Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: Antigen on March 06, 2005, 09:37:00 PM
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http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?sid=154438& ... late=print (http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?sid=154438&nid=5&template=print)
Group Seeks Probe Into Boading School
Mar. 6, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A California-based children's advocacy group is calling for a federal investigation into a northern Utah boarding school it claims mistreats students, subjecting them to numerous abuses, including restraining them face down in manure.
Based on sworn statements of four former employees, the Glendale-based Emancipation Project says the Majestic Ranch -- a boarding school for troubled children near Randolph in Rich County -- is unsanitary and unsafe for the children living there. The facility houses 55 children ages 8 to 14.
Thomas and Isabelle Zehnder, of Vancouver, Wash., distributed a report they compiled about the ranch to state lawmakers and elected officials last week. They also plan to send it to Congress and the U.S. attorney general.
The 13-page report contains allegations of abusive practices, dirty living conditions, lack of medical care and unhealthy foods. It also chastises the state Division of Child Protective Services and local authorities for not intervening.
Majestic Ranch director Tammy Johnson said the report contained "serious misrepresentations." She called the accusations "definitely a personal vendetta" by disgruntled former employees and state officials who, she claimed, want the program shut down.
"We really feel like we've been a bull's-eye target for too long," Johnson said.
The Rich County Sheriff's Office is investigating trespassing and theft allegations against former employees at Majestic's behest, Sheriff Dale Stacey said. No charges have been filed.
Utah Division of Child and Family Services caseworkers, state health and local fire and police officials toured the ranch last month to look into the complaints brought against the school. They determined that a bulk of the complaints were "not credible" but noted that there were a couple of minor fire-safety issues.
Child welfare officials said that while some of the ranch's practices weren't necessarily desirable, there were none that could be considered abusive.
"There were allegations, but we weren't able to find that any specific children were abused or neglected," said Department of Human Services spokeswoman Carol Sisco.
But Karleen Farnsworth, a former state youth corrections worker, said she saw children punished by having to stand outside on milk crates in subfreezing temperatures or forced to shovel manure with their bare hands. Farnsworth quit her job as a Majestic Ranch house parent in January after three weeks.
"I was unable to stand it any longer," she said.
Another former worker, Jared Quick, filed an affidavit stating that uncooperative children were wrestled to the ground, sometimes face first in manure.
Johnson said workers do use physical force to restrain out-of-control children as a last resort, but they can't choose the time or place it happens.
She confirmed that there was an incident where a child swinging a pitchfork at another child was restrained in a manure pile, but added that the evasive action was "certainly not malicious."
Majestic Ranch is one of eight programs affiliated with St. George-based Worldwide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools, or WWASPS. Allegations of abuse and neglect have been leveled against several of its facilities over the past few years, all of which company officials have denied.
California Congressman George Miller has repeatedly called for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate WWASPS and similar programs.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) "...In general, it's just an overall sign in America that there doesn't seem to be as much respect for authority figures, and that's a bad trend. It just strikes me that people can say whatever they want to and get away with it, and that's not good."
--But David Murrell, exec. dir. of the Florida Police Benevolent Association
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i think this was a plce my friend looked at for little kids. any other links for me?
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Yeah. Use the search link to the left and search on Majestic Ranch as a phrase. Do the same at Google. There's quite a lot on MR floating around the net these days.
Ministers say that they teach charity. That is natural. They live on hand-outs. All beggars teach that others should give.
--Robert G. Ingersoll, American politician and lecturer
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Try http://www.kidsincaptivity.com (http://www.kidsincaptivity.com) - there's a report with statemeents from people who used to work there and some intersting emails from a cps working. Quite intersting and very insightful. the guy who was with her has the emancipation prjocet and i think his site is http://www.emancipationproject.org (http://www.emancipationproject.org). Something lkie that.
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Just looking at the web-site indicates that kids will be away from school for weeks at a time as they heard sheep. It also indicates that they may be required to eat sheep testicles after they are castrated, birth sheep, care for an array of animals including thousands of sheep, dirty work is what its called. It's enough to turn a weak stomach - or even a strong one...they indicate that they let the kids try Rocky Mountain Oysters after castrating sheep.
