Fornits

Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora
An open discussion about the troubled parent industry

These links may help. Good luck w/ your project.

http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comment ... y_parents/

http://www.reddit.com/r/troubledteens/c ... n_a_three/

http://www.reddit.com/r/troubledteens/c ... d_share_a/

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/mar ... n-collier/

Special report: Driver in Collier 'Swamp Boys' fatal crash had undetected record

    By JACOB CARPENTER
    Posted March 17, 2012 at 6 p.m.



Daniel Huerta


OCHOPEE — Trapped inside an SUV overturned in a creek, water gushing into the cabin, 16-year-old Joseph Wilson felt a tug at his leg.

Somebody was underwater below him.

Wilson plunged his hand into the icy water, feebly grasping for the passenger, trying to pull him up.

"His hand slipped," Wilson said. "And I knew right then that it was Daniel."

Seventeen-year-old Daniel Huerta drowned in December when a Ford Expedition driven by Johnson Atilard, a 25-year-old employee of a juvenile justice contractor, flipped into a small creek on an eastern Collier County road. Atilard also drowned, and seven other at-risk teens returning from a trip to Daytona Beach suffered minor injuries.

The fatal crash prompted a review of how officials at Big Cypress Wilderness Institute, an Ochopee-based juvenile justice center run by state contractor AMIkids, let Atilard behind the wheel despite at least 18 traffic citations since 2006.

In addition, a Daily News review of employee files and records related to the crash shows:

? Administrators knew of Atilard's extensive traffic record, once banning him from driving Big Cypress vehicles, yet he drove on company business at least five times. Atilard also failed to list a no-contest plea to selling alcohol to a minor on his job application, as well as his numerous traffic citations.

? Another driver on the trip, acting director of operations Frantz Lindor, also had a spotty driving record. His company driving privileges were once revoked, and he'd been subject to recent complaints of texting while driving in the Naples area.

? The night of the crash, Big Cypress' executive director, Daniel Washington, allowed eight juveniles to ride in Atilard's car, a violation of at least two state regulations.

Huerta's parents are suing Big Cypress and Atilard's estate, alleging negligence.

"What the Huertas are looking for is to make sure this doesn't happen again, that there should be standards for who drives the kids around," said the Huertas' lawyer, Steve Schwed. "The sad thing about this case is the parents don't have any say in who was driving, so they're totally trusting Big Cypress and AMIkids."

Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice is investigating the crash and looking at changing its transportation policies.

Shawna Vercher, spokeswoman for AMIkids, a Tampa-based national nonprofit with a three-year, $4-million contract to run Big Cypress, said officials are cooperating with DJJ and have made several changes. Following the crash, Lindor was fired and Washington resigned.

"This is a tragedy and it's unacceptable when something like this happens, so of course we're taking every step and every precaution to make sure it doesn't happen again," Vercher said. "We're just learning the answers that we need and we're taking aggressive measures."

A fatal ride

In separate interviews last month, two passengers in the vehicle — Wilson, the 16-year-old from Bonita Springs, and Luis Lopez Meza, 18, of Miami — provided matching accounts of the day Huerta and Atilard died. Their stories are supported by documents obtained from Big Cypress, the Florida Highway Patrol and DJJ.

On Dec. 8, 14 juveniles from Big Cypress, known locally as "Swamp Boys," left the Ochopee campus. They went to a flag football tournament in Daytona Beach, about 250 miles away, where they competed against teams from AMIkids' other Florida campuses.

After playing a few games that afternoon, the teens left in three vehicles, driven by Washington, Big Cypress' executive director; Lindor, its director of operations; and Atilard, a cook.

Near the end of the return trip, the vehicles stopped at a gas station. Some of the juveniles from Washington's vehicle piled into the SUV driven by Atilard. In all, the SUV had eight passengers. From the gas station, Atilard and Lindor drove to Big Cypress. Seven miles from campus, Atilard approached a 90-degree curve on Wagon Wheel Road at about 10:15 p.m.

While talking on a cell phone, Atilard couldn't control the vehicle and slid into the outside lane. The SUV then hit a sign, flipped onto its roof and landed in a creek.

The speed limit is 30 mph, and accounts of Atilard's speed vary from 35 to 50 mph. FHP troopers estimated it at 45 mph.

"Everybody told Mr. Johnson to slow down, and he said, 'No, I got it,'" said Wilson, who knew Huerta for about five years. "I guess he tried to drift the turn and he just didn't slow down. He was probably going at least 45, 50 (mph) when we hit the turn."

