July 9, 2024 • 43 mins
Social media opened the doors to hundreds of survivor stories. We hear from survivor activists about why they spoke out and their hopes for the future.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following episode contains disturbing and graphic accounts of survivor experiences,
as well as discussions of suicide. It may not be
suitable for younger audiences. Please listen with care.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
From iHeartRadio London Audio and executive producer Paris Hilton. This
is Trapped in Treatment. We're your hosts. I'm Rebecca Mellinger, Grown.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
And I'm Caroline Cole. Join us to uncover the hidden
truth of an industry shrouded in scandal. We're on a
mission to ensure no child has to experience the hell
that is the troubled teen industry and to understand why
justice has not been served for survivors. This season is
(00:52):
all about WASP, the Worldwide Association of Specialty Programs in Schools,
one of the largest networks of teen treatment facilities in
the industry, masterminded by one man, Robert Litchfield. The stories
you will hear in the following episode are the personal
allegations and accounts of individuals who have attended treatment at
(01:14):
one of these facilities. All experiences, views, and opinions are
their own.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Last week on Trapped in Treatment, we discussed Narvin Litchfield's
career with WASP, and heard his outlook on the abuse
allegations that came out against him. When Dundee Ranch shut
down in two thousand and three, I.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Came out and took on the press with the Dundee
Ranch Academy fiasco, and I was made up the poster
child of abuse. You know, the whole purpose of those
entities was to try to give us protections we could
have a normal life.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
We also dove into the lawsuit where WASP sued the
referral service Pure, Inc. Alleging Pure damaged their reputation and
caused them to lose business by posting negative stories about
WASP programs online. Parents of survivors and other WASP officials
testified during the trial, with some bombshells being told on
the stand. For instance, one parent shared that he sent
(02:18):
his son to Cassa by the Sea, but the son
was moved to the notorious High Impact without his knowledge.
The father testified that while at High Impact, the sun
was allegedly kept in a dog cage for eight days
and was hogtied for three of those.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
These types of allegations came up multiple times throughout the
trial and with different witnesses. The jury sided with Pure
and determined they did not defame WASP or cause any
irreparable damage to the reputation. This case brought truth to
light and allowed some of our stories to be shared
(02:57):
in a place where truth is expected to prevail. It
finally seemed like the tide could have been turning in
the right direction for survivors. But as it turns out,
what we hoped would happen and what actually happened weren't
completely aligned.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
In August two thousand and six, three years after the
Pure decision, William Chase Wood and his parents, Tammy Wood
and Gregory Wood, sued WASP in federal court in Utah.
The Woods alleged that William was subjected to physical, emotional, mental,
and sexual abuse and sought to hold WASP and its
(03:40):
affiliates responsible. The Woods also filed a lawsuit in Utah
state court alleging similar claims. Will be referring to the
state and federal lawsuits interchangeably unless we specify otherwise. Over time,
nearly three hundred and fifty people made up of survivors
and their parents, joined the Woods lawsuit, detailing allegations of
(04:02):
abuse at WASP programs. The claims against WASP included negligence, fraud,
breach of contract, emotional distress, false imprisonment, battery, and assault.
The plaintiffs even brought RICO claims against WASP, which stands
for Racketeer, Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, aiming to prove
(04:23):
corruption and racketeering within WASP, other than WASP as an entity.
The list of nearly sixty defendants included Robert Litchfield, Ken K,
Carl Farnsworth, Teen Help Academy at Ivy Ridge, and more.
The case sought to demonstrate the connection between Lichfield and
his vast empire of associated programs.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
The main attorney for the plaintiffs was a man named
Wendell Turley, a personal injury lawyer who at the time
had over thirty years of experience. Eventually, the case became
known as the Turley Lawsuit, which is how we will
be referred ring to it. Much like the Pure lawsuit,
this one also leaned heavily on the abuse allegations at
(05:06):
WASP facilities. The plaintiffs argued in the case that WASP
was fraudulent and based in large part on lies, deceit,
and misrepresentations, leading them to create an extensive plan of
concealment of adverse incidents and facts. They claimed WASP covered
up the suspected physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, as well
(05:30):
as failing to provide even a minimally sufficient education. WASP
and the other defendants denied all of the allegations. Truly
called it a deny deny policy. The complaint in the
TRULY lawsuit cited the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of the Child. The Convention, which is a written legal
(05:53):
agreement between countries, called for nations to recognize that the child,
for the full and harmonia is development of his or
her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in
an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding. But here's the twist.
Every country has ratified the agreement except for one, the
(06:18):
United States.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Annabelle is a survivor from Europe who's pursuing her PhD
in sociology, with most of her research focused around the
troubled teen industry. Here's what she had to say about
the matter.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
America kind of has its wild, wild West own way,
and like.
Speaker 5 (06:39):
That's where I think it gets really complicated too, because
I don't know how many people have said this on
the show, but when their parents signed their rights away,
for example, like they that's a big thing, though, and
that's what we used to say, but now I was like,
I don't.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Know if I have any rights and not American whatever.
But that's how we've all explained her right and that's
that's not correct. That's not how. It's just at the
will of the parents, right, Like, that's where the troubled
teen industry thrives because there's no legal barriers to a
parent making the decision to institutionalize their child for non
(07:18):
criminal behavior.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
To be clear, the United States signed the convention in
February nineteen ninety five, which signaled an intent to ratify
the agreement, but have still yet to do so twenty
nine years later. Ratifying the treaty is especially important because
it signifies that Congress has internally approved of the commitment,
thereby making it a binding agreement. As a pre eminent
(07:44):
leader on the world stage, we should be asking ourselves
why we have not ratified the UNCRC and how this
could lend to an environment in our nation that allows
the troubled teen industry to continue to flourish. A research
report conducted by the Congressional Research Service in twenty fifteen
said some opponents to signing it were concerned that the
(08:07):
Convention on the Rights of the Child could interfere in
the private lives of families, particularly the rights of parents
to educate or discipline their child. However, those in favor
of ratifying the Convention view it as a way to
protect children against government intrusion and abuse.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
The Truly lawsuit argued was and the other defendants violated
recommended standards of the rights of children as set out
in the Convention of the Rights of the Child by
preventing kids from having regular contact with their parents, subjecting
them to abuse, failing to give them nutritious food and water,
and subjecting them to sexual abuse. Those were only a
(08:49):
few of the numerous violations they cited. The lawsuit detailed
accounts from survivors whose allegations included being locked in boxes
or cages, enduring psychological and physical pain, working as child laborers,
and failing to receive any type of sufficient education.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Some of the survivors we've had on the podcast, including
Chelsea Filer, joined the Turly lawsuit as plaintiffs. Chelsea spoke
to us about the personal meanings she felt while a
part of it.