Here's some information from the web-site
Some of these activities include:
Snow Tubing Water Skiing Snow Skiing Swimming
Ice Skating Boating Ice Hockey Horse Back Riding
In addition to these activities, our students are involved in helping with Ranch responsibilities. Some of these include:
Lambing: In early spring, we have around 1500 sheep giving birth to the lambs. Students are given the opportunity to help staff and the ranch owners with this process. In addition to helping with the birthing process, the students are responsible to bottle feed and raise the "bum" or abandoned lambs. It is an incredible learning opportunity for the students. When students graduate this is often one of the activities they report as having helped them work through problems the most.
Sheep Trail: Every Spring and fall, students have the opportunity to participate on Sheep Trail. This is when we push the sheep to and from their summer pasture. The trail is about 90 miles long and can take from 2-4 weeks. During that time, students have the opportunity to sleep on the trail and cook over an open fire. Students who have proven responsible for riding a horse are able to ride while the other students follow behind the herd on foot. This is again one of the favorite activities we do on the ranch. Students even ask if they can come back and participate in the Trail after they leave the school!
Branding: Students learn team work as they hold calves down while the calves are marked, branded, castrated, and given vaccinations. It is a dirty job, but the students love it! We end the day by letting the students try true "Rocky Mountain Oysters"! :eek: :eek: :eek:
Docking: In late spring, students are again involved in working with the lambs. During docking, students assist Ranch staff with cutting off sheeps tails, castrating the males, painting lambs for identification, clipping ears, and giving vaccinations. This is another dirty job that the students learn to love! :???:
Service Projects: Adopt-A-Highway (Highway cleanup) 3-4 times per year. Bear Lake Cleanup (Beach litter pick up) once a year.
To the extent that a society limits its government to policing functions which curb the individuals who engage in aggressive and criminal actions, and conducts its economic affairs on the basis of free and willing exchange, to that extent domestic peace prevails. When a society departs from this norm, its governing class begins, in effect, to make war upon the rest of the nation. A situation is created in which everyone is victimized by everyone else under the fiction of each living at the expense of all.
--Edmund A. Opitz
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Sounds like unpaid labor... also known as slavery. What a deal. Set up a ranch and run it with incarcerated youth.
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Why no mention of carcus duty?
Wonder if the kids learn to love that as well.
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On 2005-03-15 13:06:00, cherish wisdom wrote:
"Just looking at the web-site indicates that kids will be away from school for weeks at a time as they heard sheep. It also indicates that they may be required to eat sheep testicles after they are castrated, birth sheep, care for an array of animals including thousands of sheep, dirty work is what its called. It's enough to turn a weak stomach - or even a strong one...they indicate that they let the kids try Rocky Mountain Oysters after castrating sheep.
I dont' remember reading anything on their website about kdis being away for weeks, eating testicles, or that the kids try rocky mountain oysters after castrating sheep. where did you see that stuff or are you just making it up? Then what's the website info you put below. From what webstie? Majestic ranch's? Do you know their web address?
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There's more:
Deseret Morning News, Sunday, March 06, 2005
Utah boarding school under fire
Group is seeking a federal probe into abuse allegations
By Dennis Romboy
Deseret Morning News
A children's advocacy group is calling for a federal investigation into a northern Utah boarding school it claims mistreats students, including restraining them face down in manure.
Based on sworn statements of four former employees, the California-based Emancipation Project says the Majestic Ranch is unsanitary and unsafe for the children living there.
Majestic Ranch is a working ranch for troubled children near Randolph in Rich County. It houses 55 children ages 8 to 14.
"We believe the people of Utah will not put up with child abuse," said Thomas F. Coleman, a civil-rights attorney who heads the Emancipation Project. "We should not have to go to the federal government when we have hard evidence like this."
Thomas and Isabelle Zehnder, of Vancouver, Wash., distributed a report Zehnder compiled about the ranch to state lawmakers and elected officials last week. They also plan to send it to Congress and the U.S. attorney general.
The 13-page report outlines allegations of abusive practices, dirty living conditions, lack of medical care and unhealthy foods. It also chastises the state Division of Child Protective Services and local authorities for not intervening.
