Book: Fall of the Guardians

This book tells the story about what goes on in many religious based so-called treatment centers and boarding schools.

In a thread on reddit the author introduced the book:

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind closed doors when a “difficult” teen gets sent away? Based on real-life events from the early 1990’s, this book tells the harrowing story of Vanessa, who at age 13, was one of those kids. She was ripped away from everything she knew and sent away to an abusive military boarding school for girls run by a religious cult that promised to fix these so-called “troubled teens”.
Like most Troubled Teen Industry survivors, Vanessa and her surrogate four-year-old little sister, Jess, experienced unspeakable horrors no human should ever have to endure. But unlike most, they were able to do things no one else could. Along her way, Vanessa found family. She was the catalyst for the formation of the Guardians, a special unit in her program tasked with making the girls human again. With the help of her family and friends, Vanessa came of age while making a real difference to hundreds of other girls in an impossible situation, that is, until it all came crashing down, as the Guardians fell.
Find out what it took for them to survive their time in this cult, their successes and failures, how they finally escaped, and what came next, including a 2022 update on what happened to the girls and staff she wrote about over the ensuing years and a number of response letters from some of the others she wrote about.
This powerful and heart-wrenching book is a must-read for anyone who has ever been or known a “difficult” teen, anyone who attended a Troubled Teen program, and especially for any parent that has sent away a difficult child or is thinking that sending their child away is the best or only option.

Sources:

• Fall of the Guardians - Paperback (Amazon)
• My book is out (Reddit r/Troubledteens)

Lexi M. at Trinity Teen Solutions

This testimony was found on Yelp. It was made by Lexi M.

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So today I decided to stop caring and post an honest review of this business. I was sent here in 2016, and I can easily say this made that the worst year of my entire life. This place changed my life in the worst way possible, causing me trauma and PTSD. This place is not what it seems. It's built on child labor and abuse. If you don't believe me, read all the other reviews, or simply research this place and read about how they are in court for this.

I can truthfully say that I would have rather gone to a prison than here. At least in prison, your allowed to make eye contact with and communicate with inmates. That's right, at Trinity you received physical punishment (example, 25 push ups) for making eye contact with a girl or talking to her without ASKING PERMISSION. You actually received physical punishment for the dumbest reasons; once, I had to do 50 step-ups because I mentioned that I missed Krispy Kreme donuts. Yep. And there reasoning was, "Your not in the here and now." You also could not stand up or sit down from your chair without asking permission. If you did on accident? 25 push ups, or 50, or whatever they felt like that day.

I was forced to eat food even though I was sick and this caused me to become more sick. I had woken up the night before with my stomach in intense pain. I received no medical assistance, and was sent back to bed. The next morning I still felt the same way and refused breakfast. They told me I had to eat and if i didn't, at the next meal I'd have to eat the meal I missed and the new meal. (if you refused many meals, as a punishment they made you eat a mix of cold kidney beans and cold black olives) So I ate the meal, and then projective vomited it outside the schoolhouse. Also, I should mention I never had control of any of the food I ate, and each girl had to eat the same amount of food, despite them all being different ages (youngest girl when I was there was 13, oldest was 19) I remember one girl, who was much younger than me, got so full from her dinner (she had already eaten most of it)and they forced her to eat it as she sobbed, telling them she felt ill.

I was assigned to take care of this horned goat, named Franny. So each night I had to take the goat off her leash/cable tie and put her in a pen, One night I got yelled at for putting her dinner in there so she would walk inside. A staff member decided to watch me to make sure I put her back correctly. The goat became angered with me, and head butted me repeatedly, until i fell to the ground. (The goat had head butted me in the past, which was always scary, but no one ever bothered to help me.) I became tangled in her cable tie, and it wrapped around my leg. The goat trampled me, then started running. When the goat would run, this would cause the cable to become taut around my leg. I don't know the name for it but it was like a piece of wire coated in plastic or rubber of some kind. So when she ran the wire tightened around my ankle, causing me intense pain. It also raised my ankle of the ground so I couldn't get up to free myself. I screamed for help, asking the staff member to help me. She stood there and told me to free/untangle myself so I could stand. I couldn't, I was too tangled, and each time I would try to get up the goat would run again causing even more pain and restriction. I just keep screaming for her to help, but she just hovered above me, watching. Finally after she watched me a bit longer, and the wire had tightened several more times, the staff member unclipped the tie from the goats neck. My ankle was in intense pain, swollen and deeply bruised. The next day, I asked to be opted out of the run (we have to run from the living cabins to the schoolhouse, about 0.5 mile)since I was limping, my leg was swollen so it was hard to put in my boot, and I was in pain. They said no, you have to run. they told me I would be fine, since "it was just bruising and my actual leg was fine." Meanwhile, a girl with blisters didn't have to run.

Overall outside of these events this place is just bad all over. The "staff", who watch you at every hour of the day, have no licensing and often just a college degree. You see a licensed therapist for one hour once a week, sometimes twice. You participate in "Holy Cowgirl" meetings, which is where everyone sits in a circle and comments about how you did since the last meeting, including negative comments. It was really unhealthy. I would get super anxious leading up to the meetings, knowing I was going to be analyzed and picked apart. They also didn't let you look in the mirror, or talk about your experiences, which makes you feel like you have no identity.

I saw Angie, the owner, ONCE the whole time I was there. She doesn't care about the trauma she has caused and is causing to so many of these girls. She actually thinks people are suing Trinity for the sake of money, and not for the fact that she changed their lives in the worst way possible.

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Source
The original testimony on Yelp

Duey A about Sedona Sky Academy

This testimony was found on Yelp. It was made by Duey A from Los Angeles in California.

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This place is full of petty hags who lie, manipulate, and will cut kids off from their family and from their pathetic "therapy." Everything promised me by the salesperson who talked this place up (which I foolishly believed) was an utter lie.

Virtually every young girl who gets placed here is eventually pulled. No one ever really "graduates" this corrupt institution. It doesn't take long to figure out that all these a**holes truly care about is the ridiculous amounts of money they make off their "pupils" (or rather, their pupils wealthy parents). You have been warned: DO NOT SEND YOUR DAUGHTER HERE if you actually want her to get help!!! I wish I had been warned.

The fact that they call it a "Therapeutic" boarding school is laughable. In reality, it has the opposite affect on those who attend this messed up place. Not to mention, the other school owned by them was shut down for sexual abuse...Not surprising at all. The staff is unprofessional, rude, and will try to keep your kid there as long as they can.

I hope likeminded parents will join their voices against these kinds of poorly-trained, corrupt, abusive, money-hungry "schools" that only serve to further damage young women who truly need interventions. Wilderness programs are great, but this is NOT a healthy transition after attending one; it's not a transition at all, only a breeding ground for sick adults using outdated, draconian methods on adolescence who need affection, care, and real professionals who care.

I hate this place. If you don't believe me then send your child here-U will too.

