***Any religious involvement? Do Brat Camps offer church services in the wilderness?
Yeh, some religious involvement with certain programs. Not sure about Redcliff, wilderness in general.
***Any Rabbi's, priests, pastors or mullah's concerned about their flock being in Utah?
Should be. Heavy mormon/republican influence in the industry
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 25&forum=9****Is there anyone at Red Cliff's who is Morman, a member of the Church of LDS or a graduate of Brigham Young University?
Oh yes. At least six. One is a faculty member.
http://www.redcliffascent.com/staff.html***Any $$ going from Rich Jewish Parents in Connecticut to Red Cliffs to the Church in Salt Lake City? Is that foreign exchange?
Dunno. But there?s a lot of money going to the church through tithing by program owners/staff, and a large amount to politicians
***Hey ACLU...Any Civil Liberties at Stake here?
I wouldn't discourage anyone from contacting every org/agency they can think of, but my effort was fruitless. Here are a few of the responses of those who even bothered to respond:
ACLU
Thank you for writing to the ACLU of Texas. Generally we don't handle family law issues, and this part about the school sounds out of the scope of things we handle, too. My suggestion would be that you contact children's advocacy
groups, and possibly even MHMR organizations, in case they have some experience with this particular school or the kind of situation you're
talking about. I'm sorry I don't have any specific groups in mind, but I would suggest you try looking on the web for these kinds of groups.
Sorry we can't be of more assistance to you.
Youth Law Center
Dear Ms. XXXXXXXXXXX,
I'm sorry but we cannot help you.
Sincerely, Mamie Yee
Alexia Parks
Two top lawyers in this field are in Texas: Jim Moriarty, Houston, TX, 800-677-7095;
and Win Turley, Dallas, (214)691-4025. They do handle out of state cases. [Neither interested]
One of the most useful responses I received:
PTAVE
Hi Deborah,
Thank you to writing to PTAVE. I am writing to you as a social worker, and as a counselor who interned in a "therapeutic" residential home which was more punitive than "therapeutic". However, I live and work in a part of the
country where it is illegal to hit or physically assault children, so thankfully the kids here do not have to suffer that form of abuse.
You were not specific about what type of abuse your son may be experiencing (physical, sexual, emotional) so I cannot be specific in my answer. However, if you believe that abuse is in fact occuring and the TX state Dept. of Youth Services is failing to take proper action, you must see legal advice. Unfortunatly I am unaware of any lawyers in your area who are child advocates. You will need to consult with several lawyers until you find one dedicated to children's rights. I assume that you probably will need to proceed with legal action in the state in which the school is located, however, I am not certain of this.
You can help your case by calling your son's program and asking them to mail or FAX you a mission statement that defines their "therapeutic" goals and the specific manner in which they assist children in reaching these goals. Behavior Modification programs often have sweet sounding mision statements in order to impress their funding and referral sources. It is well known that therapeutic services to adolescents must be based on a model that treats trauma, views negative behaviors as a response to trauma and employs positive reinforcement in order to correct those behaviors. Ask about their
"therapeutic" orientation, framework and techniques. Often these places have young kids out of high school or otherwise scantly trained workers without degrees in psychology working for them, providing "therapy". Ask how workers
are trained.
I hope some of this is helpful. Please continue to advocate in your son's behalf if you feel that he may be at risk. Many children come out of
residential facilities with a strong, angry, hard edge to them. It is like a callous that they have learned to build up after repeated violations of
their human dignity by staff and fellow cohorts.
XXXXXXXXX
Social Worker