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To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men. Letter To Prospective Program Parents: I was invited to write a letter to parents who may be considering a residential program (therapeutic community) for their child? I have been following the Troubled Teen Industry for six years and have had personal experience with several programs. I could go into great detail about my sons' experiences, both placed by their father without my consent, which included abuse, hazing, neglect, psychological damage, and a dorm officer at one of the facilities who is serving a 95 year sentence for molesting the boys in his care. My son reported this man to the administration, who was working there under an alias. Two of the three facilities my sons participated in have been sued. The first suit settled a number of years ago, and the other is in progress. I am not a plaintiff in the current suit due to its Class status, and having never paid toward my son's tuition. I could also share with you the heartbreaking details of how my neighbor's son died in a Wilderness program due to medical neglect, a death that could've been prevented with basic common sense. Or, the story of a colleague's grandson who was sexually molested in a residential program, and the pain and grief the family consequently endured. And there is my dear friend, who ran from an abusive program in the 70s and was raped by a trucker while hitchhiking to California. She assured me that the rape was less traumatic than her daily treatment at the facility. I haven't found that approach to be effective in deterring parents who are desperate to find help for their child. Parents tend to believe these stories must be exaggerated or exceptions to the rule. If a parent does due diligence in their research they will find that these are common occurrences in residential treatment facilities, which are inherently dangerous by design, and should be reserved for extremely distressed children, and for limited duration. With the possible exception of a few, residential programs share the same basic philosophy and structure, and employ the same methods and procedures. I won't go into detail about the origins and history of the industry philosophy and methods because that has been thoroughly detailed on this website. What's important for parents to know is that the model used is not evidence-based. It is experimental treatment. There is no data to show efficacy. There is no data on the number of injuries, physical/sexual assaults, or deaths; only heinous incidents and deaths that make it into the media. Many programs operate unlicensed and therefore, are not required to report this information. You will not find data on the long-term effects or the number of children who experience PTSD, recurrent nightmares, difficulties trusting others and authority, and with reintegrating into the 'real world'; post program. Advocacy groups are working toward Federal regulations that would require all programs to be licensed and disclose this data. Until such time an accurate assessment can't be made. It is incumbent on parents to do independent research and seek out those who have had direct experience with the program to get an accurate view. Venues are now available where survivors and parents can share their experiences. While the industry has been in operation for thirty years, the intimate details of day-to-day operations have been obscured due to lack of communication between parents and participants, and between parents. There is a significant amount of information on the internet, which has not always been the case. One significant stumbling block to parent research is not knowing the questions to ask in order to assess the program. Parents also may assume that any therapeutic residential program that houses minors is properly licensed and monitored by the state. Don't make this mistake. You must ask if they are licensed and request to view copies of previous inspections. Frequently programs are accredited. This is not to be confused with licensed. The former pertains to the academic aspect of the program, the latter pertains to the details of treatment, health, and safety of the participants. Being licensed and monitored by the state will not ensure that the methods employed are evidence-based and safe. Licensure will not insurance that your child won't be physically injured or psychologically damaged. Select aspects of the program will be periodically reviewed during inspections and violations will be cited in the program's public record. If the program is not licensed as a child caring institution it will be difficult for the licensing agency to gain access to the facility to investigate complaints. They are private corporations with all the rights and privileges of such. The program may list one or more associations they have membership in, which can sound impressive. Again, do your research. These are typically dues based industry associations comprised of program owners. Membership in an association does not ensure the program is operating ethically and safely. Members pledge to follow the associations' guidelines but are not monitored and sanctioned for violations. One such association mentioned here, NATSAP, lobbied against legislation designed to protect teens being transported to programs. They were also involved as consultants when a program owner, who is also a State Representative, opposed legislation that would require all programs in Montana to licensure. That bill died when he presented his own legislation, which will, for all intents and purposes, allow programs in Montana to self-regulate. Don't depend on Educational Consultants for accurate information. Parents should know that ECs are not regulated, there are no professional requirements, they are not going to ask the hard questions. They can and do refer to unlicensed programs and programs where there have been injuries and deaths. The EC who was employed in the placement of my youngest son didn't require a pre-program psych evaluation, didn't know the program was unlicensed, and told me she referred based on the owner's reputation. Program staff diagnosed him during the interview, "based on his father's complaints" and later provided perjured testimony during family court, in order to retain him. I understand the pull to trust someone to guide you in this process, but I can assure you, a diligent parent can find out more about a potential program in an hour or two on the internet, than with an EC. If the EC is paid directly by the program for referrals, move on. It is considered unethical (but not illegal) for a program to give kickbacks to the EC. The one I was involved with offered parents a $250 discount if they used an EC, and implied by tone, that the parent should pass it on to the EC. Be leery of paying tuition in advance, even if the discount is significant. Too many parents have decided a few months into the placement that they had made a mistake and were forced to hire an attorney in order