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Messages - Oscar

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61
Facility Question and Answers / Re: Any info on Havenwood Academy ?
« on: July 14, 2021, 01:56:11 AM »
Quote from: Natalie G.
8/29/2017 - We have a daughter who has been at Havenwood for 6 months and is still currently enrolled. We are not happy with many things in their program and are struggling to work through these issues but are planning on moving her as soon as we find a better program. I am putting my personal phone number on here and am willing to talk with any parents who would like a candid review of Havenwood

1/11/2018 - I feel like I can now post my full review instead of just my phone number because we finally moved our daughter out of Havenwood on 12/27/17 after her being there for 10 months. I have gotten many calls from parents just like me who are looking at RTC programs or who have children currently in terrible RTC programs, and we're all feeling very overwhelmed and frustrated. In realizing this need, as well as having had a very negative experience at Havenwood, it is my intention is to start a website/forum/database for reviews of RTC programs - specifically for California state funded programs. There has to be more accountability for these programs to do what they say they're going to do! If you're interested in being a part of this endeavor, please email [email protected] or call me at (916) 934-3270.
With that being said, here are a just a few of my reasons (not in any particular order) for a one star and pulling our daughter out of the self-claimed "premier" program at Havenwood:

1. They falsely advertise their program on their website and in their parent welcome letter after admission to the program. Whatever you read on their site, do not believe it.
- There is no music therapy, no art therapy, no recreation therapy, no outdoor therapy, no access to a gym and no regular fitness routine, no rock climbing, very few outings and extracurricular events (going on a drive is the highlight of the weekend), non-existent nutrition program (will discuss further below), their staff are hardly experts in any of the modes of treatment they say they offer, the school program is a joke (will discuss further below), and so much more inflated mumbo-jumbo to try impress parents.

2. The house where the girls are at is depressing.
-  It is a very average house in the middle of an average to low-income neighborhood. Check it out on Google Maps and Zillow - then, imagine 16 teenage girls with mental and behavioral issues crammed into that small house. It feels more like a group home, and one of the rooms holds 6 girls.  The backyard is tiny and doesn't insight any desire to get outside for fresh air or exercise. There are indentations/holes in the walls where girls have destroyed property and the carpet is trashed.

3. HORRIBLE communication with parents.
-  We were not notified of changes to staff in the home (which was often) and would hear about it from our daughter during our family phone call.
- We were not given contact information of the staff who are actually in the home. Some staff literally refused to give us their phone number and told us to email them instead. So we did that, but emails were not returned.
- Our daughter was put on a new medication for three weeks without our approval.
- We were not given information about the parent weekends until (maybe) two weeks before we were supposed to arrive, making it difficult to plan for travel, childcare, time off work, etc.
- We were consistently told different things by different staff - no one was ever on the same page.
- We asked for their grievance policy and were never responded to.
- We filed a complaint with the BBB of Utah and they did not respond to that either.

4. Their educational program is a joke.
- The girls are in a class of 8. There is a "teacher" and an aide in the room. The girls are put in front of a computer to read a lesson, and then complete "post tests." The computer then gives them a score and they start on the next lesson. In "school" it is acceptable for the girls to  misbehave, and get into physical fights, resulting in restraints. We were supposed to receive a weekly report from her teacher on her progress, but that was inconsistent as well, sometimes being a month or more late. There is no accountability for the girls to do their work. If they don't want to do their work, they don't have to and there is no requirement for them to catch up over the weekend and/or lose privileges. Our daughter was on track academically, liked to learn, and was an A/B student before Havenwood. But, because of this "school," she began to hate learning and fell very behind.

5. There is no nutrition/health program. They claim to feed the girls "optimal nutrition" but the foods they serve are high in saturated fat and cholesterol with pasta, burgers, nachos, pizza and high sugar desserts being on the menu regularly. Our daughter gained 60 pounds while at Havenwood.

Overall, this is not a good RTC. I do believe the people there are kind to the girls and have good intentions, but the execution is really off, the leadership is weak, and the program and lacking in many key areas mentioned above. There is so much more here that I didn't discuss, so if you have any further questions, please feel free to email or call me.

4/7/2020 - This is an update from my posted Yelp review back in January of 2018 where I outlined the terrible experience we had when our daughter was at Havenwood for 10 months. In that posting I put my phone number and personal email.

***Since then, we went took Havenwood through a lengthy 9-month arbitration with the Better Business Bureau of Utah. The arbitrator found Havenwood to have "major discrepancies between what was advertised and what was delivered" in four major areas of our daughters treatment. The complete document of that final arbitration can be found here - drive.google.com/drive/f…. Our claims are the first part of the document and make reference to an 18 page document we submitted that showed all proof of our claims. The detailed findings from the arbitrator start on page 4 for you to verify these discrepancies. Also, the last page of this document is the BBB final arbitration decision where they told Havenwood to REMOVE all the falsified information from their website and their parent welcome letter. Did Havenwood do this? No. They are no longer accredited with the BBB, but that was the only restitution we had with them.
So, why am I posting this update now?

***We have since had a wonderful experience at a residential treatment facility and our daughter has now successfully graduated and transitioned home. I want that same hope and help for any person reading this review, it does exist - just not at Havenwood.
***I am STILL receiving calls/emails from parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, who currently have their daughters at Havenwood and their sister program Zion Hills Academy and are having major issues similar to mine, or even WORSE.

***I also am still receiving calls/email from those who are telling me what Havenwood is promising and getting a "bad feeling" (for good reason) and then searching the internet and finding my review.

***And, I am also getting calls/emails from teens themselves who have been at Havenwood and were treated poorly.

***I have also gotten calls from concerned social workers.
I contacted Havenwood on 4/5/2020 asking them for any updated policies and procedures, their new parent welcome's letter, and why I continue to get phone calls of concern.

***I am asking anyone who HAS or HAS HAD a daughter go through Havenwood or any of their other affiliated programs such as Zion Hills Academy, to please call or email me with any pertinent information about their experiences.

