Fornits

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

I'm terrified with what I'm seeing on tv and reading in newspapers. People are starting to advocate for less rights for the mentally ill. Forced drugging involuntary confinement, and unequal access to an education are all things that I have seen discussed in the news.

Fine line of protecting mentally ill

Laws on mentally ill endanger the rest of us - Chicago Sun-times

PATIENTS' RIGHTS VS. PUBLIC SAFETY

I found these articles after watching the Sunday morning political news shows(Meet the Press, Face the nation, that one on abc) were most of the people blamed the rights of the mentally ill on this shooting.

This freaks me out because I suffer with mental illness, OCD, Tourette's syndrome, and the dreaded Clinical Depression. I'm almost in school and I need to find a job, what happens when I'm viewed as a dangerous mentally ill menace instead of just quiet and intelligent?

"A former resident of The Morehead Youth Development Center in
Kentucky launched a class action filed in the United States
District Court in Frankfort, Tennessee, alleging that her civil
rights were violated through repeated sexual assaults by a male
staff member, The Courier-Journal reports.

The suit names as defendants former youth worker Guy Nantell and
the center's former superintendent Steven Wells.  Mr. Nantell
was fired in December last year, after he admitted to having sex
with a teenage girl at the center, according to state
investigators.  He was later charged with two felony counts over
charges that he sexually abused two girls at the facility.  He
has pleaded not guilty.  His trial is set for January 4, 2005.

State Justice Cabinet officials also ordered Mr. Wells to resign
in May for mismanagement.  According to state records, Mr. Wells
had been aware of allegations that Mr. Nantell was abusing girls
dating back to 2002.

The plaintiff, now 17, was not one of the girls who was
allegedly abused, attorney Hans G. Pope told The Courier-
Journal.  Mr. Pope filed the suit along with lawyer David A.
Friedman, on behalf of many current and former residents who
lawyers believe were sexually victimized.  "We anticipate there
will be dozens," Mr. Poppe said.

The suit specifically alleged that Mr. Wells, who became
superintendent in 2002, ignored allegations of sexual abuse.
"Nantell was able to sexually abuse and assault all class
members because of Wells' deliberate indifference to their need
for protection," the lawsuit said.

Mr. Nantell began work at the center in 2000. In January 2002,
he was accused of improper sexual contact with a resident, but
state investigators found the allegation unsubstantiated,
according to records obtained by The Courier-Journal.   He was
subsequently accused in another 15 complaints of alleged abuse
of residents, none of which were initially substantiated by
state investigators.

The lawsuit said public defenders who represent the girls had
complained about the problem several times to Mr. Wells since
2002.  The lawsuit also alleges that Mr. Wells violated the
civil rights of residents by debriefing them after they met
privately with the public defenders and threatening residents
with sanctions if they continued to meet with their lawyers.

Mr. Nantell has declined to comment on the case.  He referred
questions to his lawyer, Grover Carrington, who could not be
reached for comment yesterday.  Mr. Wells yesterday declined to
comment, saying he didn't know anything about the lawsuit, The
Courier Journal states."


Anybody know what happened with the lawsuit?

I found this story on the MSNBC website, a good read. What got me was how language stinking of  program/P-parent speak was used to justify the abuse....

• Sharen Gravelle told the court the children were never confined as punishment but rather to protect them, including a child who wanted to jump out a second-floor window.
  
  "Would you prefer that we let them jump? Either way, we'd be here. The difference is they're still alive," she said in a 26-minute statement"
  
• "What do you do with these kids?" Michael Gravelle asked. "I prayed constantly for the answer."
  
  He said the enclosures(cages) resulted from the suggestions of a social workers, who recommended strict rules to improve the children's behavior.I though he said that the cages were not used for punishment
  
• One Gravelle child testified he was forced to live in a bathroom for 81 days, sleeping in a bathtub because of a bed-wetting problem. The Gravelles' attorneys said the boy exaggerated[/color] the length of his bathroom stay, and an expert for the defense testified that the technique helped the boy.[/color]

Does that not smack of program speak, or what.......

My mom said she saw a girl get admitted into a eating disorder facility called Remuda Ranch on the Tyra Banks show.
Has anyone heard of this place?

This is what was listed on their website concerning licensing

Remuda Ranch Programs are accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and are also fully licensed by the State of Arizona. Each Intensive Inpatient Program is licensed as a Level I Behavioral Health Facility - Inpatient Program.

And this is their treatment overview:

Treatment Overview:
Remuda Ranch offers programs and settings that are distinctively different from the traditional, institutional format offered at hospitals and clinics. We provide a balanced approach, which produces a continuing lifestyle change through individualized, Biblically based programs designed to treat the whole person and meet her unique medical, nutritional and psychological needs. Remuda's programs are geared toward overcoming the habitual response patterns of an eating disorder and uncovering the issues at the core of the illness.

Remuda provides safe, secure, healing environments in comfortable, ranch-like settings. These settings allow for a broad range of activities, including a full equestrian program, as an integral part of individualized therapy. Throughout her treatment, Remuda's medical, psychiatric and clinical staff gives each patient the tools to return to her family with the confidence, courage and determination to live a healthy and productive life.
 

I don't know but something about this smacks of "program" speak.

There's going to be a an ABC Primetime story that looks at how ordinary people can commit horrible acts against another person by re-creating Stanley Milgram's Milgram experiment. It airs today at 10:00 pm ET(9:00 pm CT for me)  I think this may shed some light on the abuse committed by program staff and volunteers, or perhaps answer the question of why ordinary people follow orders even when  they know that those orders are wrong