to get a refund. Another caution- be leery of "Scholarships" that require you to re-pay the scholarship if your child does not graduate the program. Many children have been dismissed a month or two before graduation, and the parent was responsible for the entire amount of Scholarship. I'm going to provide some links below to professional opinions on the industry. I hope you will take the time to read them and contemplate your decision. I'll leave you with these thoughts. You are the only person who has a genuine vested interest in your child's well being. You would be wise to pass over any program that requires you to sever contact with your child and/or censors mail and phone calls. Yes, teens can be manipulative, but you are the only person with a vested interest in your child's well-being and their only source outside the program for reporting abuse and discrepancies in program policies. No form of ethical therapy requires this unless it has been proven in court that the relationship is detrimental to the child. Unusual punishment, forced group confessions, reduced calories or denial of food or hydration, physical abuse, and subjecting the child to the risk of injury or death does not constitute any ethical, evidence-based therapy. At best your child will be subjected to behavior modification and learn to act in order to avoid punishment. A Mom in Texas Helpful links Letter To Former Program Parents: Read the letter below for now. Letter To Current Program Parents: I know what you're thinking. Since I'm criticizing program I must be a manipulative, drug-addled drama-queen program-reject, reaching out from my junkie squalor at one last chance of revenge before I end up dead, insane, or in jail. All I ask of you, for the next five minutes or so, is to see me without colored glasses and instead as a fellow human being. For the sake of your son or daughter, please keep an open mind. In the "Troubled Teen" industry, parents are preyed upon by legions of Educational Consultants insisting that without program, their kids will inevitably end up "dead, insane, or in jail". Parents, vulnerable in their fear, are often asked to submit unquestionably to the will of the program, reassured by the repetition of "Trust us, we know what we're doing, we're professionals, we know what's best for your kid better than you do." They are prepped to expect "manipulation'' from their kids, told that "they'll say anything to get home and run the show again". The fact of the matter is that there are "manipulative" kids in program, and there are genuine instances of "manipulation"; however since all kids who criticize program or attempt to report abuse are labeled with this stigma, it is impossible for a parent to ever truly know whether or not their child is telling the truth. Staff already know whose side parents will pick and a dispute, and this fact gives them carte blanche to do as they please without fear of repercussion. The more extreme the violation, the less likely it will be thought of as credible. After enough of their cries for help fall on deaf ears, and the consequences of "manipulations" rack up. Kids are gradually conditioned to suffer in silence. They learn nobody will believe them when they speak out. They learn their own parents won't or don't care. They begin to feel abandoned, and start to lose hope of ever getting out of program (much to the joy of the staff). Some kids attempt to "work the program", to follow all the rules, to do all the requirements, only to gradually figure out that they will never be allowed to graduate as long as their parents can still afford to pay. This is often justified as "we don't think you're serious" or "we think you're faking". The unspoken requirement is the subjective evaluation of character, based upon unqualified opinions of recovering junkies. You may have heard from staff that experience is what truly matters, that it trumps book knowledge -- that without having failed themselves, the staff would never be able to truly understand the kids. Although experience can bolster existing qualifications, it should never be seen as an substitute (especially in this case, in which peoples minds, and very lives are in the hands of the staff). When behavior modification is practiced by staff who are not qualified, properly trained, or licensed to practice psychotherapy, the consequences can be grave. What you may not have heard from Benchmark staff is this: Benchmark Young Adult School is heavily influenced by the CEDU school model. Friendship Workshop is modeled around CEDU's propheets, created in the 1960s by Mel Wasserman, cedu's founder, using material from LGATs such as est and Lifespring. Describing the evolution of "emotional growth" programs, educational consultant and pro-program advocate, Lon Woodbury, in his essay entitled "Out of the Sixties" writes:
As a parent, do you feel comfortable knowing that unqualified staff members are performing potentially permanent mental modifications on your son or daughter using experimental techniques psychologists have long since condemned as dangerous cultish quackery? You may think, "Well i'm sure they know what they are doing. They claim such a high graduation rate. And they have such wonderful testimonials." To this I submit my own batch of statistics compiled from when I was a student at benchmark. But don't take my word for it. Do your own research. Here are some external sources written by psychologists and other reputable sources i recommend you read: The real value of Parent Testimonials:
Articles on the Troubled teen industry: Q. Would you describe Benchmark Young Adult School as a school, or a program? A. "I'd say it's a program" Q. Did you assume that the councelors would have had qualifications? A. "Yes" Q. What was one thing that frustrated you about Benchmark Young Adult School? A. "Inability to communicate since we had to communicate through what's his name. I don't feel as if the communication was accurate and it was very difficult to get straight answers." Q. Was there any time you felt you were being manipulated by Benchmark Young Adult School? A. "I felt very manipulated the time we were looking for an alternative. They said if we were going to remove you it would have to be immediately, and that was not possible. They weren't putting your best... our best interests in mind and after that i had a hard time trusting them." Q. What did you feel about the broken promise regarding the computer? (Background: I have a certified writing disability requiring me to use a computer as a writing aid. Upon enrollment at Benchmark we were told my computer would be given to me after 30 days. They later claimed this was a mistake while at the same time continuing to tell prospective parents the same thing we were originally told.) A. "That was the first thing that got me upset. They didn't seem to realize they were creating a challenge." |
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| Design Copyright Michael Crawford, 2006 -- Content 2006 Michael Crawford | ||||||||||||||