62
Facility Question and Answers / Re: Any info on Havenwood Academy ?
« on: July 14, 2021, 01:55:47 AM »
Also there is a new review of the facility on Google:

Quote from: Hannah Cahon
Havenwood academy is one of the most, if not the most wasted and detremental periods of my life. I was taken there by force when I was 14 years (I am now 17)old by 2 people whom I can not even identify by name. I did not know what state or city I was in for the first 72 hours of me being there. I was refused the information by the staff who were supposed to make me feel comfortable. I would consider Havenwood academy one of the most tramatic parts of my life. On top of the inadequate emotional care havenwood suplies the schooling system is also extremely lacking in structure. The teachers were not prepared to teach the subjects that they were assigned and that often left students including myself at a standstill academically.  The managements was horrible and increasingly got worse. My family and I did not come out with any real improvements to our relationship. After I left havenwood all staff and therapy cut off relations with me and my parent leaving us without the promised aftercare. Havenwood academy is thriving off of false hope and manipulation. I wish wholeheartedly that Havenwood could have executed what they wanted well but unfortunately they failed horribly. I strongly urge any parent reading this ro rethink the idea of sending there child away, seek hometherapy and love. All a child in struggle needs is to feel like they have a home and people in it who love them. Sending your child away will not solve problems but only our space inbetween you and them and intensify the issues.

These ones are from Yelp:

Quote from: Ry A
If I could honestly give Havenwood 0 stars I one hundred percent would. This "program" is a complete joke. I myself was enrolled in Havenwood in 2015-2016. I absolutely can not stress enough, do NOT send your girls here. This is a FRAUDULENT program and I genuinely do not understand how it hasn't been shut down yet. My time at Havenwood was a little different than most girls as I was expecting a little boy. Right off the bat, Havenwood informed us they only took one pregnant girl at a time because of many "liabilities". I struggle with Reactive Attachment Disorder, depression and anxiety. My parents wanted a SAFE place for me to work on my ever so present issues and wanted to make sure I was comfortable and well taken care of while I worked through the majority of my trauma. Sadly this is not at all what care I received. From the minimal "outings" if you'd even consider them outings, to the "nutritional program" that is stated to be offered. It is all a scam. Outings consisted of drives, trips to Taco Bell and the park. There was ONE time in my 8 month stay that I witnessed girls getting to go rock climbing. I was not allowed to go once again because of "liabilities". They did not have an alternative for me so I was left at the home alone with two male staff. The nutrition program is for lack of better terms, a joke. Although I was pregnant and it was normal for me to gain weight. I gained 65 pounds in my pregnancy even though my doctor constantly told the two "nurses" on campus that I needed a better diet program. They ended up asking my parents for $300 more a month so they could shop for me personally... out of the entire 8 months I was given a box of Oreos, healthy potato chips and my own bread... NOT A DIME of the $300 my parents were shelling out for MY DIET was being used appropriately. Not to mention, I have food allergies. Consisting of some nuts, citric acid and vitamin C. I am incredibly allergic to pineapples and strawberries. But not once was it accommodated. One night specifically I was told to go to bed hungry or eat the Pineapple "chicken" that was prepared. I went to bed hungry. Now, to more alarming scenarios. I was admitted to the hospital with a 103° fever during my pregnancy and my parents were NEVER informed until my Sunday phone call. Once I told them I had gone to the ER a staff ended my phone call and counted it as "manipulation". We were constantly left alone with all male staff, which got very uncomfortable. Staff refused to speak to our parents or let them know what was going on. Often times staff would let the girls use their phones to see their social media. There are holes in the walls, mold in the back freezers and the house is honestly just mediocre at best. 16 girls with issues straining from drug addiction to RAD do not mix well when they are all crammed into a tiny house and 6 of them live in ONE room. I wasn't allowed to even do much of the very limited "equine" program because I was pregnant and once again, I was a liability. Most of the therapy they offered is a complete joke. The school program was actually laughable. I legitimately just had to keep clicking the arrow and it would pass an entire class for me. Transitioning back into a real high school for my senior year was so incredibly difficult... Some staff even went as far as to tell me word for word that I would be a terrible mother. That I was not going to be able to do it. That I NEEDED to give my son up for adoption when NO WHERE in my plan was this supposed to be spoken of. Not only that, but a couple (as loving and gracious as they were, honestly the only two people who I actually trusted somewhat ) approached me and asked me to adopt my son KNOWING where I stood. I was completely disrespected and my heart was BROKEN. December 2015 rolled around and I was granted the luxury of getting to go spend a week off campus with my family. I immediately informed my parents of all that went on in the program that I wasn't allowed to say over a monitored phone call without getting into trouble. They pulled me almost instantly. I can not stress to you enough. Your girls will not benefit from this program. They all have the ability to flourish and live such healthy beautiful lives. But this program is NOT where they will achieve that. 90% of the girls who have left program who I keep in contact with still have INCREDIBLE amounts of instability throughout their lives. One girl was even sent back to program after graduating all together not even a month later. I urge you to please look into these RTC programs thoroughly before sending your girls!!!!! I know there are programs out there that will walk miles above Havenwood with people who DO want to help. Not just unqualified staff and money hungry owners. Good luck to anyone who is currently struggling in trying to find the correct placement and I sure hope this helps in your decision

You can laugh at my experience in this facility. Its okay. Not everyone's experience was the same. Nor as traumatic and I do recognize that. My point being, the point of Havenwood for me was to recognize trauma and RECOVER.  Havenwood DID NOT help me through this time in my life. Do I genuinely believe there were some people there who WANTED to help? OF COURSE! I still have VERY close relationships with staff members who have previously worked in house with the girls.

My therapist left half way through my program when I was 7 months pregnant after it already took me SIX months to feel comfortable with some random man I was thrown in a room with. HW had and has so many genuinely kind staff. BUT 90% of the staff that was there in my time, no longer work for the Hofflings. They have moved on to REAL, LEGITIMATE facilities to put their efforts to use where it will make a difference. Havenwood has treatment plans. Basically all the staff get together once a week to go over each girl and what they need to do with them.... I am sorry but? Half of these people were not even licensed to be GIVING therapeutic help EXCEPT for our TWO therapists who we were only to speak to ONCE a week. I do think the program started off well rounded until they got money hungry. (Which I will not even get started on what my parents endured after pulling me from a program that did not do anything it promised).

A genuine treatment program is nothing in which I just described to you. Please recognize this issue has matter of factly only gotten worse since my time there in 2016. I relentlessly spoken to previous staff and a few of the girls who spent time in HW after I left. I promise you, I am not the only one. Just the only one who wants to speak up for what I TRULY endured as a teen in treatment here.

DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILDREN HERE. ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE PREGNANT!

That is all I have to say on this matter and it will be my last update. Feel free to contact me if you are contemplating sending your daughter here.

