Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: Deborah on November 09, 2007, 07:42:04 AM
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Police search for missing Missouri teen
By Rebecca Palmer
Deseret Morning News
Published: Friday, Nov. 9, 2007 12:24 a.m. MST
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Syracuse police and the FBI in two states are looking for a 15-year-old Missouri girl who was supposed to show up at the Salt Lake City International Airport on Oct. 27.
Emily Graeber, 15, was headed to the Island View Residential Treatment Center in Syracuse when she disappeared. She had been visiting home on leave from the program.
Police have evidence that Graeber's boarding pass was scanned, and they found her baggage but cannot find her. They believe she may have tried to run away, said Syracuse Police Lt. Tracy Jensen.
Graeber's debit card hasn't been used in the two weeks she has been missing, Jensen said.
"We have nothing definite to say she didn't get on the plane," Jensen said. "We just don't know."
FBI detectives are going through about 120 hours of airport security video taken in Salt Lake City and St. Louis in an attempt to get new leads in the case.
They are also talking with teens being treated at the Island View center in hopes that Graeber told them about her plans.
Island View is part of the Aspen Education Group, which owns and operates facilities throughout Utah and in other Western states. Graeber's disappearance is the latest in a series of problems for the company.
On June 27, a 15-year-old California boy died while in the care of a Draper-based Aspen facility. He was sent to bed and given only over-the-counter drugs despite painful bowel and stomach programs. By morning, he had died.
In April of 2007, a boy hanged himself in a Loa-based Aspen facility. Three years before, a 16-year-old teen hanged himself in the Syracuse program.
Police are seeking information from Missouri and Salt Lake residents in the recent disappearance. They believe the girl may be traveling with a companion. Anyone who has seen Graeber is asked to call Syracuse police at 801-825-4400.
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E-mail: [email protected]
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(http://http://deseretnews.com/photos/4796118.jpg)
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Teenager disappears after getting on a plane to Salt Lake City
Reported by: Jill Atwood
Last Update: 11/08 7:11 pm
11/8/07 - Teen disappears from Salt Lake City flight
Teen Disappears from flight to Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (ABC 4 News) - A troubled teenager got on a plane in Saint Louis, heading to Salt Lake City, but turned up missing.
Emily Graeber went home for a visit to Missouri. She's a resident at a Syracuse youth facility. Her boarding pass was scanned by Southwest Airlines in Missouri. Her luggage made it to Utah, but where is Emily?
That's the question to be mulled over by the FBI and police both in Utah and in St. Louis, as they scour airport surveillance tapes, and talk to Southwest Airlines employees.
Emily Graeber is a patient at Island View Residential Treatment Center in Syracuse. She has a history of behavioral problems and running away.
Dr. Jared Balmer says Graeber's therapy was going fairly well, but “I guess something triggered in her mind that said I’m not going back.â€
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http://www.ksdk.com/video/default.aspx?aid=62328&bw= (http://www.ksdk.com/video/default.aspx?aid=62328&bw=)
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Wonder what the next "step" was for this 15 year old girl? Return to her own community and school or was she bound for some other program? Odd that she'd want to take her chances on the run with just two months to go but I know other kids on home visits have attempted the same thing. Sure hope wherever she is, she is okay.
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http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=187405#187405 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=187405#187405)
Interesting that I found this site. Anyways, I was at Island View for 13 months from Aug 99- Sep 00. Though I hated my stay there it did do some good for me, I�??m graduating from college this year and attending a graduate program in Psych oddly enough. Despite the positives I received from this program I still have nightmares almost every night where I wake up in that fucking building. For spring break in 2004 I drove from Colorado to southern California and decided to make a quick pit stop in good ole Syracuse UT. Upon arriving in the parking lot I had to get out and puke. Fuck that place, I never wish anyone to have the experiences that I had in attendance. If any of yall remember Tony I am still in contact with him, he abandoned IV soon after I left the program to start up his own.
Speaking of which...
I managed to get in contact with a few of the people
Lets see....
Blake: killed him self 6 months after graduation
Sean: Jail
Mike: Jail
Greg: Jail
Porter: went home for a visit on halloween of 99, did an Extacy binge at a halloween rave.
(all of the above were considered model residents)
Great Program guys, real high success rate.
I also remember that they had me on so many psychotropic that I couldn�??t think half of the time. It was like I was stuck in a shell of a body and was unable to feel anything. Upon graduation I got off of those drugs ASAP and have been doing fine ever since.
