Troubled teen industry

The troubled teen industry has a precursor in the drug rehabilitation program called Synanon, founded in 1958 by Charles Dederich. By the late 1970s, Synanon had developed into a cult and adopted a resolution proclaiming the Synanon Religion, with Dederich as the highest spiritual authority, allowing the organization to qualify as tax-exempt under US law. Synanon rejected the use of medication for drug rehabilitation, and instead relied on the "Synanon Game", group sessions of attack therapy where members were encouraged to criticize and humiliate each other. Synanon popularized "tough love" attack therapy as a treatment for addiction, and the idea that confrontation and verbal condemnation could cure adolescent misbehavior. Synanon disbanded in 1991, after its tax-exempt status was revoked by the IRS and it was bankrupted by having to pay US$17 million in back taxes. functioned as the Synanon headquarters beginning in 1967. Synanon's techniques were highly influential and inspired human potential self-help organizations such as Erhard Seminars Training (est) and Lifespring. Former Synanon member Mel Wasserman founded CEDU Educational Services in 1967, a company which operated within the troubled teens industry. CEDU owned several for-profit therapeutic boarding schools, group homes, and behavior modification programs. The techniques used by CEDU schools were derived from Synanon's; for example, long, confrontational large-group sessions called "Propheets" took cues from the Synanon Game. CEDU went out of business in 2005, amid lawsuits and state regulatory crackdowns. Joseph "Joe" Ricci, a dropout from a direct Synanon-descendent program, founded a therapeutic boarding school called Élan School in 1970. Élan closed down in 2011 amid persistent allegations of abuse. Synanon's techniques also inspired the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs (WWASP), an umbrella organization of facilities meant for rehabilitating troubled teenagers. Many WWASP programs were shut down by the Costa Rican, Jamaican, and Mexican governments after investigations into allegations of abuse. == Practices ==

Troubled teen programs have been criticized for failing to offer evidence-based therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy or trauma- and violence-informed care. Many practices used in troubled teen programs, especially punishments, have been singled out as constituting child abuse or neglect. These include but are not limited to: restricting communication with family and peers; use of physical and chemical restraint (i.e., in the form of sedative drugs); use of seclusion as punishment; gay conversion therapy; excessive use of strip search and cavity search; denial of sleep and nutrition; aversion therapy; etc. The National Disability Rights Network published a report in 2021 reporting common issues at troubled teen facilities including the aforementioned forms of abuse as well as chronic staffing shortages, deprivation of education, and unhygienic and unsafe facility conditions. Transportation Many troubled teen institutions offer youth transportation through teen escort companies, in which minors are transported to their facilities against their will. Parents who sign their children up for troubled teen camps will sign over temporary custody to the teen escort company. This transportation is a service offered in the United States and elsewhere, and is a practice that has been criticized on ethical and legal grounds as being akin to kidnapping. Some of the subjects report not realizing they were transported with permission of their parents until days afterward. Clients have reported being ambushed in their own beds at home, or tricked into believing they are going elsewhere. Those who have been in the troubled teen industry call this process "gooning". There have been incidents where transportation staff have impersonated government officials. Former clients of troubled teen programs have made efforts to pursue legal recourse through civil lawsuits targeting both parents and the companies associated with these programs. == Controversies ==

False imprisonment 19-year-old Fred Collins Jr. was falsely imprisoned by Straight Inc., after initially visiting a family member who was enrolled in the program by his parents. At one New Mexico program, Tierra Blanca Ranch, the authorities found that the adolescent clients had been shackled and handcuffed. Forced labor Numerous troubled teen programs have been reported to engage in the practice of compelled labor, wherein program participants are required to perform physically demanding tasks such as wood chopping and horse manure shoveling. Kidnapping Elizabeth Zasso, an emancipated minor in New York, was kidnapped by a teen escort service hired by her parents and taken to Utah, where she was enrolled in the Challenger Foundation wilderness therapy program. A court later ruled that the program had violated her constitutional rights. Stress positions In certain instances, troubled teen programs have employed a torture technique known as "stress positions" as a form of discipline against their clients. Strip searches Many troubled teen programs conduct forced strip searches against the will of adolescent clients. For example, in Episode 1 of the Brat Camp series on Channel 4, teenagers are shown being strip-searched upon arrival and enrollment at the Redcliff Ascent program, and the procedure is partially depicted on screen. Solitary confinement Some troubled teen programs, including the well-known Provo Canyon School, have faced allegations of employing solitary confinement as a disciplinary measure. Solitary confinement is a controversial practice that involves isolating individuals from social contact and is the subject of extensive debate regarding its ethical and psychological implications. Additionally, the now-defunct program known as Tranquility Bay, located in Jamaica, has also been reported to have utilized solitary confinement as part of its disciplinary methods. This practice has garnered considerable attention and criticism from various quarters. Psychological abuse Numerous reports have surfaced, documenting instances of psychological abuse inflicted upon clients within troubled teen programs. One particularly disturbing example of such abuse involves mock executions, wherein students were coerced into digging their own graves as part of a psychologically distressing exercise. These allegations highlight the gravity of ethical concerns within these programs and have sparked significant scrutiny and criticism from various outlets. == Regulatory laws ==

The Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act was first introduced on June 28, 2007, by Congressman George Miller. The act passed the House of Representatives on June 25, 2008, but failed to progress further in the legislative process and was not enacted into law. Utah, California, Oregon, Montana, and Missouri have all enacted laws aimed at increasing oversight of troubled teen facilities. Utah's law was proposed in 2021 after noted celebrity Paris Hilton came out with her story about her experience at Provo Canyon School. Hilton's testimony triggered a state investigation into the facility, and she later advocated for the law when it was in the process of being passed. In the United States Congress, bills were proposed to regulate troubled teen facilities every year from 2007 to 2018. , it has been passed by the Senate. It was signed into law by President Biden on December 24, 2024. The law requires certain federal agencies report to Congress the nature, prevalence, severity, and scope of child abuse, neglect, and deaths in youth residential programs, among other things, on an annual basis no later than three years after it became law for a period of ten years. == Legal history ==

Death of Kristen Chase and legal outcome On June 27, 1990, Kristen Chase died from heatstroke whilst enrolled at the Challenger Foundation, a Wilderness Therapy program located in Kane County, Utah. The county's district attorney charged the owner of the program, Steve Cartisano, with nine counts of child abuse and one count of negligent homicide. Lance Jagger was also charged with negligent homicide and child abuse, but the charges were dropped after he agreed to testify against Cartisano. A jury acquitted Steve Cartisano on all charges. Death of Aaron Bacon and legal proceedings On January 15, 1995, Aaron Bacon died from acute peritonitis while attending the North Star Wilderness Program in Utah. Nine staff members, including company co-founder Lance Jagger, were charged with abuse and neglect. Lance Jagger, William Henry, and Georgette Costigan pleaded guilty to negligent homicide. Craig Fisher was found guilty of third-degree felony abuse or neglect of a disabled child. On March 2, 1998, Nicholaus Contreraz died from complications due to an infection. Among his symptoms were chronic urinary and fecal incontinence, for which staff would force him to eat meals on the toilet and sleep in his soiled underwear as punishment. The autopsy revealed Contreraz had died from empyema with a partial collapse of his left lung. He had also contracted strep and staph infections with pneumonia and chronic bronchitis, and the coroner also discovered 71 cuts and bruises. During the investigation by the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, it was found that Nicholaus had been cleared for physical training activities by staff. The Federal Bureau of Investigation opened an investigation into civil rights violations at the location on a broader scale. The California Social Services Department investigation found widespread excessive use of physical restraint and hands-on confrontations by staff members. Trails Carolina homicide investigation On the morning of February 3, 2024, a 12-year-old boy died after one night at Trails Carolina wilderness program. The Transylvania County Sheriff's Office launched an investigation into the death of the boy, who had arrived at Trails Carolina on February 2, 2024 after being transported by two men from New York to the program. On February 6, 2024, the investigators executed a search warrant on Trails Carolina. Trails Carolina refused to co-operate with the investigation. On the February 13, 2024, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services told Trails Carolina it was to stop new admissions during the investigation. On February 18, 2024, all children were removed from Trails Carolina. On May 17, 2024, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services permanently revoked Trails Carolina's license. On June 25, 2024, the medical examiner's report was released. The cause of death was determined to be asphyxia, and it was ruled as a homicide. North Carolina investigation into Asheville Academy On May 8, 2025, a thirteen-year-old killed herself at the school. In response, the state ordered on May 27, 2025 that Asheville Academy, owned by Family Help & Wellness, must stop new admissions to the school. On May 29, 2025, a second death occurred. On May 31, 2025, Asheville Academy released all of its students. == Timeline ==

