your Head / Another School Webcam Lawsuit
« on: December 09, 2011, 06:00:23 PM »
http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/12/08/42077.htm

School Webcam Took Nude Pics, Teen Says
By REUBEN KRAMER


 PHILADELPHIA (CN) - The ritzy Lower Merion School District in suburban Philadelphia was hit Wednesday with yet another lawsuit over secret webcam surveillance of students and their families through school-issued laptops.
     Deposition in another case revealed that the district has photos of the latest plaintiff, Paige Robbins, "in the bathroom, or in the nude, or partially dressed or sleeping or in her bedroom or in a compromised state," according to the complaint.
     District spokesman Doug Young told Courthouse News that the claim is "bizarre," the "epitome of an attempted money-grab and a complete waste of tax dollars."
     Robbins is the sister of the original Webcamgate plaintiff, bringing the total of Webcamgate lawsuits to at least five.
     The school district, among the nation's wealthiest, settled with minor Blake Robbins for $175,000 six months after he filed a February 2010 class action that accused school officials of spying on students by remotely activating the webcams on their school-issued laptops.
     Officials reportedly activated the cameras as a way to combat computer theft or other malfeasance.
     Paige Robbins now claims that the "indiscriminant remote [webcam] activation" while she was a minor-student at Harriton High School in Rosemont, Pa., caused her to be captured "in compromising or embarrassing positions, including, but not limited to, in various stages of dress or undress."
     But the district says that the FBI and other law-enforcement agencies found no such photos after poring over "terabytes and terabytes of data" in an "exhaustive" probe.
     Robbins says she first learned that she ended up on webcam candid camera as lawyers deposed a vice principal while litigating her brother Blake's case in April 2010.
     The district disputes Robbins' characterization of the deposition, saying the excerpts "have been edited to omit key words."
     "A thorough, exhaustive investigation - under supervision of the United States District Judge Jan DuBois, the FBI, and the United States Attorney - determined that no one ever saw a compromising image of Ms. Robbins or anyone else," Young said in a statement, referring to the judge who presided over Blake Robbins' case. "Indeed, the investigation did not recover any images of Ms. Robbins."
     "That was one of the reasons they dropped the criminal investigation," Young told Courthouse News in an interview.
     "It should also be noted that this complaint comes nearly two years after the original case was filed," according to Young's statement. "It appears Ms. Robbins simply waited to turn 18 so she could attempt to obtain a payout of her own from LMSD [Lower Merion School District] taxpayers. The district will vigorously defend its position and the taxpayers of this community."
     As of late August, the district had spent more than $1.6 million litigating the scandal, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
     Paige Robbins sued the Lower Merion School District, its board of directors and Superintendent Christopher McGinley, alleging invasion of privacy and violations of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Stored Communications Act, federal civil rights law and Pennsylvania wiretapping law.
     She is represented by Mary Bogan in Philadelphia. Bogan was not available for immediate comment on the lawsuit.

Links to other articles regarding the same story:

http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ ... me_by_sis/

http://articles.philly.com/2011-12-08/n ... l-district

14
Feed Your Head / Felon Picks Wrong Victim
« on: December 05, 2011, 08:03:04 PM »
Mugshot at link: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/12/05/ ... -decision/

Robbing Ultimate Fighting Expert Proves To Be Bad Decision
December 5, 2011 12:22 PM


CHICAGO (CBS) — Robbing a man who turned out to be an ultimate fighter proved to be a bad decision for a convicted felon, who is now in bad shape as he is held on bond.

Police say around 11:30 p.m. Friday, Anthony Miranda, 24, walked up to a car parked at 55th Street and Kenneth Avenue, just a few blocks from Midway International Airport.

Miranda asked the driver for a lighter, and the driver said he didn’t have one. Then Miranda pulled a handgun and demanded that the driver hand over his money, police said.

Even after the driver complied and gave up some money, Miranda ordered him out of his car, police said.

At some point, Miranda’s attention was diverted and the victim was able to grab control of the gun and the two wrestled.

During the fight, Miranda accidentally discharged his own gun, shooting himself in the ankle, police said.

The victim — who told police he is a martial arts expert and ultimate fighter — was able to pin Miranda down until police arrived.

Police arrived to find Miranda with a face full of lacerations and two black eyes. He was taken to Holy Cross Hospital for treatment, police said.

Miranda, a convicted felon, is charged with armed robbery and aggravated discharge of a firearm, a Class X felony.

He was ordered held on $350,000 bond Sunday, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s office.

Records show he has several convictions, including at least one for a residential burglary.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.

15
Feed Your Head / Principal Charged for Obstructing Abuse Investigation
« on: December 04, 2011, 03:56:54 PM »
http://www.wbay.com/story/16175040/2011 ... abuse-case

School Principal Accused of Interfering in Student Abuse Case

An Appleton elementary school principal is accused of interfering with a child abuse investigation at his school.

Appleton police say Janet Berry Elementary School principal Richard Waters withheld information and altered a document in a child abuse investigation last February.

The 48-year-old faces a misdemeanor charge of obstructing an officer.

On Thursday the school district placed Waters on paid administrative leave.

The charge against Waters comes ten months after the initial investigation into former special education teacher Mary Berglund, who is accused of physically abusing six cognitively disabled students at Janet Berry Elementary.

According to the complaint, in January Waters received a phone call from another principal in the district who had received a complaint about Berglund's treatment of students.

Waters initially told investigators that the principal "did not give him any information about the nature of the concerns in even the broadest of terms, and in fact (the principal) refused to provide any details."

However, in the complaint, that principal says she did provide details, even sending him an email with specifics.

The complaint also alleges Waters doctored a letter written to him by a concerned paraprofessional. Authorities say when Waters turned over a copy of that letter, the date was on the opposite margin and the first sentence was removed.

Waters's attorney says the evidence doesn't add up to a criminal charge.

"There was no cover-up attempt regarding this what so ever by Mr. Waters," attorney Len Kachinsky said. "Anything that Mr. Waters did was not done to mislead the police in any way or deliberately provide them with false information."

It's news the alleged victims' families have been waiting for.

"They are thrilled. They have always wanted the school district to take administrative responsibility for what happened," Jeff Spitzer-Resnick, managing attorney for Disability Rights Wisconsin, said.

The attorney representing the alleged victims' families said he's pleased that Waters has been charged and he hopes there's further investigation into Waters's actions.

"We will not rest until we are able to establish that he either knew, or if he did not know, that he and the district accept responsibility for having a principal in a building that failed to know," Spitzer-Resnick said.

Waters is due in court on December 14th.

Berglund is expected to plead no contest to one felony count of physical abuse of a child and five misdemeanor battery counts. Her hearing is scheduled for December 21st.

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