Fornits

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

Good post, As more details come out we can get a better picture of what really happened. It seems more like program staff could be more to blame for the outcome. I would like to see the video.

Lance Tiernan is to be in court today. 2-9-12

I saw it on local news.

http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_pdf ... 06_990.pdf


Pathway Family Center,

Excerpts from the program's last 990:

Terri C. Nissley - Former President and CEO

Pathway Family Center
Schedule 0, for fiscal year ending 6/30/09
38-3- 118719
This is Pathway Family Center ' s final 990. The organization
discontinued operations effective July 17, 2009. All Assets
have been dispersed to secured creditors.


Pathway Family Center ceased all operations due to adverse economic conditions and the
resulting inability to sustain operations. All assets were disposed, selling at fair market
value and proceeds were used to pay secured creditors.


Review and adjustment of the CEO's compensation was initiated by the Chairman of the
Board . The Chairman of the Board reviewed external , comparative salary data from
other non-profit agencies, with similar numbers of employees, and similar annual
revenues . This information allowed him to evaluate Pathway Family Center's CEO
compensation. The Chairman would then present findings and recommendations to the
governing board . A change in compensation was be approved by the board.
This was done annually, although no salary adjustment has been made in the past 3 years
due to poor economic conditions.

http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990s/99 ... search.php

In the beginning of the year, the program's assets were $1,419,971.00
At the end of the year, it was recorded $46,200.00

Terri Nissley paid herself nearly $17,000.00 more this last year than prior years "while" Pathway closed down in 2009 due to supposed "adverse economic conditions".  

She paid herself: $111,444.00 for the last year of Pathway's existence.

Their website used to be... http://www.phoenixinc.org

As of this post, this website is currently "disabled."

Back in 2010, it appears to have belonged for a time to a "nationally recognized oilfield construction firm" going by the name of "The Phoenix, Inc." Services included: "road construction, tank batteries, site construction, compressor installation and more."

In 2005, the website was parked.

But way back in the late 1990s, it belonged to "The Phoenix Institute for Adolescents, Inc.," a drug and alcohol treatment program.

Thanks Ursus! This really helps. I will pass it along. I found a good solid page mentioning phase levels and host homes on the 1998 page. Very cool. That's what I was looking for. Now I just wonder where this program is and what it is called these days. i might call the number tomorrow.

How many parents go looking for a program with this phrase in their mind? Probably all of them. So what is the general problem? They do not know what they are dealing with; an adolescent. And mostly they are not aware that this is a difficult, but normal stage of development. And, like a bad storm, it will eventually come to an end.

I feel bad for parents, I really do. My attempts at raising two teenagers have been slow and clumsy. There seems to be no rule of thumb for parenting. But we should always give love and attention, and do our best at being fair and just.

It is important to define normal adolescent behavior scientifically. Proving that adolescence is not a disease that requires treatment will be insightful to parents who have bought the "troubled teen" propaganda of fixing the abnormal behavior of kids. I have pasted some info that I found useful below, I may post more in the future. If anyone knows of any articles / essays or  links pertaining to this topic, please post.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolescent_psychology

Excerpts:


Adolescence can be a specifically turbulent as well as a dynamic period of one's life. It has been identified as a period in which young people develop abstract thinking abilities, become more aware of their sexuality, develop a clearer sense of psychological identity, and increase their independence from parents. G. Stanley Hall denoted this period as one of "Storm and Stress" and, according to him, conflict at this developmental stage is normal and not unusual. Margaret Mead, on the other hand, attributed the behavior of adolescents to their culture and upbringing, as the majority of problems associated with adolescence in western society are not present in other cultures.

......................

Early adolescence is a stage at which the peer group becomes increasingly important, with conformity to peers peaking at 11–13 years (Costanzo and Shaw 1966). 90% of adolescents identify themselves with a peer group (Palmonari, 1989). According to Judith Rich Harris's theory of group socialization, children and adolescents are shaped more by their peers than their parents (Harris 1997). Peers can encourage both prosocial behavior, which peaks at 11–12 years, or anti-social behavior, which peaks at 14–15 years (Bendt, 1979). Adolescents are less likely to feel depressed or anxious if the peer group provides emotional support (Buhrmester, 1992). Arguments between parents and children increase considerably during adolescence (Feeney, 1999). However, adolescents with few or no close friends are closer to their parents and are less likely to be subject to peer pressure.

.........................

Adolescents are widely considered by the psychological establishment to be prone to recklessness and risk-taking behaviors, which can lead to substance abuse, car accidents, unsafe sex, and youth crime. There is some evidence that this risk-taking is biologically driven, caused by the social and emotional part of the brain (amygdala) developing faster than the cognitive-control part of the brain (frontal cortex).