Quote from: Martin M
I was placed at havenwood twice. The last 6 months of my first time being there were exceptional. Management, the staff, and my therapist were extremely amazing. However, I did have to come back a year and a half later because although I got help the first time around, I do not feel my family got the help they needed so that we could have good lasting communication skills. Which is one reason I believe I got into bad things again. I did not fall back into old patterns, but found new dangerous coping mechanisms that brought me back to havenwood a year and a half later. I was glad to have gone back to havenwood instead of a new facility because things felt familiar. But I do admit some of the things happening were not okay. They have this thing called "shutdown" where all 16 girls are placed in the garage to sit and stare at each other and do nothing. When I say nothing, I mean NOTHING. We cannot talk, read, lay down, or even rest our faces in our hands. We could only sit and stare into space. I went through two shut downs and the second one lasted 6 days. We were forced to only have two changes of clothes during that time since we were not allowed to even do laundry. This means that we had to sit in unwashed dirty underwear for 6 days, and you could only rinse them in the shower to get them somewhat clean again. We were given our meals as normal, and a shower, and it was off to bed and awaken the next morning at 6am to sit on the garage floor with everyone else until 9pm that night. During that time, many girls physically hurt themselves, in which a lot of us were exposed to witnessing self mutilation of someone our very own age and were forced to run upstairs to another room so staff could restrain that peer until she stopped screaming and crying so we could all come back down to the garage once she was calmed down. The staff on shift are all very young college students who can barely manage their own emotions, and don't know how to deal with 16 unstable girls at once going through mental and emotional problems without lashing at us back. Trainings were minimal and some staff would use it as a power control. There were some amazing staff who I still keep in touch with, but those were the ones who were most loving and patient and did not punish us for reacting in the only ways we knew how. Girls try to run away during shut down and I don't blame them. That was probably the worst part about havenwood. I also gained 30 pounds from the poor nutritional diet they were offering and we almost never got to go to the gym and exercise. We did not have a lot of physical activity, or fun outings, and we were pretty much forced to all sit in a tv room all weekend and watch the same movies over and over. Sometimes they would take us on drives, but they even took that option away at one point and all we would do was sit in the cramped home. We did not have music therapy, and if we did it only lasted 2 months until the therapist would quit and we would be promised another one.. which never came. There are girls there who crap in other girls pillows, and get no consequences for it! Because the excuse is that's just the way they are and there's nothing they can do to control that. Girls who hit and bite and assault multiple other girls and staff and we get in trouble if we defend ourselves back. When I first got to havenwood my second time was great. But after about 8 months of being there, stuff started falling apart for some reason and I believe it is due to them admitting so many hopeless nut cases who belonged in an asylum, not a group home for girls with emotional trauma. However, I do have good things to say. I was the first girl at havenwood to go to college while being there. I graduated early and was able to take online college classes, and they really helped me succeed in schooling. Especially Kris the counselor, she was absolutely so helpful and amazing. I've grown great friendships with some staff and peers that I hold close to this day, and although I've gotten back into the old things I was doing I would like to say I appreciate the patience the therapists had with me. I did get a lot of help dealing with stuff from my childhood which has helped me understand my emotions better and I can prevent myself from acting out. I'm not entirely perfect but I did get more help than I did the first time so I don't feel like being at havenwood again was a waste of time. I definitely was there longer than I needed to be since I didn't act out crazy like the other girls there, but I had no other choice. Kirsten and Blaine hoffeling and Lou Trotta are fantastically generous and kind and loving. And the equine therapists were extremely helpful, horse therapy was definitely a highlight

I think if havenwood could stop admitting girls for the money aspect and actually take in girls they know they can help instead of biting off more than they can chew with these coocoo girls that belong in looney bins, then the program would improve much much more. I suggest havenwood goes back to how things were when they first started... only admitting girls with family, drug, or emotional problems instead of girls with deep rooted trauma that cannot be reversed. If she struggles terribly in school, this is a good option for her. If your daughter fights with you on a consistent basis, this is a good place for her. However, if you're daughter is violent, dangerous, or sociopathic, I suggest she's placed in more of a hospital setting or maybe try military camp. That would fix her pretty quick. Havenwood has enough of those they're struggling to fix.


63
Facility Question and Answers / Re: Any info on Havenwood Academy ?
« on: July 14, 2021, 01:40:54 AM »
In a recent article there is a reference to a 2018 incident where a girl was tied and forced to sit in a horse trough. The facility came under investigation but as usual with Utah, nothing came out of it.

Can the $300 million ‘troubled teen’ therapy sector be reformed by legislation and public pressure? (Deseret News)

64
Open Free for All / Re: Foster families in Denmark with issues
« on: June 28, 2021, 06:46:23 AM »
Something about salaries of foster families in Denmark

Quote
Jeg synes at der er for meget piveri. Selvfølgelig skal de også gå ned i løn, når resten af samfundet må holde for. Jeg er så gal over at de klager over nedsættelsen af deres løn. Det er formuer de får for at lade børnene gå for lud og kold vand.



Det er usle plejefamilier som står frem i medierne og piver.



--
Birthe Hansen

65
Open Free for All / Re: Foster families in Denmark with issues
« on: June 28, 2021, 06:45:30 AM »
An entry sounds

Foster family in Farsø, Denmark

Quote
På hjemmesiden Det Sorte register er en plejefamilie registeret. Hvorfor vides ikke. Hvis der er nogle som ved noget om hvorfor at plejefamilien på Trendåvej i Farsø er registeret, så svar venligst på denne debat-tråd.


66
Open Free for All / Foster families in Denmark with issues
« on: June 28, 2021, 06:43:56 AM »
A website is closing down because the website provider Webs no longer will be in service.

Some foster families were mentioned on a website, called "The hardest heritage". Due to GDPR reasons they cannot be reposted in Denmark but since this website is in the United States, they are reposted below:

  • Plejefamilien Anne-Mette Rask Lange og Stig Lange, Lindøhoved 1, Jersore, DK-5400 Bogense
    Anklager: "Trusler, Chikane, tavshedspligten m.v."
  • Plejefamilien Per og Hanne Amby, Ølstrupvej 11, DK-6950 Ringkøbing
    Anklager: "Chikane, Tavshedspligten, overgreb m.v."
  • Plejefamilien Tina & Søren Jakobsen, Trendåvej 15, Hyllebjerg
    Anklager: "Vanrøgt"
  • Plejemor Nina Christensen, Ny Hammermosevej 33, Manna, DK-9700 Brønderslev
    Anklager: "Inhabilitet, Omsorgssvigt, Socialloven, Serviceloven, Forvaltningsloven, Manglende samarbejde, Psykisk Chikane m.v."
  • Plejefamilie Gert & Kirsten Smed, Skovmosevej 9, Rørbæk, DK-9500 Hobro
    Anklager: "Pligtforsømmelse m.v."
  • Plejefamilie Gert Østergaard Jensen & Lone Storgaard Jensen, Klintingvej 91, DK-6830 Nr. Nebel
    Anklager: "Vold mod plejebarn gennem et helt år."
  • Plejefamilien Jens og Pia Müller, Rugtved Huse 6, DK-4470 Svebølle
    Anklager: "Psykisk tortur mod børn, løgnagtig udfærdigelse af dokumenter, manipulation med offentlige dokumenter, brud på tavshedspligten, destruktion af forældresamarbejde, brud på love om børnekonventioner og menneskerettigheder."
  • Plejefamilien Gitte Maria Dahl Mortensen, Claus Christian Mortensen, Sivestedvej 7, DK-8560 Kolind
    Anklager: "Lyver for egen vendings skyld, Magtmisbrug, Manglende Samarbejde, Bedrageri m.v."
  • Plejefamilie: Hanne og Svend Lindrup, Krogen 2, DK:4190 Munke Bjergby
    Anklager: "Nægter at samarbejde med forældre, chikane, Lyver i rapporter, ulovlig frihedsberøvelse samt psykisk tortur mod deres plejebørn"
  • Vibeke & Ole Rasmussen, Glamsbjergvej 7, DK-2770 Kastrup
    Anklager: "Vold, Tavshedspligten, lyver til kommunen om plejebørnene, embedsmisbrug, Socialt bedrageri, Psykisk Terror med plejebarn, Tyveri m.v."
  • Helle & Kent Hornbeck, Astrupvej 3, DK-8370 Hadsten
    Anklager: "Vold, Tavshedspligten, lyver til kommunen om plejebørnene, embedsmisbrug, Socialt bedrageri, Psykisk Terror med plejebarn, Tyveri, Vanrygt m.v."
  • Jill Von Der Maase og Johannes Thomsen, Alken vej 81, DK-8660 Skanderborg
    Anklager: "Lyver for egen vendings skyld - Manglende samarbejdes evne ( forældre, skole, kommunen ) - Omsorgssvigt - Beholdt børnenes opsparinger - Handler inden de spørger"

67
Here are some of the reviews made on Google. They explain some of the problems at this facility.

Quote from: Nikmom 123
We, as parents, are being forced to have our son seen by their unlicensed therapist and their psychiatrist. They demanded we sign the consent form or they would discharge him in 3 hours if we did not sign the consent. He is in a program there where he can see outside providers but they don't make money if we take him to the specialty providers he needs.
They work against the family and create an environment where the family is a burden.

Quote from: John Spivey
PRESCHOOL/SUMMER: Nice facility, however, they are charging an arm and a leg for preschool and not teaching anything. $160 a week and your child begs to come to your job and sit here instead of going there. kids are mixed with ages 3-5, so older kids tend to get bored since they are not being challenged or don't do much. Also, facility decided to raise their price to $170 on a holiday week. So technically you are paying $170 for 4 days. WOW

Quote from: Shawn Turner
My first year at this home was smooth and nice, they helped me graduate high school and more. But my second year here, they moved me In a retreat with 2 other roommates and I was cool with that until 1 of the roommates kept stealing from me and being petty. I kept on informing staff at the home and they did nothing. But when I got arrested they finally want to do something. For 6 months, I was dealing with a court case and I couldn't get a job anywhere. The staff kept complaining about me not having a job even though I would have If they got rid of the roommate earlier. Then I had a medical condition In between the time and couldn't drive. But they wouldn't even give me rides to where I needed. so they wanna get mad at me because I had people to take me where I needed to go.  So they decided to kick me out while I had the medical condition.

The home overall is a great place but most of the staff there are horrible. Once Lee Bennett came around, this place (18 and older program) turned completely upside down.


Quote from: Kelley Aubin
If I could give no stars I would. I worked in foster care licensing for 3 months. During my interview I asked specifically about training because I knew nothing about foster care licensing but had been working in child welfare. I figured it would be no big thing and they'd train me like I was promised. I received zero training. I once asked a coworker a question and she told me to "figure it out". I kid you not! Long story short, I was fired because I didn't meet the performance standards. Proper training and a supervisor without his head in his ass would have been a proper start. I also expected a higher level of professionalism because it's faith-based, but it was one of the worst places I've ever worked when it comes to common courtesy and professionalism. Such a damn shame!

Quote from: Elijah Moody
becky and her boss at the united methodist only want your money they dont care about poverty stricken homeless teen that needs help cause his mother doesnt have a bank account for bad financial decisions, they are charletans and frauds who hide behind a church organization shame and hope they get caught

Quote from: David Duncombe
I lived there for three years. I was fed, clothed, and I had a roof over my head.  Was I loved? NO. Was I bullied, ignored, and mistreated? YES. I'm thankful that I wasn't on the streets, but my time at FUMCH was a terrible time in my life.

Quote from: Tish Walker
BE AWARE !!!!!

This place is so unethical and unprofessional. House parents don't return calls. They do  not encourage family involvement. They don't keep staff. They had 3 therapist in less than 4 months.

Therpaist lie and create problems. Again NO family involvement at all.

Medical team sent me someone elses medical records. Then blamed me!!

They took child to eye doctor and claimed they needed glasses when we just took the child and was told they had perfect vision.

They are very manipulative and lie. I have kept all emails, letters and phone records to protect myself.

They also placed my child in the wrong grade! A hour year wasted. Once you point these things out they call and make false dcf reports!!

68
This is a facility where conditions seems so awful that the children are ready to commit suicide by cop to avoid staying there further.

A 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl ran away from the facility and armed themselves and by this endangered the poor police who had to shoot one of them to avoid being killed. The status of the shot child remains unclear. However if they should survive, long prison sentences awaits them. Ironically, they will probably experience better living conditions in prison than the orphanage.

It should not be so.

This is the article about the shootout:

Quote
Volusia Sheriff calls for juvenile justice reform after children escape group home, shoot at deputies (The Orlando Sentinel)

A 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl were in a shootout with deputies Tuesday night in Volusia County after the children broke into a house and armed themselves with guns, including an assault rifle, they found inside, Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.

Eight deputies fired over 60 rounds during the incident, Chitwood said, and they have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's investigation. The children fired at the deputies on four separate occasions.

The girl was taken to Central Florida Regional Hospital with life-threatening injuries after being shot in the chest and abdomen, Chitwood said. During a Wednesday press conference, Chitwood said she was in critical, but stable, condition and credited deputies' quick action to saving her life.

"None of us want to see her die," he said.

No deputies were injured in the incident, though body-worn camera footage released by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office Wednesday afternoon shows the children shooting at responding officers.

