Missoula Independent -- excerpt: On the evening of Friday, Sept. 9, a 16-year-old boy was found approximately 30 feet below the lip of a cliff above the Clark Fork River west of Thompson Falls. The boy was a student at Spring Creek Lodge Academy, a specialty boarding school in Sanders County and member of the World Wide Association of Specialty Schools and Programs (WWASPS). Two sources close to Spring Creek told the Independent that Adrian Sanders was being transported from Spring Creek to an associated facility in Jamaica when he escaped his teen transport service, Second Chance Transport of Thompson Falls. He was later found by search and rescue personnel below the cliffs behind the Rimrock Lodge motel, one mile west of Thompson Falls on State Hwy 200. He was transported to Clark Fork Valley Hospital in Plains. The level of secrecy surrounding even minor details related to the incident is startling. Officials at the Clark Fork Valley Hospital refuse to confirm whether the boy was ever a patient. A Thompson Falls Volunteer Ambulance official refuses to comment on whether or not the ambulance company even responded to the incident. The local sheriff says there was no investigation into or documentation of the incident other than an EMS/Fire initial dispatch report, which includes 18 lines of frustratingly vague narrative of the response to the incident. The private company responsible for transporting Adrian Sanders refused to comment other than to say that their charge suffered a “minor concussion” and that everything “turned out fine.” Neither Spring Creek Lodge’s director nor the school’s principal returned phone calls regarding the incident. Tom Eggensperger, president of the Thompson Falls Volunteer Ambulance (and editor and publisher of the local newspaper, the Sanders County Ledger) also refused to provide any information on the call. Eggensperger additionally refused to confirm that the ambulance service responded to a call at the Rimrock Lodge.

Missoula Independent -- excerpt: In the ongoing battle over who should provide governmental oversight of Montana’s teen behavior modification programs, the latest answer seems to be: the people who already run them. The newly appointed Private Alternative Adolescent Residential Program Board was scheduled to meet for the first time Thursday, Sept. 8. Created under the umbrella of the state labor department earlier this year, the board’s purpose is to “examine the benefit of licensing private adolescent residential or outdoor programs,” of which there are more than 30 in Montana. Montana is one of the last states in the country with no oversight of the controversial teen help industry, and at least one Montana legislator isn’t sure the new board will give the state the necessary regulatory powers. I’m still of the belief that oversight has to be done through the Department of Public Heath and Human Services,” says Great Falls Sen. Trudi Schmidt, who offered her own version of an oversight bill in the state Senate that was rejected. “This is the first time that the Department of Labor is regulating a youth services program.”

Newswatch 50 -- full story:  The Academy at Ivy Ridge has agreed to pay a $250,000 fine and offer restitution to some parents of its students as part of a negotiated settlement with the New York State Attorney General’s Office over its accreditation and granting diplomas. Academy at Ivy Ridge Executive Director Jason Finlinson said the settlement will allow the boarding school for troubled teens to apply to the New York State Education Department for permission to issue diplomas in New York State. Under the settlement, the Academy at Ivy Ridge has reorganized its organizational structure to meet New York rules. The Academy had originally obtained accreditation status from the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools and had been issuing diplomas under its authorization. The Attorney General had accused the school of issuing diplomas illegally because the association did not have a license to do business in New York State and misleading parents into thinking the school could issue diplomas that would be recognized by colleges. Finlinson said Ivy Ridge will now be able to seek accreditation from an agency authorized to do business in New York State.

New York Times -- excerpt:  Mary Ann Davies has spent more than $100,000 in the last year to send her 16-year-old daughter to one private counseling and educational program after another. She has just signed up to go further into debt, committing herself to spend another $100,000 over the next two years for a boarding school in New York that she hopes will help her daughter overcome a drug problem. More and more parents of troubled teenagers are following the same course and sending their children to special programs - no matter the cost. At the same time, the number of programs available has soared. They differ from the tough boot camps and the long-term psychiatric stays that were the main options a couple of decades ago. The new "feel good" programs combine therapy and education, often in an outdoor setting, at an average cost of $5,000 a month. Those numbers have drawn the attention of some big money investors, who see a growing need for the kind of services these programs provide. Although there have been allegations of abuse within the industry, and those have garnered most of the media attention on the schools, officials at several companies said almost all the incidents had been at a handful of less reputable programs.

Associated Press -- full story:  A camp counselor involved in the 2001 death of a 14-year-old who collapsed in triple-digit heat at a boot camp was sentenced to four months in jail. Troy Hutty, 33, also was given three years of probation at Tuesday's sentencing. Hutty was among camp supervisors who put the teenager, Anthony Haynes, in a motel bathtub to cool him down, and later found him face down in the water. Haynes' mother had sent him to the desert camp after he was caught shoplifting and slashed the tires on her vehicle. He died of complications from dehydration. Camp director Charles Long, 59, was sentenced last month to six years in prison. "Next week will be four years since I lost my baby," said Haynes' mother, Melanie Hudson, "and it could have been prevented by dialing three numbers." Three other counselors also were sentenced Tuesday for child abuse inflicted on other campers.

