Methods and Techniques

[Troll Control]

On 2005-04-22 11:57:00, Anonymous wrote:

"...between the age of mandatory school attendance and the age of majority. One is the age at which you can legally drop out of school. The other is the age at which you can run away from "home" wherever that may be at the time and not have the law after you. It is possible that you may be able to drop out of school at 16, but wait until 17 to move out."

Once again, I will say "do your homework before posting."

Georgia Code

This is a summary of laws dealing with the age to be considered an adult in your state. It is not intended to be all inclusive, but does contain basic and other information. You may check for updates using the state code or bills. If you are a minor and need to your minority removed, search for the word minority under your state. Forms with US- at the beginning of the control number are sample forms for all states.

(a) The age of legal majority in this state is 18 years; until that age all persons are minors.
(b) Nothing in this Code section shall be construed automatically to render an individual a resident of this state when that individual is in the state for the purpose of attending school. In the case of such individual, his residence will be considered to be the state in which his parents reside if under the laws of that state the individual would still be considered a minor and he is incapable of proving his emancipation. §39-1-1

What do I have to debunk next?  Like I said, HLA's manual is FULL OF LIES and they can't even get the data correct regarding the laws of the state in which they operate.  

Clearly, the age of majority is 18, although that has NOTHING to do with dropping out of school.  

AND the laws of the "student's" (inmate's) HOME state apply, not the laws of the institution's home state.

[Anonymous]

If a child runs off campus, what would you suggest would be the best policy? Let them walk and then call the parents? Let them walk and then call the law? What if they are 14 or 15. What would you suggest the safest way to handle that situation would be? As a parent, I would want to be notified immediately, and the law notified immediately as well to try to find my child.This is clearly not just a "dropping out of school" issue if they live on the campus of a boarding school. I would like some opinion on this subject as to the best scenario for this sort of situation.

[SHH]

Didn't you claim to write those policies and procedures and parent's manuals Dysfunction in a previous post??? LOL so what you are saying if you are claiming the manual is full of lies is you wrote an erroneous manual. Hmmmmm.....so either A: you didn't write the manual B:It is not full of lies or C: they rewrote every manual you produced after you left ?
Just wondering.

[Anonymous]

UNITED STATES:

Alabama - 19, No modifications.
Alaska - 18.
Arkansas - 18 or when child graduates from high school.
California - 18; unless child still in high school, then on graduation or 19th birthday which ever occurs first.
Connecticut - 18.
D.C. - 21 years of age, or at the point the minor is self supporting through marriage, employment,
or military service.
Delaware - 18.
Florida - 18.
Georgia - 18.
Hawaii - 18.
Idaho - 18.
Illinois - 18.
Kansas - 18.
Kentucky - 18, 19 if attending high school
Louisiana - 18: unless emancipated earlier by notarial act, marriage or judicial determination: if child is still in high school, then age 19, or upon graduation from high school, whichever occurs first.
Maine - 18.
Maryland - 18.
Massachusetts - 18.
Michigan - 18.
Minnesota - 18. With a person's 18th birthday come most of the rights, privileges, responsibilities, and obligations of adulthood. These rights include the right to vote, the right to make contracts, the right to marry without permission from parents or guardians, the right to purchase a firearm, and the right to serve on a jury.
Mississippi - 21
Montana - 18; or earlier if married, in the military, or fully financially independent of custodial parent.
Nebraska - 19
New Hampshire-Age if Majority: 18 (FULL CIVIL RIGHTS)
New Mexico - 18; however, a 16 year old may be emancipated by having entered into valid marriage or active duty in armed services or by receiving declaration of emancipation pursuant to court petition and order showing he/she is living apart and managing his/her own affairs.
Nevada - 18; 19 if still in high school.
New York - 21; NY has no statute with respect to emancipation*; issue is decided on case-by-case basis; emancipation can take place before 21, if appropriate court so decides
North Carolina - 18
North Dakota - 18
Ohio - 18 or graduated from high school, whichever occurs later.
Oklahoma - 18.
Oregon - 18; 21 if in school half-time or more.
Pennsylvania - 18 and out of high school.
Puerto Rico - 21 years of age, or whenever minor is self-supporting through marriage.
Tennessee - 18; unless child is still in high school; in such cases emancipation occurs when child graduates from high school or when class child is in when he/she reaches age of majority.
Utah - 18, or child graduates with high school graduating class.
Vermont - 18.
Virginia - 18 or a full-time high school student, not self-supporting, and living in the home of the parent, until the child reaches the age of nineteen (19) or graduates from high school, whichever comes first.
Washington - 18, Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, all persons shall be deemed and taken to be of full age for all purposes at the age of eighteen years.
Wisconsin - 18 and graduation from high school, or 19 years of age, whichever is sooner.