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Source:
The original testimony on Yelp

3 testimonies about Hyde School

These testimonies about Hyde School was found on the Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora.

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Survivor 1:

I think one of the biggest red flags in my opinion was during the time I was there I would self-harm a lot. While one nurse was compassionate whenever it would happen, the head nurse at the time and a couple other staff members including the dean of students Mr. Truluck would shame me for it. As far as I know these incidents weren’t always reported to my parents and there were never any sort of psych evaluations done.

One time after the death of a former student who was my best friend I attempted to go to my dorm parents as I was feeling like self harming but I was really trying to work on it and had been told by the compassionate nurse and other faculty that I had permission (as if this should of even needed to be given) to go to my dorm parents after lights out if I felt like self harming and to talk about the death. A staff member on duty happened to be walking through brook house at the moment and told me no and made me feel badly about that situation. I proceeded to return to my room and and do significantly more harm to the point I thought I might of fucked up and overdone it. I ended up going to my dorm parents who called in other staff and they simply tended to the wounds and let me go back to my room.

On another note either my junior year or senior year I tried to sign up to do big brothers/big sisters. The faculty in charge signed off on it and was excited for me to do something like that but Mr. Truluck decided to veto the decision. When I went to him to ask why he said “he did not trust me alone with a child” and other things painting me out like I was a pedophile. To this day I still believe Truluck was consistently unkind to me because I was open about being a part of the LGBT community.

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Survivor 2:

In terms of self harm I encountered a very similar problem when asking for help at Hyde. Mr. Truluck was the dean still and made me feel absolutely horrible. My dorm parents were completely unhelpful and tried their best to avoid helping me. I remember asking for help once and being made to feel like a reject, failure, and weirdo.. let’s just say I did not handle their response well...and then when I brought to the nurses later that day I was only made to feel worse.

My self harming behaviors reached the highest levels while I was at Hyde. I never felt like I could talk about it with anyone, so I would hide it. Staff would gossip about it and somehow other students found out (not from me, I told no one). I remember getting a note from my then~boyfriend telling me that one of the “seniors” pulled him aside and warned him about me. (I still have that note, but it has students’ names so I won’t include it).

When I completed Hyde I was able to find the right support and was told that being open and honest about the feelings that I had that were leading me to self harm would be the only way to move forward. I did so and the self harm stopped. There has got to be a way to better help students going through this, I hope things are different now, as I was there more than 10 years ago.

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Survivor 3:

I struggled with self harm a lot in high school. Especially at Hyde. One time I cut too deep and I had to go get stitches. And the staff that took me literally made jokes about it. I was on the dance team and she was one of my coaches and she made a joke saying that I should do a dance to Stitches by Shawn Mendes and completely made the situation a joke. The fact that I cut my wrist so deep that I had to get stitches was comical to her. And afterwards I got no support. Only sending me to Eustis afterwards because I was having “behavioral” issues, bc i was suicidal and they didn’t take it seriously. At all. I spent 2 years at Hyde and that was the most difficult time of my life.

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Source:
The original testimony on the Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora

Hyde School testimony

This testimony was located on the Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora in a message thread.

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A Negative Experience

I also went to Hyde School 30 years ago and am somewhat amazed to come across this forum. I can't think of a more disingenuous and destructive place for an adolescent. While the basic premises of character building and tough love seem worthy, and may even work for some who went to Hyde, the overall environment that was created was unhealthy, not to say bizarre.

After 1972 the school became increasingly strident and hysterical. Joe Gauld threw the most outrageous tantrums, shrieking and ranting accompanied by a Hitleresque waving of arms, which in any sane place would have been viewed as unacceptable and aberrant. At Hyde these were perceived as justified and that the recipient must have provoked them by a lack of willingness to accept some deep truth about themselves. I have since learned such behavior is always a cheap, manipulative power play.

The over-emotionalism at Hyde was particularly unhealthy. Manufactured crises, whether of individuals or over the school's direction, was always accompanied by wailing and crying as people confessed their supposed shortcomings and confronted others. There was an incredible lack of privacy, with every aspect of a student's life scrutinized by both faculty and peers. The term "brother's keeper" was twisted to mean betrayal and students were acclaimed for confronting and making public others negative attitudes, which really meant maintaining a capacity for independent and critical thinking.

Seminars, now evidently called discovery groups, started out as helpful and supportive, but evolved into a hysterical feeding frenzy as students were confronted over anything from poor athletic performances, which necessarily demonstrated a lack of commitment to themselves, or an inability to "give" and open up their true feelings. After 1972, these frequently degenerated into screaming and wailing sessions.

When you are involved in this environment on a daily basis, one's own sense of reality becomes perverted. Because we were basically isolated on campus with parents coerced into supporting the Hyde Way, hysteria and tantrums became normal, even commendable. There was an illusion created that had no basis in reality. This reality was to be perpetuated by students who were willing to make a lifetime commitment to Hyde. Some of these are evidently still there today.

In 1976, one student who couldn't handle the pressure tried to burn down the Mansion in the middle of the night. As this was the main building at the time, which served as a dormitory, dining area and housed all classrooms, it was a highly dangerous act. While there was considerable damage, there were no injuries.

But perhaps the sickest incident I witnessed occurred in the winter of 1974 and involved the confrontation of a faculty member who will remain nameless. This teacher was a definite Poindexter type, socially challenged but a perfectly decent individual. Evidently he proved unable or unwilling to truly "give" of himself in the faculty seminar (discovery group). Early one afternoon, then headmaster Ed Legg announced an emergency school meeting and this teacher was hauled in front of students, faculty and staff and confronted.

What followed was a scene right out of Lord of the Flies. Ed Legg set the tone, offering up a damning appraisal of the teacher's character and deep-seated problem connecting with the school. He then opened the floor to other students and faculty and 240 people set upon the teacher, screaming and crying for two hours, confronting him with how he was not only betraying himself, but the entire school. "I can't feel anything you're saying", screamed one student. "I'm so disappointed in you, how could you let us down like this", sobbed another.

After this incredible emotional purging he was given an opportunity to "give" something of himself. Obviously in a state of considerable distress, he admitted to an affair he had during the Vietnam War with his best friend's wife. "And the damn woman seduced me", he admitted, choking back tears. This was deemed by faculty and students to be insufficiently giving and the teacher was judged to not truly be in touch with his feelings. Joe Gauld then closed the meeting saying, "But the person I feel most bad for is your son". The teacher had a two-month old baby.

It was all very hysterical, tawdry and pathetic. I remember being shocked and frightened at the time by the emotional intensity of it all. It was a manipulated mob run amuck. As with all of Hyde, the experience had no positive educational value. The only lesson learned was that frightened people in a group feed off each other, and are to be avoided.