Charges of attempted first-degree murder and armed burglary against the two are pending, VCSO said. The children had run away from Florida United Methodist Children's Home in Enterprise and were reported missing around 5 pm It was also reported the boy, who hit a member of the Methodist group with a stick before leaving, was diabetic and in need of medication.

The Orlando Sentinel generally does not release the names of juveniles involved in criminal cases unless they are charged as adults.

Children 'ransacked' home before firing at deputies

Body-worn camera footage released by the Sheriff's Office, along with details revealed by the agency over the past day, shows how the incident escalated within an hour of the reported break-in.

Around 7:30 pm witnesses reported glass breaking at a home on Enterprise Osteen Road, VCSO said. Law enforcement had already been searching the area for the children, according to VCSO.

Deputies contacted the homeowner, who reported he had left for Publix about 15 minutes earlier with his children and no one should be in his home, Chitwood said Wednesday. He also told officials there was "a handgun, a shotgun and an AK-47 inside," along with nearly 200 rounds of ammunition. Chitwood said the guns appeared to have not been secured inside the home and loaded prior to the children's entry.

Deputies surrounded the home and began talking to the children, who "ransacked" the home, shattering windows and causing tens of thousands of dollars of damage, Chitwood said. They observed the girl using a baseball bat to destroy furniture, a bathtub and a toilet.

Then, about 8:30 pm, the girl fired at a sheriff's sergeant out a back patio door, Chitwood said.

Body-worn camera footage showed a deputy taking cover behind a tree outside the home. He radioed to other deputies the girl appeared to have a long gun and the boy looked “like he has something in his hand” before several shots rang out as the children started shooting out the home's rear window.

The deputy ordered the children to put their guns down, but one fired another shot.

"Let's not shoot these kids, man, let's just hold off, take our time," another deputy can be heard saying over the radio. "... Let's not try to escalate this any further."

The first deputy, still taking cover behind the tree, reported the girl was re-racking the shotgun and the boy was holding a firearm. He said over the radio he would challenge the children if they exited the house.

“Do not let me do this. Do not do this, ”he whispered as he pointed his pistol toward the house.

Meanwhile, deputies tried talking the children out of the home, according to VCSO.

The deputy whose camera recorded the incident told others not to approach the house because the girl had the gun pointed at the door. Though the footage is too dark to see what happened, a gunshot is audible as the deputy reported the boy fired a round at him. Around 9 pm, he said he saw the girl had an AK and a shotgun "wrapping around" her neck.

Soon after, the children left the house. The girl came out of the garage and pointed a gun at authorities twice, the sheriff's office said.

Video released by VCSO cut to helicopter footage showing deputies taking cover behind a tree and shooting towards the house. The boy went back inside, and deputies reported the girl was down behind a garbage can but still was moving.

Deputies approached the girl to treat her injuries. Several requested a med kit and a deputy took his belt off to use it as a tourniquet. The footage ended as deputies appear to pick up the girl to take her to the hospital.

Shortly afterwards, deputies found the boy, who was holding an AK-47. He surrendered after a 30-second standoff, Chitwood said.

The girl was taken to CFRH for life-saving surgery. When she was in stable condition , she was transferred to another hospital for further treatment, according to VCSO spokesperson Andrew Gant.

The boy was also taken to the hospital due to his diabetic condition. During an interview with deputies, he said the girl told him she was going to "roll [the deputies] down like GTA," referencing the video game Grand Theft Auto, Chitwood said.

An investigation of the home revealed smashed furniture and an empty AK-47 banana clip, according to VCSO.

Chitwood blames broken system

In the day following the incident, Chitwood blamed Florida legislators and a broken juvenile justice system for allowing young, violent criminals to be released without implementing measures dedicated to reforming them.

An outraged Chitwood addressed the media outside the property just hours after the incident Tuesday night.

“The sanctity of human life is cheap on the streets. Here's the indication, a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old have it so bad in life that they are going to defy law enforcement and engage them in a gun battle, ”he said. “The more we deescalate it, the more we're trying to get the armored vehicles out here, and pepper spray and tear gas, the more brazen they got.

“That they just felt that they continue to open fire so much so that they threatened to kill my sergeant and then took on my crime suppression team. Unfortunately she lost. I have no sympathy, none. Anyone that says I'm an a — hole, so be it. Had any of these deputies entered that property, I'd be explaining to their husband or wife why they weren't coming home tonight. ”

Chitwood said it was not the first time law enforcement had been involved with the 14-year-old. She was previously arrested for stealing dogs and was later sentenced to a halfway house, which she burned down April 10, Chitwood said.

The Department of Juvenile Justice then sent her to the Florida United Methodist Children's Home, which takes children who experience sexual abuse, physical abuse, abandonment, drug abuse, illness or the death of a parent.

The boy had no prior criminal history, but he was reprimanded for making two threats at school earlier this spring, Chitwood said during Wednesday's press conference. He threatened to throw a brick at an administrator in early April and days later threatened to kill another student and "spread his guts all over the bleachers," Chitwood said.

He noted that FUMCH has had numerous problems with children in the past, stating that it is "not equipped" to handle the children the Department of Juvenile Justice is handing over to them.

VCSO received close to 300 calls regarding the home in 2020. On April 3, deputies arrested a 14-year-old boy from FUMCH who had left campus and allegedly beat a 52-year-old security guard, Michael Ellis, who was escorting the teen back. Ellis later died in the hospital.

“You need to be exposing the Department of Juvenile Justice. It's a failure. It's a fraud. It's a fake, ”he said. “Deputies did everything they could tonight to de-escalate, and they almost lost their lives to a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old. If it wasn't for their training and their supervision, somebody would have ended up dead. ”

Chitwood called for legislators to take violent juvenile crimes seriously and "get on the streets" to talk to victims of juvenile crime, in the hopes they will make legislation allowing deputies to treat such crimes as seriously as those committed by adults.

A spokesperson for the Department of Juvenile Justice, Amanda Slama, did not return requests for comment Tuesday in response to Chitwood's claims.

"We're arresting these kids in the State of Florida for violent crimes, and the Department of Juvenile Justice wants to put them into places that can't handle them," Chitwood said. “... The juvenile justice system is broken. People need to face facts. ”


69
This thread was created to summon up the links regarding investigation into the owners of the closed boarding school "Ministerial Christian Academy". It was located in Montclair and Pomona, California.

The boarding school was closed in 2004 by the authorities. Media reports claims of rape conducted with with a foreign object and sexual battery of a female student. The accused party was a registered sex offender.