Lopez Meza, who was in the front passenger seat, started to escape from the partially submerged SUV.

"My side got in the water first," Lopez Meza said. "Everybody was crowded up in the back. It was super cold and already touching my feet. Then the water was already up to my legs and chest."

Seven of the vehicle's passengers escaped or were pulled out safely. They were hospitalized for a day or two.

Rescuers reached Atilard and Huerta, but both were pronounced dead within an hour. Autopsies concluded they drowned.

Checkered records

In the crash aftermath, attention turned to Atilard's driving record and a 2008 misdemeanor charge he didn't list on his job application.

Court documents show Atilard had accumulated at least 18 traffic citations since 2006, including four for speeding. The citations ranged from leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage to driving on a suspended license to making an improper turn.

On his April 2010 job application, Atilard said he had received traffic citations in the past three years, but when asked to explain, he only wrote "seat belt and window tints."

Big Cypress administrators later learned of Atilard's checkered driving history and banned him from driving company vehicles in February 2011, placing a memo in his personnel file. Washington, the executive director, signed the memo.

Despite the ban, driving logs show Atilard drove company vehicles at least four times before the fatal crash — twice in August, once in October and once in December.

"My understanding is that they were not aware of that being in his file," Vercher, the AMIkids spokeswoman, said of Big Cypress administrators. "Not that it's acceptable, but we believe that's what happened."

Washington declined comment and efforts to reach operations director Lindor were unsuccessful. At Lindor's North Naples address, a man who identified himself as Lindor's brother said Lindor didn't want to comment.

Further review of Atilard's background shows he didn't report on his job application a no-contest plea for selling alcohol to a minor, a misdemeanor. In August 2008, Collier sheriff's deputies caught Atilard selling a six-pack of beer to an undercover 20-year-old while he worked at a Naples gas station. The case didn't end in a conviction due to a deferred prosecution agreement.

A background check, however, didn't show the no-contest plea, and Big Cypress officials weren't aware of it until after the crash, Vercher said.

Lindor's personnel file also raises questions about whether he should have been driving juveniles on the Daytona Beach trip.

Lindor received a memo nearly identical to Atilard's in January 2008, revoking his driving privileges. In the three years before his 2008 ban, Lindor had nine traffic citations and had his license suspended twice, records show.

A January 2011 driving record check found Lindor had one violation — failing to pay a toll — since 2008, which would have made him eligible to drive under AMIkids policies. However, Collier court records show he also was cited in May 2009 for not carrying a driver's license and August 2010 for disobeying a "no passing zone" sign.

AMIkids officials didn't respond to questions about whether the January 2011 driving record check should have caught those two citations, and what effect those tickets would have had on his driving privileges.

Lindor also was subject to complaints in September and October for texting while driving company vehicles. He denied both accusations and records don't show any action was taken. Washington was aware of the complaints, signing documents about them.

The response

Following the crash, Lindor was fired in late December and Washington was demoted. He resigned in mid-January.

Vercher said AMIkids officials had hoped to keep Washington, an employee of 18 years with no disciplinary record in his personnel file. He was given a $25,690 severance.

"(Washington) gave AMIkids a number of years and we wanted to ensure there was some continuity of staff for the kids there," Vercher said.

AMIkids officials have since completed this "corrective action plan" with DJJ:

   
? A Big Cypress supervisor will now run driving record checks on all new hires, with checks then done twice a year.

? A list of eligible drivers will be made for managers to review before any employees drive company vehicles.

? Staff members will be retrained on transportation policies.

? Before any off-campus trips, a plan must be approved by supervisors and seat belts must be checked.

In a statement, DJJ spokesman C.J. Drake said Big Cypress "does not have any outstanding major or minor deficiencies" and DJJ will oversee the corrective action plan. DJJ officials also are looking at using state databases to monitor traffic records of juvenile justice program drivers.

The changes, however, don't satisfy everybody.

Christy Wilson, whose son, Joseph, tried to save Daniel Huerta, said family members should be contacted if Big Cypress juveniles are being driven long distances. And that's just one example of the changes needed.

"Right now, I wish that whole place would close down, because I don't think it was right what happened at all," Christy Wilson said.

© 2012 Naples Daily News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/mar ... n-collier/

Teen tied and shocked for hours; mom calls it "torture"
Read more: http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/und ... z1mxzPNrze

Updated: Monday, 20 Feb 2012, 11:18 AM EST
Published : Sunday, 19 Feb 2012, 11:17 PM EST

        Mike Beaudet
    http://www.twitter.com/channel_mike

Kevin Rothstein Producer http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/und ... z1mxzZMqC0

(FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - Video of a disabled teen tied down and given painful electric shocks for seven hours should be made public, the youth's mother said, so everyone can see what she describes as the "torture" her son went through at the controversial school, the only one in Massachusetts that uses pain to treat its clients.