To those who feel that people critical of Hyde need to toughen up, my response is there is a difference between toughness and manipulated hysteria and false truth. I had a great deal of unlearning to do as a consequence of my experience at Hyde, which took a number of years. After time past, my parents felt deeply guilty about sending me there. The fact that the same philosophy still exists at the school, and some of the same people, or their offspring, remain in charge is disturbing. To those considering Hyde as an educational alternative, take note of some of the more sober posts in this forum and consider other alternatives.

Frederick W. Burnside

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Source:
The original testimony on the Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora

Book: Stolen A Memoir

This book by Elizabeth Gilpin tells the story about a teenage girl who ended up in the teenage behavior modification industry in the United States where illnesses can bring you into prison-styled so-called treatment facilities where the approach often are based on very little medical science. Instead various mind games combined with use of psychical force replace treatment which in many cases result in a life-long battle with posttraumatic stress disorder.

She is first removed by professional transport agents which are an industry where everyone with muscles can get hired and taken to a wilderness program. She survived this stay unlike some of the many teenagers who have died over the last couple of decades.

Next she is sent to Carlbrook which was a sinister boarding school which used a methodology developed in the cult Synanon (which was closed down by the authority). It took her long time to convince her family that it was time for release. Carlbrook is now closed but a family is still looking to this day for their son who vanished without a trace from the school shortly before it closed. This mystery has never been resolved. Was he murdered or did he die during his escape. No body has been found, so there is no base for an investigation.

Elizabeth Gilpin provides a good insight in the Teenage warehousing industry which boomed in the 1990's where an entire generation was close to become ncarcerated in those so-called treatment facilities.

Source: Stolen - A Memoir by Elizabeth Gilpin (Grand Central Publishing)

Kimberly at Turn-about Ranch

This testimony was located on Yelp. All rights belongs to the author

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Clearly anyone giving this place high marks has never gone here or is a rich white, attractive kid that got preferential treatment (yes, they treat rich white kids much better), as well as most likely a parent that pushed their kid this program, without really understanding the ramifications of sending a child here. I don't ever want another kid to go through what myself and so many others have gone through. I don't want another kid to suffer from the PTSD I still struggle with 17 years after leaving Burnout Ranch. I can personally attest to witnessing/experiencing verbal, emotional, physical abuse by staff and rape/sexual assault that would go unpunished/unreported due to staff blaming girls/calling them liars. No child deserves this.

Around 2003/2004, I witnessed staff member Myron calling a black kid a "n****r" while staff member Carl called the same kid a "tarbaby" while he was forced to do a "desert walk" (walking miles in the desert with a truck driven by staff slowly following him and shouting racial epithets), staff member Wayne smashing a lesbian's head into the wall and calling her a "dyke", director Max taking me out for "private 1 on 1" walks in the desert to press me about my sexual activity while caressing my body to "heal"... Not to mention being so hungry that I stole a box of crackers and was sent back to the first level for simply being hungry.

My mail sent to my family was read by my counselor Tina and I was punished just for trying to write to my brother and tell him what I was seeing and experiencing. In regards to my earlier statement, the 2 wealthy white girls were quickly moved into staff member's Connie house and were treated well from the beginning. Not every level 4 girl was moved into Connie's house. Just her "favorites", which were always the same type: rich white girls. The handsome wealthy white males also received preferential treatment, with a tall attractive male being nicknamed "Slick" for his best blonde hairdo and constantly being high fived by staff, while being a minority, gay, or fat made you a constant target towards negative comments and physical abuse and punishment.

Reports of sexual assaults and harassment, in addition to rape perpetrated by boys at TAR resulted in staff asking the group of males if they sexually assaulted/raped a female, to which they replied no (of course). Apparently 5 boys that are friends are believed over a girl's accusations and the girl was sent back to the first level. Ex-drill sergeant Connie called her a "slut" and a "liar" for merely being a victim. She was never taken to the local doctor and checked for signs of rape. When the same thing happened to me, I was too afraid to say anything and it continued happening for the rest of my time there.

17 years later, I still suffer from PTSD from being kidnapped in the middle of the night by strangers without knowing who they were or where I was going. I still suffer from flashbacks. All this place did was torture me for 90 days and I'd do anything to keep another kid from experiencing the pain I still feel from this place. Kids having behavioral problems deserve a safe space to heal and figure out what their problems are and how to face them. TAR is the exact opposite of a safe space for children. It's a predatory environment that breeds low self-esteem, low self-worth, encasing it in a bullshit religious agenda and run by frauds. Please do not send a child here. Stop sending your kid away to "deal" with your problem.

After TAR, I've gone through years of intense therapy and no therapist has ever said TAR was a good parental choice and how emotionally damaging it is for parents to push their "problem children" into a wilderness program as some answer. No child deserves this. Deal with the problems your parenting has created. Actively deal with the problems your children are facing so your kids know they're not alone. If you send your kids to TAR, you're a horrible person that deserves the karma coming to you for subjecting your child to torment when you're supposed to protect them.

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The facility is currently being sued due to alleged sexual assault. Some years ago, an employee was killed by one of the children held at the facility. A lawsuit states that the tragedy happened because the ranch in search for profit took in children, which were not evaluated to be handled with the level of security for both children and employees, the facility was able to provide.

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Sources:

• The original testimony on Yelp
• Youth sent by Dr. Phil to Turn-About-Ranch is suing due to sexual assault (Change.org)
• Inspired by Paris Hilton, woman says Utah ranch punished her for reporting assaults (Deseret News)
• Lawsuit claims Utah rehab ranch broke its own rules by admitting an addicted teen — who then killed a staffer (Salt Lake Tribune)

Testimony concerning Greenbrier Academy for Girls

This testimony was located on Yelp. All rights goes to the author.

Reposting since my reveiw was now deleted TWICE. May be wondering why GBA would be trying so hard to make sure nobody sees this...

I have never seen a worse place in my entire life. Girls sit on the “Sunporch” for hours everyday and about 8 on Sundays because there is nothing to do. The school claims that the four month program is transitional and opportunities like having a phone can be earned fast. This is the biggest lie. I was turning 18 and headed to college which is why my parents chose this place. I could not even walk around the entire campus alone for 2 weeks or even have an ipod for almost 7.

The place did not give me much opportunity to work on college applications and did not give me the option to tour colleges. I had barely any communication with my parents to help me with the process. There was no privelage to have a computer for yourself so all the time I was wasting sitting doing nothing on the sunporch I could have been on a computer talking to my parents in order to work on college applications or be on kahn academy to study for the SAT. I have openly told staff and leaders of the school how much I hated it and how I was signing out when I turned 18 and in return I was threatened without my parents awareness. I was threatened to be sent to the homeless shelter with $5 if I were to sign out. I was also threatened extended custody until the age of 21 which my parents had no intent or thought of doing. I was also told that they could be “very convincing” when it comes to parents and when my parents decided to pull me that they would have a “talk” with them. All of this just a week before I was taken out, trying to scare me.