The police made the arrest March 2009. April 2004 a industry marketing firm published an article about one of the owners - Otis Mcintyre trying to open the school in an empty building in San Bernardino, California.

The school has an entry on the blog 1000 places you do not want to be as a teenager

Links:
Police Remove 26 Youths From Boarding School (Los Angeles Times)
State Trying to See If Boarding School Was Operating Illegally  (Los Angeles Times)
State Cites Boarding School in Abuse Case  (Los Angeles Times)
INVESTIGATION UNRAVELS GROUP-HOME PLAN (Strugglingteens - industry marketing firm)

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Any information about them running a residential program or is it just common religious abuse?

Quote from: By Rick Lyman, May 25 - 2005, New York Times
Sex Charges Follow a Church's Collapse

PONCHATOULA, La., May 24 - Two decades ago, Hosanna Church was one of the fastest growing congregations in the cypress flats of Tangipahoa Parish on Lake Pontchartrain's northwest rim, and its pastor, Louis Lamonica, was a beloved figure.

"That man could really preach," said Bill McCormack, a resident of Ponchatoula who attended the church as a boy. "He was an awesome local icon."

But by two years ago, when the church finally closed after a ferocious falling-out between the pastor's son and successor, Louis Lamonica Jr., and his family, the congregation that once neared 1,000 had dwindled to 10 or 15 troubled souls from a handful of families.

And now, many of them, including Louis Lamonica Jr. and a deputy sheriff who once lived on the church grounds, are behind bars, accused by the police of a litany of ungodly offenses, including sexual abuse of perhaps two dozen children and the mutilations of cats for satanic rituals.

Eddie Robinson, assistant pastor at the 5,000-member Harvest World Outreach Ministries in nearby Hammond -- to which many Hosanna members migrated -- says what happened is clear. He told congregants on Sunday that a prophecy of "witchcraft" problems had been revealed in recent weeks.

"When the leadership of that church kept the enemy out, everything was fine," Mr. Robinson said. "But when the leadership of that church let the enemy in, things began to change."

The authorities -- who got the first whiff of trouble six weeks ago when a woman, Nicole Bernard, 36, called the Sheriff's Office from Ohio to say she had fled the town to save her child from sexual abuse -- are still trying to piece together what happened.

Nine people have been arrested in the past week. A dozen computers have been seized, at least some of which the police believe contain child pornography, as well as dozens of videotapes, hundreds of computer disks and eight large boxes of documents and photographs. Inside the shuttered church compound, in a "youth hall" behind the sanctuary, the police found the faint imprint of pentagrams on the floor that someone had apparently tried to scrub away. Some of those arrested, the police said, described rituals within those pentagrams involving cats' blood and people dressed in black robes.

The abuse victims ranged in age from 1 to 16, the police said. Several are in protective custody, and a search is under way for others, who may have moved or are known to the police only by first name or nickname. On Tuesday, the police were at the church grounds with dogs, though they would not say what they sought.

Sheriff Daniel H. Edwards of Tangipahoa said that as many as 25 children -- about evenly split between boys and girls -- might have been involved in sex acts at the youth center, in cars and in the homes of at least two of those charged. The abuse seems to have begun in 1999, he said, and stopped occurring on the church grounds after 2003.

"But nobody really believes that they just stopped abusing kids," Sheriff Edwards said.

Tangipahoa and surrounding parishes are fervently religious, and worshipers at other churches are wondering how something so troubling could have occurred.

"It has definitely affected my customers," said Diane Pepitone, owner of Heavenly Gifts Christian Bookstore. "The general consensus is, if anything like this can happen in a place like Ponchatoula, with all the churches we have, it can happen anywhere."

Ponchatoula was in the midst of its annual Strawberry Festival when Ms. Bernard called the sheriff. She was reluctant to discuss specifics, the sheriff said. "We'd call her and she'd say, oh, the dog's barking or somebody's knocking on my door right now, I'll call you back," Sheriff Edwards said. Two weekends ago, she began to name names.

The next day, the younger Louis Lamonica walked into the sheriff's office in neighboring Livingston Parish, where he lives, and proceeded to describe all manner of sexual offenses.

"He didn't come to turn himself in, he came to talk with us," said Stan Carpenter, the detective supervisor in Livingston Parish.

Mr. Lamonica, 45, matter-of-factly told them of having sex with at least two boys, from the time they were 4 until they were 12 or 13, as well as having sex with a dog, Mr. Carpenter said, adding that Mr. Lamonica did not act as though he was confessing to crimes. He was just trying to be helpful.

"We didn't let him walk away," Mr. Carpenter said.

He also named others at the church -- including Christopher Labat, 24, a deputy sheriff of Tangipahoa Parish. Last Tuesday, Mr. Labat told detectives that they would find child pornography on his home computer, Sheriff Edwards said, but denied taking part in any abuse. He was fired, charged and placed on a suicide watch.

Last Wednesday, two other church members, Austin Trey Bernard III, 36, and Allen R. Pierson, 46, were charged with aggravated rape of a juvenile. On Thursday, the former pastor's wife, Robbin Lamonica, 45, was arrested, along with Paul Fontenot, 21, another church member. Another parishioner, Lois Mowbray, 54, was accused of knowing about the abuse and not telling the authorities.

And then Mr. Bernard's wife, Nicole, who had made the initial call to the police and who is Mr. Fontenot's sister, was arrested and charged with aggravated rape. Finally, on Monday night, Mr. Pierson's wife, Patricia, 54, was charged with sexual battery and being a principal in an aggravated rape.

In Louisiana, the rape of a child is a capital offense.

The elder Louis Lamonica began Hosanna with fewer than two dozen congregants. By the 1970's, the church had nearly 1,000 members. A sanctuary rose along U.S. 51 north of Ponchatoula Creek and behind it a school where a generation of youths studied.

In 1984, Mr. Lamonica died. After some interim pastors, the church passed to the younger Mr. Lamonica in the mid-1990's. Strife followed.

Many congregants drifted away, many to the Harvest World Outreach Ministries, started by Hosanna's former youth minister.

Mr. Lamonica did not respond well to the competition, former church members said. At one point, he moved to excommunicate anyone who merely visited another church. And he fought with his family, including his mother, the church's secretary, eventually ordering them out of the church.

Two years ago, in an incident that the police are still investigating, some of those charged apparently made some sort of confession to other church members and sought forgiveness -- causing a final exodus.

The Lamonica family has been keeping a low profile, although one of the former pastor's sisters, Liz Lamonica Roberts, spoke to a New Orleans newspaper, The Times-Picayune.