Speaker 6 (09:23):
When we started the Turly lawsuit, it definitely felt like
there was hope for justice. Just putting it all on
the record, I believe was really empowering for us as survivors.
We definitely used our voices to call for justice, and
(09:45):
I think that that was important. Quite a few of
my friends came forward to reveal sexual abuse, which I mean,
we all know it's so brave to come forward in
the first place, just to share your story, but to actually,
(10:05):
like in a way, look your abuser in the eye
and tell them what they did to you, and tell
the world what they did to you. That's that's, you know,
a testament to our strengths that we lived through this
and we live to tell the tale. And and and
(10:30):
really the whole point of the lawsuit was to warn parents,
and I think that that was that that intention was successful.
I mean, just knowing that there's a lawsuit against a school,
well they these specialty programs for physical abuse, psychological abuse,
(10:57):
sexual abuse, false imprisonment, deceptive marketing. It sends a pretty
strong message that these places are not good.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
The Turly lawsuit inspired hope among survivors. The WASP and
the defendants denied all allegations presented. The defendants tried to
get the case thrown out and dismissed several times, but
the plaintiffs continued to put up a fight, often submitting
additional documents for their cause. To put things into perspective,
the court docket, which notes every update in the case
(11:33):
for the federal case is almost sixty pages long. The
final complaint plaintiffs filed, which outline the claims and allegations
against WASP, is just under three thousand pages.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
While some could probably see this as an open and
shutcase against WASP because of the hundreds of detailed allegations
of abuse, it wasn't that easy. It dragged on four
years in federal and state court due to motions WA
filed claiming there were major procedural faults with the case
as a whole. This is about to get a bit
(12:06):
complex and confusing with legal terms, but bear with us.
Much of wasp's argument dismissing the case revolved around something
called jurisdiction, which refers to a court's authority over the
case and parties brought to them in that specific court.
Some courts have been limited in their power to bring
down a judgment that would impact a person or entity
(12:29):
who does not live in or have other meaningful connections
to the state where the case is taking place. Further,
in federal court, if the case does not implicate a
federal question of law, there must be something called diversity
of jurisdiction, where no defendant can be from the same
state as any plaintiff. In the truly case, given the
(12:52):
vast number of different entities and individuals involved, many of
whom were from the same state, this requirement of legal
diversity city wasn't met.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
These back and forth with the court dragged on for
several years. In April two thousand and seven, for instance,
the court dismissed the rico and fraud claims against a
number of the defendants because it found that the Turley
plaintiffs failed to state the details of these allegations with
the requisite particularity against the defendants as is required by
(13:24):
the federal rules. Accordingly, the claims against these defendants, including
Robert Litchfield, Worldwide, Ken Kay, Majestic Ranch, Carl Farnsworth, and
Cross Creek, were dismissed from the case. It was a
win for WASP, a setback for Turley, and a foreshadow
of what was to come. Nevertheless, the Federal court permitted
(13:47):
Turley and the plaintiffs to amend their complaint against WASP
six times, but it stopped there. That six complaint was
challenged yet again by the remaining WASP defendants in August
twenty eleven. The judge ultimately sided with WASP and dismissed
all of the claims against them, saying the plaintiffs did
(14:09):
not meet the jurisdictional and pleading requirements for federal court.
The Turly case never even made it in front of
a jury.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Despite the Federal Court's decision, the judge still recognized the
atrocity of the allegations. While describing the background of the case,
the judge wrote, the plaintiffs allege, however, that the services
were a sham and the supposed schools were essentially gulogs
staffed by abusive and incompetent people. He continued, the plaintiffs
(14:42):
alleged the students were subjected to horrific treatment, which the
defendants covered up by feeding the parents' continuous lies about
the true nature of what was happening to their children.
And to close the opinion, the judge wrote, by dismissing
this case, the court does not mean to minimize the
seriousness of the allegations made in the sixth amended complaint.
(15:05):
If those allegations are true, the plaintiffs here were subjected
to treatment that nobody deserves to suffer. Like the federal case,
the Utah State Turley lawsuit was eventually dismissed before going
to trial and was closed in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
The Tury case failed before they could even make it
to a jury to decide if WASP really was liable
for all the claims brought against them. We wish there
could have been a different outcome, but it still forced
ugly allegations against WASP into the spotlight and allowed a
movement to gain momentum where survivors started to speak out
about their own experiences and push for change on all levels.
(15:50):
Here's Chelsea Filer again.
Speaker 6 (15:53):
I still think that the lawsuit, you know, it had
a good impact. It brought a lot of awareness to
what these programs really were and ultimately led to the
closure of a lot of these programs because the parents
realized that, you know, maybe we don't want to torture
(16:15):
our kids, and that was the hope. That was definitely
the hope of like pressing that lawsuit and sharing all
this information with the public. Is that the parents would
eventually make the right decision if their eyes were open,
if they weren't being so heavily manipulated by these programs,
(16:39):
and we could combat that by trying to hold them accountable.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
But that has been and continues to be an uphill battle.
Survivors are still fighting to hold these people in leadership
positions accountable. The WASP no longer exists as a corporate entity,
(17:05):
the influence of these programs and the lasting damage and
memories of survivors still do.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Much of the activism pushing for more awareness and change
in this industry started at a grassroots level. Chelsea refused
to give up the fight after the Turly case too.
Here she is talking about how she got started.