Another article from FOX 13 News, this one giving some airtime to pro-West Ridge sentiments... Was there, perchance, some pressure to accommodate local business interests?

A news footage clip accompanying the below article:

Video: More speak out over West Ridge Academy lawsuit, claims of abuse (3:07)[/list]

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

KSTU-FOX 13 News
More speak out over West Ridge Academy lawsuit, claims of abuse

Aaron Vaughn, Web Producer  FOX 13 News
8:50 p.m. MST, January 12, 2012

WEST JORDAN, Utah— West Ridge Academy has been sued by a former client who was enrolled there as a teen. And after allegations of physical and sexual abuse were brought to light, the West Jordan facility for troubled youth has at least one person defending their treatment methods.

The civil lawsuit is asking for nearly $15 million for pain and suffering on behalf of the plaintiff, Eric Norwood, who was a resident there 10 years ago. But on Thursday, another West Ridge resident, Joseph Bresnan, says the rehabilitation center saved his life.

"Oh I'm definitely a different person, it was a good experience," said Bresnahan.

Bresnahan's father says his son was depressed before entering the facility.

However, Bresnahan graduates from the academy Friday, a year after treatment there. Norwood attended the boys treatment center years earlier.

Allegations for sexual and physical abuse in the lawsuit, filed on behalf of Norwood, came as a surprise to Bresnan and his father.

"There are claims in there that I can't believe because of my knowledge and experience. I've walked into West Ridge unannounced many times," says Bresnahan's father, Dave.

Joseph Bresnahan says he never witnessed any activity that could be described as abuse there.

Chris Wade was a resident at West Ridge 10 years ago, a time when Norwood claims he was physically and sexually abused at the academy. It was under different management at the time. Wade says he was also a victim of physical abuse, but is not filing a lawsuit. He just wants better oversight.

"The idea that you're being sent there as a troubled teen automatically discredits anything you say about the place and so nobody takes what you say seriously," Wade says.

However, the Bresnahans say West Ridge is a valuable life-changing experience for troubled teens.

"West Ridge is the kind of place more people need to know about it's a resource that can help save kids and why anybody would want to do damage to that I can't understand," says Dave Bresnahan.

The state office of licensing oversees places like West Ridge. They say that West Ridge is in compliance and it is required to renew its license annually. But because of budget cuts, inspectors only do spot checks once a year. In the past those unannounced checks happened more frequently.


Copyright © 2012, KSTU-TV
KSTU-FOX 13 - 5060 Amelia Earhart Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84116

Are kids ever interviewed during these spot checks?  When it pertained to KHK/PFC the regulating authority (ODADAS) did conduct checks but did not speak with any of the children. I was informed that agents were instructed "not to disturb the group". When I pressed further, that mantra was repeated. That meant no kids were spoken to whatsoever during any checks. I wonder how any regulating authority might know of abuse at a program if the kids are not randomly interviewed and allowed to communicate abuses.

Quote from: "wdtony"

It's ironic that [Susan Lynn Gillihan] is fighting for parent's rights and we are fighting for children's rights.

Personally, I think one of the primary goals of programs is to behaviorally modify citizens to be more in line and sympathy with both corporate and government interests. This is not necessarily in the best interests of said citizens.

On the face of it, both parents' rights organizations and children's rights organizations are advocating on the part of citizens (as opposed to big binnis and big gov). However, and certainly historically, parents' rights organizations have often been co-opted by the pro-program agenda.

That said, many children's rights organizations have also been thus co-opted.

The explosion of prescribing psychiatric medications for disorders that were actually normal human experiences. I remember when depression became the new way out for people right before the 1990. Everyone, including myself, felt a huge sense of relief. This is because now doctors and pharmaceutical companies were telling us that it wasn't our fault.

I mean, wow.... just take a pill and it's not my fault. That was huge. And every parent jumped on the bandwagon. Who wanted to be responsible for themselves anyway? Then the kids were diagnosed with mental disorders and even more relief came over the masses of people who felt behind the 8 ball.

Fast forward to today, these drugs are on every channel, every day. I saw 2 commercials today where drugs were advertised as a second drug to aid children if the first drug wasn't working. Now we are speedballing kids?

How is this the government's fault? Well, it is big business that drives this crazy train down the tracks, but if it weren't for the money pumped into Washington, regulations might tighten up to protect citizens. The government gets another benefit from all of this...more controllable population dependent upon one more thing: drugs. Ironic that a drug is only bad if no profit is had. Pills making great money are "allowed". My friend Tim would call this an, "Allowed Cloud". The profits are almost unimaginable.

I think this is a bigger issue though. The issue of how so many people can be fooled based on peer beliefs and propaganda.