CANADA-AGE OF MAJORITY BY PROVINCE:

Alberta: 18.
British Columbia: 19.
Manitoba: 18.
New Brunswick: 19.
Newfoundland: 19
Northwest Territories: 19.
Nova Scotia: 19.
Ontario: 18.
Prince Edward Island: 18.
Quebec: 18.
Saskatchewan: 18.
Yukon Territories: 19.

[Deborah]

(b) Nothing in this Code section shall be construed automatically to render an individual a resident of this state when that individual is in the state for the purpose of attending school. In the case of such individual, his residence will be considered to be the state in which his parents reside if under the laws of that state the individual would still be considered a minor and he is incapable of proving his emancipation. §39-1-1

So, I guess the question would be- is HLA a 'school' or a lock-down treatment facility?

[Libra]

I understand that they are dealing with kids, and kids with "issues" to boot.  Security is an issue on any campus and HLA needs to take special precautions.  On the other hand, wouldn't it be wonderful if there was something positive about the school to entice kids to stay?  These children, some of whom have never been "runners", leave campus in the middle of the night, dark as pitch, out in the middle of nowhere with no money and no where to go.  There is something wrong with that picture.  Why is it acceptable to a therapeutic boarding school for the vast majority of their students to absolutely detest it there? Would it be so wrong to use positive reinforcement techniques rather than punishment?

[Deborah]

***If a child runs off campus, what would you suggest would be the best policy?

Well, there are many ways to deal with that situation, but what's at issue here is that they should do what they have stated and what parents are expecting them to do, which I posted above, which includes no mention of physical restraint. Why?

What would you do if your child were leaving home? Call the police after s/he left, restrain him/her to prevent him/her from leaving?
If you were that teen, how would you want to be treated in that situation? What would be most useful for you?

The policy states that if they can't convince the teen to stay, they will call the police, parents, and Ed Con immediately. Makes me wonder how one kid managed to get 1000 miles away before being 'caught', with apparently no money.
It's ten miles to civilization.

They highly recommend that parents extend gaurdianship, and will provide testimony.

[Deborah]

***Why is it acceptable to a therapeutic boarding school for the vast majority of their students to absolutely detest it there? Would it be so wrong to use positive reinforcement techniques rather than punishment?

How many times have I asked the same question. I think most parents, who understand BM, believe that there are ample rewards. My opinion that it's too heavy on punishment which is detrimental.

[Libra]

Any positive reinforcement or reward system is so insignificant as to be inconsequential.  I don't think it takes B.F.Skinner to see that.

[juniper]

Again, they are still children and they are frightened.  Frightened enough to risk darkness,
no money, miles from nowhere - they are running to nowhere.  They are definitely running from
something or someone...Their spirit is lost and
they have no hope at the school.  There is no
one to trust, other than the clergy..if that is
even safe.

[Troll Control]

On 2005-04-22 14:21:00, SHH wrote:

"Didn't you claim to write those policies and procedures and parent's manuals Dysfunction in a previous post??? LOL so what you are saying if you are claiming the manual is full of lies is you wrote an erroneous manual. Hmmmmm.....so either A: you didn't write the manual B:It is not full of lies or C: they rewrote every manual you produced after you left ?

Just wondering."

Again, Mrs. Gray, you're just a plain idiot.  READ the post, stupid.  