Missoula Independent -- excerpts:  Students enrolled at Spring Creek, and other member facilities of the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS), follow a strictly regimented points-based program and are organized into “Families” with names like “Integrity,” “Serenity,” “Eternity” and “Innocence.” Families consist of 20 to 30 students and a staff member known as the “mother” or “father.” Students spend nearly every waking and sleeping moment with their Family. Families walk from classroom to cafeteria to their dorms in lockstep unison. According to news reports and families of students, a child can’t graduate the program until she demonstrates to the satisfaction of Spring Creek staff that she has taken responsibility for the actions that put her in the school in the first place. She must appear to believe that the program has saved her life. As reporter Decca Aitkenhead described the program at an affiliated facility called Tranquility Bay in Jamaica in a 2003 article in the London newspaper The Observer, “They must renounce their old self, espouse the program’s belief system, display gratitude for their salvation, and police fellow students who resist.” Students who are disruptive or have outbursts are placed in “intervention.” They are taken, sometimes by force, to a room students call “the Hobbit,” where they sit in chairs. Some kids have reported being put in intervention for days, even months. The school maintains that a student is put in intervention for 30-minute “cooling off” periods. If they fail to cool off or remain disruptive, they may stay longer, under the watchful eye of a staff member.

Salt Lake Tribune -- excerpts:  The owner of a controversial Utah boarding school has been charged with five misdemeanor counts of child abuse and two counts of hazing. Charging documents filed last week by the Juab County Attorney's office allege Cheryl Sudweeks of Whitmore Academy in Nephi humiliated and physically harmed four children between April 2003 and November 2004. The children were enrolled at a now-defunct residential treatment center formerly associated with the boarding school.  Sudweeks, 50, has been summoned to appear before Nephi's 4th District Court on June 23.

New York Times -- excerpts:  The melee at the Academy at Ivy Ridge, a boarding school here for troubled teenagers, began at about 10:15 p.m. on May 16 when someone pulled a fire alarm in the boys' dormitory. Within moments, students were smashing windows, overturning furniture and fighting, with some trying to help the academy's security guards squelch the disturbance. Eleven students fled the campus, near the Canadian border, and bolted into the night.  The violence brought more unwanted attention to an institution that, since opening three years ago, has drawn the scrutiny of state investigative agencies and attracted a loud chorus of critics, including former students who have accused the school of mistreatment.  The office of Eliot Spitzer, the New York State attorney general, is investigating whether Ivy Ridge violated state law by issuing diplomas, since it is not accredited by the state. The state police are investigating two cases involving allegations of child abuse and one case stemming from the riot.

Miami Herald -- excerpts:  Four years ago, Christopher Sutton asked a coworker how to go about hiring a hit man to kill his parents. Last summer, he talked about it again -- just weeks before a gunman killed Sutton's mother and left his father blind. Court records released Monday suggest that Sutton planned his parents' shooting in an effort to collect their estate and satisfy a long-simmering resentment toward them after they shipped him to a controversial youth-treatment center in American Samoa.

Miami Herald and Sun-Sentinel -- excerpts:  Sister Soldier Military Academy abruptly shut its doors Tuesday amid ongoing investigations into reports that girls enrolled there had been physically abused. Fort Lauderdale police confirmed they've joined welfare agents in probing complaints that girls at a boot camp-style school were abused. Fort Lauderdale police have been called eight times since April to a Fort Lauderdale home operating as a private military school, including two visits in recent days to investigate allegations that a cadet had been beaten by a school employee.  Denise Smith, who is identified in corporate records as president of Sister Soldier's parent company, has not returned several calls for comment. Smith insisted that parents and children call her ``Major Smith.''  The army-style school enrolls girls considered behavioral problems ages 8-17 at a cost of $2,800 a month. The students at the school are called `cadets.'  The sheriff's Child Protective Investigative Services has targeted the Sister Soldier boot camp school since the first child abuse allegation was leveled three weeks ago, said Broward Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Liz Calzadilla-Fiallo.  Details were not released other than there are four alleged victims, some living in this area and some out of state.  Neither the state nor the county regulates private boarding schools, and -- after complaints about a Broward facility -- some lawmakers say that situation needs changing. When police and state child welfare authorities began receiving complaints about a small military school tucked in a modest Fort Lauderdale neighborhood, they wondered what government agency was overseeing the school. They made a startling discovery: The boarding school, Sister Soldier Military Academy, was operating under everyone's radar. Sister Soldier, like other private boarding schools, is not licensed by anyone in the city, county or state. It is not required to be. ''This is a loophole in the regulatory system that needs to be addressed,'' said Jack Moss, the Department of Children & Families' Broward administrator.

