Residential Facilities: Troubled Environment, Not Troubled Children
Parents who are currently seeking a residential treatment facility for your “troubled teen” please educate yourselves by using research tools we’ve provided regarding the long term effects this may have on your child. Its imperative for parents to seek alternative methods for helping their child rather than choose a facility that employs scare tactics & solitary confinement. Logan River Academy employs staff members who lack the skills & education necessary to treat children. Often times the staff members hired are highly unqualified & some have no prior experience with children at all. Logan River Academy’ s tactics involve targeting a child’s behavior with no intention on helping them work on the cause. Therefore limited progress is made if any or the child will leave worse off than when they went in. Also the behavior of this “troubled” child may simply be a result of their troubled environment affected by those they interact with. A loving parent who focuses on strengthening their relationship with a child but fails is not to blame. However those who transport their children to a cash for kids profit based institution are abandoning them. A child will feel a parents loyalty & they will also recognize when they’re being pushed aside. How can loyalty ever be established when one is so quick to send their child away. Make every effort to create an environment that helps, loves, & empowers your child. Join their battles alongside them & figure out ways of handling issues together. In the early stages of growth they are often times a product of their environment.
Strengthening a human involves parents who teach their child to think for themselves. Arm them with skills that are wrapped in love and covered with a roof they can call a permanent home. Thats when they’ll be effective at shaping the environment they’re in. Teaching them to only “follow” won’t develop their minds and it’ll leave them vulnerable to those who have negative intentions as well. There are several “kids for cash operations who thrive on a failed parent/child relationships. this is the truth & this truth happens all over the nation Whether you choose to believe it or not. when you hand your child over to a bunch of strangers who label them as “troubled” that is when the trouble really begins, understand that.
We are #ShutLoganRiver Refer to our website for information on the abusive practices of Logan River Academy. Read our testimonials, watch the videos, and sign the petition.
Also please submit a google review of Logan River Academy Here Parents will check the credibility of each treatment facility they research. This is an opportunity for survivors to tell the world what they or someone they know experienced at Logan River Academy. This action may prevent a parent from enrolling their child once they see how others have been treated in the past. In addition that parent may realize this method may not be a necessary step in the process of providing a better life for their child. They may actually realize this will cause more harm than good.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is set to investigate a complaint filed by a Boston Attorney against Boston Children’s Hospital and its “Bader 5″ Psychiatric Unit.
According to a January 31 posting by reporter Beau Berman – who broke the story leading to the complaint – the Department of Public Health has confirmed that it is assigning an investigator to review the complaint.
For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the case, in February 2013, 15-year-old Justina Pelletier was checked into Boston Children’s Hospital with flu-like symptoms by her parents. Prior to her admission, Justina had been undergoing treatments for Mitochondrial Disorder at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.
Over three years ago, Justina had been diagnosed with the rare genetic condition of Mitochondrial Disease. Her 25-year-old sister, Jessica, also suffers from the disease. Both girls were treated by a specialist at Tufts Medical Center, Dr Mark Korson. The hospital was only a two-and-a-half-hour drive from their home in West Hartford, Connecticut.
At the recommendation of her doctor at Tufts Medical Center, Justina was admitted to Boston Children’s Hospital to see a gastro-intestinal specialist, Dr. Alex Flores, who had recently transferred from Tufts to BCH.
Almost immediately, a different team of doctors swept in. delivering a different diagnosis, questioning the original diagnosis of mitochondrial disease, explains Beau Berman, Investigative Reporter with FOX News in Connecticut.
The Hartford-Courant explains what happened next:
*Within 24 hours of being admitted to Boston Children’s in February, physicians came up with a different diagnosis for Justina: somatoform disorder, a psychologically induced condition that has physical symptoms.
*Justina’s parents, Linda and Lou Pelletier, objected to the diagnosis and sought to discharge her from the hospital and take her to Tufts Medical Center, where she was originally diagnosed with mitochondrial disease.