• February 16, 1982: Nancy Reagan visits Straight, Inc. in Florida. • December 27, 1982: Philip Williams Jr. dies in Élan School boxing ring. • May 26, 1983: A federal jury awards a Straight, Inc. patient $220,000 after finding said patient to have been falsely imprisoned by the foundation. • November 11, 1985: Princess Diana and Nancy Reagan visit Straight, Inc. • 1987: Scientology's troubled teen program Mace-Kingsley Ranch School opens in California. • 1998: Robert Lichfield creates the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools. • 1999: National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs is founded. • February 2001: 14-year-old Ryan Lewis dies by suicide while enrolled at Alldredge Academy in West Virginia. • July 2001: 14-year-old Tony Haynes is forced to eat dirt and dies at a desert boot camp for teenagers. • July 15, 2002: Ian August dies from heat exhaustion while attending the Skyline Journey Wilderness Program in Utah. The Utah Department of Human Service revoked Skyline Journey's state license on the 25 October 2002. • December 25, 2002: 17-year-old Kiley Jaquays falls to her death while visiting the Bloomington Caves in Utah with her residential treatment center, Integrity House. • May 23, 2003: Costa Rican government officials shut down the Academy at Dundee Ranch, a behavior modification program run by the US-based company World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools. • February 8, 2004: 16-year-old Daniel Yuen goes missing from CEDU High School in California. • October 2004: Karlye Newman dies by suicide at Spring Creek Lodge Academy. • 2006: Yang Yongxin establishes an "Internet-addiction camp" inside the Fourth Hospital of Linyi in China and begins practicing electroconvulsive therapy. • August 28, 2009: Sergey Blashchishen dies from heat exhaustion during a hike whilst attending Sage Walk, a wilderness therapy program operated by Aspen Education Group. • February 8, 2013: The hacking collective group Anonymous launches #OpTTIabuse, a campaign against the troubled teen industry. • November 2015: Ten teenagers are arrested after a riot at Copper Hills Youth Center in Utah. • February 2017: 16-year-old Ben Jackson dies by suicide at Montana Academy. • July 10, 2019: Red Rock Canyon School in Utah closes after a riot breaks out in April 2019. • April 2020: 16-year-old Cornelius Fredericks dies while being restrained at youth program in Michigan. • October 9, 2020: American socialite Paris Hilton and other former residents of Provo Canyon School lead a silent protest against the school in Provo, Utah. • January 16, 2022: a 14-year-old girl named Sofia Sato dies from medical concerns at Maple Lake Academy, a residential treatment center in Utah. • August 31, 2022: Agape Baptist Academy is served an indictment for transporting a California teenager and violating a protection order. • January 11, 2023: Agape Baptist Academy announces plans for permanent closure. • February 15, 2024: Open Sky Wilderness closes after years of controversy surrounding the effectiveness of wilderness therapy programs. • August 22, 2024: Evoke Therapy, a wilderness program located out of Santa Clara, UT, announces their intention to close down after over 20 years of operations. • == Media ==

• Children of Darkness, a 1983 documentary on the Élan School • Not My Kid, a 1985 TV movie based on the Straight, Inc. program • Locked in Paradise, a television program on the troubled teen program called Tranquility Bay, aired in December 2004. • Boot Camp, a 2008 film based on the WWASP program Paradise Cove, located in Samoa. • Kidnapped for Christ, a documentary released in 2014 about a Christian behavior modification program. • The Last Stop, a documentary on the Élan School released in 2017. • This Is Paris, a documentary on Paris Hilton's experience in various troubled-teen programs, released in 2020. • Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare, a documentary released in December 2023. It is about a wilderness therapy program called the Challenger Foundation in Utah, and covers the controversial conditions of the program as well as the death of Kristen Chase. • Joe versus Elan School, an autobiographical, web-based graphic novel. • The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping is a 2024 American true-crime documentary series, directed by Katherine Kubler. It follows Kubler and former classmates of hers from the Academy at Ivy Ridge, a behavior modification facility that was marketed as a boarding school, as they reflect on the abusive conditions they experienced in the program and the lasting trauma. • "The Sunshine Place," a podcast whose second season covers the stories of Students placed within Straight Inc. • Casefile: Case 296 Aaron Bacon, a podcast covering the abuse and neglect that 16 year old Aaron Bacon experienced at North Star Expeditions of Escalante. The systematic mistreatment ultimately led to his death on March 31st 1994, thirty days after he joined the programme. ==References==