Clarion Ledger -- excerpt:  Enrollment at the troubled Eagle Point Christian Academy in Lucedale has dropped from about 100 to 78 cadets this year since the school quelled a riot and kicked out a group of offending students.  Other students at the former Bethel Boys Academy were yanked out by parents concerned about safety at the school, which has been defending itself against allegations of mistreatment. The academy's director, John Fountain, said he has not admitted any students since the April riot which landed nine students in detention and left the school with significant property damage. He said his staff is undergoing more training, and he is trying to get the school back in order. Asked whether he could sustain the school financially with the drop in enrollment, Fountain said he is unsure.

Billings Gazette -- excerpt:  Spring Creek Lodge spent $56,677 during the 90-day period the state legislature was in session in 2005, successfully defeating legislation which would have required therapeutic boarding schools to be licensed and regulated by the state. 

News Watch 50 - excerpt:  The Ivy Ridge Academy in Ogdensburg is under investigation by the State Attorney General for issuing diplomas that are “essentially worthless”. The Academy is not currently accredited by any agency or the State to issue diplomas.

News Watch 50 - excerpt:  A parent of a student at Ivy Ridge Academy told NewsWatch50 that after spending more than 20-thousand dollars on the program she is being refused transcripts and records of her child's performance and treatment.  She has gone to the State Attorney General in an effort to get the records released.

News Watch 50 - excerpt  All of the students involved in Monday night's uprising at Ivy Ridge Academy have been expelled. That's according to the academy's director, Jason Finlinson. About 12 students and several staff members were injured during Monday night's melee which began when some students attempted an escape. Ivy Ridge, a few miles west of Ogdensburg on State Route 37 is a corrective facility for troubled teenagers. Parents pay approximately $60,000 to enroll their children in the program. State Police say their investigation revealed that the disturbance was organized and initiated by 12 students, all of whom have been charged with Riot, 1st degree along with other charges.

Salt Lake Tribune - news brief:  The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of a defamation suit filed by an association of schools for troubled youths against a United Press International reporter. The 10th Circuit on Tuesday agreed with a trial judge that the federal court in Utah has no authority over the case because Thomas Houlahan, who researched a story in 2003 about schools operated by the St. George-based World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools, lives in Washington, D.C. In its suit, WWASP had alleged that Houlahan falsely told parents that school officials abused their children.  (Click on the link above to read the full text of the court's opinion.)

Bonner County Daily Bee - excerpt:  The offers are rolling in, and they're looking good to CEDU trustee George Miller. He said Friday he hopes to accept some of them within the next 10 days. But it would take at least 30 days to finalize the closing. As of now, he has had a substantial offer on a former CEDU school in California from a man who has said he's going to submit offers to the Idaho and Vermont locations. "I don't have something that I'm going to sign on the dotted line for Idaho today, but I have some very interesting ones," Miller said, speaking of offers. Bidders have said they want to bring the teachers back and reopen the schools in Idaho.  CEDU Education, a program for troubled teenagers, closed all of its schools on March 26, 2005, because of financial insolvency. The abrupt announcement came as a shock to 301 students, their parents, 250 employees in Boundary County and 40 in Bonner County, and the community.  In 2004, more than two dozen parents and former students at Rocky Mountain Academy and Boulder Creek Academy - two schools operated by CEDU - had filed four lawsuits claiming a pattern of neglect and abuse inflicted upon kids by staff or by other students running out of staffers' control.

Salt Lake Tribune - excerpt:  A private Utah school is fighting against state regulation, arguing it is not a "therapeutic" facility - which are covered by a new law that seeks to crack down on the state's thriving teen help industry. Administrators at Whitmore Academy in Nephi say they run a boarding school, not a treatment facility catering to troubled teens. They are asking for an exemption to the new licensing category, which goes into effect on May 2.  But state Human Services licensing director Ken Stettler believes "they're hiding behind the moniker of a boarding school" to avoid state oversight. "All the information they've provided to parents of kids there is they provide counseling for emotional growth and behavioral changes. They cater to kids who have failed in their settings at home," said Stettler. The new law defines "therapeutic schools" as serving students "who have a history of failing to function at home or public school" and that offer "room and board and specialized structure or treatment related to a disability   or emotional development."