I said I wrote the Policy and Procedure Manual (outlining the conduct of the staff and procedures for various contingencies regarding the kids, i.e. running away, etc.), NOT the PARENT MANUAL.

If you worked there and knew so much, wouldn't you know that there was NO PARENT MANUAL at all for the first year? Wouldn't you?

You are just the dumbest asshole I have ever interacted with.  You're so stupid it defies words.

Do you think that anyy manual would remain unrevised for TEN YEARS?  Have you ever had a job long enough to see new policies released or old ones revised?  At my job, we get new policy memos all the time.  Are you really that STUPID or just trying to shift the focus off of your own dead brain?

AGAIN, go back and READ before you make an ass of yourself (although it seems you just can't help the latter).


_________________
"Compassion is the basis of morality"

-Arnold Schopenhauer[ This Message was edited by: Dysfunction Junction on 2005-04-23 11:27 ][ This Message was edited by: Dysfunction Junction on 2005-04-23 11:29 ]

[Troll Control]

Are you illiterate, Mrs. Gray, or do you just not care to read and report accurately?

Here's my earlier post that you obviously didn't read or intentionally tried to misrepresent (funny how you conspicuously forget to provide the link or quote, huh?)to get get a little "one-upsmanship":

"Again, Some More Facts
Posted: 2005-04-09 05:37:00  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. I was the intake counselor for ALL students coming into HLA. I know for a fact students were "diagnosed" as ODD without EVER RECEIVING A PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION. (unethical, fraudulent)

2. The "school" was full of non-credentialed employees (Tom, Dean, Lauralyn, Jill, Rudy and many others). (unethical, fraudulent)

3. People at or near the top of the hierarchy had PHONY DEGREES. (unethical, fraudulent)

4. I personally authored treatment plans for nearly every kid that came through the doors and those plans were "showed off" to the parents, but NEVER FOLLOWED. (unethical, fraudulent)

5. I have degrees in Psychology and Sociology as well as an MBA. I think I AM qualified to comment on the "treatment business."

6. I worked directly with the Headmaster and owner and was privy to information that an Operations employee could never be.

7. I personally authored the Employee Handbook.

8. I personaly authored HLA's Policy and Procedure Manual.

Do you blindly dispute these statements?

Please, Mrs. Gray, don't try to impugn my character, experience or credentials because, ONCE MORE, you are not in possession of the FACTS.

Instead of saying "the problems have been corrected," why can you not simply admit, even if it was early on in the "school's" history, that MANY parents were defrauded out of hundreds of thousands of dollars and nearly every child was cheated out of what they deserved?

Your arguments would take on more gravity if you appeared less like a sycophant and more like a thoughtful debater.

If you would like to debate the efficacy of this treatment modality or this specific institution, I would be glad to do so, but not if I have to supply baseline information to educate you to the level where you can sustain a coherent argument. That you will have to do on your own. Until you do so, your points will be flatly rejected as raw speculation, which is precisely what they are.

I mean, you don't even know how many seats were on the goddamn buses, even though you claim to have examined them. If you can't even get the TANGIBLE facts straight, how can you argue the theoretical?"

Now, stupid, tell me where in this post (or any other) that I claimed to author a Parent Manual.

You have the ugly combination of being very dim-witted and also a consummate liar.

When you come up with a valid criticism, we will have discourse.  Until then, do us all a favor and SHUT THE FUCK UP.  

All you do is come in here and try to denigrate people using prevarications so you look less stupid.  Newsflash: "It Ain't Working"

[SHH]