"This is worse than a nightmare," Cheryl McCollins said about her disabled son, Andre. "It is horrific. And poor Andre, who had to suffer through this, and not know why."

The ordeal began after Andre hit a staff member. Inside a classroom, as a camera was recording, he was tied to a restraint board, face down, a helmet over his head.

He stayed like that for seven hours without a break, no food, no water, or trips to the bathroom. Each time he screamed or tensed up, he was shocked, 31 times in all. His mother called the next day to check on him.

"I said, 'Andre.' I said, 'Hello.' And so he said, 'Help me,'" McCollins said.

After spending three days in a comatose state, not eating or drinking, Andre was taken to Children's Hospital, where he was diagnosed with "acute stress response" caused by the shocks.

"The doctors took all the shackles and all those things off of him. Andre's not talking to me. I'm just holding him and telling him how much I love him, and asking him please to talk to me, just tell me what happened," McCollins said.

What happened that morning in October 2002 became clear after the Rotenberg Center showed her the video of Andre's ordeal, recorded by the classroom camera.

"When I viewed the tape, I saw Andre walking into a room, someone asking him to take off his coat. Andre said no, they shocked him, he went underneath the table trying to get away from them. They pulled him out, tied him up and they continued to shock him," McCollins said.

"When you look at that videotape, what was the purpose of all those shocks?" asked FOX Undercover reporter Mike Beaudet.

"I have no idea," McCollins replied.

"Did you get an apology?" Beaudet asked.

"No, they felt what they did was therapy," McCollins replied.

"Does that look like therapy to you?" Beaudet asked.

"No, it was torture," McCollins said.

For now, the public can't see for themselves what Andre's treatment looks like because the Rotenberg Center asked a Norfolk Superior Court judge to seal the video tape, saying it would be unsettling for viewers who didn't understand the context. The judge agreed, and the video remains under a protective order.

"This is video they fought vehemently not to release, fought vehemently to keep quiet and I think now are very concerned that this tape is out there," said attorney Andrew Meyer, who represents Andre McCollins in a lawsuit against the Rotenberg Center.

"The Judge Rotenberg Center has consistently gotten away with being able to soft sell their treatment, to whitewash what they've done about it being therapeutic: 'It's not so bad, it helps these children.' But the eyewitness accounts that we now have about what actually goes on at this center puts to lie everything they've been saying," Meyer said.

But not everyone agrees. When asked about the perception that electric shock therapy is torture, school attorney Michael Flammia said, "Absolutely wrong."

Flammia would not talk about Andre McCollins.

"But I can tell you I'm familiar with every kid who has been at the school, who have been at the school over 20 years and I can promise you the treatment here is safe, it's effective, it's administered properly and every kid has benefited enormously from it," Flammia said.

"We talked with a parent who says, 'Put that video out there, let the public see what happened to my son here. Let them see what she calls torture,'" asked FOX Undercover's Beaudet.

"The matter is in the hands of the courts and we have complete confidence in the court system on that particular matter," Flammia replied.

"So you don't want us to see that video?" Beaudet asked.

"It's in the hands of the court," Flammia replied.

But McCollins says the public needs to see the video of what happened to her son.

"I hope this stops it. I hope this tape being exposed puts an end to this torture. Because I feel it. You watch it, you feel it," McCollins said. "How do we sit here and let this go on?"

It's certainly getting tougher for the Rotenberg Center to use these shocks.

New York and Massachusetts recently barred shocks on new students, though the school is fighting those restrictions in New York and is planning to do so here.

This is also not the first time this kind of video has become a problem for the center. Last year, the school's founder, Matthew Israel, was indicted on charges that he ordered video of improperly shocked students to be erased despite an ongoing investigation.

Israel agreed to a deal that gives him pre-trial probation in exchange for his stepping down from the school.

Read more: http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/und ... z1mxzjuJtI

http://www.reflector-online.com/news/ex ... yzMYch0pew

Experiencing reparation therapy

By ZACK ORSBORN

Published: Friday, February 3, 2012

Updated: Friday, February 3, 2012 10:02


In mid June 2008, Beth, a student of Mississippi State University, boarded a plane with no luggage and no idea about what she was about to experience. All her father told her was she was going to camp in Utah.