Salt Lake Tribune - excerpt:  A California mother is accusing a northern Utah boarding school of physically and emotionally abusing her son while he was being treated there.     In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, Jennifer Havlan said Majestic Ranch employee Sean E. Coombs seriously injured her minor son by slamming him against a wall and table, throwing him to the ground and striking him. She also alleges that the boy was "repeatedly restrained and placed in handcuffs" during his 2004 stay at the Randolph facility.     Majestic Ranch, which is affiliated with the St. George-based Worldwide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASP), is designed to treat preteens and young teenagers with behavioral and conduct problems. The program has been investigated several times after abuse allegations were lodged, with one probe ending in a criminal conviction when Coombs pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor assault charge.  On the same day Havlan filed her suit, U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., introduced legislation that would provide more monitoring of residential treatment programs and establish criminal and civil penalties for abuse of children.

Columbia Tribune - excerpt:  Thayer Learning Center, a military-type home for about 100 troubled teens in Kidder, filed the suit last week against former employee Timothy Rocha for breaching a signed employment agreement that stated he would not "divert, take away ... or interfere with any present or future customer." Thayer claims Rocha has contacted customers and attempted to steer them away from Thayer and has "successfully diverted away many potential customers." The lawsuit says Thayer "has experienced a significant decrease in revenues" because of Rocha’s actions. Rocha has been an outspoken critic of the camp, saying he was stunned by what he thought were abusive practices. He filed two reports of child abuse with the Caldwell County sheriff’s office in September, claiming a student had been placed in "half a chokehold" and that a Thayer employee then sat on the student’s legs.

Deseret News - excerpt:  A Utah-based organization affiliated with schools for troubled youths is stirring controversy in at least three states and is the target of congressional legislation unveiled Wednesday.   At issue are the persistent allegations of child abuse and claims of questionable business practices surrounding the World Wide Association of Speciality Schools (WWASPS) founded by Robert Lichfield of La Verkin, Washington County. The allegations of abuse and questions about the facilities' credentials — all of which WWASPS' president Ken Kay denies or says are overblown — have sparked investigations in numerous states, prompted closures of some facilities and led Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., Wednesday to call for federal legislation invoking more oversight.  It was Miller, the senior Democrat on the Education and Workforce Committee, who demanded in 2003 that then-Attorney General John Ashcroft investigate WWASPS.  The request, made again last year, never gained much traction, so Miller is now pushing for passage of the "End Institutional Abuse Against Children Act," which among other things, would establish federal civil and criminal penalties for abuse against children in residential treatment programs and expand federal regulatory authority to overseas programs operated by U.S. companies.  Miller's legislation is just but one of many recent actions involving WWASPS around the country.

Kansas City Star - excerpt:  City officials Monday night rejected an offer from a group led by the founder of a controversial association of boarding schools to buy the former Kemper Military School. The Booneville City Council, with little discussion, voted 7-0 against selling the property to a group led by Utah businessman Robert Lichfield, founder of World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools.

Mississippi Press - excerpt:  Christy Depasquale has her twin 17-year-old sons at home with her in Oklahoma after they spent more than a month at Eagle Point Christian Academy, formerly known as Bethel Boys Academy. Depasquale was concerned for the boys' welfare after hearing of the riot that took place at Eagle Point last weekend. During the riot, windows were broken, bunks overturned and a barrack was trashed. Depasquale's sons reportedly had "plenty of bruises and cuts and scrapes" when she picked them up. One of the boys reportedly has a bruise on his back where an Eagle Point staff member allegedly "grabbed him and slammed his fist in his back" because he was talking. The twins also told their mother that the kitchen of Eagle Point was infested with roaches and rats, and that if there was trouble during mealtime, the boys either couldn't finish eating or were given 30 seconds to finish their meal. The boys also alleged that when the kids got into fights, the staff members would just ignore it and leave the room. One of Depasquale's sons was in a fight, and the brothers said the instructors just stood by and watched. The boys also told their mother that mace was being used frequently at Eagle Point when anybody steps out of line. Depasquale said she felt Eagle Point was misrepresented to parents. She said they didn't provide a 100 percent safe and secure environment, there's a lack of supervision, and the education is not what it should be.

Watertown Daily Times - excerpt:  The Academy at Ivy Ridge's accreditation has been suspended in the wake of a state attorney general's office inquiry into the business practices of the institution that offers behavior modification for teenagers. "We sent them a cease and desist letter," said David G. Steadman, executive director of the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools. "It means they're not supposed to say they're accredited until their legal issues are solved." The association sent Ivy Ridge the cease and desist letter after a telephone inquiry from the Watertown regional office of the state attorney general's office. That inquiry led the association to believe the school does not have the state licenses required by the organization, Mr. Steadman said. State agencies, including the attorney general's office and the Office of Children and Family Services, in February began looking into Ivy Ridge, including allegations of physical abuse of students.