The only good thing about the place is the RAs. These are the true therapists of the school and are the few people actually there to help your daughter. Although I was blessed with a good therapist not many girls are and when they ask to switch, the school will not allow it. This is messed up because your therapist decides your home visits and when you leave so if you have a bad therapist, be prepared to be extended. The school loves their threats and lies so I would consider this before sending your daughter here. I would also consider the fact that there have been multiple drug problems where girls have brought things in so if you want a safe environment, this is not the place. The school also tends to believe rumors and you will be treated poorly until you are able to prove you did not do anything. Until I had a clean drug test show up, I was treated as if I was snorting pills. I was also not able to talk to my parents about it and sense all calls are supervised and social calls will be ended if therapy related things are brought up there is no way to actually tell your parents what is going on in less you are willing to break the rules for it.

These were the least beneficial months of my life. I left two months early, have a full time job doing what I want to do, am taking classes at my local college, and being able to function as a normal teen without being locked up in that school. Also do not send your daughter here if you want her to be in any way prepared for college. A little kid could get As in the classes. Your kid WILL fail college if this is the only education they know. They will also make it very hard to recieve any credits most likely because they want the money and want your kid there longer. Overall terrible experience, send your kid elsewhere or maybe consider the fact that the educational consultants tell every parent after wilderness to not have their kid go home, not considering some kids are actually ready to go home.

Source:
The original testimony on Yelp

Katherine at Auldern Academy

This testimony was found on Google Maps. All rights go to the original author.

After now working in human services with disabled children, I've reflected a lot on my experience at Auldern. While I can agree that "it's all about perspective," it shouldn't have to be framed like that. The program is unprofessional, abusive, and traumatizing. Please do your research on the owner company, Sequel. It's a for-profit-prison and residential system-- not education at all. A lot of the practices used mimic that of being a prisoner. Their forms of punishment are that of manual labor, and after further research, are against labor laws. They used shame tactics, and had staff members come in intoxicated to verbally berate and abuse students at 1 in the morning. Please also look into "Breaking Code Silence." I was the first successful escapee in 2012. I've been called in to help with court cases and non-profits to bring light to these kinds of programs. If you are considering Auldern, I know that you are 1) desperate to help your daughter, and 2) you have money. There are other options that aren't institutionalized abuse. I have considered to this day to speak out against them for for everything from denial/refusal of medical care (I have a permanent muscle tear from being forced to carry boulders as punishment, and when I went to the nurse, was told it was just the weight from my backpack), endangerment (they convinced and manipulated my parents to kick me out during Hurricane Sandy in NJ until I agreed to come back when I ran away, even though I was 18), and the longterm impact/impairment that the trauma has left me.

If a parent is seeing this, please feel free to reach out to me. I will gladly divulge my full story. I have helped families get their daughters out of there. I promise you that your daughters can't fully communicate while they are there. Staff listens in on the phone calls, and are instructed to hang up the phones if students begin to get emotional or volatile. If someone has the e-mail privilege, their therapist is reading their e-mails. I would look like a lunatic when I'd behave normally on the phone, and then in person would beg my parents to get me out.

Also, in response to the mother saying their daughter's GPA went up, of course it did. The course work was easier than middle school and did not "college prep" me at all. In order to graduate, students had to apply to 2-3 colleges. They also withheld my credits when I returned to public school to finish senior year.

In addition, in response to "they are selective with their admissions process," they are not. It makes no sense clinically for me to have been accepted into a program with girls who had astronomically different treatment plans. I was there for having been in an abusive relationship and acting out in a rebellious way. I would sneak into New York City, and wouldn't answer my phone. While these are problem behaviors, how does it make any sense that I was in the same program as girls with addictions, ones who had witnessed siblings getting assaulted or had a Bi-Polar or Borderline diagnosis? Their "admissions process" is if you have the funding, and if they need a RTC instead.

So, my family dished out over $100k to leave me more traumatized with a lot of friends who are now dead after attending. If you have the resources, please seek help elsewhere.

Source
The original testimony from Google Maps

Mike's stay at ABM ministries.

Abm claims to be a cure, a safe space for kids who struggle.

They give a "tough love" approach. There is little love. Just tough. Day one Mr.Larry looked at me and laughed. "What's with the sour face? Did your dog just die? You where lucky. Usually we have people kidnap you in the night."

They took my adhd meds which I had been taking since I was 5 and got rid of them "It's just a lack of self control." I developed some sort of neurological tick. It's not adviced by psychiatrists that anyone go off a meds cold turkey. Parents are given a handbook. Then told a handful of lies. There is no physical abuse. Staff members will not berate/humiliate students. Food will not be used as punishment. Of course, the phone calls where monitored so saying things like "They are abusing me." Was impossible. The parents where told that their children would most likely say a number of outlandish things about the school, and that the child is lying to you because they wanna leave. pull one over on you.

Since I'm "gay" I was told that I would get restrained for making eye contact with any male student. Which in reality meant put you in a choke hold, punch you, push you, forcibly throw you face first into the ground, hold your head down while putting your arm behind your back in this position I can't even begin to describe because I can't imagine that it was physically possible, until you start screaming and obey. A student could be put into one at any time. Some times for just talking out of order.

Most parents reading this will think spare the rod spare the child! Your gay they did what they had to do! It wasn't just the rod, it was physical abuse. God! These people do not have the fruit of Christ to show for it. They are just master deceivers. I was consistently called a f#%^*¥, pickle lover. Humiliated in front of the other students. They would take away blankets and pillows, sometimes mattresses and you'd have to sleep on the thin wire bars of the bed. Painful. I watched a kid get cement glue shoved up his nose while he was being held up against a wall by his neck. Iv seen kids pass out. One child somehow got a hold of a razor and slit his wrists. Blood everywhere. He was unresponsive and we assumed taken to the hospital. Treated like absolute crap afterwords. 3 years ago he ended up killing himself.

We would have these "bible studies" and "church services" Mr. Larry would talk about himself, and how he was so smart, successful and how we should strive to be more like him. Christian homeschool program called ACE. Dumbest education I've ever had and unfortunately I was so behind in things like math and English when I entered college. If I got in trouble, I was outside doing "work projects" which consisted of running large stones back and forth, or digging holes in Missouri ground (all rocks) and putting up fence posts. My food was tortilla wraps with peanut butter. An overweight mentally handicapped boy was given small amounts of food and made fun of because he was fat, by staff members in front of students until he would cry. Which he did a lot. He had asthma and was given one water bottle and told to run laps for hours until he stopped crying. boy fainted.

We where forced to circle around a student one day, while he stripped into his underwear in the snow. He was a black student who had taken food from the kitchen once when no one was around (which was super rare). We where told to yell and scream at him and throw snowballs at him. You could get in trouble for doing nothing. Which meant the staff found something to be mad at you for. A lot of parents see me as just being leftist trash. I'm the furthest thing from liberal. I just see this school as wrong. One year a male teacher raped a female student. Her family ended up suing the school. Larry paid out a little more than what the school makes in a year in fees.