Out of all of the people in the program I would have to say fuck the staff the most, Fuck Kendall, fuck Sherry. I remember once Kenall threw me in that room because we were on 'unit arrest' or what ever it was called because I thanked him for the food he brought me. His justification was that I spoke when we were told to not speak. I got pretty angry about that and asked him "Why are you being so fucking rude?" he picked me up and threw me into wall and told the staff the reason why my head was bleeding was because I did it to myself. ( I was admitted for drugs mostly, but no self mutalation) As a result of this more staff was called in. They held me down and gave me a injection of thorezine and I woke up the next day with bruises on my head. I told my therapist at the time, but he didnt belive me.
Despite the EXTREME negative experiance I had in Utah, I will admitt that there was some good to it. My grades did improve, I got into a good undergrad program and a good grad program, and for the most part I cut down on drugs (I only drink now but Im 22 and that aint illegal). The folks in charge of the IV program seriously because it does have some great potential.
PS
another thing that pissed me off is when my parents tried to convince me that what they did was harder on them that it was on me, that is bull shit. To any parent reading this thread: I understand it is difficult to send your child away, belive me I do (I currently work for a non-prof at risk adolecent program, and I see parents send thier children away quite frequently). You cannot possibly imagine what your child goes through in these programs. For the most part I think everyone whom has attened one of these programs will tell you that it did in fact scar them in some way for the rest of their life. for me, it is the nightmares, I can deal with that. Some people however cannot, my friend Blake for example, have you ever been to a funeral for a 17 year old kid who committed suicide by eating a bottle of the very drug that was prescribed to him by IV? Im willing to bet not. Also to any kid that just got out of that program and is spouting out the usuall RTC high that people tend to get post graduation, wait a year when the nightmares of returning dont go away and then tell me that IV had no adverse side effects.[ This Message was edited by: JFriedlander on 2006-04-12 03:55 ]
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Stettler confirmed Aspen's reputation, saying, "They've had a pretty spotless record."
Three of four recent deaths at Utah treatment programs, however, happened at Aspen facilities: Blum's and two suicides; one in July 2004 at Island View Academy in Syracuse, and another in April at Aspen Achievement Academy of Loa.
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Teenager disappears after getting on a plane to Salt Lake City
Reported by: Jill Atwood
Last Update: 11/08 7:11 pm
11/8/07 - Teen disappears from Salt Lake City flight
Teen Disappears from flight to Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (ABC 4 News) - A troubled teenager got on a plane in Saint Louis, heading to Salt Lake City, but turned up missing.
Emily Graeber went home for a visit to Missouri. She's a resident at a Syracuse youth facility. Her boarding pass was scanned by Southwest Airlines in Missouri. Her luggage made it to Utah, but where is Emily?
That's the question to be mulled over by the FBI and police both in Utah and in St. Louis, as they scour airport surveillance tapes, and talk to Southwest Airlines employees.
Emily Graeber is a patient at Island View Residential Treatment Center in Syracuse. She has a history of behavioral problems and running away.
Dr. Jared Balmer says Graeber's therapy was going fairly well, but “I guess something triggered in her mind that said I’m not going back.â€
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Absolutely horrible, I feel for her and her whole family. Hopefully she turns up soon and she did this on her own and wasn’t taken by someone.
Although I am not a fan of using escort services, occurrences like these sure make a good argument for using them. At least the child would be safe, I guess.
Lets just pray this all turns okay for them.
...
And hey Who....
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Sounds like she had something worked out in advance.
C'mon Emily. Let's hope you told no one. Let's hope you're many miles out of there by now.
EMILY - IF YOU ARE READING THIS -
DO NOT attempt to contact your parents until you are over the age of 18!
DO NOT reveal yourself to ANYONE you cannot absolutely trust - THIS INCLUDES ALL FAMILY MEMBERS WHO DID NOT HELP YOU ESCAPE - in any way!
DO NOT use your real name if at all possible.
CHANGE YOUR APPEARANCE as much as you can.
LEAVE THE COUNTRY if at all possible!
Assume that your parents WILL send you back to that hellhole if at all possible.
YOU ARE BEING TRACKED BY THE FEDS. Find a new hiding spot if the person hiding you ever showed up with you on any security camera. Don't even let HIM know where you go.
TO THE FBI: Fucking investigate Island View (http://http://www.aspeninstitute.info) itself while you're at it, huh?
(Shades of Anne Frank...)