Columbia Daily Tribune - excerpt:  A former student of a behavior modification school in Jamaica alleges that Randall Hinton, who has proposed opening a similar school on the former Kemper Military School property in Boonville, Missouri, abused him and others during his stay there. Layne Brown, 23, of Kanab, Utah, told the Tribune by phone last night that he met Hinton at Tranquility Bay in Jamaica in 1997. Staff at the facility used excessive restraining tactics, including pepper spray, duct tape and painful holds, as punishment for not following rules, he said. Brown estimated such attacks occurred three times a day and for as long as three or four months. During that time, the teens were forced to defecate and urinate in black garbage bags tied around their waists like diapers, Brown said. Staff members dragged Brown across the cement floor facedown, resulting in a chipped tooth and scars on his shoulders, knees and chin, he said. One staff member used a hard-bristle toilet brush to "scrub" his body and genitals, he said.

Columbia Daily Tribune column - excerpt:  The problem with Robert Lichfield isn’t that he breaks the law. It’s that the law allows him to do what he does. Lichfield knows about the law. He’s used the absence of laws in many states and Third-World countries as cover for a series of business ventures that by most accounts have made him a wealthy man. The Utah businessman is founder of World Wide Association of Specialty Programs, an umbrella group connected to dozens of tough-love teen rehabilitation centers all over the world. Many of the schools connected in some way to Lichfield have been accused by parents and authorities of child abuse. Some of them have closed. Now Lichfield has his eye on Missouri. Specifically, he and his partners, Randall and Russell Hinton, want to buy the former Kemper Military School in Boonville and turn it into another of their behavior modification facilities for troubled teens. Long before Missourians heard of this plan, Shelby Earnshaw was trying to stop it. Earnshaw is director of International Survivors Action Committee, a watchdog group that keeps an eye on the kinds of facilities Lichfield owns. Many of the teen centers are connected to WWASP in some way, and wherever there is WWASP, Lichfield generally isn’t far behind. That’s why, when Earnshaw heard about his intent to buy the Kemper property, she started to let folks in Missouri know a little bit about Lichfield and his various companies. Her actions earned her a typical Lichfield response. He sued. On Feb. 22, in Washington County court in Utah, Lichfield sued Earnshaw and her husband, William, alleging defamation, invasion of privacy and interference with prospective economic advantage. According to the suit, Earnshaw "contacted public officials in Boonville, Missouri, and Salt Lake City, Utah, and spread false, defamatory and misleading information about plaintiff with the intent to interfere with plaintiff’s business relations and with plaintiff’s prospective economic interests." Earnshaw says the suit won’t stop her from letting anybody who cares to listen know how destructive she believes WWASP facilities are to children.

Columbia Daily Tribune - excerpt:  A U.S. congressman from California says Boonville city officials should have "serious reservations" about selling the Kemper Military School property to associates of a controversial network of international boarding schools. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., warned that Boonville should "get the facts first" before accepting a purchase offer from Robert Lichfield, founder of World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools, or WWASPS. "While many residential treatment facilities do provide good quality services for children, there is a long history of allegations of mistreatment of minors at campuses operated by the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs," Miller said in an e-mail to the Tribune. "The City of Boonville should have serious reservations about the sale of city property to an organization with such an egregious record of child abuse complaints."

Hattiesburg American - excerpt:  Six students remain in custody at Forrest County Juvenile Detention Center on charges of disorderly conduct after a riot Friday night at Eagle Point Christian Academy, formerly Bethel Boys Academy, in Lucedale. Seven other students, or cadets, at the home for troubled teenagers from across the country were taken to George County Hospital where six were treated for minor injuries and released to school officials. George County Sheriff Garry Welford said the students were breaking windows and tearing up beds, chairs and other items during the Friday night incident. Students told Welford that the riot was sparked by a rumor that state investigators might arrive at the school over the weekend. The school has a history of abuse allegations and state investigations dating to 1988 when 72 children were removed from the school by state welfare officials. At the time the school was called Bethel Home for Children. In 1990, a judge closed the school - then owned by Herman Fountain Sr. In 1994, Fountain reopened the school as Bethel Boys Academy. The institution's name was changed from Bethel Boys Academy to Eagle Point Christian Academy in February.