Speaker 6 (17:26):
I joined forums. We had the Anti WASP Forum, which
was you know, kind of our way of like getting
together and fighting the power, you know, sharing our experiences,
sharing our voices and really validating each other, coming together
(17:47):
and you know, realizing that there was a pattern in
the experiences that we had and that painted a picture
of what WASP was. Our collective experiences really are the
living history of what happened here and collecting all of
(18:09):
that and putting it in one place. That's how we
started WASP Survivors WASP Survivors dot com and also our
support group WASP Survivors on Facebook, and it's been a
really good way for us to you know, you know,
(18:32):
have a record, create a record of what actually happened here,
because now you look at the industry now and you
look at WASP and there's a WASP is definitely part
of our history. It's different now, but it had a
really big impact on the industry today. So you know,
(18:57):
we use our stories as somewhat of a cautionary tale
so that we can learn from history, so that we
can stop repeating these same mistakes, and so that we
can actually make changes to protect the children that are
in these programs right now.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Maya Salovitz is a reporter and author of the book
Help at Any Cost, How the trouble Teen Industry colls
Parents and Hurts Kids, which came out in two thousand
and six. She's been on the front lines of advocacy
work for the trouble teen industry since the start and
has been reporting on it for years. She has previously
met with Ken Kay and other officials at Cross Creek,
(19:38):
and what she said about them echoed the sentiments we
heard from Decca Akenhead, the reporter at Tranquility Bay in Jamaica.
Here's Maya.
Speaker 7 (19:48):
They were about power and fear and control, and the
moment they sensed that anything was not quite going their
way or anything was inflicting with anything that they said,
they just wanted to come down on you with a hammer.
They were just scary.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Maya feels that wasp's downfall occurred due to a number
of factors.
Speaker 7 (20:12):
I think it was sort of like one of those
gradually and then suddenly things as Hemingway said about bankruptcy,
and so, you know, it was kind of an accretion
of bad media coverage, survivors speaking out online.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
According to Maya, the Great Recession and survivors starting to
speak out played a major role in shutting them down.
Speaker 7 (20:35):
The other thing that was going on was there were
congressional hearings about regulation and about the extent of the
abuse in the industry. So it was all becoming visible.
And it was, you know, before my book and before
(20:57):
all of this media and the survi stories online came
to public attention, it was easy for parents to just
think this was a completely legitimate thing. Now you have
all these stories out there about the harm, parents are
starting to think twice. And then you get a financial crash,
(21:20):
and so one of the sad ways that people financed
these very expensive programs was by refinancing their home or
you know, yet we're mortgaging it in the first place,
so they would like basically parents would go into debt
for this, or they would spend the college fund, which
(21:40):
would be even worse because one of the best things
you can do towards your child's mental health and future
is get them through college. So but anyway, when the
crash came, easy financing went away, and so the market
for these places just dropped dramatically. I mean, it was
(22:01):
it was weird because like, obviously, like the financial crash
was not fun for anybody, So you know, it was
a silver lining of the financial crash to see this
very harmful business being taken down. I mean, obviously I
was glad to see as many places get closed as possible,
(22:22):
and I was really you know, it was it was
good to see that, you know, my work was vindicated,
and more importantly, that survivors were being heard.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
One of the hearings Maya mentioned relates to a two
thousand and eight report by the Government Accountability Office or GAO,
which conducted an investigation about the allegations of abuse and
different types of Trouble Team programs, which led to a
congressional hearing and a report. The GAO looked at an
number of programs across the country, including wilderness therapy programs,
(23:05):
boot camps, and boarding schools. However, the specific programs investigated
were not named, and it is not clear any WASP
facility was investigated by the GAO. Nevertheless, results of the
report were damning for the troubled teen industry as a whole.
The GOAO found that ineffective management and operating practices, in
(23:27):
addition to untrained staff, contributed to the death and abuse
of youth enrolled in selected programs. Physical restraint also figured
prominently in some of their cases. They cited an example
of a sixteen year old boy who died in March
nineteen ninety eight at an unnamed program, and the report
(23:47):
detailed the abuse he endured while there. The teen was
having chest pains and a hard time breathing, yet he
was still forced to carry cinderblocks because he refused to
participate in a task. The report said the teen had
an accumulation of infectious puss in his chest and over
seventy injuries all over his body, including some from blunt
(24:10):
force trauma. In another example, in December two thousand and five,
a twelve year old boy was forced into a restrained
position on the ground after he started hitting his head
on the concrete. A staff member allegedly laid on top
of him, and the boy said he couldn't breathe. The
staff member reportedly claimed, kids quote always say that they
(24:33):
cannot breathe during restraint end quote. He noticed the boy
stopped moving, and when he rolled him over, the boy
was not breathing. He was pronounced dead at a local
hospital and his cause of death was suffocation. These types
of tragic and gut wrenching stories repeated throughout the report.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
So where's the change. These allegations can fall through the
cracks or fall on deaf ears, which gets us to
exactly where we are today. At least in the case
of WASP programs. There's really only been one person who
we are aware of that has been held criminally responsible
for their actions at these programs. Just one that is
(25:17):
not acceptable. The people who ran these WASP programs seem
to be living scot free without any consequences or accountability
for the allegations levied against them. WASP might not exist anymore,
but that didn't stop some of these people from continuing
to open up facilities under different names which utilized the
(25:39):
same types of punishment tactics. Wasp's legacy continues to linger.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
To this day. Robert Litchfield is still seen as a
hometown hero of sorts. In September twenty twenty five, city
officials in Hurricane, Utah, not far from Laverkin, broke ground
on the future Bob Litchfield Recreation Center. In fact, there
is not one, but two gyms named after him. Lichfield
(26:16):
donated the money after Hurricanes mayor begged and pleaded for
him to fund the project. The mayor said in a
speech before the groundbreaking quote, first of all, I'm really
sorry if anyone has had anything that's happened to them
where they've been wronged. And I don't know anyone that
has personally done anything that they've talked about. I don't
(26:38):
know any of the employees that have done those things.
I don't know any of the allegations that have actually
been to core in where someone's won end quote. Several
survivors descended on Hurricane to protest the decision. I personally
started a petition to get the city to reconsider the
project and not honor the man who made million profiting
(27:01):
off of our own suffering. The effects of these programs
are still felt today. Some of the trauma has tragically
caused several survivors to take their own life over the years.
It has become all too common, a tragic remnant of
the worldwide Association of Specialty programs in schools. Chelsea Filer
(27:22):
spoke with us about the mental toll these programs had
on survivors, especially when they returned home.