*But hospital officials refused and reported suspicions of medical child abuse to the state in February, according to a source familiar with the situation and media reports. Shortly afterward, the state assumed custody of Justina.
Full Article and Source:
Boston Children's Hospital to be Investigated by Department of Public Health
See Also:
Major Update in Justina Pelletier Case; Lawmakers Get Involved, Teen Will Not be Transferred to Foster Care
Update about 'Logan River Academy - Stop using solitary confinement a.k.a. "Precaution," and "Development," on kids.' on Change.org
Dear Supporters,
We write with news on several fronts. First, Logan River Academy has retained Marty Collins of Page 1 marketing to post fake reviews about themselves. A volunteer cadre has been reporting the fake reviews and we are starting to win. Please help us by Googling “Logan River Academy,” finding the fake ones (they are fairly obvious,) and reporting them to Google as SPAM. If you feel comfortable, you can also leave a 1-star review of your own. This will help to ruin their image in the market. We know from inside sources that new student enrollment was down significantly in December of 2013.
Second, our next Twitter Storm has been scheduled for Thursday, March 13th at 6PM Pacific/9PM Eastern/1AM GMT (3/14.) The storm package is available here:
http://www.shutdownloganriver.com/tweetstorm-2014-03-13
We have rallied over 350 new Twitter followers in the past 6 days. Our stats are:
2072 Change.org Signatures
1916 Twitter Followers
554 Facebook Likes
152 Google+ +1s
16 YouTube Subscribers
Also, we have released the cell phone number of Mr. Collins, as well as the home addresses and telephone numbers of Dr. Crist and Larry Carter.
As always, the latest news can be found on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shutdownloganriver
Google+: plus.google.com/109818414890899363607/posts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StopLoganRiver
Regards,
The ShutdownLoganRiver.com Team
Change.org: "Logan River Academy - Stop using solitary confinement a.k.a. "Precaution," and "Development," on kids.." Change.org does not endorse contents of this message.
My name is Michael Joseph Carter. I was born February 1st 1985. I’m from Central Connecticut. I was detained at Logan River Academy for 13 months, being August 1st 2001 until august 31st 2002. Prior to being admitted into Logan River Academy, I had never been evaluated by a psychologist or...
"On Wednesday, February 12, Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), will host an event to discuss the findings of a Committee investigation into the obstacles faced by parents whose children were secluded or restrained in public schools."
"WHEN: February 12, 2014, 10:00am – 11:00am ET"
"The Twitter feed for the event is #KeepStudentsSafe"
The Plan:
While Logan River Academy is a private institution, Washington will be watching Twitter during this event. This is an oppurtunity for us to highlight the need to take action to protect ALL children, regardless of their educational setting and to remind those in Washington that child torture occurs in settings where the student is literally physically prevented from going home or contacting the outside world. Please join us on Wednesday morning, if you are unable to join us, please consider using automated tools to Tweet on your behalf. The timing of this storm is critical, and we do not know how long, if ever, until we get another one like it.
If you choose to participate, please copy/paste one tweet from below per 2 minutes at the appointed time. This is faster than the normal 1 tweet per 5 minutes, see below.
PLEASE NOTE: Re-tweets do NOT trend the hashtags - in order to trend the hashtags, we MUST copy/paste. Also, tweets with more than 3 hashtags DO NOT HELP the tags trend.
If you send more than 116 Tweets in an hour or 1000 in a day your account will end up in "TwitterJail:"
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Twitter%20Jail
Unlike most storms, the Senate event ends at 11AM. The storm goes on as long as people are tweeting, however to be most effective we should focus our efforts mostly between 10AM-11AM Eastern. For this reason we are asking people to send them faster than usual. If you send all the tweets, Twitter won't let you send exact duplicates soon, but you can change as little as a single character and send.
About Logan River Academy & #ShutLoganRiver
Logan River Academy is a licensed treatment facility in Logan, Utah that uses cruel and inhumane practices on learning disabled and at-risk children.