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Hmmm... Bain Capital. I did a quick google search and wala:::::::::::::::::::
http://http://www.baincapital.com/
(http://http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2007/06/25/1182778380_0460.jpg)
...
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Quoting for top-of-page.
Sounds like she had something worked out in advance.
C'mon Emily. Let's hope you told no one. Let's hope you're many miles out of there by now.
EMILY - IF YOU ARE READING THIS -
DO NOT attempt to contact your parents until you are over the age of 18!
DO NOT reveal yourself to ANYONE you cannot absolutely trust - THIS INCLUDES ALL FAMILY MEMBERS WHO DID NOT HELP YOU ESCAPE - in any way!
DO NOT use your real name if at all possible.
CHANGE YOUR APPEARANCE as much as you can.
LEAVE THE COUNTRY if at all possible!
Assume that your parents WILL send you back to that hellhole if at all possible.
YOU ARE BEING TRACKED BY THE FEDS. Find a new hiding spot if the person hiding you ever showed up with you on any security camera. Don't even let HIM know where you go.
TO THE FBI: Fucking investigate Island View (http://http://www.aspeninstitute.info) itself while you're at it, huh?
(Shades of Anne Frank...)
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I have read these posts about Islandview and how horrible you were treated, but Islandview is one of the best treatment places around. There are places that actually abuse children, such as Tranquility Bay in Jamaica. Although I admit Islandview was filled with some of the lowest times in my life, I learned a lot from there. You can't expect this one place you are at for a year or less to completely change your thought. If you went to this program, only half invested, then that is all you will get out of it. I had the hardest time getting over the fact that my "freedom" was taken away, but what "freedom" did I reall have? Before Islandview I was trapped within my negative self, that I couldn't talk myself out of. Would I ever want to go to Islandview Again? No!! Did I hate being there? Yes!! But I can't deny that the program didn't help me, because It truly did. I am a more mature person and I now have the chance to give myself the future I deserve.
Found this on another thread
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And it's shill bullshit, almost certainly not written by any actual inmate. Why bother reposting it, Who? Not even you can seriously believe that at this point.
It galls me that even here, where your mistreatment has forced a girl to run away, you'll still keep spewing the same crap.
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I have read these posts about Islandview and how horrible you were treated, but Islandview is one of the best treatment places around. There are places that actually abuse children, such as Tranquility Bay in Jamaica. Although I admit Islandview was filled with some of the lowest times in my life, I learned a lot from there. You can't expect this one place you are at for a year or less to completely change your thought. If you went to this program, only half invested, then that is all you will get out of it. I had the hardest time getting over the fact that my "freedom" was taken away, but what "freedom" did I reall have? Before Islandview I was trapped within my negative self, that I couldn't talk myself out of. Would I ever want to go to Islandview Again? No!! Did I hate being there? Yes!! But I can't deny that the program didn't help me, because It truly did. I am a more mature person and I now have the chance to give myself the future I deserve.
Why does everyone constantly disrespect survivors here on fornits by disbelieving their stories. We should let the kids talk and get an understanding of their side of it.
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Quoting for top-of-page.
Sounds like she had something worked out in advance.
C'mon Emily. Let's hope you told no one. Let's hope you're many miles out of there by now.
EMILY - IF YOU ARE READING THIS -
DO NOT attempt to contact your parents until you are over the age of 18!
DO NOT reveal yourself to ANYONE you cannot absolutely trust - THIS INCLUDES ALL FAMILY MEMBERS WHO DID NOT HELP YOU ESCAPE - in any way!
DO NOT use your real name if at all possible.
CHANGE YOUR APPEARANCE as much as you can.
LEAVE THE COUNTRY if at all possible!
Assume that your parents WILL send you back to that hellhole if at all possible.
YOU ARE BEING TRACKED BY THE FEDS. Find a new hiding spot if the person hiding you ever showed up with you on any security camera. Don't even let HIM know where you go.
TO THE FBI: Fucking investigate Island View (http://http://www.aspeninstitute.info) itself while you're at it, huh?
(Shades of Anne Frank...)
She will never read this. You should re-evaluiate the advice you give, even though nobody important will read it, it's wrong and can get people hurt or worse. Not that you care, that much is obvious.
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The advice isnt to help the kid that ran. Many here hope she gets hurt or makes a huge mistake, so they can blame the program some how. Very few people here really care about the kids.
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The advice isnt to help the kid that ran. Many here hope she gets hurt or makes a huge mistake, so they can blame the program some how. Very few people here really care about the kids.