Speaker 6 (27:30):
Most stays in the program were anywhere from eighteen to
twenty eight months, and so when you got out of
the program, there was this culture shock. Now you've just
spent the last two years in survival mode. You've definitely
(27:52):
experienced some mind control, and that's left you in a
pretty weird mental state. And then you're just kind of
thrown out into the world and said good luck. Even
though a lot of us missed a lot of important
adolescent milestones, like you know, learning to drive and going
(28:17):
to prom and you know, just developing normal relationships because
we are. The relationships that we formed in the program
were very much not normal. We were very much just
pitted against each other and it felt like you didn't
(28:37):
really have anybody that had your back, and that can
really lead to a lot of trust issues. We also
see that after survivors leave the program, they do tend
to gravitate towards toxic or and or abusive relationships. And
(28:59):
I believe that there's a correlation there between like the
experience that we had in this program and how we
were made to normalize abuse and especially psychological abuse, verbal abuse, manipulation,
and to just accept it that in a way we
deserved it, and that that was essentially the message that
(29:23):
we deserve to be there, and we deserve to be
treated unfairly. You know, a lot of us have been
diagnosed with complex PTSD. Suicide rates are very high within
our community, much more than other populations. I can't say that,
(29:45):
you know, any large percentage of the kids that I
went to high school with have committed suicide. Compared to
our community when there it seems to be someone new
every year. And I mean one of my very very
close and best friends and someone that I will always
(30:08):
remember as the light in my life when I was
in the program and she went to High Impact too.
She committed suicide in twenty twelve. So, I mean, we
really experienced this loss of these people that meant so
(30:30):
much to us, and as survivors, it's like the struggle
is real.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Despite repeated cries that these programs are harmful, some in
the industry continue to choose not to change their ways.
But what about the tragic loss of so many survivors
who couldn't cope with the after effects of losing their
childhoods to the program. We must demand betters are truly
(31:01):
on the line.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Caroline and I work alongside Paris Hilton and other survivors
every day to reform the industry through policy and legal action.
I have been Head of Impact at Paris' media company,
eleven to eleven Media since her documentary debuted, and our
work has been multifaceted. Over the past four years. We've
been working diligently at the state and federal level to
(31:27):
introduce legislation aimed at ending child abuse and providing protections
for young people in institutional care so that no one
else has to experience abuse in the name of treatment.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
The solution lies in both policy change and cultural change,
So we have prioritized increasing education and awareness about the
harms and youth residential care through conferences, webinars, in building
partnerships with individuals in the nonprofit and legal spaces.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
There have been some positive strides. In twenty twenty one,
Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed our first bill that enforced
additional oversight of youth residential treatment facilities, the first legislative
change in the Utah industry in over fifteen years. Since
that first bill, we have helped influence the passage of
eight more state bills, and we planned to pass laws
(32:23):
in all fifty states.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
On April twenty seventh, twenty twenty three, Paris, Rebecca and
I traveled to Washington, d C. To introduce the Stop
Institutional Child Abuse Act, a bill we have been working
on for over three years, alongside our bipartisan bill sponsors
Senator Merkley, Senator Cornyan, Congressman Conna, and Congressman Carter. It
(32:46):
was a day that I will remember forever. The American
Bar Association even passed a resolution in August twenty twenty
three endorsing the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, as well
as other federal, states and local legislation to help in
child abuse in these types of programs. As of today,
we have over one hundred bipartisan House members in over
(33:10):
twenty three bipartisan senators supporting the bill and we are
hopeful that we will be able to pass it this year.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Twenty twenty four has been a busy year for our
legislative efforts. We're the sponsoring organization for California's Senate Bill
ten forty three, also known as the Accountability in Children's
Treatment Act, which would require transparency regarding the usage of
restraint and seclusion in short term residential therapeutic programs. Paris
(33:38):
testified before the Senate committee last month and it passed unanimously.
We're also working on legislation in New Hampshire to ensure
that agencies placing foster youth in residential facilities prioritize placements
in their community instead of shipping kids across state lines.
The bill also limits the child's length of stay so
(33:59):
that a youth can end up in facilities for years
at a time. Progress is made by passing all of
these bills that continue to chip away at the issue
one step at a time. We're dedicated to the long game,
and I'm confident that we will see sweeping change across
the country and the world because of the efforts of
dedicated advocates.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
We're doing what we can to hold people accountable in
the future because there has been such a massive failure
to do so in the past.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
And we couldn't do our work without public awareness. After
Paris's documentary This Is Paris came out, social media became
a safe space for thousands of survivors to speak out
and share their own untold stories, and their voices have
made a profound difference.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
My use of social media as a platform also started
after the release of Paris's documentary. For over fifteen years,
I had stuffed away my memories of the academy at
Ivy Ridge, But once the trauma started to bubble up
again and I learned kids were still suffering in these programs,
I made the intentional decision to do something about it.
(35:07):
My first step was sharing my story and joining the
chorus of other voices of survivors who have chosen to
speak their truth and set themselves free from the shame
of what we've been through.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Breaking code, silence and I See You survivor hashtags gained
significant traction after Paris released her documentary. Survivors of all
types of facilities flooded social media sharing their lived experience,
which has led to broad public awareness, youth being pulled
from programs, facilities being investigated and shut down, and of
(35:39):
course policy changed too. Another survivor, Daniel, who goes by
at Daniel C. Stearns on social media, said his activism
began at that time.
Speaker 8 (35:51):
The catalyst for me certain to speak of about this
online was and he was May of twenty twenty. I
just hopped on TikTok and I don't know what compelled me,
but I just made a silly little video like with
my best friend, like treatment Stories Check, and we were
(36:13):
just going back and forth telling funny stories. Like the
video kind of blew up a little bit.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Daniel told us that going public can be scary, but
oftentimes it's worth it.
Speaker 8 (36:26):
I always say my mission, education, validation, prevention. I think
those are the three most important things. People on the
Internet are going to say whatever they want and are
going to be angry and judgmental and selfish. But I
(36:48):
feel like if I had a chance to say anything
to somebody who was kind of on the fence about
wanting to get involved in this kind of work for activism,
it would be that your story is so damn important,
and until you speak to it and breathe life into it,
(37:10):
it will sit there next to you and wait for you.
It's not going anywhere. It's patient and it loves you.
But you have to be fully confident that your story
is yours. You have to brace yourself for people to
push up against that and know when it's time to
(37:31):
back off. You have to be patient with other people.
You can't fly off the rails and to do something
for somebody else in the sense of giving them, giving
them a piece of your confidence, like in the truth
of their story is invaluable, and it's also really easy.