Wall Street Journal - excerpt:  Last Friday Brown Schools Inc., the closely held owner of one of the nation's best-known therapeutic boarding chains, closed with no notice to families, sending 300 students home before the end of the school year. Brown filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, meaning its operations will be liquidated. Fenton R. Talbott, who served as chief executive of Brown before the bankruptcy filing, said the school faced high legal fees and settlement costs related to a variety of lawsuits, including some on behalf of students and families alleging abuse. Brown, in its court filing, cited a total of $1.4 million in legal fees and settlement costs, including a pair of $150,000 settlements paid to two former residents of Brown's Oaks Treatment Center in Austin, Texas, a facility for adolescents with behavioral and other problems that Brown sold in 2003. In a lawsuit filed in state court in Austin, the students alleged they were sexually assaulted in 2002 by an Oaks employee, who ultimately pleaded guilty to assault charges, according to court papers. Court papers didn't mention some other legal tangles in Brown's past. In 2002, Chase Moody, 17, died at a Brown wilderness program called On Track, in Texas, after being restrained by camp staff members. State regulators said that staffers used improper restraints, but a grand jury handed up no criminal charges. Also that year, CEDU paid a $300,000 settlement to two former students after they were hurt in what students at the time describe -- and the company confirmed -- was a riot at CEDU's Northwest Academy in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Last October two dozen parents and former students at two CEDU schools in Idaho, Rocky Mountain Academy and Boulder Creek Academy, filed four lawsuits alleging poor staffing levels that led to verbal and physical abuse by students and employees since 1998. The cases are pending in Bonner County District Court in Sandpoint, Idaho.

Daily Bee - excerpt:  CEDU Education, a program for troubled teenagers, announced Friday it is closing all of its schools because of financial insolvency. The abrupt announcement came as a shock to 301 students, their parents, 250 employees in Boundary County and 40 in Bonner County, and the community. None realized the program was in such poor financial condition. Local officials called the job loss "devastating." Teenage students enrolled in the program will be returned to their parents within the next 10 days. CEDU employees aren't sure when their last day at work will be.   Spokesman Review (Oct. 28. 2004): This story reported that more than two dozen parents and former students at Rocky Mountain Academy and Boulder Creek Academy - two schools operated by CEDU - had filed four lawsuits claiming a pattern of neglect and abuse inflicted upon kids by staff or by other students running out of staffers' control.  Kootenai Valley Press (March 29, 2005) This story describes the heavy emotions associated with closure of all CEDU schools, including the lack of notice to parents and the concern of employees about their sudden loss of jobs and possible loss of benefits due to the corporation filing for bankruptcy.  The story also mentions that CEDU settled a lawsuit in 2002 for $300,000, which had been filed by the parents of two Rocky Mountain Academy students who alleged their children had been abused and that staff was not properly qualified.

Kansas City Star - excerpt:  The founder of a controversial Utah-based association of boarding schools has had discussions with city officials in Boonville, Mo., about purchasing Kemper Military School. Kemper, the oldest military academy west of the Mississippi River when it closed in 2002, has been owned by the city since April 2003.  The prospective buyer is Robert Lichfield, founder of the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools. The association, based in St. George, Utah, provides services and guidance for a network of seven schools in the United States and Jamaica. Some schools affiliated with the organization have been the subject of abuse allegations, and one congressman asked the Department of Justice to investigate the association and its schools. Kemper, if purchased by Lichfield, would not be a member of the association's network. Instead, it would be subleased to Randall Hinton, who said he would help operate the school independently.

Billings Gazette - excerpt:  Spring Creek Lodge, a facility confining 500 teenagers, spent nearly $35,000 in lobbying expenses during the first two months of 2005, making it number four in lobbying expenditures in Montana.  The facility spent more money lobbying the state Legislature than the Montana School Board Association and the Montana Association of Counties, and AARP Montana.  Unlike the Utah Legislature which this year passed a law requiring such facilities to be licensed by the state, the Montana Legislature has allowed Spring Creek Lodge to be unregulated despite ongoing complaints of child abuse and neglect at the facility.

Clarion Ledger - excerpt:  Unhappy parents, troubled teens, torture allegations and lawsuits have all become an unenviable part of John Fountain's life since he took over Bethel Boys Academy from his father nearly two years ago. The school for troubled teenagers — now called Eagle Point Christian Academy — has on one side assertive parents who continue to report abuse, explaining in graphic detail the wounds they detected on their children once they were removed from the school. On the other side are Fountain's equally adamant denials. He points to what he says are litigious parents and children who were brought to the school — sometimes against their will — in part because of deception problems. It's not clear exactly what happens at the academy when spectators are gone.

Deseret News - excerpt:  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."

KSL-TV - excerpt: 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.

Salt Lake Tribune - excerpt: Armed with a whistle-blower report, a watchdog group met Monday at the Capitol to protest the state's "half-baked" investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect at northern Utah's Majestic Ranch Boarding School.  Based on signed affidavits from four former employees, the report portrays the school catering to 7- to 14-year-olds with behavioral problems as understaffed, overcrowded and unsanitary. It alleges that animals at the 2,000-acre working ranch are neglected. And it contains complaints of abusive restraint practices, with students thrown to the ground and hog-tied, their faces shoved in snow or manure.  An investigation into similar complaints conducted earlier this month by Utah's Division of Child and Protective Services (CPS) and local law enforcement turned up some health and safety violations, but failed to yield enough evidence to support removing children or notifying parents.  Crusaders against get-tough treatment programs say more than a "slap on the wrist" is needed to protect the 60-plus students enrolled at Majestic Ranch, located north of Randolph.  "It's a shame when child protection agencies fail to protect children. It's almost as bad as those who are alleged to have caused harm to the children in the first place," said Thomas F. Coleman, an attorney and director of Emancipation Project, a human rights organization in Glendale, Calif.