There where a lot of abuse allegations, they had changed the schools name multiple times in order to get away from bad reputations and allegations of abuse. Just do your research!

Source:

• The original testimony on Yelp

Trinity Teen Solutions survivors testimony

This testimony was found on Yelp. All rights goes to the author.
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My experience at Trinity was torture for me. I was not what you would really consider a troubled teen. Worst grade I had in High school was a C, I did not party, do drugs, or have sex. I did have communication issues with my parents and that is what I was sent to Trinity to address. I felt that the information my parents found on Trinity before sending me was misleading and the issues could have been better addressed in family therapy rather than a residential treatment facility. I was there from May 2008-Aug 2010.

I was sent at the age of 17, after getting drunk for the first time at my oldest brother's wedding. I was there for 26 months. During that time I saw my parents twice. I was not allowed to see my brothers or my grandparents. My grandmother died during my stay and I was not allowed to attend her funeral. Communication with my parents was monitored very closely. If anything I said on a phone call was seen as negative by staff I lost my phone privileges with my parents. I felt forced to say what staff wanted to hear even if it wasn't the truth for fear of losing contact with my parents. If the letters I sent were not considered "positive or uplifting" they were returned to me to rewrite. This was the only contact I had with my parents over the two years.

I have done research since leaving on the behavior modification model, also known as coercive persuasion. I encourage parents to do some research if you are considering residential treatment for your teen. The environment of this center feels very similar to a cult and masks abuse (physical, psychological, and emotional) as "tough love". I have had many other girls confide the same feelings to me since leaving. I was left feeling isolated, sleep deprived, overworked, and desperate to get home. Even after I turned 18 I was told that I was not allowed to leave. I was never informed of my rights. I was terrified to even ask because I did not want to be knocked down levels for being "defiant" or "manipulative". It is a constant state of fear. The "challenges" were assigned to either humiliate or break a certain behavior. I felt that very few of the challenges I endured actually had any positive effect on me.

The program is run on a "need to know" basis. The staff never disclosed how long I was to be there. My parents thought I would only be there for a few weeks. The anxiety behind not knowing the length of stay or even when the next time I could see my parents was unbearable. Any "change" I believe was inspired by the stress and were not effective outside of the ranch. After two years I had only reached level 3 of 6. I can't imagine how long it would have taken me to graduate. My stay cost my parents about $200,000+ dollars. My relationship with my parents after was still a mess. I felt lost and confused when I left, even though the staff claimed I was in a good place. I was 19 which I believe played a major part in me being able to leave. In my opinion, the truth was that nothing about Trinity had prepared me for re-entering the real world. Everything they had "taught" me there I felt was a lie and had no real world value.

I felt like the exorbitant amounts of money spent to keep me here should at least have afforded us things such as clean unused underwear, and clothes.

The Government Accountability Office website has thousands of reports of abuse regarding the troubled teen industry due to the lack of regulations. Trinity claims on their website, "As a Christian based Residential Treatment Center, Trinity Teen Solutions uses individualized treatment plans to help your child be a functioning part of today's world with the least restrictive environment possible." I feel that this is a lie based on my experience. I feel that the ambiguity depicted on their website does not accurately depict the level of restrictions and discomfort that they are exposing teens to. I felt that I had no freedom, no support; only fear, deprivation and isolation. We as humans need to be loved and accepted and will adapt to the environment around us to survive. That is what I did here, I survived, but I am left with the aftermath of the abuse and it will forever be part of my life.

I want you to know that I'm coming from this with 11 years of perspective. I have worked hard outside of Trinity to repair relationships with my family, but Trinity did not help me accomplish that. I believe that any success I have had in life is in spite of it. I am now happily married with 3 beautiful girls. I could never imagine putting them through a place like this. It is my job as their parent to protect them. I still to this day have nightmares that I get sent back (10 years since I left). My parents and I are on great terms now that they have seen me reach my potential as a mother and adult. It took us years to reach this place and to leave the hurt that Trinity caused us in the past.

Source:

• The original testimony on Yelp

Walker's testimony about Telos Academy

This testimony was located on Google Maps

I was a student of Telos academy 2 years ago. I was pulled from the program by my parents once they finally saw evidence of the claims I was making were true.

This school is a scam. Nothing on the web sight about the academics program is true for example, My math class was for told to be a 1 on 1 attention and help environment but in reality, you go in and sit at a computer for an hour doing mindless math work while not a single word is spoken in the room. I will be writing a very detailed and longer review soon to come with a lot more examples and evidence and stories.

Bottem line, I went to wilderness before telos and had a better, more productive time in wilderness, then when I came to telos the money started to pour out of our families pockets and I can tell you for a fact, I left this school with more issues than I had when I came in. Telos did not solve a single problem for me. They find a way to make it look like a family with group therapy and brothers by your side. This is not true unless you consider your family to be a group of higher powered authorizes that hover their power above you constantly as a reminder, your not in charge here, your parents can't help you nor will they believe you.

One more final example about how the web sight shows none of what the real school is about? We as students of Telos Academy were allowed to possed airsoft rifles and pistols, these weapons were kept at times in a shed and most of the time, IN YOUR DORM ROOM! SO do your research parents, don't get scammed, don't send your kid somewhere they wont be helped.

Source:
The original testimony on Google Maps

Kristopher's testimony about Telos Academy

This testimony was found on Google Maps.

To any lazy parent looking at google reviews to decide where to send their "troubled" child.

First thing you should know. If you send your child away for 1 thing, the Telos staff will find $250,000 worth of problems the day they meet your son.

I was held at Telos RTC for 11 month. During this time all i did was agree to fake issues that my "therapist" mentioned because they could never allow a student to finish his "treatment" before Telos breaks even on the cost of having him there. Telos therapy is a scam. The people working there are simply doing things any therapist can do, but because there patient cant leave until they tell there parents the therapist did a good job, they think if they just lie it will go faster.

Another thing that should be noted is how little parents are informed on the process. I came home after my time at Telos to learn that my parents had next to no idea of what Telos was like. They spruce everything up for parents weekend and make them think everythings great when in reality people are miserable.

Next is the school. I was forced to be at telos for 11 months. During which i was taking classes that didnt meet any standards and had no educational value. In addition to that, a few courses i took had no value. I took an online course for a full year of credit only to find out that because Telos didnt offer the spanish credit i need, i cant attend any UC schools. A big opportunity in my life gone because of the shabby basement telos calls a school.

All the professionals ive encountered here at home have agreed that based on my reveiw of telos, they no longer recommend this establishment to the parents they work for.

Source
The original testimony on Google Maps

For 10 years this blog only reached a marginal part of it potential audience

This blog started a decade ago. The team behind has collected testimony after testimony from adults who were traumatized during their teenage years.

Fact is that there are a lot more who suffer in similar way. The human brain tries it best to hide unpleasant memories because they can destroy a person if they are brought into attention. For many the only part of the past are the nightly nightmares, where they relive the horror night after night.