(37:54):
People are don't understand how easy it is for your
strengths like rub off on other people, especially when what
you've been through is like their parallel experiences. I really
want more people to be doing what I'm doing for
a lot of reasons, but it's like that encouragement is
(38:15):
so important, and I think it's hard to find. And
I just think that the more people that speak, the
more I actually don't think. I know that the more
people that speak about this, it's like a diffusal of
strength and confidence and leaning into that is while taking
(38:38):
care of yourself. It's really a magical thing to do.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
Parents play such a huge part too. Some people's relationships
with their parents have been irrevocably broken, while other people
are still working on mending their connections. Chelsea Filer has
one strong piece of advice for any parent who is
considering sending their child to one of these types of pros.
Speaker 6 (39:01):
I highly suggest any parent that is looking into these
programs to do your due diligence and ultimately keep your
kid home. I mean, it's been proven that community based
services have so much better outcomes, wrap around services that
are strength based services that are based in ethics and
(39:27):
clinical standards. Because truly, these kids they deserve to be
well cared for. They deserve you know, ethical treatment. That's
the only way that they're actually going to get through
this hellscape we called life, especially as a teenager, is
(39:48):
if they have proper support, and they have good mentorship,
and they have their parents really involved in their lives. So,
I mean, sending a kid off just isn't the solution.
It's not it. You can't just send your kid away
and to get fixed. It takes the family dynamic. It
takes working on your self as much as trying to
(40:12):
help your kid. You know, we really do need to
start changing our mindset about how we parent our children
and our expectations of teenagers and what they're going to
experience as teenagers, and maybe just remember what it was
like to be a teenager and you know, help them
(40:35):
through it. Keep your kids home, Try to find community
based services, they're available, they're.
Speaker 4 (40:41):
In your area.
Speaker 6 (40:43):
There's never any reason to send your kid away to
be punished. That's not going to work. They're not going
to come back better for it. So save your money,
keep your kids home, and just love them through it.
Speaker 4 (41:03):
Justice is a.
Speaker 1 (41:04):
Slow, yet ever evolving cycle. It requires patients. But as
a survivor, I've been patient long enough. We have been
patient long enough. Through legislation, advocacy work, social media, and
platforms like this podcast, we continue to turn our pain
(41:25):
to purpose to ensure no future generations ever have to
endure this too. The survivor community is still fighting and
putting the pieces together themselves about WASP and its continued
influence today, and it's working.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
But we're not done. These atrocities are still happening right
now today in Jamaica next week on the season finale
of Trapped in Treatment. All of our efforts to reach
(42:11):
Robert Litchfield, Ken Kay, and Carl Farnsworth for comment were
unsuccessful and they did not respond to our request for comment.
From our research, none of them have ever been charged
with or found guilty of any crime stemming from allegations
of abuse or in connection with WASP or any of
the schools affiliated therewith.
Speaker 4 (42:32):
Hey everyone, it's Paris.
Speaker 6 (42:33):
Thanks for listening to episode eleven.
Speaker 3 (42:36):
We have so many problems in our country right now
and it's easy to feel discouraged, but I believe we
can make a change.
Speaker 4 (42:43):
It's on all of us to do something about it.
Speaker 3 (42:45):
Follow us on Instagram at Trapped in Treatment and leave
us a comment.
Speaker 7 (42:49):
Tune in next week for our final episode.
The following episode contains disturbing and graphic accounts of survivor experiences,
as well as discussions of suicide. It may not be
suitable for younger audiences. Please listen with care.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
From iHeartRadio London Audio and executive producer Paris Hilton. This
is Trapped in Treatment. We're your hosts. I'm Rebecca Mellinger, Grown.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
And I'm Caroline Cole. Join us to uncover the hidden
truth of an industry shrouded in scandal. We're on a
mission to ensure no child has to experience the hell
that is the troubled teen industry and to understand why
justice has not been served for survivors. This season is
(00:52):
all about WASP, the Worldwide Association of Specialty Programs in Schools,
one of the largest networks of teen treatment facilities in
the industry, masterminded by one man, Robert Litchfield. The stories
you will hear in the following episode are the personal
allegations and accounts of individuals who have attended treatment at
(01:14):
one of these facilities. All experiences, views, and opinions are
their own.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Last week on Trapped in Treatment, we discussed Narvin Litchfield's
career with WASP, and heard his outlook on the abuse
allegations that came out against him. When Dundee Ranch shut
down in two thousand and three, I.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Came out and took on the press with the Dundee
Ranch Academy fiasco, and I was made up the poster
child of abuse. You know, the whole purpose of those
entities was to try to give us protections we could
have a normal life.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
We also dove into the lawsuit where WASP sued the
referral service Pure, Inc. Alleging Pure damaged their reputation and
caused them to lose business by posting negative stories about
WASP programs online. Parents of survivors and other WASP officials
testified during the trial, with some bombshells being told on
the stand. For instance, one parent shared that he sent
(02:18):
his son to Cassa by the Sea, but the son
was moved to the notorious High Impact without his knowledge.
The father testified that while at High Impact, the sun
was allegedly kept in a dog cage for eight days
and was hogtied for three of those.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
These types of allegations came up multiple times throughout the
trial and with different witnesses. The jury sided with Pure
and determined they did not defame WASP or cause any
irreparable damage to the reputation. This case brought truth to
light and allowed some of our stories to be shared
(02:57):
in a place where truth is expected to prevail. It
finally seemed like the tide could have been turning in
the right direction for survivors. But as it turns out,
what we hoped would happen and what actually happened weren't
completely aligned.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
In August two thousand and six, three years after the
Pure decision, William Chase Wood and his parents, Tammy Wood
and Gregory Wood, sued WASP in federal court in Utah.
The Woods alleged that William was subjected to physical, emotional, mental,
and sexual abuse and sought to hold WASP and its
(03:40):
affiliates responsible. The Woods also filed a lawsuit in Utah
state court alleging similar claims. Will be referring to the
state and federal lawsuits interchangeably unless we specify otherwise. Over time,
nearly three hundred and fifty people made up of survivors
and their parents, joined the Woods lawsuit, detailing allegations of
(04:02):
abuse at WASP programs. The claims against WASP included negligence, fraud,
breach of contract, emotional distress, false imprisonment, battery, and assault.
The plaintiffs even brought RICO claims against WASP, which stands
for Racketeer, Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, aiming to prove
(04:23):
corruption and racketeering within WASP, other than WASP as an entity.
The list of nearly sixty defendants included Robert Litchfield, Ken K,
Carl Farnsworth, Teen Help Academy at Ivy Ridge, and more.