Clarion Ledger - excerpt: A school for troubled teenagers was temporarily closed Thursday and its 44 students were released into state custody. "For right now we're going to close the doors," said Bethel Girls Academy director Herman Fountain Jr. "We are planning on opening back up, but we've got to get everything taken care of first."  The closure came a day after 11 students fled from the facility.  Some girls said they had been physically and verbally abused by staff members, and one of the girls' mothers said she plans to press charges against Fountain for assaulting a minor. "The contract was broken when he broke my daughter's wrist," said Miami resident Angela Roberts, whose daughter, Angenika McNeil, 16, was injured while at Bethel. "I want him prosecuted for what he did to my child. He hides behind the word 'restrain,' but that word means 'abuse' to him."

Clarion Ledger - excerpt:  Eleven students at a school here for troubled teens fled the facility on Wednesday after some of them told authorities they were abused by employees. The incident occurred about 9 a.m. at Bethel Girls Academy, when several of the students said they weren't being watched. "Some of the girls had an uprising and sort of took over the place," academy director Herman Fountain Jr. said. "They just ran away." The school has been under scrutiny in the past by state officials. The Department of Human Services removed 38 girls from the facility in May 2004 after receiving complaints of mistreatment. On Monday, Miami resident Angela Roberts filed a complaint with the Forrest County sheriff's department against the girls' academy. "I got a call from inside the school that they (staff members) were beating the girls," Roberts said Wednesday. "I drove from Miami to get my child from here."

Watertown Daily Times - excerpt:  State agencies are investigating allegations of physical abuse at the Academy at Ivy Ridge and whether the school is implying that it provides more than just behavior modification for troubled teens. Investigators from the state Attorney General's Office also have subpoenaed Ivy Ridge to find out just what sort of institution it is and whether it is claiming to be a diploma-writing institution, which officials believe it is not accredited to do, said a source who asked not to be identified. Ivy Ridge uses a six-level behavior modification program for troubled teenagers developed by the Utah-based World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools. Though WWASPS does not own or operate the facility, it does provide support services.

Hattiesburgh American - excerpt:  Law enforcement officers were at a Petal school for troubled teenagers Wednesday morning investigating allegations of abuse and reports that several of the girls there had run away. According to Forrest County Sheriff’s Department deputies, 11 girls fled the Bethel Girls Academy, although the school’s director, Herman Fountain Jr., said only seven girls were missing. He couldn’t immediately explain the discrepancy.

KSL-TV - excerpt:  A northern Utah boarding school is facing allegations of abuse. The Majestic Ranch, just north of Randolph, is being investigated after complaints of unsanitary conditions and abusive restraint practices.

Salt Lake Tribune - excerpt:  President Bush's new attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, says the Justice Department may take a more active role in oversight of boot camp programs for troubled teens. In his written responses to questions during his confirmation process, Gonzales said the Justice Department would work to engage states and directors of private facilities to ensure children are protected.   If cases of inappropriate or abusive practices cannot be resolved, they may be referred to the Civil Rights or Criminal divisions at the department for action, Gonzales said. Previously, former Attorney General John Ashcroft had responded to Miller's inquiries by stating that the department lacked the authority to investigate abuse allegations at private facilities.

Rural Northwest & Spokesman Review - excerpts:   Feb. 11, 2005: CEDU Education today announced the closure of Rocky Mountain Academy in Naples, Idaho. We failed to recruit and place at Rocky Mountain Academy a school director with the skills to manage a cohesive group of staff. Our leadership shortfalls created a negative marketplace opinion that made it difficult to build a census for successful school operation," explained CEDU Education President and Chief Operating Officer Bob Naples. Spokesman Review (Oct. 28. 2004): More than two dozen parents and former students at Rocky Mountain Academy and Boulder Creek Academy - two expensive private schools for troubled teens - have filed four lawsuits claiming a pattern of neglect and abuse inflicted upon kids by staff or by other students running out of staffers' control.

Sun Herald - excerpts:   The Bethel Boys Academy in Lucedale has changed its name; in part, says its organizer, to dissociate itself with past allegations of mistreatment of youths left in its care.  The Bethel home is now called Eagle Point Christian Academy, a reform school for troubled youths. The school offered the same services as the Bethel, a facility that has been sued by families alleging child abuse. Complaints surfaced that students had been beaten, denied proper medical treatment and shocked with a cattle prod, and authorities had been investigating the boot-camp program, according to the lawsuits.