 "I didn't really know that it was going to be so terrible. I didn't want to go, but I wasn't refusing to go because I thought it was going to be kind of like summer camp. I figured there would be therapy there. I didn't realize that it was going to be like boot camp," she said.

Raised in a conservative home, Beth's "lifestyle choices" were deemed immoral and wrong by her parents. Beth first discovered she was a lesbian in the sixth grade.

 "I just kind of never liked boys. I liked girls," she said.

The only gay person in her family, Beth had apprehensions about telling them. She wanted to be able to control her sexuality.

"If I didn't want to become gay, I should be able to make myself not gay," she said.

In high school, Beth developed self-esteem issues due to being teased. The word "DYKE" was written on her car.

The only guidance Beth had was from her open-minded friends and her theatre troupe.

When her family found out about her sexual preference, they were shocked. They believed it was just a way for her to act out and get attention. To them, being gay was just a phase.

To get rid of the phase, Beth's father sent her to boot camp, thinking time in nature would be therapeutic for her. Beth traveled to a secluded area in Utah. In the airport, a man dressed in hiking attire held a sign bearing the camp's name. Driving out into the wilderness, Beth was supplied with clothes and boots to wear. Trekking into the woods, she wondered when she would be able to leave.

Eventually, she met a group of six girls and another counselor. The other girls were at the camp for different reasons: car-jacking, running away from home, drugs and promiscuity. Beth was to be handled on the same level as a criminal. Beth's father believed her sexuality was a behavioral problem.

"I felt like I was in jail. Worse than jail," Beth said.

Living arrangements were appalling. The campers slept on the ground.

"They gave us a tarp and a sleeping bag and a bag of food, and the tarp was our tent. If we couldn't find trees, we had to tie the tarps to bushes. It was very uncomfortable. They suggested for us to dig a hole in the ground to put your hip in while you were sleeping," said Beth.

After waking up 30 minutes after sunrise, the group members hiked all day in 100-degree weather. The campers also had to worry about scorpions in their sleeping bags. The group members were only given a bag of rice, a bag of granola, an apple, an orange and a jar of peanut butter for the whole week. In order to cook her food, each camper had to make her own fire using rocks and sticks. If she failed to do so, she had to eat her rice dry.

The campers could contact their family; however, the therapists gave them assignments to write.

"I had to write about whatever they told me. Like what I appreciated about my family and what they meant to me, and how I was going to change my behavior when I got home," she said.

Every week, Beth met with therapists who tried to figure out the "roots of her problem." The therapist asked her why she became gay. Beth's desperation to leave camp led her to answer the questions with what the therapist wanted to hear.

"I was trying to get out of there. You just stayed until they released you. There were girls that had been there for 12 weeks. I just went along with what they said. He asked leading questions, so I could guess what to say," she said.

However, Beth had a different philosophy on sexuality than her therapist.

"I don't think anything led to my homosexuality. I think that it is just a natural thing that you are born with. At first, I didn't feel natural. But I do now," she said.

The day after Beth's 18th birthday, her father came to pick her up. After 42 days, Beth was physically and mentally exhausted. The happiest moment of her camping experience was her exit. Camp helped her to appreciate the things she had in her life, like shelter and food, but, to this day, Beth is still a lesbian.

"I don't think you can stop being gay. I think you can stop your homosexual behavior. That's like being abstinent. You're always going to have the thoughts and feelings," she said.

Eventually, Beth's father began supporting her, but her sexual orientation is not a subject they talk about.

For people who have experienced reparation camp or therapy, there is a safe place to get support on campus. Harry Hawkins, a graduate student studying mental health counseling, is the president of Spectrum. Spectrum is a student organization on the Mississippi State University campus dedicated to promoting awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/question issues. Hawkins said he also believes people cannot change their sexuality.

"The whole idea that someone can change their sexual orientation by going through this non-empirical and unethical therapy is ridiculous. It is on the same lines of ignorant as sending someone to therapy to change their ethnicity," he said.

Telling someone they are diseased because of their homosexuality harbors bad thoughts which can lead to low self-esteem and making them feel worthless.

"Homosexuality has been removed as a disease from the Diagnostic Statistical Manual many years ago," Hawkins said.

He said the role of the counselor should always be to do no harm.  The accreditation organization for MSU's counseling program has strict guidelines when it comes to being ethical. Therapists who practice reparation violate the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics., he said.

Hawkins also said he believes homosexuality is not a choice.