The case sought to demonstrate the connection between Lichfield and
his vast empire of associated programs.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
The main attorney for the plaintiffs was a man named
Wendell Turley, a personal injury lawyer who at the time
had over thirty years of experience. Eventually, the case became
known as the Turley Lawsuit, which is how we will
be referred ring to it. Much like the Pure lawsuit,
this one also leaned heavily on the abuse allegations at
(05:06):
WASP facilities. The plaintiffs argued in the case that WASP
was fraudulent and based in large part on lies, deceit,
and misrepresentations, leading them to create an extensive plan of
concealment of adverse incidents and facts. They claimed WASP covered
up the suspected physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, as well
(05:30):
as failing to provide even a minimally sufficient education. WASP
and the other defendants denied all of the allegations. Truly
called it a deny deny policy. The complaint in the
TRULY lawsuit cited the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of the Child. The Convention, which is a written legal
(05:53):
agreement between countries, called for nations to recognize that the child,
for the full and harmonia is development of his or
her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in
an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding. But here's the twist.
Every country has ratified the agreement except for one, the
(06:18):
United States.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Annabelle is a survivor from Europe who's pursuing her PhD
in sociology, with most of her research focused around the
troubled teen industry. Here's what she had to say about
the matter.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
America kind of has its wild, wild West own way,
and like.
Speaker 5 (06:39):
That's where I think it gets really complicated too, because
I don't know how many people have said this on
the show, but when their parents signed their rights away,
for example, like they that's a big thing, though, and
that's what we used to say, but now I was like,
I don't.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Know if I have any rights and not American whatever.
But that's how we've all explained her right and that's
that's not correct. That's not how. It's just at the
will of the parents, right, Like, that's where the troubled
teen industry thrives because there's no legal barriers to a
parent making the decision to institutionalize their child for non
(07:18):
criminal behavior.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
To be clear, the United States signed the convention in
February nineteen ninety five, which signaled an intent to ratify
the agreement, but have still yet to do so twenty
nine years later. Ratifying the treaty is especially important because
it signifies that Congress has internally approved of the commitment,
thereby making it a binding agreement. As a pre eminent
(07:44):
leader on the world stage, we should be asking ourselves
why we have not ratified the UNCRC and how this
could lend to an environment in our nation that allows
the troubled teen industry to continue to flourish. A research
report conducted by the Congressional Research Service in twenty fifteen
said some opponents to signing it were concerned that the
(08:07):
Convention on the Rights of the Child could interfere in
the private lives of families, particularly the rights of parents
to educate or discipline their child. However, those in favor
of ratifying the Convention view it as a way to
protect children against government intrusion and abuse.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
The Truly lawsuit argued was and the other defendants violated
recommended standards of the rights of children as set out
in the Convention of the Rights of the Child by
preventing kids from having regular contact with their parents, subjecting
them to abuse, failing to give them nutritious food and water,
and subjecting them to sexual abuse. Those were only a
(08:49):
few of the numerous violations they cited. The lawsuit detailed
accounts from survivors whose allegations included being locked in boxes
or cages, enduring psychological and physical pain, working as child laborers,
and failing to receive any type of sufficient education.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Some of the survivors we've had on the podcast, including
Chelsea Filer, joined the Turly lawsuit as plaintiffs. Chelsea spoke
to us about the personal meanings she felt while a
part of it.
Speaker 6 (09:23):
When we started the Turly lawsuit, it definitely felt like
there was hope for justice. Just putting it all on
the record, I believe was really empowering for us as survivors.
We definitely used our voices to call for justice, and
(09:45):
I think that that was important. Quite a few of
my friends came forward to reveal sexual abuse, which I mean,
we all know it's so brave to come forward in
the first place, just to share your story, but to actually,
(10:05):
like in a way, look your abuser in the eye
and tell them what they did to you, and tell
the world what they did to you. That's that's, you know,
a testament to our strengths that we lived through this
and we live to tell the tale. And and and
(10:30):
really the whole point of the lawsuit was to warn parents,
and I think that that was that that intention was successful.
I mean, just knowing that there's a lawsuit against a school,
well they these specialty programs for physical abuse, psychological abuse,
(10:57):
sexual abuse, false imprisonment, deceptive marketing. It sends a pretty
strong message that these places are not good.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
The Turly lawsuit inspired hope among survivors. The WASP and
the defendants denied all allegations presented. The defendants tried to
get the case thrown out and dismissed several times, but
the plaintiffs continued to put up a fight, often submitting
additional documents for their cause. To put things into perspective,
the court docket, which notes every update in the case
(11:33):
for the federal case is almost sixty pages long. The
final complaint plaintiffs filed, which outline the claims and allegations
against WASP, is just under three thousand pages.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
While some could probably see this as an open and
shutcase against WASP because of the hundreds of detailed allegations
of abuse, it wasn't that easy. It dragged on four
years in federal and state court due to motions WA
filed claiming there were major procedural faults with the case
as a whole. This is about to get a bit
(12:06):
complex and confusing with legal terms, but bear with us.
Much of wasp's argument dismissing the case revolved around something
called jurisdiction, which refers to a court's authority over the
case and parties brought to them in that specific court.
Some courts have been limited in their power to bring
down a judgment that would impact a person or entity
(12:29):
who does not live in or have other meaningful connections
to the state where the case is taking place. Further,
in federal court, if the case does not implicate a
federal question of law, there must be something called diversity
of jurisdiction, where no defendant can be from the same
state as any plaintiff. In the truly case, given the
(12:52):
vast number of different entities and individuals involved, many of
whom were from the same state, this requirement of legal
diversity city wasn't met.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
These back and forth with the court dragged on for
several years. In April two thousand and seven, for instance,
the court dismissed the rico and fraud claims against a
number of the defendants because it found that the Turley
plaintiffs failed to state the details of these allegations with
the requisite particularity against the defendants as is required by
(13:24):
the federal rules. Accordingly, the claims against these defendants, including
Robert Litchfield, Worldwide, Ken Kay, Majestic Ranch, Carl Farnsworth, and
Cross Creek, were dismissed from the case. It was a
win for WASP, a setback for Turley, and a foreshadow
of what was to come. Nevertheless, the Federal court permitted
(13:47):
Turley and the plaintiffs to amend their complaint against WASP
six times, but it stopped there. That six complaint was
challenged yet again by the remaining WASP defendants in August
twenty eleven. The judge ultimately sided with WASP and dismissed
all of the claims against them, saying the plaintiffs did
(14:09):
not meet the jurisdictional and pleading requirements for federal court.