Her mother was devastated by the charges, she said, and had never reconciled with Mr. Lamonica. Nor could they explain what had happened to him.

"Obviously, there's a screw loose," Ms. Roberts told the newspaper.

The church property sits empty, marked off with yellow police tape. A roadside sign, which once displayed Bible verses, bears crude graffiti sprayed in red paint. "I went here K-4," it reads. "You let us down."

Tim Normand, a retired contractor, lives just behind the church. "I was sick," he said. "I couldn't sleep when I heard what happened."

But he was not entirely surprised, Mr. Normand said. He got along fine with the old preacher, but relations soured after the son took over. There were disputes over property lines.

One night, he said, he heard a woman screaming that she'd "beat the sins out of them," followed by "hooting and hollering" and other sounds. "I'm a Catholic," Mr. Normand said. "I got the heebie-jeebies."

71
Hosanna House, Jacksonville Florida has only 5 stars reviews but on the blog 1000 places You don't want to be as a teenager - It is sadly not fiction but reality you can read:

Quote from: Sam
I was in Hosanna House, Jacksonville Florida for 36 months….during my 3 year stay at this hell hole hiding behind Christianity, I witnessed/ experienced abuse and torture in the form of “silence”, corporal punishment (beatings over and over and over) and food restrictions. I have started a group with some of the other survivors from this program and we are working to bring facilities like this down! I need more information please on how to do so. Also, the owner of our program (which is now closed and handed over to teen challenge) has written a book based off lies and surface information which depicts herself and the program as God-built…that place and that lady is pure evil and abusive and has left us girls with PTSD, social anxiety, nightmares, trust issues, etc…

Also on another website you can read:

This troubled teen home was full of abuse, torture, and lies! Hiding behind Christianity and God, this home used brainwashing tactics to manipulate parents and their daughters for personal monetary gain. However, behind those locked doors these girls were tortured with food restrictions, corporal punishments, and forced manual labor. "no talking or standing order" aka "Silence" was used so that the girl on punishment could not speak to anyone unless written on paper and given to staff. they were forced to stand for HOURS. they would force extra water to be consumed and restrict bathroom breaks to the point where girls would mess themselves. bruises the size of pancakes were left on the girls as a form of "corporal punishment." This was administered by the executive director or director given the girls beatings with paddles or paint sticks over and over and over....sometimes FOR NO REASON! I am a witness to this because I experienced it first hand. I am a survivor of this program and have many other survivors (past residents) who share in the PTSD, nightmares, social anxiety, and even physical health issues from the torture we all endured at this "God-built home." parents spent THOUSANDS even HUNDRED THOUSANDS of hard earned cash for help for their "troubled teen" and they ended up leaving with more trauma than they did going in. Now our truth can be heard!!

So something is not adding up. This place needs more investigation.

72
A Danish boarding school of the so-called "Efterskole" type in Denmark has expelled a student who in his private time during a weekend protested the Danish governments anti-Covid19 lockdowns as thousand of other Danes do.

Many smaller shops and dinner-places are closing down because the latest lockdown lasting from december 2020 until today has resulted in bankruptcy.

At those Danish boarding schools the students typically get the weekend off. Only 10 weekends per year are they required to remain at the school.

Based on the articles in Danish newspaper the student - a 16 year old boy - participated in the protests during his time off from the school. That means that his participation was a private political matter.  No place among the rules of the schools it is stated which political orientation the students are required to follow. It would be a crime to do so if they had specified it.

In Denmark every town has two types of test centers. A place for a PCR test and one or more places for the Quick tests where the personal extract samples of brain tissue with a very, very long stick through the nose. Most Danish firms, day schools and boarding schools require a test not older that 24 hours for Quick tests and 72 hour for PCR tests before allowing people to enter their property.
 
Many Danes are shocked. While most do not agree on public protests even when they lost their income, job and in some cases got their home foreclosed as result of the lockdown, they accept that protesting in person or online against the Danish governments Corona policy is legitimate.

This action of expelling a student is based on the students political view - not safety of the school or employees as they could have demanded a test before allowing him back to the school as almost every other school or firm does.

Source:

73
The Troubled Teen Industry / Gateway Freedom Ranch information
« on: March 13, 2021, 03:15:20 AM »
The Gateway Freedom Ranch located in Eureka, Montana

Gateway Freedom Ranch Abused Me (CHURCH OF PHILOSOPHICAL EXPLORATION)


Quote from: Caroline P.
Lisa (the director of Gateway Freedom Ranch) stole 6 figures from the partnering boys ranch. She completely traumatized me, convinced me that I was always lying and manipulating to get my way the entire way through the school. They never believed me. It was 18 months of pure trauma for me. I stood for 3 months all day as a punishment for not doing the dishes fast enough. The only time I could get off my feet was when I was sleeping. I even stood during school. They made me wash the dishes every day because I couldn't do them in time and when I was late they gave me rice and beans cold or rice and canned chicken.

I had fallen off of a horse and dislocated my tailbone which caused extreme pain. They offered to take me to the hospital but because I was wholeheartedly convinced I was an evil child just trying to manipulate I didn't go. Since I was standing it made the dislocation worse. I just found out recently that I wasn't bluffing about my back pain. I was on CBO (communication block out) for as long as I can remember so I was not allowed to talk to anyone unless it was an emergency and isolation so I couldn't bed near anyone. They had a list of questions we could ask.

We ran 1.2 miles every day even through the extreme fire smoke from California. If we got a certain amount of write ups they made us do 10 burpees for each one. If we threw up they didn't care. They would make us clear out the pinecones in the yard. One gallon paint bucket full of cones for each write up. Before that, it was one bucket of rocks. The school forced religion down my throat. I do not identify as a Christian because of these people. None of them had the licensing to be counselors for "troubled girls."

Every time I get depressed I have Lisa's voice in the back of my head saying I'm just doing it for attention. I of course was better at home because of all the gaslighting and assurance that I would be punished if I didn't do well on my home visits. 6 months after I got home for good I started rapidly declining and my parents sent me to Oak Ridge Military School right outside Greensboro, NC. That is where I really got help. I'm now 18 just beginning to understand the damage they did to me and my family. The reviews before mine are completely true. If your kid needs help DO NOT send them to Gateway Freedom Ranch.


Quote from: Rhanie T.
Gateway did not have the right idea when it came to consequences and just to how the program worked in general. I understand that they're trying to help but it just didn't.