Deseret Morning News - excerpt:   Two separate measures that would impose tighter controls and oversight of programs for troubled youths appear headed for Senate debate. Among other things, SB176, sponsored by Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, would more clearly define "boarding schools," assuring that only those schools that do not offer any behavior modification services would not fall under state licensing purview. Buttars, who recently retired as head of the Utah Boys Ranch, has said therapeutic schools that mask themselves as "boarding" facilities need to have the same oversight as other programs.  Monday, members of the House Health and Human Services Committee gave approval to SB107, sponsored by Sen. Tom Hatch, R-Panguitch. That measure would require operators of a proposed residential treatment program to give notice to the city where the facility is planned to be located. Hatch's bill also would allow local entities, with permission of the state, to designate one of their employees who could conduct on-site inspections.  "It is an opportunity to have a few more eyes and ears out in the local area to inspect these facilities," Stettler said.

San Francisco Chronicle - excerpt:   The parents of a Santa Rosa boy who died at a Missouri boot camp for troubled youths have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the operators and some employees of the facility. The boy's parents, Victor and Gracia Reyes, filed the suit Friday against the Thayer Learning Center Boot Camp, its affiliated Parent Help referral agency, and three boot camp employees. The lawsuit, filed in Buchanan County, Mo., states Roberto M. Reyes, 15, was "subjected to sadistic, cruel, and harmful acts. ... He was thrown into solitary confinement, refused bathroom facilities, and forced to (lie) in his own excrement for extended periods of time." An autopsy of the 6-foot-2-inch teen "documented numerous bruises, cuts, and ulcerations consistent with physical abuse," the suit alleges.

Salt Lake Tribune - excerpt:  A Senate committee hesitantly endorsed a bill on Friday that seeks to provide more oversight of Utah's thriving teen-help industry. Senate Bill 176 would create a new licensing category of troubled-teen programs dubbed "therapeutic schools."  There are currently no state licensing requirements for such schools, said sponsoring Sen. Chris Buttars.  The director of Majestic Ranch testified at Friday's hearing in opposition to Buttars' bill. The school has been investigated three separate times for alleged abuse, resulting in one criminal charge and conviction.

Missoulian - excerpt:  A Thompson Falls man shot another man multiple times with a handgun early Wednesday morning, then shot and killed himself, law officers in Sanders County said.  The shooter, after seven rounds, turned the gun on himself and committed suicide, according to Plains Police Chief Shawn Emmett, who is handling the investigation. The dead man was identified as Keith Wood, 31, of Thompson Falls, who was employed at Spring Creek Lodge, a residential academy for troubled youth west of Thompson Falls.

Kansas City Star - excerpt:  Several parents who sent their troubled teens to Thayer Learning Center in northwest Missouri were referred to the school by what they thought was an independent agency. In fact, the Parent Help referral service is operated by the same people who run Thayer, a military-style boot camp where a 15-year-old California boy recently died. The death triggered a state investigation and prompted former students and employees to come forward with allegations of physical and emotional abuse of students. The connection between the two businesses, less than 15 miles apart, angered several parents who spoke recently with The Kansas City Star. A leading business ethicist said the relationship between the two businesses is clearly a conflict of interest, while a child welfare agency official said such a connection is not uncommon, but should have been disclosed.

Montel Williams Show - excerpt:  Since the 1970s, Americans have been shipping their children off to rehabilitation centers, commonly referred to as "boot camps." We'll hear the real story from adults who are still haunted by the facilities their parents sent them to. Samantha says that the facility she was sent to in Florida when she was 13 was a living nightmare.  We'll also meet Shannon who claims that the behavioral treatment center she went to in Jamaica used unnecessary force against her that dislocated her jaw. Plus we'll meet Johnny who claims he spent nearly his entire visit at a facility locked in isolation.

Union Tribune- excerpt:  Tolerated for years, behavior-modification centers catering to U.S. teens with addiction and behavioral problems have faced unprecedented scrutiny in Baja California, where four centers have been closed in the past four months. Drawn to the state's low costs and proximity to the United States, operators of the now-shuttered centers are asking why there has been a sudden crackdown when they have been operating openly for years. Baja California officials say they are sending a message that Mexican laws must be followed by anyone operating in their country. "We totally approve their closing," Baja California Gov. Eugenio Elorduy Walther said in an interview last month. "We consider that we deserve the same respect that the United States demands of Mexicans when we conduct an activity in that country." Mexican authorities listed a litany of violations at the centers, from lack of permits, to nonexistent clinical records, to reports of abuse of students.  At Future Expectations, the authorities said they found adulterated and expired medications and said there was no medical director, as the law requires. They said they found "punishment cells" with belts, handcuffs and blood on a wall.