The Turly case never even made it in front of
a jury.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Despite the Federal Court's decision, the judge still recognized the
atrocity of the allegations. While describing the background of the case,
the judge wrote, the plaintiffs allege, however, that the services
were a sham and the supposed schools were essentially gulogs
staffed by abusive and incompetent people. He continued, the plaintiffs
(14:42):
alleged the students were subjected to horrific treatment, which the
defendants covered up by feeding the parents' continuous lies about
the true nature of what was happening to their children.
And to close the opinion, the judge wrote, by dismissing
this case, the court does not mean to minimize the
seriousness of the allegations made in the sixth amended complaint.
(15:05):
If those allegations are true, the plaintiffs here were subjected
to treatment that nobody deserves to suffer. Like the federal case,
the Utah State Turley lawsuit was eventually dismissed before going
to trial and was closed in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
The Tury case failed before they could even make it
to a jury to decide if WASP really was liable
for all the claims brought against them. We wish there
could have been a different outcome, but it still forced
ugly allegations against WASP into the spotlight and allowed a
movement to gain momentum where survivors started to speak out
about their own experiences and push for change on all levels.
(15:50):
Here's Chelsea Filer again.
Speaker 6 (15:53):
I still think that the lawsuit, you know, it had
a good impact. It brought a lot of awareness to
what these programs really were and ultimately led to the
closure of a lot of these programs because the parents
realized that, you know, maybe we don't want to torture
(16:15):
our kids, and that was the hope. That was definitely
the hope of like pressing that lawsuit and sharing all
this information with the public. Is that the parents would
eventually make the right decision if their eyes were open,
if they weren't being so heavily manipulated by these programs,
(16:39):
and we could combat that by trying to hold them accountable.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
But that has been and continues to be an uphill battle.
Survivors are still fighting to hold these people in leadership
positions accountable. The WASP no longer exists as a corporate entity,
(17:05):
the influence of these programs and the lasting damage and
memories of survivors still do.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Much of the activism pushing for more awareness and change
in this industry started at a grassroots level. Chelsea refused
to give up the fight after the Turly case too.
Here she is talking about how she got started.
Speaker 6 (17:26):
I joined forums. We had the Anti WASP Forum, which
was you know, kind of our way of like getting
together and fighting the power, you know, sharing our experiences,
sharing our voices and really validating each other, coming together
(17:47):
and you know, realizing that there was a pattern in
the experiences that we had and that painted a picture
of what WASP was. Our collective experiences really are the
living history of what happened here and collecting all of
(18:09):
that and putting it in one place. That's how we
started WASP Survivors WASP Survivors dot com and also our
support group WASP Survivors on Facebook, and it's been a
really good way for us to you know, you know,
(18:32):
have a record, create a record of what actually happened here,
because now you look at the industry now and you
look at WASP and there's a WASP is definitely part
of our history. It's different now, but it had a
really big impact on the industry today. So you know,
(18:57):
we use our stories as somewhat of a cautionary tale
so that we can learn from history, so that we
can stop repeating these same mistakes, and so that we
can actually make changes to protect the children that are
in these programs right now.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Maya Salovitz is a reporter and author of the book
Help at Any Cost, How the trouble Teen Industry colls
Parents and Hurts Kids, which came out in two thousand
and six. She's been on the front lines of advocacy
work for the trouble teen industry since the start and
has been reporting on it for years. She has previously
met with Ken Kay and other officials at Cross Creek,
(19:38):
and what she said about them echoed the sentiments we
heard from Decca Akenhead, the reporter at Tranquility Bay in Jamaica.
Here's Maya.
Speaker 7 (19:48):
They were about power and fear and control, and the
moment they sensed that anything was not quite going their
way or anything was inflicting with anything that they said,
they just wanted to come down on you with a hammer.
They were just scary.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Maya feels that wasp's downfall occurred due to a number
of factors.
Speaker 7 (20:12):
I think it was sort of like one of those
gradually and then suddenly things as Hemingway said about bankruptcy,
and so, you know, it was kind of an accretion
of bad media coverage, survivors speaking out online.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
According to Maya, the Great Recession and survivors starting to
speak out played a major role in shutting them down.
Speaker 7 (20:35):
The other thing that was going on was there were
congressional hearings about regulation and about the extent of the
abuse in the industry. So it was all becoming visible.
And it was, you know, before my book and before
(20:57):
all of this media and the survi stories online came
to public attention, it was easy for parents to just
think this was a completely legitimate thing. Now you have
all these stories out there about the harm, parents are
starting to think twice. And then you get a financial crash,
(21:20):
and so one of the sad ways that people financed
these very expensive programs was by refinancing their home or
you know, yet we're mortgaging it in the first place,
so they would like basically parents would go into debt
for this, or they would spend the college fund, which
(21:40):
would be even worse because one of the best things
you can do towards your child's mental health and future
is get them through college. So but anyway, when the
crash came, easy financing went away, and so the market
for these places just dropped dramatically. I mean, it was
(22:01):
it was weird because like, obviously, like the financial crash
was not fun for anybody, So you know, it was
a silver lining of the financial crash to see this
very harmful business being taken down. I mean, obviously I
was glad to see as many places get closed as possible,
(22:22):
and I was really you know, it was it was
good to see that, you know, my work was vindicated,
and more importantly, that survivors were being heard.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
One of the hearings Maya mentioned relates to a two
thousand and eight report by the Government Accountability Office or GAO,
which conducted an investigation about the allegations of abuse and
different types of Trouble Team programs, which led to a
congressional hearing and a report. The GAO looked at an
number of programs across the country, including wilderness therapy programs,
(23:05):
boot camps, and boarding schools. However, the specific programs investigated
were not named, and it is not clear any WASP
facility was investigated by the GAO. Nevertheless, results of the
report were damning for the troubled teen industry as a whole.