Majestic Ranch director Tammy Johnson said the report contained "serious misrepresentations." She called the accusations "definitely a personal vendetta" on the part of disgruntled former employees and even state officials who want the program shut down.
"We're not going to continue to sit back and let employees and the state attack us," she said. "We really feel like we've been a bull's-eye target for too long."
At Majestic's behest, the Rich County Sheriff's Office is investigating trespassing and theft allegations against former employees, Sheriff Dale Stacey said. No charges have been filed.
Because Majestic Ranch considers itself a boarding school, it does not need an operating license under state law. But that will change.
The 2005 Utah Legislature passed a bill that requires licenses for boarding schools.
"It allows us to review basic health and safety conditions," said Ken Stettler, Utah Department of Human Services' Office of Licensing director.
Licensure also provides for employee background checks, unannounced inspections and follow-up on complaints, he said.
Utah Division of Child and Family Services caseworkers, state health and local fire and police officials toured the ranch last month.
"The bulk of the complaints were deemed to be not credible," the sheriff said, noting there were a couple of minor fire-safety issues.
Child welfare officials did not find any children in danger.
"While (Majestic Ranch) may be doing things we don't like, there was nothing that we considered abuse," said Carol Sisco, Department of Human Services spokeswoman. "There were allegations, but we weren't able to find that any specific children were abused or neglected."
Karleen Farnsworth quit her job as a Majestic Ranch house parent in January after three weeks.
"I was unable to stand it any longer," she said.
A former state youth corrections worker, Farnsworth said she saw children punished by having to stand outside on milk crates in sub-freezing temperatures or forced to shovel manure with their bare hands.
Uncooperative children were wrestled to the ground, sometimes face first in manure, according to the affidavit of former worker Jared Quick.
Johnson said workers do use a physical restraint hold on out-of-control children as a last resort, but they can't choose the time or place it happens.
There was an incident where a child swinging a pitchfork at another child was restrained in a manure pile, she said.
"It's certainly not malicious," Johnson said.
The food and water made children sick, and those on medication for mental illnesses received the wrong dosages of medication, Farnsworth said. Also, she said an outbreak of scabies among some girls went untreated.
Johnson said children live in clean rooms, eat dietitian-approved meals and get proper medical care.
Majestic Ranch is one eight programs affiliated with St. George-based Worldwide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools or WWASPS. Allegations of abuse and neglect have been leveled against several of its facilities the past few years, all of which company officials have denied.
California Congressman George Miller has repeatedly called for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate WWASPS and similar programs.
E-mail: [email protected]
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My only problem with Majestic Ranch is the involuntary nature of the program.
They may *say* it's voluntary, but as long as parents can threaten to send their kids to one of the lockups via an escort service, the kids are kind of between a rock and a hard place.
I don't know if MR accepts involuntary placements or not.
Anyway, if the laws were right and it was truly voluntary, I don't have a problem with it.
Some people actually *like* herding sheep. Sheep are nice animals. Some people enjoy work that lets them be outdoors and hate being cooped up inside. For some people, farm work is their thing.
And I don't guess rural people would eat mountain oysters if they weren't...um...something they at least reasonably liked.
I knew a girl in high school who had lived on a farm and had done that. She said they actually weren't bad---no matter how gross the *idea* is.
Farm people are not terribly sentimental about rural work---you take the good parts with the bad.
If the rural, outdoor life is what a kid enjoys---or wants to try out to see if he or she likes it or not---then that's that kid's business.
Okay, maybe I have a different perspective because my family was rural, even though I grew up suburban, and my dad always wanted to farm even though it just wasn't as much money as he could make for the family doing engineering.
It's not a terrible life, and it's not uneducational. It's useful for people to know where their food and clothes come from. It's good practical knowledge.
It shouldn't be *all* you learn. But it is worthwhile knowledge and builds character.
It just really needs to be voluntary and not coercive.
Rural life isn't for everybody. Not even for a season.