More information is available here: http://www.shutdownloganriver.com
Logan River Change.org petition - PLEASE SIGN: http://www.change.org/petitions/logan-river-academy-stop-using-solitary-confinement-a-k-a-precaution-and-development-on-kids
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shutdownloganriver
Twitter: @StopLoganRiver
FB RSS: http://facebook.com/feeds/page.php?id=590625127665075&format=rss20
Google+ Page: https://plus.google.com/109818414890899363607/
Google+ Community: https://plus.google.com/communities/103874076855913450359
Anonymous Videos:
http://vimeo.com/78952716
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZfSw6k06tA
Tweets
Children need love & care, not seclusion & restraint #ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe http://tash.org/harkin-to-unveil-results-of-help-committee-investigation-into-use-of-restraint-seclusion-in-schools/
"I was put in a solitary confinement a.k.a development for over 3 months at a time." http://chn.ge/1eGY1qE#ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
Please help us #ShutLoganRiver to #KeepStudentsSafe! https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s2020https://www.shutdownloganriver.com
"The things that I witnessed were damn near from a horror scene at times."http://www.shutdownloganriver.com/testimonials#t4 #ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
Without this bill to #KeepStudentsSafe, this happens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6mWZZVmSiM#ShutLoganRiver
This bill to #KeepStudentsSafe could #ShutLoganRiver too! https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s2020
"… you might have assumed that I was talking about Human Rights violations in a 3rd world country."http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THQ5AKk_QR4 #ShutLoganRiver
"Youth are enduring painful restraing practices, and isolation for… months…" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3ye8YB109M #ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
@thinkprogress children are tortured in the name of rehabilitation #ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
Want to #KeepStudentsSafe? #ShutLoganRiver! https://www.shutdownloganriver.comhttps://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s2020
Seclusion & restraint hurts children it does NOT help them! http://tash.org/harkin-to-unveil-results-of-help-committee-investigation-into-use-of-restraint-seclusion-in-schools/ #ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
"I was put on 'devo' for over 6 months and I wasn’t able to talk to anyone." http://chn.ge/1eGY1qE #ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
Father would rather go to jail than allow Logan River Academy to “treat” his son http://abcnews.go.com/US/fla-milliionaire-dad-jail-time-letting-son-16/story?id=16764183 #ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
When students can't talk to the outside world, there is 0 accountability… https://www.change.org/petitions/logan-river-academy-stop-using-solitary-confinement-a-k-a-precaution-and-development-on-kids #KeepStudentsSafe #ShutLoganRiver
Students describe the torture they endured and witnessed and Logan River Academy.http://www.shutdownloganriver.com/testimonials #KeepStudentsSafe #ShutLoganRiver
Doing this to children is WRONG! #Petition http://chn.ge/1cFvWhK http://chn.ge/1eGY1qE #BringMadiHome #ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
“Troubled teens” need actual therapeutic help, not physical abuse and solitary confinement.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D26vEWh6jqY #KeepStudentsSafe #ShutLoganRiver
"I've been there. It's awful. Over 10 years ago. 2002" http://www.shutdownloganriver.com/testimonials#t5#ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
Surgeon General's Report Stating Residential Programs to be ineffectivehttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK44295/#A13025 #KeepStudentsSafe #ShutLoganRiver
Please visit our page: https://www.shutdownloganriver.com, read the testimonials and sign the petition. #ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
"Females at [LRA] suffer a different kind of shame & abuse" http://chn.ge/1eGY1qE #ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
Kids depend on responsible adults to protect them. http://tash.org/harkin-to-unveil-results-of-help-committee-investigation-into-use-of-restraint-seclusion-in-schools/ #KeepStudentsSafe #ShutLoganRiver
