Ginger, this is the letter written to the PANI in March.  I am not the only one who wrote.  There were several of us, including Amberly.  Also, I am attaaching the Translation Summary that we talked about on the phone.  This letter is one of the ones talked about in the Translation Summary.

Carey


Subj: Dundee Ranch Academy
Date: 3/4/03 12:53:13 PM Central Standard Time
From: Careycbock
To: panipre@racsa.co.cr



Rosalia Gil
Minister of Costa Rica's Child Welfare Agency

I am not exactly sure where to start.  So let me begin by saying that Dundee Ranch Academy is a part of a very large controversial organization that abuses and exploits families. 

I ask that you start by obtaining one of Dundee's enrollment agreements and reading it through.  The first thing you will notice is that it is written to protect the "program" and not the children who are there.  The enrollement agreement is a "red flag" all in itself.  Over and over again it is stated that the school is not to be held responsible for what happens there.  Just about every paragraph states:

.   "Sponsors agree to hold harmless and release from liability or damages …" For instance, Section 9, dealing with Supervision states, "The Sponsor understands these risks, and agrees to hold harmless the School/Program, and its staff, from all liability or damages associated with these areas."   Section 11, dealing with Academics, states, "Sponsors understand this and agree to hold harmless and release the School/Program from any liability or damages concerning academic credits."  Section 14 and 15 dealing with Medication and Medical Intervention states "Sponsors understand these risk and agree to hold harmless and release Academy Dundee from all liability and damages associated with medication/medical care " Section 16, dealing with Unauthorized Actions of its Employees states, "Sponsors agree to hold harmless and release the School/Program from all liability and damages any actions of the School/Program's staff or employees that are outside the scope of their constituted responsibilities or realm of their employment." 

The "school" does not want to take any responsibility but they want to have total control.  There is a high risk of abusive power in a situation such as this.  Behind closed doors they can become the parent you and I never had. They can impose their authority with an iron will and back it up with support staff.  Their behavior changing methods include the use of; emotional stress, shock and desensitization, sensory deprivation and separation from familiar sources of emotional support, enforced silence for months at a time, observational placement for days at a time in positions that cause pain, over exposure to the sun that causes pain, and restraints that cause dislocations of the shoulders.  They stripp the teens of their normal defences such as reserve, dignity and a sense of privacy.

How can this be a good thing for kids?  This alone is reason enough to close the place down and to remove the teens from a harmful and detrimental environment.  I ask, why did the school not register with the local agencies in Costa Rica when the school was first opened?  They did not register because they would rather be able to operate without any checks and balances. 

The school's cost to the parents is outrageous if you look at what is actually being spent to help the teens.   The school does not employee indviduals who are trained and qualified to work with at risk teens.  Some of the staff members are teens themselves who have been through the program or who are still going through the program.  So, staffing is not a big expense.  The accomadations are not exactly a big expense, especially when 12 teens are sleeping in a 9 foot by 9 foot room.  When I went to Dundee to pick up my boys there were 100 boys in the boys dorm and yet only one commode worked, and then only sorta did it work (you could not put tolet paper in it, it had to be put in a trash can next to it, or else there would not be any commodes working at all).  That is not a very sanitary environment and I would think it would be totally unacceptable to your agency.   Our prisoners here in the United States have better accomadations than these children do. It is not that the school does not have the money, because parents are paying an exhorbant amount of money, it is that the money is being spent to line the pockets of a few greedy individuals.  This is explotation at its best.  Greedy individuals are exploiting at risk teens and their families.  The teens are paying the price and one day society will ultimately pay the price.

If Dundee Ranch Academy was a good and upstanding Academy they would have disclosed to your agency the fact that they existed and they would have registered with local educational agencies.  But they did not.  They located themselves in your country in order to evade the child protective agencies in the States.    They chose not to disclose that they were there to your agency so that they could operate undetected for as long as they could.  At this point they should be shut down because they are underhanded and they can not be trusted with the lives of our children.

Carey Bock
577 Cambronne St.
Mandeville, LA 70448

985-626-7488 (Home Phone)
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