It is not helping that the so-called professionals who lied to the parents hoping to score a little referal fee or the so-called caretakers hired for their muscles more than their knowledge of the often complex psycological problems the teenagers arrive with, are not brought to justice. Too many owneers of such facilities have never been forced to repay the families for their scam. Too many victims of assaults inside the residential programs have never seen the employee convicted of assault.

That is the reason so many people never have spoken out against the violence or abuse they were subjected to.

Maybe it will change.

Paris Hilton has decided to deal with her past and reveal how awful Provo Canyon School were for her. Of course the present management state that it happened under former owners but lets see in 10 years if present patients do not step forward. What she were put through was not uncommon at Provo Canyon School while she were there. An organization like HEAL-online is very much established because victims of abuse at Provo Canyon School decided to argue for a stop of the abuse.

It has created a whole new kind of press coverage of abuse in residential treatment facilities and boarding schools.

Maybe now the many testimonies collected for this blog will be read by families so they know that they have to look for more local treatment and realize that outpatient programs are very much safer so children who didn't belong in residential programs do not end up there for a few dollars in referal fee to local medical staff or educational consultant.

Trinity Teen Solutions survivors testimony

This testimony was found on Yelp. All rights goes to the author.
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I was sent to Trinity in October of 2011 and graduated the program in July of 2013. My struggles were with anxiety and depression primarily, as well as some behavioral issues. I won't downplay that I was having some very serious problems, but Trinity was NOT the solution. Trinity is a catholic based treatment center that uses a mixture of strict discipline and once a week therapy. Some of the "discipline" includes humiliating and degrading "challenges." For example, The Chair. The Chair is simple, you sit on a chair in the corner facing a wall for a minimum of two weeks without speaking to anyone, participating in any activities, or having any form of entertainment other than 3 hours of online classes a day. If you broke any of the chair rules, the punishment would be to eat a bowl of kidney beans and olives instead of a regular meal.

I got very behind in my school work at Trinity Teen Solutions, as did many of the other girls. Which is ironic, because we did school work 12 months out of the year, six days a week. We participated in online school, which served as a very poor education for two years. I had no physical teacher for TWO YEARS. When I finished my time at TTS, I struggled immensely during my last year of high school due to the poor education I received.

I could go on and on about the various things that I experienced at Trinity, but suffice it to say that I'm 23 years old and I still struggle with the memories that I have of this place, and I feel that if I spend too long ruminating over it, I'll end up in a very dark place. I have been diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which was something that I never struggled with before TTS. While I do understand that one needs a predisposition to exhibit this behavior, the expectation of perfection that was perpetuated at Trinity is what caused these symptoms to develop in me. I had to mentally ritualize in order to feel safe. In one particular instance while I was being assessed for their bi-weekly "Holy Cowgirl" assessments, I was so overcome with anxiety that I ended up vomiting.

Being there for so long, I obviously had a mixture of positive and negative experiences. In a way, I was forced to develop a positive attitude, because fighting the system would have gotten me no where. I feel that this review would be dishonest if I didn't at least mention some of the things that made my Wyoming experience more tolerable.

1. My therapist J.D. Although JD no longer works for TTS
2. The Animals
3. It is pretty there
4. We weren't allowed to be friends with the other patients while we were there, but afterwards I talked to these people over social media and have made some really great friendships

I felt that I did what I had to in order to survive this place. I became a different person while I was there, but not in a way that I liked. I hated the person that Trinity turned me into. And when I look back on my teenage self, I try to have some compassion for that girl, because I was doing the best that I could at that time. I needed to please the powers that be, we were constantly reminded that if we didn't behave and change, that we would be held there indefinitely. Before Trinity, I was very passionate about art and drawing, but that was stomped out of me. I was only allowed to draw on some Sundays, and given punishment if I was caught doodling during the week. None of our notebooks were private, so if I did doodle, I would inevitably be caught. So I had to stop. I only draw rarely these days out of some subconscious fear of wrongdoing or punishment. It just doesn't feel safe to me (OCD).

I supposed that I should mention the outcome. Trinity is a very controlled environment, you are not in any way exposed to the real world. We aren't even allowed to talk about our lives pre-TTS, not even in a therapy group. After Trinity, my relationship with my family was more broken than it was before. I had only seen my parents four times in my two years there. My former friends had moved on with their lives, and I've had a great deal of trouble establishing meaningful relationships with anyone. I was told to lie to people at school about where I was. So, within weeks, I had turned to alcohol. I've been struggling with alcoholism for the last five years. Again, I don't entirely blame Trinity for this, but they claim a high success rate, which is simply not true. I'm not sure how they are measuring their idea of a success rate, to be quite honest. I'm doing better now, I sought treatment as an adult at facilities that had a proper understanding of my mental illnesses and addictions, and were able to effectively treat these things. I am doing better now, it is in spite of Trinity Teen Solutions, not because of it.

Source:

• The original testimony on Yelp

Trinity Teen Solutions survivors testimony

This testimony was found on Yelp. All rights goes to the author.
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When I was sent to this place in 2005 I was terrified, dressed in rags, and broke my back as I exceeded the child labor laws times a million daily. Not saying it was a total negative experience, although most of it was due to MOST of the people running the program.

I was there for about 8 months and I had only gotten 2 school credits (this is a fact). Kids and teens get hungry because they are constantly growing; my point is that the girls do not have access to the kitchen so if we are laboring in the heat or the freezing cold we only have water no Gatorade no gronola bars nothing to feed our energy, so now this is why some girls "steal" food (if you even want to call it that since the parents are paying the program more than enough money to feed an army, I shot you not) so anyways when they would do that they would give them ridiculous punishments, such as eating cold oatmeal for all 3 meals for 3 days in a row, yuk.

There were all kinds of crazy stuff they did. I personally was told that I had to tie myself to this other girl with a rope and we had to be tied together with a rope connected to our belt loops all day long until bedtime. This went on for 5 months. Then at one time, I had to care for that Saint Bernard dog you see in the pictures, only when bedtime came along I was not allowed to sleep in my bed, they made me sleep on the floor with the dog without a pillow or a blanket. I did not get the sleep I needed during that time and I still had to labor all day, that is if I wanted to eat real food. They ALWAYS use food as a punishment even though it says right there in the cowgirl manual that they will NOT use food as a punishment. These people like to contradict themselves, and if you think for one minute that Angie and Jerry (the owners) don't know what's going on think again because they do know and they don't care.

I was upset one night and so I just started running down the dirt road, they came after me in the truck and slammed me down On The ground. Now after this happens the staff preceded to tie up my entire body in a thick heavy rope and threw me in the back of the truck and drove back up to the cabins. I didn't know what the hell was going on and then I over heard them talking about locking me in the shed and they didn't do that because there were nails sticking out of the walls and so they thought I was going to kill myself ( and that's something I would never do, I was simply PISSED) but can you blame me? First of all I already had been traumatized before I went to this place and they just made things worse for me.