Quite frankly, D., you are very rude. So you dont agree with my comments...so friggin what.  I have NEVER called you a name..yes I have said some of your statements were exxagarated or half truths but that is different from calling someone a fucking idiot and dimwitted..your perspective of the school and memories of the school are different than mine..I am no idiot, I just happen to not agree with you and your portrayal of the school. I already told the posters on here I dont know all the facts..but I am reporting on the ones I do know about. But how ARROGANT of you to call me names because you think you know what and who I am. I did say my comments to you because you are misrepresenting your importance when you were there. You did NOT write the policies and procedures manual or employee manual by yourself because I know who had the most influence in those documents and it wasnt YOU, well unless you are a woman, which you are not. You twist statements I make to suit your agenda. You think that everything I type is lies and it is NOT. I have FAR more experience actually being at HLA than you EVER did (7 yrs compared to less than  2). It is true that I was not a counselor and I never claimed to be either so I have always been clear as to my role at the school. There are some facts I dont remember because of the time passing. But I do remember alot. There are some small details I dont remember however and I havent misrepresented myself over those either. If I didnt remember something or dont know about something currently I have stated that.YOu were there less then 2 yrs over 10 yrs ago. Just because someone has a different opinion of the school does not give you the right to call them names, claim that everything I say is a lie (which it is NOT), AND even going so far as to suggest I commit suicide because you dont like what I type? Thats just bizarre to say the least. Why dont you quit bashing me on a personal level and discuss something constructive like talking about how to improve things and how things can be fixed or changed, and give some info to these parents or see what they want to know. But I have to remind them of something, your persective is from 1994-1995 so they need to take that into consideration. Get off your high horse already and go to anger management or something, you really need it D.

[SHH]

Juniper like I typed above my experience was from 1994-2001 at the school. I lived on campus on the main road from 1997-2001. I would say that during my time actually residing there (4 yrs), 85% of the runaways left during the day after some sort of confrontation where they became angry and walked out of a meeting or work detail or something. They would generally walk down the school road which is about 1/2 mile to the main road and if they kept on going, walk towards town and most of the time they came back after being talked to by counselors. A few refused and the sheriff's deputy was called, if they were underage to be able to leave. Town is about 9 miles to the square, 7 miles to the gas station where a phone is. During the day its not scary, there are alot of houses along the road and a few businesses. The other percentage that ran away somehow got out during the night and it was a small minority of the overall runaways. Those usually planned it ahead of time and were usually the older boys who did it that way. And overall, during that time period I lived on campus, I would say average runaway attempts were about 2 or 3 every few months. Most turned back or calmed down and were talked back before getting onto the main road though. Not all the kids attempted to run away, but as a teen I would assume alot didnt want to be there and away from their friends and parties and such. And I never personally heard of or saw any child being restrained to prevent them from leaving campus. The sheriff's deputies however, are allowed to touch them once they get off campus. That is what I know about the runaway subject.

[Troll Control]

Mrs. Gray, you may say whatever you like.  Just don't tell blatant lies about me and expect me not to respond.  You say that I SAID I WROTE THE PARENT MANUAL (I re-posted what I said and nowhere does it say that) and used that blatant lie to form some really misguided opinions (your "A B C's" of ignorance).

You just called me a liar.  You are wrong and full of shit.  Plain and simple.  

I personally do not care who you think did what when.  I was there, I did my job, and one of my jobs was to write the policy and procedure manual.  

As I recall, you were NOT THERE.  How can you then come in here and tell me that even though you weren't there, didn't know what was going on and had no insight or access, that I am wrong?

Did you meet twice weekly with Dr. B?  No. I did.

Did you meet daily with the headmaster? No. I did.

Were you involved in any way regarding the policies of HLA?  No. I was.

Did you intake kids?  No. I did.

Did you work with any kids?  No. I did.

Did you train staff?  No.  I did.

So, for someone who has had literally and figuratively, NO EXPERIENCE, you sure shoot off your mouth a lot.

Why don't you get honest with the people here and tell them that you have no basis for making the statements that you make?

In what way does being a part-time secretary qualify you to discuss the efficacy of a residential treatment facility?

You're ignorant to the facts and do not want to be educated to them, so you simply misquote and lie.  If and when you can break that habit, we can argue productively, as I do with many others on this board.  

I'll be honest with you though.  You really don't have the mental capacity to debate me on this subject.  Three degrees and a decade of experience lend me understanding that you simply do not have (and apparently wish never to have, based on the fact that you don't even read for comprehension) and will not have any time soon.

How would you feel if I told you how to mop a floor or do laundry or take a memo?  Let's face the facts: that's where your experience is, not in treatment modalities.