Kristin Bennett

WADADS put on a Symposium today that was discussing the deficiencies in the Parent/Caregiver-Initiated Treatment for Minors Symposium.

My presence at the Symposium was as a survivor sharing parts of my story covering pieces of my experiences at Red Cliff Ascent and Mount Bachelor Academy in 1995. A wide variety of other perspectives and experiences were also shared including a mother and daughter who experienced positive things out of their experience which in ways was similar to mine except for my running away from the school and the parent involvement/family counseling afterward which they had and I did not. There were young women speaking about their inpatient experiences as well as parents who have or are dealing with struggles in getting the help they need for their children.

There was a lot of talk about the WRAPAROUND process, a kind of intervention model for helping to develop an individualized care plan and development of a child and family team for families that need help with their adolescents. Experts talked about the research leading to these evidence-based programs and so forth as well.

From what I understand this sounds like a huge improvement in that it gives more personalized case by case support that is taking the whole family into account. Often times I hear about situations where the child seems to be the scape goat for acting in response to the family distress and trouble they are all a part of creating.

I was very pleased when I learned that it was not black and white, the parents present acknowledged the importance of children to be able to seek treatment without their parents consent. Personally I believe the the most important thing is that the whole family is involved and evaluated and that any sort of treatment facility that is overseeing treatment is held to strict standards rather than seducing the families with their cult like tactics and abusing the children.

I’ve been away from the girls all day and am going to go spend some time with them…I’ll log back on and update this later if I’m able to get them to sleep early enough!

Abuse of Youth in Residential Placements: A Call to Action

The growth of the troubled teen industry, including wilderness camps, therapeutic boarding schools, and boot camps, has given rise to allegations of inhumane treatment of youth, and exploitation of families who are desperately seeking help for their teenagers. This topic, previously the subject of two hearings in Congress and two special reports by the GAO, was examined further on Feb. 19th 2009, at a meeting sponsored by the Alliance for the Safe, Therapeutic, and Appropriate Use of Residential Treatment (ASTART) and CAFETY on Capitol Hill. This timely meeting was held several months prior to yet another death arising out of negligence (Sagewalk Wilderness Camp) and the closure of Mount Bachelor Academy as a result of substantiated abuse allegations considered part of their therapeutic milieu. (Both programs are owned/operated by Aspen Education Group, subsidiary of CRC Health).

Please help increase awareness of this issue and distribute widely.

Today at church, I learned about a great organization called “Heart Strong” that I feel aligns closely with what I’m passionate in regards to CAFETY and ASTART focusing on the gay and lesbian youth population…so important!! Their site is: http://www.HeartStrong.org I had the honor of meeting Marc and hope at some point to have written a book of my story just like he has. Soon I will have a “Causes” page on my site featuring what organizations I support and why. They will be on it for sure.