It certainly seems that way sometimes.
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Last four posts by same person.
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Last four posts by same person.
If you need to believe that there is only one pro-safe-program poster on fornits to maintain your sanity, I think everyone will understand.
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Last four posts by same person.
If you need to believe that there is only one pro-safe-program poster on fornits to maintain your sanity, I think everyone will understand.
If you can't recognize that your writing style is quite distinctive and easily identifiable because you are too sub-mental, I think everyone will understand.
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Last four posts by same person.
If you need to believe that there is only one pro-safe-program poster on fornits to maintain your sanity, I think everyone will understand.
If you can't recognize that your writing style is quite distinctive and easily identifiable because you are too sub-mental, I think everyone will understand.
Over-confidence will get you every time. Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha.
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Last four posts by same person.
Finally, an admin doing his/her job.
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Last four posts by same person.
Finally, an admin doing his/her job.
I am not an admin
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I am not an admin
Oh, well.
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Do you think it was worth her running away?
I have heard of schools that placed students in potentinally life threatening situations, do you think Island View was one of them?
Or do you think it was dangerous in that it made the children there so miserable they just might off themselves? (a danger people do not think seriously enough about.)
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Sounds like she was desperate enough to NOT go back. I can understand. Hopefully she has good quality people helping her and will let her family know indirectly she is okay and they''ll reconsider sending her away again if she is found.
My thoughts are with her family but more importantly with her. Stay safe.
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For those interested in contacting the parents, this appears to be her father's contact information: http://ugbblaw.lawoffice.com/profiles/3202385 (http://ugbblaw.lawoffice.com/profiles/3202385) -- he practices family law.
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Someone who says he is Craig Akers (from the Shawn Hornbeck foundation, Shawn's father) posted here-
http://http://wwf.fornits.com/viewtopic.php?t=24007
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Poster above Dark must have been right, because someone contacted her dad (Hi there, Emily's dad! I know you're reading this! You're a fucking lawyer, what the FUCK were you thinking sending her to a hellhole like that?!) and then told the missing-kids dude about it. Yeah, I'll give good odds it's legit.
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Above post should be "and then her dad told the missing-kids dude about it".
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When you do a goodle search for Emily Graeber it leads right to that thread. (It did a couple of days ago anyway)
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Someone started a Facebook group called: Good Luck To Emily Graeber, Fugitive From Unjust Imprisonment!
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The Shawn Hornbeck Foundation and others searching for a missing Clayton girl want to know why the 15-year-old was allowed to stay on the plane beyond her ticketed destination.
The Hornbeck Foundation is serving as contact for information about Emily Cecilia Graeber, who has been missing since Oct. 29. Emily boarded a Southwest Airlines plane that morning for a flight to Salt Lake City, Utah. Instead, it appears she went to California and disappeared in San Francisco.
Hornbeck Foundation spokesman Sherri Martin said Tuesday that the FBI has found a witness who claims Emily remained on the plane until it landed in Oakland, Calif. The witness said he gave Emily a ride from Oakland to San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf area, Martin said.
A spokesman for the FBI in St. Louis would not comment on the case. However, the investigator heading the missing person case in Utah said he was given the same information by the FBI in St. Louis.
Lt. Tracy Jensen of the Syracuse Police Department said Tuesday that the witness told authorities he sat next to Emily on the flight to Oakland. After they arrived at the airport in Oakland, he gave her a ride to San Francisco.
“I’m asking for the FBI report tomorrow,â€
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(KSDK) -A missing Clayton teen returned home safe Thursday night.
Emily Graeber's safe return came about thanks to an Internet search engine and a Web site.
The parents of Shawn Hornbeck were also a big help in bringing her back.
On Thursday night, a plane carrying Emily, with Craig and Pam Akers at her side, landed in St. Louis.
The Akers run The Shawn Hornbeck Foundation and have dedicated their lives to finding missing people since their son Shawn went missing in 2002. He was found in January.
Around midnight Wednesday, they got a call from a person in the San Francisco area who knew where Emily, 15, was.
Emily was last seen by her parents getting on a plane at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport bound for Salt Lake City on Oct. 29.
She was returning to a treatment facility in Utah, but didn't get off the plane.
Instead, she continued on to San Francisco and was later found to be a runaway.
A concerned person she met in San Francisco eventually entered her name in an Internet search engine and discovered Emily was posted as a missing person in a Shawn Alert on The Shawn Hornbeck Foundation Web site.