List of children who died in private and government-run programs and institutions:http://teenadvocatesusa.homestead.com/inmemoriam.html #KeepStudentsSafe #ShutLoganRiver
Names of “residential treatment centers” where children have died:http://www.residentialtreatmentcenterabuse.com/deaths-at-residential-teen-programs.php #KeepStudentsSafe #ShutLoganRiver
The “troubled teen industry” has ZERO accountability because of ZERO federal oversight.https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr1981 #KeepStudentsSafe #ShutLoganRiver
"Too often, children with disabilities are subjected to restraint & seclusion…" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpeVig_RQyo #ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
"We will be haunted as long as we live by Erica's cry of 'Please Daddy, don't make me go!'"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZNMa2kC6ns #ShutLoganRiver #TTI
If The Congress read this: http://www.amazon.com/Tough-Love-Behind-Trouble-Industry-ebook/dp/B00ENFKNOQthey'd #ShutLoganRiver & #KeepStudentsSafe
"My son died as a result of one of these programs. I'd hate to see that happen again." http://chn.ge/1eGY1qE#ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
"NATSAP does not provide oversight of our member programs" http://natsap.org/natsap-members/how-to-become-a-member/ #ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
"The memories I received from Logan River Academy have scarred me for life."http://www.safeteenschools.org/images/GWA-SNW-LRA_MAX.txt #ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
"I was mentally tortured and still have a scar that will never go away."http://www.shutdownloganriver.com/testimonials#t3 #ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
"I spent 7 months… in devo for trying to run…" http://www.shutdownloganriver.com/testimonials#t4 #ShutLoganRiver #KeepStudentsSafe
My name is Michael Joseph Carter. I was born February 1st 1985. I’m from Central Connecticut. I was detained at Logan River Academy for 13 months, being August 1st 2001 until august 31st 2002. Prior to being admitted into Logan River Academy, I had never been evaluated by a psychologist or psychiatrist. I was taking no prescription medication other than prescribed to me for my allergies. I had been on no special directives or special education. While I wasn't excelling in school, I was not a delinquent. I attended school despite being tossed around to various different high schools and middle schools, due to my father's disarray in his own lifestyle. During my time in Utah I had a blatant refusal to conform to the program rules. The LDS religion was repeatedly put on me by my therapist and by my unit staff. My “unit staff”, which basically consists of BYU students in various degrees of repression and resentment. They were…they were sadistic. They push the religion on us and they lashed out against us physically.
During my stay most if it was spent in what is known as “development”. Development is a room that at the time I was there, before they had built the school building, was on the third floor on the south half building. There were maybe two dozen desks. Six desks facing forward. While you were in development you were to face forward. You were not to speak. Every 30 minutes we’re given a break. So on the 25 minute structure, you were given a five-minute break. If there were 25 people, 24 people in development and you had to use the restroom, you best have your hand up in the first three when they call break—because you weren’t going to use it until the next break. If you spoke, you were given another “infraction” equaling more time. If you looked at another person, in any other way other than straight ahead, or down at your books, you were given an infraction, equaling more time. If you talked about any religion other than the LDS religion, if you talked about home, if you had any insubordination toward any of the staff members (and we're talking speaking of it, we're not talking acting out), you got different infractions. If you said anything bad about the LDS Church, about the facility, about Larry Carter, you’re given more infractions. Mostly for insubordination, or whatever the fuck they made up. And that was the best of it. That was the best you can hope for, would be to sit in solitary confinement for weeks, for months, months straight, without talking to people.