Religion felt very forced on you. Some of the consequences they had were CBO Communication Block Out where u weren't aloud to talk to anybody and u were isolated from everybody, when u were not getting along with somebody they would put you in a hula hoop and u had to be with them and u had to stay in it until you figured out why you were in it together, if you didn't get your chores done on time you could get rice and beans cold sometime sit would be expired and they still make us eat it even if u threw up in the bowl they would still make u eat it, they would make u got out and stack wood outside even if it was dark and cold, for me they wanted me to learn a specific lesson that quite frankly i never figured out they made me do all the chores in the house and put me on a time limit while in a hula hoop with someone and stacking wood and cleaning CLEAN jars and if i didn't finish i got rice and beans and we were forced to write letters to our parents on sunday or we'd get rice and beans and that was the day i had most of my chores and if u dont finish showering on time they give rice and bean or make u do planks and workouts and if stopped the workout wed have to do it longer even if were in pain crying. Sometime s if one person makes a mistake in the house and no one confessed to it the whole house would be on lock down.

I don't recommend this place unless you want your child to be brainwashed or come back with more anxiety. And when you send them there they start to get issues like abandonment issues and very extreme issues.When i was sent there when i had been there for a while they'd keep telling me i hadn't fully confessed to everything when i told them everything and when i say everything i mean everything. And they kept saying i hadn't so eventually made up something so they'd stop and instead of talking about it they sent me to a wilderness program full of tromatized girls

Quote from: Makayla S.
100% agree with the last rating. I was sent here twice. Once I left I was diagnosed with PTSD from this place. What prompted me to write this review was the common night terror I had last night about the place. CBO (communication block out) and Isolation are common forms are punishment. Cold and unseasoned rice and beans are your meals as punishments. One time, every girl there had to eat that for 2 days straight, some of them even 3 days. Another punishment was they took away our mattresses and we had to sleep on the bars of our bunk beds, some girls got boards to lay on, but my bunk was a top metal bunk bed and I didn't get a board. Mail coming in and out gets opened by staff members and read before given to us or being sent out. Counselors aren't even licensed counselors. This place is supposed to be a behavioral boarding school, yet the only counselor that is licensed comes 3 times a year for parent weekends, at which time we didn't even get one on one time with him. Phone calls are listened in by staff members. Religion is shoved down your throat and you get told the only way you can go home is to follow god. Two girls that were there with me were forced to get their hair cut above their shoulders, one because the director claimed she was too prideful of her hair, and the other because she "played with it too much during group time." On top of all this, my dad (who did not want to send me back the second time I went) vividly remembers the director discussing other families financial problems with him over the phone. This place is cruel and corrupt. No child should go through what any girl went through there. One girl was one CBO for a month and a half straight, and if you talk when on CBO you are made to run 1.2 miles as punishment, as if being on CBO wasn't bad enough. Parents may see change when their child comes home but it doesn't last. If you really want to get you child help, get them a REAL counselor, don't sent them halfway across the country and make them have a terrible fear of abandonment and live in constant fear that everything I'm their life could be ripped away from them at anytime. Thanks for taking the time to read this..

75
Facility Question and Answers / The oliverian school testimonies
« on: March 07, 2021, 04:09:16 AM »
The facility has a department hunting down negative testimonies, I will secure some here before they gets deleted.
Quote from: Parent on GreatSchools
January 02, 2021

My son attended Oliverian for 6 weeks this fall, and they provided no academic rigor and no therapeutic support. In a school full of kids with mental health and academic challenges, classes had zero assignments or academic challenge and zero homework (their new policy, they said). Half the kids didn't even show up to class, with zero consequences, and kids were totally left to their own devices (literally - they claim that they turn wifi off but all the kids know the code and can use it all night long). Their counseling program has no clinical supervision and sees itself as simply helping kids address day to day problems - but if your child doesn't proactively seek them out, they are basically ignored. Drug use and truancy was rampant. There were no personalized education or therapeutic plans, and no indication of any future attention to individual needs. Other than (usually) attending class, my son spent all day every day playing video games, and after a few weeks of learning nothing and seeing most other kids skip class, told us that he was "demoralized" and wasn't going to bother going to class anymore. He told us that all the kids said that the school leaders didn't care about anything except money, and this seemed plausible to us as our pleas for more support and structure were ignored. After pulling him out, the school has refused to refund any of our tuition, and after we noted that we would write reviews to inform other parents, they pretended they had just been about to implement an "education and wellness strategy," despite never mentioning anything about this in all the time we asked how they would be meeting our son's needs. To showcase their success, they offered a story of a kid who attended no classes and did no work for 3 years, and then in his senior year, he started doing well - that seems a very clear indicator of the school's philosophy - they will happily take $86K a year for 4 years with the hopes that, by the end, your kid will be motivated to engage.

Quote from: Former student on GreatSchools
February 07, 2020
absolutely the worst school i've ever been to in my whole life, and i'm a senior.
Teachers
Are teachers at this school effective?
there's probably one teacher that has actually been able to assist me in getting any of my academics completed, and/or has made me feel like this school is a good learning environment.
Character
Does this school develop strong character in its students?
there's nothing/nobody at this school that helps integrate any of these traits into any of the students or staff.


We sent our son to Oliverian after pulling him out of an abusive residential boarding school, promised that it would provide rigorous academics and ample therapeutic support while honoring his autonomy. In fact, it was academically inadequate - zero rigorous assignments, no consequences for skipping class (which led to half of students missing class on a daily basis) - with no therapeutic planning or big picture view (we were told by the counselor that they just "help kids with problems they might face day to day", and were reluctant to do any deep work). They take "autonomy" to a new level, letting the kids do anything they want and hoping to "encourage" them to step up over the course of 4 years. Lots of drugs! Our son spent 6 weeks in his room, leaving only to attend classes, otherwise playing video games non-stop. The administrators are totally uninvolved or worse. Our pleas for more support were ignored. After pulling him out, they refused to refund any of our tuition.

This school has kept me going through some hard times, but I would not call it perfect and it does not suit everyone. The administration is very close to the student body, and thus, has the power to micro-manage students' lives. The school has much to improve in terms of clubs, activities, and sports. It is very hard to come by resources at times - an Oliverian student needs to be self-sufficient. Students are punished with detention, withholding allowance, and "campus restriction" where students are not allowed to leave campus. Students without allowance and on campus restriction are unable to buy toiletries or snack food for at least a week. This is a relatively new school with a good-hearted mission, but it has yet to figure out many aspects.

My son went to Oliverian and had very little academic support and even less Therapeutic support. Although staff were nice they were inefficient. He had ample access to drugs an juul and consequences were minimal
And inefficient. Should have pulled him out sooner. He never even read a book. Very little supervision and even less communication with parents. Do not send your kid here especially if he has addiction issues.

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