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After-District8811 t1_j2bqzao wrote

These places are cesspits of abuse.

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TheGrandExquisitor t1_j2bulsp wrote

Was in one as a teen.

You have no idea. Basically legalized child abuse.

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BallDesperate2140 t1_j2cm66f wrote

Me too. I can’t believe this shit just started right back up again, I want to know what the hell #BCS is doing

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Zorro_Returns t1_j2dqtns wrote

Long ago, my parents would threaten to send me to a military academy if I didn't mend my ways, because "they'll teach you discipline".

And just in time, a big scandal broke in the area about a local military academy, which included tales of blood splattered high on the wall...

Whew!

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howardslowcum t1_j2e3t8x wrote

I watched 3 boys have 17 bones broken between them. Christians are animals.

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TheGrandExquisitor t1_j2er3na wrote

I had a bone broken during my stay by a staff member. They just lie about it.

Mormons are brainwashed monsters.

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cornnndoggg_ t1_j2csky9 wrote

got a question about these. I have been reading a lot of stories over the past week about the Troubled Teen Industry, and I saw something mentioned a few times and was wondering if it's to be taken literally. What I've seen is a repetition of part of the deal happening when a parent signs up their child for one of these programs is that the parents are signing over custody of the child to the program. Is that true? Would the facility have legal custody over the kids imprisoned there? These places are wild and should absolutely be illegal, but I feel like custody is a super territory in terms of legality. How on earth could it be that easy to transfer custody?

A side note question: I see very commonly in testimony from people who went to them that many of them continue to have a relationship with their parents after getting out of the program. This is absolutely wild to me. I suppose I could understand if they didn't know it was their parents that put them through the whole thing, but I am pretty sure, if it had happened to me, I would do any and everything possible to sever ties with those people. Is it common, or am I misreading things?

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Yuskia t1_j2d2f0a wrote

As someone who worked at one of these places (not gonna name names because I think I signed an NDA) Buy let's just say it has some semblance of a relationship to the one in the OP.

The big problem is that most of these kids have no where to go after. They get absolute dog shot education, they get mentally and physically abused, and they often have other issues that need professional help they aren't getting.

The 2nd issue is that the parents are rich as fuck. You have to be to send your kids there. So it creates a horrible cycle where they become dependent on their parents or end up in prison.

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Riley_ t1_j2ds57m wrote

The facilities will keep kids past 18, too. The kids have no access to regulators or lawyers.

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BallDesperate2140 t1_j2e2whd wrote

One of the reasons why there’s so many of these programs in states like Utah is because custody laws are very lax in comparison, so yup, partial custody is signed over to that company. Also, I remember the weeks coming up to my 18th birthday and the staff were hounding me about signing a consent form that allowed them to retain guardianship; if I’d refused they would’ve given me about a half hour to pack what I could and then kick me off the property. This was in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, UT.

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Petra_Ann t1_j2ea39e wrote

Yup, pretty much. I was at one and remember my therapist showing me the papers.

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Beard_o_Bees t1_j2eejf3 wrote

It's not a new phenomenon either - especially in Utah.

I did a bit of time in one in SLC back in the 80's. It was called the 'Western Institute for Neuropsychology' - or 'WIN' back then.

Every few years places like this get busted for doing heinous things to teens - nothing really happens, then the news cycle moves on.

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Petra_Ann t1_j2eft45 wrote

I got sent to Cross Creek Manor which was just down the street from the one in this article in 95. Luckily, there wasn't much in the way of physical abuse while I was there. That started a few years after and it finally got itself shut down a few years ago.

What got me was the day center we got sent to literally chained us in the facility. Someone had to actually unlock the paddle locks to let us out.

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MalcolmLinair t1_j2by99r wrote

Not surprising; "Tough Love" is just code for "Torturing Children Until They Follow Orders".

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MyMorningSun t1_j2dwznl wrote

Tough love always is and always was just another way of saying "outright abuse" in just about every context it's ever used in.

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timesuck897 t1_j2cnkxy wrote

Utah and Montana IIRC are popular for these type of “tough love” teen centres because a lot of other states have laws against them or that aren’t great for business.

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[deleted] t1_j2cylh4 wrote

[deleted]

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[deleted] t1_j2du50m wrote

[deleted]

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shewy92 t1_j2dwvi5 wrote

I'm confused by your rambling. It seems you're bashing California laws and also praising California laws, and then got weird when you said you'd traffick some children for that guy and got defensive with that "I don't want to hurt nobody" remark

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[deleted] t1_j2dyqif wrote

[deleted]

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PuellaBona t1_j2eewzq wrote

No, they don't understand you. What in the heck were you trying to say?!?

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WeedFairie t1_j2ddu20 wrote

Surprise! Owned & run by Mormons.

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ubiquitousrarity t1_j2bl4ss wrote

So that means "hey don't do that again"?

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Piperplays t1_j2e8gkm wrote

ALL OF THE “THERAPISTS” AT THESE MORMON RUN UTAH + WASHINGTON CENTERS OWN FINANCIAL STEAKS IN MANY TREATMENT PROGRAMS, WILDERNESS PROGRAMS, AND HALFWAY HOMES

THIS IS MORMON KIDS 4 CASH

FULL FUCKING STOP. They make money off of “enrolling/abducting” kids not only in their program(s), but also commissions off of “enrolling/abducting” them into other related programs. I have met people from so many programs who know the same therapists or have heard the same names while forced into these abusive and beyond questionable “treatment centers/wilderness programs.”

I repeat, these assholes tell parents whatever they want to hear so they can fulfill enrollment capacity for their program so they can enrich themselves. So many of the teens sent to r/troubledteens are broken or left homeless after the endeavor; many of them are lgbt youth sent from out of state homes that hate them.

A considerable portion of people who have been sent to these programs say their relationship with their parents was forever broken and beyond irreparable. Many cut contact permanently. The same is true for summarily abandoned parents who regret ever listening to the therapist-cons into creating this fairyland picture of ”what could be.”

If any reporter wants to do a serious modern expose with some major fucking meat on the bone, I have names for you and can lead you to a really interesting financial trail. This is legitimately Kids 4 Cash Mormon style, even entire townships are in on the grift (some center/wilderness owners/workers also are civic public servants).

Also, this is a back-door method in which conversion therapy is essentially made legal

Also Edit: These programs also lease the teens out to places like the Park Services or even Utah State correctional work programs to build trails breaking granite boulders in the mountains or for other menial labor purposes. They literally lease teen “therapy” prisoners out in work programs even though practically none of them are actual criminals- their parents can just send them there and have them treated this way. There’s no vetting process for entrance, just a full-fill capacity, even overfill capacities in some cases. You meet some of the most abused people in these programs being forced to deal with more because these Mormons only believe in their model familial unit.

There was recently a case where an emancipated teen was sent to one of these programs by his mother as both a means of revenge for exposing her in court and for maintaining control over him. Go to r/troubledteens for more information.

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edingerc t1_j2dd2s9 wrote

And now they'll just move to Belize and be worse than ever

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Riley_ t1_j2dsma9 wrote

I doubt there's much difference. The ones in Utah might be more sanitary, because health inspectors come sometimes. There's still seemingly no limit to the physical, verbal, sexual, labor, or starvation abuse that they can get away with.

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chockedup t1_j2epn1u wrote

Are autopsy results available yet?

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tms10000 t1_j2fa29d wrote

This is not a treatment facility by any means.

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