"I do not understand how one can choose to live a life where you know that you will have less rights than an illegal immigrant. Or how one can choose to live a life where they know that they will be ridiculed by some and misunderstood by others. To imply that it is a choice is just insulting,'' Hawkins said. ‘‘I can understand how it is hard for those who do not understand; however, it is the same as me saying you choose to be straight. I know those who are heterosexual will say that it is just a natural feeling. Well it feels the same way on the other side of the street."

http://www.heal-online.org/childtortureusa.htm#trails

Trails Carolina in Lake Toxaway, NC is confirmedly abusive.  We received a report from a former staff stating that this program is abusive.  We are currently working on the staff list for this program.  In the meantime, please see the complaints confirmed by the Division of Health Service Regulation.  If you were abused or had your rights violated at Trails Carolina, please contact us and we will post your story here as a warning to others.

 http://www.heal-online.org/trails.pdf

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=26502

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=26502&start=45#p368695

STATEMENT OF DEFICIENCIES AND PLAN OF CORRECTION

Postby Ursus » 06 Jul 2010, 01:01
Okay... here we go, no more muckity muck.

Given my predilection for appropriate attribution, y'all would be so good as to note that this doc was obtained (somehow) by Angela & Company at HEAL. I have, as of yet, been unable to reach her re. more details.

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

NORTH CAROLINA Division of Health Service Regulation

    PRINTED: 03/23/2010
    FORM APPROVED


STATEMENT OF DEFICIENCIES AND PLAN OF CORRECTION


(X1) PROVIDER/SUPPLIER/CLIA IDENTIFICATION NUMBER: MHL088-020
(X2) MULTIPLE CONSTRUCTION

    A. BUILDING ______________________
    B. WING _____________________________

(X3) DATE SURVEY COMPLETED: 03/04/2010

NAME OF PROVIDER OR SUPPLIER: TRAILS CAROLINA
STREET ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP CODE:

    500 WINDING GAP ROAD
    LAKE TOXAWAY, NC 28747

An annual and complaint survey was completed 3/4/10. The complaint was substantiated. (Intake ID #NC00062564). Deficiencies were cited.

This Rule is not met as evidenced by:
Based on review of facility records, and interviews, the facility failed to implement their policy requiring and ensuring the Department of Social Services (DSS), in the county where services are provided, was notified of all allegations of resident abuse by health care personnel, affecting one of four sampled clients (#4). The findings are:

A review of facility records on 3/1/10 revealed an incident report dated 12/23/09 and 2 incident reports dated 12/24/09 addressing a restraint of Client #4 which occurred on 12/23/09. The report by the Facility Manager dated 12/23/09 stated he "restrained (Client #4) to ground and held until staff intervened." The attached Physical Intervention report also completed by the Facility Manager on 12/23/09 revealed, in the section asking if the student was injured during the intervention, Client #4 got a "bloody lip trying to bite staff."

Review on 3/1/10 of the 2 incident reports completed 12/24/09 revealed Staff #1 and Staff #2 witnessed the Facility Manager strike Client #4 during the restraint on 12/23/09. The incident report by Staff #1 revealed he "saw [the Facility Manager] hit [Client #4] in the face ... and observed [Client#4] had blood in his mouth." The incident report by Staff #2 revealed the Facility Manager "took student to ground and punched [Client #4] in the lip."

A review on 3/1/10 of an internal investigation report revealed the Executive Director(ED) was out of town and learned of allegations by Client #4 and Staff #1 and #2 in a phone call from the Admissions Director(AD) on 12/23/09. The AD was in charge of facility in the absence of the ED. The AD documented an interview at approximately 4:30 PM on 12/23/09 with Client #4, during which Client #4 told him he had hit the Facility Manager in the face and the Facility Manager hit him back in the face.

Review on 3/1/10 of facility policy and procedures for reporting allegations of abuse revealed: "Policy: The therapist shall provide a leadership role in the identification, reporting, and follow-upon child abuse issues. ... Procedures: ...3. The therapist will receive supervision from a clinical supervisor and the Executive Director to determine if there is enough data to warrant a "reasonable suspicion" that a student has been the victim of abuse. That is all that is required for a suspected report. ... 6. c. Documentation will be made on the Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency Report, Attachment 2 and will be forwarded to the Department of Social Services (DSS)."

Review of facility records on 3/1/10 revealed no Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency Report, Attachment 2 was on file, nor was there documentation that such a report had been forwarded to DSS.

It's California. That New Age sounding name probably went over well there. They're on the forefront of all kinds of crazy ideas. Didn't EST and Synanon both start in California?

Taliban Abuse of Women

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emMrn9ja5iU

Saddam Hussein's Torture Chambers

260 mass graves found with an estimated 400,000 bodies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge4nXHa5eBk