That person, who wants to remain anonymous, called the organization and led the Akers to Emily.
"When it was 3 a.m. and we couldn't reach anyone else who was available and willing to go this morning at 6:25, then Pam and Craig packed their clothes and they were here" at the airport, says Sherri Martin, spokesperson for The Shawn Hornbeck Foundation.
Emily's family is thrilled she's home.
"The ability to find a runaway and for a story to run out so wonderfully because really, it could gave gone really bad. We're grateful for the Shawn Alert," said Julie Ettinger, Emily's cousin.
Emily's family is tremendously relieved and overwhelmed.
They were unable to travel to California because a family member is gravely ill.
This is the first time the Akers have traveled out of state to help a child return home.
VIDEO
http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.a ... yid=134364 (http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=134364)
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I really hope that this family can sort things out and they now work through things at home
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I hope WWASPS gets owned by this.
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Island View is owned by Aspen you dumbfuck.
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wwasps? IV is an Aspen according to fornits wiki
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Not a lot of ownag3 on program owners ever happen.
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From the Island View Residential Treatment Center's Website:
Making a Deal under the Table is a self-defeating pattern for both parent and child that inevitably comes to roost after discharge. Motivation for such a ‘deal’ varies but sabotages treatment and renders the Center powerless in bringing about lasting change with the child. Let us give you some examples:
The parent is pressured by the child into coming home for a visit without the treatment team's approval and recommendation.
A parent is persuaded by Mr. Manipulation to come home for good as soon as he achieves the ‘Impact’ status without consultation with the treatment team.
You can readily see the pattern. A parent, feeling guilty for the ‘pain’ the child has to go through as part of the treatment process, feels compelled to “throw the child a bone.’ Holding a ‘carrot’ in front of the child is well and good, but not without the inclusion and discussion of the treatment team. The result of this type of misplaced reward or poor attempt of behavior modification inevitably spells disaster. The child is coached to put on an act in order to gain a short-term reward without internalizing a genuine change.
Inevitably, every year a small handful of parents fall into this trap. When we become aware of this ‘secret deal making’, we ask the parent to withdraw their child from the Center, as we simply are rendered powerless to bring about genuine change in the youngster.
‘Enmeshment’ or Blurred Boundaries between the role of Parent and Child – is a problem that is particularly difficult to rectify as many parents who are enmeshed with their child are ‘blind’ to the situation. Without rehearsing a number of psychiatric and psychological terms, let us give you a few examples:
Even though the rules are that a resident on ‘Orientation’ Status is restricted to two phone calls home per week, and the therapist has a weekly phone session with the family, the parent calls the Center every day, inquiring of anybody she/he can get a hold of, about the general well being of the child.
On a phone call home, the child tells his parents that he is depressed, and doesn’t know if he can make it through the rest of the week without ‘blowing up and losing his level.’ He states that the teachers don’t give him any help in school, and his houseparents pick on him, expecting more from him than any other kid on his team. The parents respond to the child by sharing their frustration about this and reassure him that they will take care of it. They call and ask that the therapist be pulled out of a session for an urgent call. Once on the phone, they state that they’ve just talked to their son, and he seems desperate. They ask that the therapist meet with him right away to prevent him from blowing up. They share their concern that the child is not getting the help he needs, and that until he does, he should not be accountable for his actions. When a child shares her disappointment with her father that she was denied a level she applied for, he immediately contacts the center, demanding to know the reason why. He suggests that this disappointment is not helpful to his daughter’s self-esteem, and that perhaps the expectations placed on her are too high. During a family therapy session, a child’s therapist confronts him in front of his parents about his recent aggressive and bullying behavior towards several of his teammates. She outlines the hurtful impact of this behavior, and establishes a further consequence should this behavior continue. When she asks the parents how they feel about this, his mother, clearly upset, states that she is uncomfortable with the stern tone of voice used by the therapist. She suggests that maybe before the therapist singles out their son, she should find out what her son’s teammates may have done to provoke him. A child is placed at Island View by her parents for drug dependency, oppositional defiance and depression. In family therapy, her parents disclose that they have had marital problems for many years. Her mother also shares with the therapist that she was not as supportive of sending her daughter away to Island view, but that he was adamant about placing him. Together, they acknowledge that they often use their daughter as a buffer to avoid dealing with their relationship problems. They agree to see a marriage counselor at home to address these problems. After five months of treatment, the mother calls her child’s therapist and tells him that she is pulling her daughter from treatment. She states that her daughter has cried nonstop during the last three phone calls, and she feels she is losing her spirit. She states that she will arrive at Island view by the weekend to pick her up. When the therapist asks if the child’s father feels the same way, the mother states that they are separating with the intention to divorce. She decides to rescue her daughter and bring her back home to live with her.