I'll tell you all something, ANYBODY can go and get a job that's meant for helping people, just to go for the money, and OR to make others miserable because they are miserable. There are a lot of crooked COPS, and many other titles. I really hope I can get through to many parents out there. One more memory is about this thing they put us through called "Pig Shifts" which means; after the mother pig gives birth, the girls are paired up and every pair has a set time each day or night or early AM to watch the piglets to make sure the momma does not crush them. Each shift would run 3 hours at a time. My pig shift was from 2am to 5am mind you that us two girls had to walk across a huge field about a mile and a half long in the middle of the night in the pitch dark knowing that a mountain lion was spotted by the neighbor, and we heard this from staff. Now we were not allowed to go to sleep until 9:30pm each night we had the option to stay up a little later but I was always so exhausted I had wished I could have gone to sleep earlier, especially with pig shifts and then laboring all day. One more thing I forgot to mention is that they like to make us run everywhere on top of the pig shifts, the daily labor, and the lack of nutrition.

Another important memory I must share; we went hiking in the mountains (very beautiful) anyways, once we had gotten to Deep lake we were to put our food up into the trees before we would camp for the night as there are REAL BEARS where they bring the girls. So I had put my food in the sack to go up into the tree and we were about to go to sleep and I had forgotten that I had a small Gatorade packet in my pocket ( yes the one time we actually got this type on stuff on hiking trips) so I was worried because I didn't want to get eaten by a bear so I told staff right away and it was a simple mistake but they got mad at me, so then I went to burry it away from the campsite to be safe. Then the next morning because of what happened with me and that Gatorade packet the night before the staff refused to let any of us eat breakfast, and this was the day after a very long and strenuous hike. Thank you God Bless

Source:

• The original testimony on Yelp

Trinity Teen Solutions survivors testimony

This testimony was found on Yelp. All rights goes to the author.
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I went here for about six months, and while I don't think it was as bad as some of the other reviews here say, it was still pretty bad. For one, before I went there I had never done drugs, never drank, never partied, but when I came back I felt the strongest urge to get into this stuff. I learned about piercings, tattoos, parties, alcohol, and all this other stuff I didn't really know about and being so restrained it seemed so fun! The turn over rate is very low, most girls can take 2+ years to graduate. Nobody had graduated in over a year when I was there Jan-Jul 2014. Most girls either "age out(turn 18, like I did)", or they get pulled out by their parents for whatever reason. Most girls parents don't let them go home when they turn 18, but my mom did because she had been planning on pulling me out soon anyways because she didn't like how regulated and censored the communication between us was, mostly letters.

The staff are pretty nice, but there is definite favoritism. I've talked to a lot of girls who went there, and the few of them who I've met said they had to kiss major butt to get anywhere. I was only comfortable actually talking to only 2 or 3 of the staff there, many of them are just either awkward or tend to make me feel like what I was saying was wrong. Now, maybe that was the case, but I thought they were supposed to help me open up and learn to see my mistakes instead of making me feel shut down and guilty. All I know is that I had a lot more self confidence going in than I did coming out.

Another thing was the horses. I LOVED the horses. One of the main reasons my mom said she sent me here was because she was really excited about the horses, but unless you are on horse chore you don't get to see or interact with them very often. You go riding maybe once every few weeks if you're lucky, though sometimes at random you'll go like three times in two weeks then not go again for a month. Not sure how that system works, but my mom wasn't very happy with it and neither was I.

The therapy was alright, I loved Bernadette! She made me feel like a normal person and a lot less guilty. Not everything bad is my fault, turns out! The staff though is a bit harsh. I know the point of the place is "tough love", but there's a point where it can go a bit overboard. You can try as hard as you can but it still will not be good enough, unless you meet these standards you feel awful about yourself. I did learn a lot, but I think the "trauma" kind of negated most of it. I have nightmares about the place and I wasn't even there that long compared to most. I was pretty well behaved, so I didn't get in too much trouble, but the punishments for things are very unbalanced. Once a girl freaked out and made us all leave the cabin and she just didn't get dinner, while once I accidentally ordered an extra box of soap and got a hill run. I understand that people need different punishments, but good golly. Some girls would act completely awful and so the staff would coddle them, while some of us got completely ignored. Now this is how I saw it. I don't know the whole story, but all I know is that it made me feel very insignificant and frustrated.

The religion was also kind of shoved down your throat. I am a christian, not catholic, but I still got shut down when I tried to give my opinion during group discussions. If they didn't agree with you, you were wrong. Another thing about the "group therapy", I didn't even know that was supposed to be "therapy". Most of the time we watch videos about a saint or how to react in different situations(videos that were made in the 80's may I add). Those videos are hilarious and none of us take them seriously, they are just too dang corny. They call it "group therapy", but its more just something to keep us occupied for an hour or two.

Now, in my opinion, if your daughter is close to turning 18, has never drank, partied, or done drugs, isn't very religious, or anything like that, this isnt the place. I cant speak for others, but when I came out I think I was worse than when I went. Also if you actually want her to graduate expect her to be there for at least two years. I did learn some stuff though, like that you can put anything on a tortilla! Also patience and people skills because the girls there can be nuts. I love them though and I can't wait until they get out so I can talk to them without being constantly monitored. So anywho, yep. That's my opinion.

Source:

• The original testimony on Yelp

Trinity Teen Solutions survivors testimony

This testimony was found on Yelp. All rights goes to the author.
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Please do not send your daughter here. I left Trinity almost three years ago, and suffer from the repercussions everyday I was barely 16 when I was sent to TTS and left at almost 18. Those are two vital years of a young persons life, in which they should be nurtured and be able to learn from their mistakes.

Trinity is a verbally, emotional and psychological abusive program that you leave having no feeling of self worth or confidence. I know I do not speak for just myself as I am in contact with MANY previous Trinity girls. A majority of the reason I was sent to Trinity, was because of my adoption. My "counselor" and staff would never allow me to talk to them about my adoption and upon leaving they told me I was not allowed to talk to my birth family for a year. They refuse your basic human rights and treat you worse than if you were residing in a prison.

I have many psychological as well as physical damage as a result from Trinity. While there I was told I was not allowed to engage in any extraneous activity involving my knees. However I was still made to do these and more, now at 20 years old I have the muscle, bone structure and fragility of a 70 year old woman. I also had many UTI's as a result of being refused to be taken to the bathroom while on chair.

I suffer from social anxiety and PTSD, waking up screaming in the middle of the night afraid I am being sent back. If you want the best for your daughter, DO NOT send them here. They will come back with only more damage and hurt before they left.