Timoclea
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You must not have read the report at http://www.kidsincaptivity.com (http://www.kidsincaptivity.com) and the affidavits that tell what really happened to the kids. herding sheep cou ld be fun but getting your face in manure and being restrained, and a lot of other things can' t be fun. I think you will change your mind about th eplace when you realy read the report.
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And then, perhaps not. Some parents believe that would be just 'punishment' for the pain their 'struggling teen' put them through. Sadistic as it is, I think some actually enjoy the thought that thier kid could have their face shoved into manure, or worse.
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Here's more stuff i found,
http://www.unmarriedamerica.org/emancip ... _abuse.htm (http://www.unmarriedamerica.org/emancipation/stories/Majestic_Ranch_boarding_school_faces_allegations_of_abuse.htm)
http://www.nospank.net/n-o22r.htm (http://www.nospank.net/n-o22r.htm)
http://www.kidsincaptivity.com/zehnder- ... port-1.htm (http://www.kidsincaptivity.com/zehnder-report/report-1.htm)
http://www.unmarriedamerica.org/emancip ... ts-new.htm (http://www.unmarriedamerica.org/emancipation/whats-new.htm)
http://www.kidsincaptivity.com/about-isabelle.htm (http://www.kidsincaptivity.com/about-isabelle.htm)
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Keep in mind, MRA is for little kids, as young as 7 - not teens.
Rural life can be very good for a kid, but forcing little kids to help gather up the dead and rotting maggot infested carcasses is not.
Shooting a dog they got caught petting is also not such a good thing.
And as has been mentioned, faces in the manure is also not a good thing.
Shoveling shit when they should be in school - not a good thing.
Sitting out side in freezing weather with no protection from the weather - not good.
Not good at all.
As for the Mt. Oysters, if the kids want to try them, fine. If they are in any way intimidated or starved into such a diet adventure - not good.
I personally can not imagian any parent who would be OK with any of this.
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To the annon who thought I made this up - the website indicates that the kids get to try Rocky Mountain Oysters and do veternary care - chopping off the tails of sheep, castrating them and other bloody work. It's all there - hope you haven't eaten dinner yet.
http://www.ccpadmissions.com/mra/special_activities.asp (http://www.ccpadmissions.com/mra/special_activities.asp)Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within the supervised routine of medical care.
Administrative Law Judge, Francis Young, DOJ/DEA
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Wow! My apologies. GROSS!!!!
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Apology accepted :nworthy: :nworthy: :wave:
The nature of psychological compulsion is such that those who act under constraint remain under the impression that they are acting on their own initiative. The victim of mind-manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to be free. That he is not free is apparent only to other people. His servitude is strictly objective.
--Brave New World Revisited, Aldous Huxley, 1958
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The Governor signed bill 107 so that places like Majestic Ranch will be licensed and regulated. That means unannounced visits can be made. It's a good start.
I would hope that the other staff who did not come forward (I read about that on http://www.kidsincaptivity.com (http://www.kidsincaptivity.com)) would come forward now and have their voices heard. If they do then maybe it can be brought to the governor again so that licensing will happen right away and so that a real investigation can be done.
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Majestic Ranch Is a WWASP Program. That should speak for itself.
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No, it really doesn't speak for itself. Look, Mark Wardle and Skyline Journey were not part of WWASPS. I don't suppose Distant Drums will be either.
I think Bill 107 is nothing but a whitewash. Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize an undercover dictatorship. To restrict the art of healing to one class of men, and deny equal privilege to others, will be to constitute the Bastille of medical science. All such laws are un-American and despotic, and have no place in a Republic. The Constitution of this Republic should make special privilege for medical freedom as well as religious freedom.
--Abridged quote-Benjamin Rush, M.D., a signer of the Declaration of Independence
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My beloved child was at Majestic Ranch for 4 months. They lied to me about every aspect of the program. They are evil people who torture children for fun & profit.
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Right, but not all abusive programs are part of WWASP. I agree that any program that's affiliated in any way w/ WWASPS should be avoided. But that doesn't mean that all other programs are safe and effective. There are a lot of competitors out there doing substantially the same things.
Rulers who wish to subvert the public liberty may have found an established clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate it, needs them not.
James Madison, "A Memorial and Remonstrance", 1785