On a phone call home, a child tells his mother he is confused about a recent intervention, and voices frustration about how to handle it. His mother, having just heard from the therapist the purpose of the intervention, wants to help her son feel better. She tells him why they are doing it, and what emotion they are trying to illicit from him. She suggests to her son that if he just gave his staff what they are looking for, they would probably get off his back.
All of these case examples have the same underlying flaws of a parent-child relationship. What is it they all share in common? Parents who use the child to deal with their own problems or parents who fail the child by not allowing the adolescent to deal with the consequences of his or her behavior.
While it is normal and to a degree expected for a parent to protect a child, some parents literally "protect their child" into profound psycho-social pathology. How do they do it? By mitigating, rescuing and ‘red-crossing’ the child from experiencing the natural consequences for maladaptive behavior Ã
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http://www.greatlakesconsult.com/testimonials.php (http://www.greatlakesconsult.com/testimonials.php)
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From the Island View FAQ Page:
How long will my child be required to stay at Island View?
What is the average length of stay?
Island View does not subscribe to a predetermined or set length of stay. Consistent with our treatment philosophy, we believe that the length of stay should largely be determined by the child. That is to say that the child should not graduate from the program until he/she has accomplished the individual treatment and educational objectives, which have been developed by the parent/guardian, the multi-disciplinary team at Island View, and the child.
The length of stay varies. A number of factors are at stake that will determine the length of stay. Of all such factors, the most salient ones include:
The relative complexity of the psycho-social and educational history of the child prior to admission. Typically, the more complex, the longer the stay.
The onset of problems and difficulties. In other words, did the problems start one year or ten years ago. Typically, the older and more entrenched the problem is, the longer the stay.
The follow-up and aftercare plan. A child that will go to a boarding school with a variety of support services following graduation from Island View, may likely have a shorter stay than a child that will return home, enroll in a public school and continue with individual and/or family therapy. In other words, the complexity and relative support afforded the Island View graduate has an impact on the length of stay.
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Utah should be banned from operating programs. That would solve 50% of the problem.
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Missing Clayton teen found
By Todd C. Frankel
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
11/17/2007
Emily Graeber had no idea who they were, this man and woman who somehow had tracked the runaway teenager across some 2,000 miles, from her home in Clayton to an apartment in Oakland, Calif.
Emily, 15, did not recognize their names. She did not know their faces. Nothing registered from the hundreds of TV and newspaper stories, the appearance on Oprah. Even the name of the couple's son, Shawn Hornbeck, sounded only vaguely familiar.
Emily was just stunned that after 18 days on the run — dropping out of sight, alarming her parents and friends — she had been found. And she had been found by Craig and Pam Akers — the parents from Richwoods who had hunted for their own missing child for four years before he miraculously was discovered alive in January with another kidnapped boy in Kirkwood.
"Her reaction was one of shock, disbelief. She asked us, 'How did you know I was here?'" Craig Akers recalled Friday. "She didn't know who we were. She didn't really know who Shawn Hornbeck was or the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation. Then we explained why we were there."
Emily had disappeared on Oct. 29 after boarding a Southwest flight in St. Louis. She was headed for Utah, where since March she had attended a residential treatment center for troubled teens. But she never got off the plane in Salt Lake City. Authorities believe she stayed on the plane as it flew to its final destination in Oakland. She disappeared. Her family panicked.
But a runaway teen is not a law enforcement priority. A federal study found that 350,000 youths were reported as runaways to authorities nationally in 1999 alone.
Emily's family, who could not be reached for comment Friday, turned to the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation, a group founded by the Akerses to help the families of missing children. The foundation runs a website, alostchild.org, and issues "ShawnAlerts" about missing children in Missouri and Illinois. Its biggest tool is the name, which attracts public and media attention.
"If that is what it takes to bring missing kids home, then Craig and Pam Akers are behind it — Shawn himself is behind it," said Sherri Martin, foundation administrator.
At about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, the foundation received a call from someone in Oakland claiming to know where Emily was. Craig Akers verified the information. By 3 a.m. Thursday, he felt someone needed to get to Oakland immediately. No time to alert authorities. And Graeber's family was dealing with another family emergency — Emily's maternal grandmother was near death.