Source:

• The original testimony on Yelp

Trinity Teen Solutions survivors testimony

This testimony was found on Yelp. All rights goes to the author.
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I attended Trinity as a teen and have since tried to forget the trauma that happened to me while I was there but have found myself 5 years later, still tortured by the memories. I was your typical rebellious teen- experimenting with alcohol and drugs, defiant, hanging out with older boys, and depressed. However, the punishment I received at trinity for being this way is something I would never wish on my worst enemy. All Trinity did was confuse and lie to my family, and further traumatize me. I was sitting in a car one day after I got out drinking and smoking weed with my old friends 100 times MORE self destructive, alone, and sad than I was the day I went to Trinity. The affects of Trinity led me to be a serious hard drug abuser, something I was never destined to be coming from my loving and supporting family that was only trying to help me. I had no other way to numb the memories and pain. Every other girl I attended with had similar fates- either became serious junkies, or became promiscuous and had children out of wedlock because they were only searching for love and to numb the memories as well. I am being totally honest when I say this- I WOULD HAVE RATHER BEEN IN JAIL.

Why? Many reasons. One, in jail you actually know how long you are going to be there. Trinity is on a "need to know basis." So unless it is information you need to know in a life or death situation, it is withheld from you. The MONTHS never knowing when you will be able to see your family again or be treated like a human being are torture. Two, you can talk to other people in jail and rely on each other for support. At Trinity, the girls are not in any case allowed to be friends or talk to each other without permission. No one is allowed to know why the other one is there. Theyre encouraged to tattle on each other and punished if they do not. This creates a lonely and depressing environment versus having other girls there for support and to share similar struggles with. Three, if you are doing well you will get out sooner and vice versa. At Trinity, no matter what you do, you will be accused of faking it and lying and problems will be made up by staff for you, anything in order to tell your parents you need to be kept there longer. It is biased and decided by unqualified "life coaches" that have simply received an undergrad degree in something like psychology and has no training. I was once told by one of these staff members that I was getting too close with another girl and every time I looked or spoke to this other girl I was tacking on a few months to my stay at Trinity. My final reason is you are given adequate hygiene, food, and clothing in jail. At Trinity, every girl there even though we were all different sizes and body builds were FORCED to eat the exact same portion every single meal and if they didn't eat something on their plate? Punished. This was too much for some girls and never enough for others. Showers were maybe once a week in cold water for 5 minutes. And the underwear, bras, and clothing were reused by girls for over 20 years- it was ratty and disgusting. One girl came back as a staff member 10 years after she had been there and said she recognized her sweat pants and hoodies she wore at age 15. This is pretty amusing to me since TRINITY COSTS NEARLY $300 A DAY. Yet they spent none of this money on clothing or anything else really. Food was ordered cheaply in bulk and the girls made every thing themselves- low cost pasta and rice meals- and if anything started getting used to much and became "too expensive" it was immediately nixed. I was once reprimanded for using the too expensive avocados.

Angie Woodward, the owner. How that name makes me cringe. She is the lovely lady responsible for harming so many teen girls and scamming hundreds of people into dumping her loads of cash for her multiple homes, vacations, and boats, cars, horses, ATVs, etc. that she parades around the girls and rubs in their faces while they are slaving away on her ranch. Angie's father owns the trouble teen boys ranch down the road and is where she learned all of these shaming and fear tactics for the clients and families. The only difference between the two ranches is that the boys one has been closed for abuse, neglect, and fraud, while Angie's is surprisingly still open! She claims to have years of experience and be our on staff nurse but I think I only saw her twice in the whole year and a half I was there- like I said she was busy vacationing. She hires 24 years olds fresh out of undergrad to carry out the dirty work instead who are too fresh in the world and naive to know they are doing something wrong- although a few figured it out and left and have written reviews here themselves that are negative but have been removed. Ill spare you the details of the abuse and neglect that goes on at Trinity- all you need to know is it is a scam with false advertising, AND YOU SHOULD NEVER SEND YOUR DAUGHTER HERE.

Source:

• The original testimony on Yelp

An insight into Sunset Bay Academy - a program in Rosarito, Mexico

I am from Missouri, I was kicked out of my first boarding school in Montana, therefore I was sent to SBA, aka CLA. I am assuming their choice of this boarding school was due to financial concerns. I wasn't thrilled to be admitted to this place since it was in another country, but little did I know, that was the least of my concerns.

To start off the facility is a hazard to all of the students, supposedly the walls are all coated in chemicals that don't allow them to burn. All of the window have bars and doors are locked therefore if there was a fire then the students could be in danger. In most cases when the students are punished they are sent to "observation" which is isolated square enclosures located outside. Students are either restrained and dragged there or comply and walk there.

The protocol meal served for students in observation is a salad with no dressing, a glass of water and sometimes fruit if someone sneaked it to you. I've seen students locked in there for up to 3 months. At meal time if a student doesn't consume 80% of their meal they will be sent to observation.

The water is often freezing cold and the water is contaminated. There are many opportunities for students to run away when out on outings. Whenever I first arrived, a former student, Paige Cropsey and I were planning on running away on a volleyball outing.

Gilberto Espinosa was the staff in charge of taking us since he was the one on shift with the female students during the morning and mid afternoon. Paige actually spoke with Gilberto and asked him if he would cover for us, he told her he would tell the police that we headed for the border while we in reality ran the other direction. He also offered to buy us hair dye to change our hair color and that we should begin exposing ourselves to the water by adding small amounts into our water bottles so it wouldn't make us sick when we drank water off the streets. We told another student about our plan and she turned us in to make herself look better so we were put on run watch for a few weeks. I heard stories that there were staff that used to work there that would bring in weed for students in observation and smoke together. Another story I heard was that Megan Yang, another former student, had multiple sexual relations with staff and students from the male side. Another story I heard is that Paige Cropsey was offered a deal from Hugo Wright, if she had sexual relations with him then she would earn her stage.

The program consists of stages. Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preperation, Action, Maintenance and Transition. After all of those stages are obtained students are generally free to return home. I was at this facility for 11 months. There were many times when I was caught kissing boys and doing things I weren't supposed to do and I wouldn't get in trouble for it, but other students were. I feel like I was favored by staff because I am a blonde American while most other females are Mexicans. I remember one night I was in the tv room, it was dark in there and I had my blanket over me. Gilberto was sitting right next to me, we were also alone and the door was closed. He told me he really liked me and I was pretty, I had been at this for around 9 months at this point. I was shocked I had to ask him again what he had said because I thought I had heard it wrong but no I didn't. He then grabbed my butt and chuckled. I was very uncomfortable but didn't want drama so I didn't tell anyone about it. There was a staff named Paulina that was dating Paige Cropsey there. I actually did tell Hugo Wright about this and he seemed unfazed.

After Paulina left, there was a man named Arturo that took her place. He let two students make out in his classroom and made sure no staff were coming. The female was Janny Stockman. Gilberto ended up having sexual relations with me in a van one night, it was awful. Please just get this place shut down.

Sources:

• The original testimony from Google Maps
• About the facility (1000 places You don't want to be as a teenager)