“Outside structure” – run laps to, you know, to be compliant with your outside exercise machine. Whatever the hell made them happy or compliant in their own eyes. If you acted out though, it was called “taking a chair”-- where you would be forced to sit Indian style against the wall for extended periods of time. I remember one instance—his name was Alex. He lives in upstate New York. I won't use his last name, out of respect. I haven’t asked his permission. He was crying, he was visibly upset. He was 14 years old and he was on a “chair use” calling out for his mother or something. The staff would tackle him and put his head into the wall and just belittle him. And I mean, as if being Indian style as all your peers were marched by, like something in the gulag. If the humiliation wasn't bad enough, you had to be abused, physically abused. Restraints were doled out unnecessarily. Not mechanical restraints, but they were attacking you. You know, we had a couple of guys who were BYU football players. A fourteen-year-old child is suffering from addiction problems, or whatever problems they have at home, to have four football players, linebackers, tackle a 14 year old. These are college kids. It got out of hand—I mean a lot of people got hurt. And then the worst of it was “observation”. Observation, (I think they call it, call it something else now), but they put you in a room, a little room. No doors, no windows, you were to sit there. You weren’t allowed to talk, you weren’t allowed to move. If you did any of those things, you would get more time. And there were various reasons that would go out. If you are in development, and you just simply refused and said fuck this, you’d go to observation. You’d be tackled, put on a chair, and if they didn't like you, cause there was favoritism, you would absolutely he put in observation. And that was the worst because they would take your clothing. You would sit there in your underwear sometimes, on full display for anyone see. I can’t explain to you what that's like, to be 14, 15 years old to have to endure that. You know, I'd like to think there was a sense of camaraderie. There wasn't. You know in schools you’ve got the clicks, where you’ve got the jocks and the nerds. And we had all of that, we had we had people from all walks of life. We were all banded together because it was just so out of line. It was so unacceptable to be a part of. Just to belittlement, forget about the physical abuse, you know. At least in the boys unit, I can't speak for anyone on unit one or two. Mind you this is in 2001 and 2002. I agree that the entire layout has changed. But on the boys unit, there was a lot of a belittlement. You know, you can write it off as tough love. But tough love is tough love. Tough love isn’t just pure insults, and shame, and constant fear if you do anything wrong, anything to offend anybody, you would just be forced to sit in a room, alone, for an undetermined amount of time. They’d say, okay, you received a class two infraction, you're going up there for four hours. But when you're up there, if the guy had a bad day before, the administrator, the developmental staff, he didn’t like you, and he’d point you out for doing nothing at all, you’d be up there for days. You’d be sleeping up there. You’d be up there for months—alone, secluded, isolated, and there was nothing you can do. There are no access to phones. You cannot reach out to friends, family, other than structured monitored phone calls once a week with your therapist present, who does in fact filter the call. You’re under constant fear of getting infractions and spending more time, if you were to just burst out and to say look, this is what's happening. It is controlled. Everything is regulated. And the long-term effects are quite damaging. I was fortunate enough to just say “fuck the system”, pardon my language, we can edit that out. But I took a lot of the brunt of it and I didn't care.
If I had to do it all over again I would have stood up for myself. And long after my release, it affected me for a really long time. The exposure you have two drugs, to just a nefarious way of life…it's astounding. I can't imagine how these places are still in business. I can’t wrap my head around how they are allowed to operate legally. They are completely money-driven. Have no previous psychological evaluation in a negative or a positive, any effect. I was still forced to see a therapist. I was still conditioned to believe that I was somehow in the wrong because I didn’t like my father. Because he got into my trust fund and spent all of my money on a house in a jeep and had me shipped away for the cost of seventy three thousand dollars so my own money for my own incarceration, with no foundation for me to be there. It’s damaging. And to see so many kids… David from Michigan. I watched him chew the skin of his feet, just to get medical attention, just to get out at the facility. Just to have the opportunity to just--I don't know what his motivation was. Dave wasn’t a messed up guy. Dave wasn't loose in the head. Dave was terrified you know, a place like that makes you suicidal. I'm a collected, educated, productive member of society now, today with no credit going to Logan River. And you know I specifically recall on the day I left, I was asked by Katie Bem, she still works there I believe, my therapist, she asked me if I believed Logan helped me in any way, and you know I think that was the first jaw dropping experience up my life. I couldn't believe she asked me the question and expected me to take it seriously. I don't know, there's more to come. Stay tuned.
For more information on Michael Carter and other survivors and what you can do to prevent further abuse at Logan River Academy: Visit the Shutdown Logan River Academy website.