"Pam and I decided the easiest thing was to go ourselves," Craig Akers said.
It was their first trip to the Bay Area. Once in California, Craig Akers said he called police to ask for help, in case something went wrong, but was told that could take hours.
Already on an unorthodox adventure, he decided not to wait. The couple knew Emily was staying with a teenage boy and his mother. Emily had met the teenage boy on a bus, telling him she needed a place to stay so she would not have to return to what she called her boarding school, Craig Akers said. She was not hurt, not hungry — just hiding.
"She was very, very fortunate," Craig Akers said. "She was taken in by decent people."
Craig Akers said he explained why they were there, that they needed to get back to St. Louis so Emily could say goodbye to her grandmother. And Craig Akers told Emily her parents agreed she would not be forced to return to the Utah treatment center.
Within an hour, they were back at the airport. And a missing child was on her way home.
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Be nice to HEAR from Emily herself. I'm sure she has something to say about why she did what she did.
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Well DUH like the girl was allowed to watch Oprah while in a locked boarding school? Or use the Internet freely? Read a newspaper?
Man, these reporters are just fucking clueless.
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The girl was in the program since March and apparently was considered non-troubled enough to go home for a family visit, then fly back to the program by herself but not QUIT THE PROGRAM as she apparently wanted to do? What's wrong with this picture? The girl ran away rather than return to the program.
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From the Island View Residential Treatment Center's Website:
Making a Deal under the Table is a self-defeating pattern for both parent and child that inevitably comes to roost after discharge. Motivation for such a ‘deal’ varies but sabotages treatment and renders the Center powerless in bringing about lasting change with the child. Let us give you some examples:
The parent is pressured by the child into coming home for a visit without the treatment team's approval and recommendation.
A parent is persuaded by Mr. Manipulation to come home for good as soon as he achieves the ‘Impact’ status without consultation with the treatment team.
You can readily see the pattern. A parent, feeling guilty for the ‘pain’ the child has to go through as part of the treatment process, feels compelled to “throw the child a bone.’ Holding a ‘carrot’ in front of the child is well and good, but not without the inclusion and discussion of the treatment team. The result of this type of misplaced reward or poor attempt of behavior modification inevitably spells disaster. The child is coached to put on an act in order to gain a short-term reward without internalizing a genuine change.
Inevitably, every year a small handful of parents fall into this trap. When we become aware of this ‘secret deal making’, we ask the parent to withdraw their child from the Center, as we simply are rendered powerless to bring about genuine change in the youngster.
‘Enmeshment’ or Blurred Boundaries between the role of Parent and Child – is a problem that is particularly difficult to rectify as many parents who are enmeshed with their child are ‘blind’ to the situation. Without rehearsing a number of psychiatric and psychological terms, let us give you a few examples:
Even though the rules are that a resident on ‘Orientation’ Status is restricted to two phone calls home per week, and the therapist has a weekly phone session with the family, the parent calls the Center every day, inquiring of anybody she/he can get a hold of, about the general well being of the child.
On a phone call home, the child tells his parents that he is depressed, and doesn’t know if he can make it through the rest of the week without ‘blowing up and losing his level.’ He states that the teachers don’t give him any help in school, and his houseparents pick on him, expecting more from him than any other kid on his team. The parents respond to the child by sharing their frustration about this and reassure him that they will take care of it. They call and ask that the therapist be pulled out of a session for an urgent call. Once on the phone, they state that they’ve just talked to their son, and he seems desperate. They ask that the therapist meet with him right away to prevent him from blowing up. They share their concern that the child is not getting the help he needs, and that until he does, he should not be accountable for his actions.
When a child shares her disappointment with her father that she was denied a level she applied for, he immediately contacts the center, demanding to know the reason why. He suggests that this disappointment is not helpful to his daughter’s self-esteem, and that perhaps the expectations placed on her are too high.
During a family therapy session, a child’s therapist confronts him in front of his parents about his recent aggressive and bullying behavior towards several of his teammates. She outlines the hurtful impact of this behavior, and establishes a further consequence should this behavior continue. When she asks the parents how they feel about this, his mother, clearly upset, states that she is uncomfortable with the stern tone of voice used by the therapist. She suggests that maybe before the therapist singles out their son, she should find out what her son’s teammates may have done to provoke him.
A child is placed at Island View by her parents for drug dependency, oppositional defiance and depression. In family therapy, her parents disclose that they have had marital problems for many years. Her mother also shares with the therapist that she was not as supportive of sending her daughter away to Island view, but that he was adamant about placing him. Together, they acknowledge that they often use their daughter as a buffer to avoid dealing with their relationship problems. They agree to see a marriage counselor at home to address these problems. After five months of treatment, the mother calls her child’s therapist and tells him that she is pulling her daughter from treatment. She states that her daughter has cried nonstop during the last three phone calls, and she feels she is losing her spirit. She states that she will arrive at Island view by the weekend to pick her up. When the therapist asks if the child’s father feels the same way, the mother states that they are separating with the intention to divorce. She decides to rescue her daughter and bring her back home to live with her.
On a phone call home, a child tells his mother he is confused about a recent intervention, and voices frustration about how to handle it. His mother, having just heard from the therapist the purpose of the intervention, wants to help her son feel better. She tells him why they are doing it, and what emotion they are trying to illicit from him. She suggests to her son that if he just gave his staff what they are looking for, they would probably get off his back.
All of these case examples have the same underlying flaws of a parent-child relationship. What is it they all share in common? Parents who use the child to deal with their own problems or parents who fail the child by not allowing the adolescent to deal with the consequences of his or her behavior.
While it is normal and to a degree expected for a parent to protect a child, some parents literally "protect their child" into profound psycho-social pathology. How do they do it? By mitigating, rescuing and ‘red-crossing’ the child from experiencing the natural consequences for maladaptive behavior Ã
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That's the most fucking disgusting thing I've ever had the displeasure of reading.
On the up-side, it makes me glad that they had to write it, because its existence means that they've lost a lot of business this way.
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That's the most fucking disgusting thing I've ever had the displeasure of reading.
On the up-side, it makes me glad that they had to write it, because its existence means that they've lost a lot of business this way.
You haven't seem sickl. This is from utah boy's ranch/ westridge academy.
any ideas on why they changed the name? Death? Rape? What was it that made them decide: "let's insert our past into the memory hole"
What Your Child May Do
Typically your child will be uncomfortable or in denial as to the reasons he/she is here. He/she may try several types of manipulation to get your attention and to help himself/herself cope. Usually, these are the same manipulative or coping behaviors he/she used with you in the past. It is our goal to change those negative behaviors so your child can function appropriately in society. You may see the following attempts at manipulation:
• Deathbed Repentance. Examples include “I see the errors of my ways.â€
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Fear Factor. Example: “All my roommates are drug addicts or gay.â€
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I pity the children whose parents buy into this propaganda. But then again, when you have ed and par cons selling tough love as the answer to entitlement-itis or SURVIVING YOUR TEEN, I suppose that is a big, big part of the problem.
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I'm sorry, but if you don't see the problem with that place just reading that shit and send your kids afterwards, you're just as guilty as they are.
This is why Fornits attacks parents so much. There's so many gigantic red flags ("Warning, your kid might complain of being abused here, don't believe him, believe us, etc") that it can't be passed off as "I didn't know". You didn't know? They practically fucking advertised it! Seriously, how much of a dumbass do you have to BE?! Even the dumbest man on Earth who knows how to use a computer should be able to see something wrong with this.
And then they're surprised when their kids hate them. Wow! Can't possibly imagine how THAT happened! Wow, what do you mean your kid used to be a pothead and got on cocaine a week after he left? I'm so sorry for your negative experience. No one could have possibly foreseen that!
Katrina and the levees, every single day.
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I'm sorry, but if you don't see the problem with that place just reading that shit and send your kids afterwards, you're just as guilty as they are.
This is why Fornits attacks parents so much. There's so many gigantic red flags ("Warning, your kid might complain of being abused here, don't believe him, believe us, etc") that it can't be passed off as "I didn't know". You didn't know? They practically fucking advertised it! Seriously, how much of a dumbass do you have to BE?! Even the dumbest man on Earth who knows how to use a computer should be able to see something wrong with this.
And then they're surprised when their kids hate them. Wow! Can't possibly imagine how THAT happened! Wow, what do you mean your kid used to be a pothead and got on cocaine a week after he left? I'm so sorry for your negative experience. No one could have possibly foreseen that!
Katrina and the levees, every single day.
Its not that easy, you were in a program most parents have never heard of them until a few weeks before their kids attend one and they may have a child who is manipulative so they will have reason to believe the counselors and staff.
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I'm not going to dignify that with anything other than :roll:.