The GOAO found that ineffective management and operating practices, in
(23:27):
addition to untrained staff, contributed to the death and abuse
of youth enrolled in selected programs. Physical restraint also figured
prominently in some of their cases. They cited an example
of a sixteen year old boy who died in March
nineteen ninety eight at an unnamed program, and the report
(23:47):
detailed the abuse he endured while there. The teen was
having chest pains and a hard time breathing, yet he
was still forced to carry cinderblocks because he refused to
participate in a task. The report said the teen had
an accumulation of infectious puss in his chest and over
seventy injuries all over his body, including some from blunt
(24:10):
force trauma. In another example, in December two thousand and five,
a twelve year old boy was forced into a restrained
position on the ground after he started hitting his head
on the concrete. A staff member allegedly laid on top
of him, and the boy said he couldn't breathe. The
staff member reportedly claimed, kids quote always say that they
(24:33):
cannot breathe during restraint end quote. He noticed the boy
stopped moving, and when he rolled him over, the boy
was not breathing. He was pronounced dead at a local
hospital and his cause of death was suffocation. These types
of tragic and gut wrenching stories repeated throughout the report.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
So where's the change. These allegations can fall through the
cracks or fall on deaf ears, which gets us to
exactly where we are today. At least in the case
of WASP programs. There's really only been one person who
we are aware of that has been held criminally responsible
for their actions at these programs. Just one that is
(25:17):
not acceptable. The people who ran these WASP programs seem
to be living scot free without any consequences or accountability
for the allegations levied against them. WASP might not exist anymore,
but that didn't stop some of these people from continuing
to open up facilities under different names which utilized the
(25:39):
same types of punishment tactics. Wasp's legacy continues to linger.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
To this day. Robert Litchfield is still seen as a
hometown hero of sorts. In September twenty twenty five, city
officials in Hurricane, Utah, not far from Laverkin, broke ground
on the future Bob Litchfield Recreation Center. In fact, there
is not one, but two gyms named after him. Lichfield
(26:16):
donated the money after Hurricanes mayor begged and pleaded for
him to fund the project. The mayor said in a
speech before the groundbreaking quote, first of all, I'm really
sorry if anyone has had anything that's happened to them
where they've been wronged. And I don't know anyone that
has personally done anything that they've talked about. I don't
(26:38):
know any of the employees that have done those things.
I don't know any of the allegations that have actually
been to core in where someone's won end quote. Several
survivors descended on Hurricane to protest the decision. I personally
started a petition to get the city to reconsider the
project and not honor the man who made million profiting
(27:01):
off of our own suffering. The effects of these programs
are still felt today. Some of the trauma has tragically
caused several survivors to take their own life over the years.
It has become all too common, a tragic remnant of
the worldwide Association of Specialty programs in schools. Chelsea Filer
(27:22):
spoke with us about the mental toll these programs had
on survivors, especially when they returned home.
Speaker 6 (27:30):
Most stays in the program were anywhere from eighteen to
twenty eight months, and so when you got out of
the program, there was this culture shock. Now you've just
spent the last two years in survival mode. You've definitely
(27:52):
experienced some mind control, and that's left you in a
pretty weird mental state. And then you're just kind of
thrown out into the world and said good luck. Even
though a lot of us missed a lot of important
adolescent milestones, like you know, learning to drive and going
(28:17):
to prom and you know, just developing normal relationships because
we are. The relationships that we formed in the program
were very much not normal. We were very much just
pitted against each other and it felt like you didn't
(28:37):
really have anybody that had your back, and that can
really lead to a lot of trust issues. We also
see that after survivors leave the program, they do tend
to gravitate towards toxic or and or abusive relationships. And
(28:59):
I believe that there's a correlation there between like the
experience that we had in this program and how we
were made to normalize abuse and especially psychological abuse, verbal abuse, manipulation,
and to just accept it that in a way we
deserved it, and that that was essentially the message that
(29:23):
we deserve to be there, and we deserve to be
treated unfairly. You know, a lot of us have been
diagnosed with complex PTSD. Suicide rates are very high within
our community, much more than other populations. I can't say that,
(29:45):
you know, any large percentage of the kids that I
went to high school with have committed suicide. Compared to
our community when there it seems to be someone new
every year. And I mean one of my very very
close and best friends and someone that I will always
(30:08):
remember as the light in my life when I was
in the program and she went to High Impact too.
She committed suicide in twenty twelve. So, I mean, we
really experienced this loss of these people that meant so
(30:30):
much to us, and as survivors, it's like the struggle
is real.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Despite repeated cries that these programs are harmful, some in
the industry continue to choose not to change their ways.
But what about the tragic loss of so many survivors
who couldn't cope with the after effects of losing their
childhoods to the program. We must demand betters are truly
(31:01):
on the line.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Caroline and I work alongside Paris Hilton and other survivors
every day to reform the industry through policy and legal action.
I have been Head of Impact at Paris' media company,
eleven to eleven Media since her documentary debuted, and our
work has been multifaceted. Over the past four years. We've
been working diligently at the state and federal level to
(31:27):
introduce legislation aimed at ending child abuse and providing protections
for young people in institutional care so that no one
else has to experience abuse in the name of treatment.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
The solution lies in both policy change and cultural change,
So we have prioritized increasing education and awareness about the
harms and youth residential care through conferences, webinars, in building
partnerships with individuals in the nonprofit and legal spaces.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
There have been some positive strides. In twenty twenty one,
Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed our first bill that enforced
additional oversight of youth residential treatment facilities, the first legislative
change in the Utah industry in over fifteen years. Since
that first bill, we have helped influence the passage of
eight more state bills, and we planned to pass laws
(32:23):
in all fifty states.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
On April twenty seventh, twenty twenty three, Paris, Rebecca and
I traveled to Washington, d C. To introduce the Stop
Institutional Child Abuse Act, a bill we have been working
on for over three years, alongside our bipartisan bill sponsors
Senator Merkley, Senator Cornyan, Congressman Conna, and Congressman Carter. It
(32:46):
was a day that I will remember forever. The American
Bar Association even passed a resolution in August twenty twenty
three endorsing the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, as well
as other federal, states and local legislation to help in
child abuse in these types of programs. As of today,
we have over one hundred bipartisan House members in over
(33:10):
twenty three bipartisan senators supporting the bill and we are
hopeful that we will be able to pass it this year.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Twenty twenty four has been a busy year for our
legislative efforts. We're the sponsoring organization for California's Senate Bill
ten forty three, also known as the Accountability in Children's
Treatment Act, which would require transparency regarding the usage of
restraint and seclusion in short term residential therapeutic programs. Paris
(33:38):
testified before the Senate committee last month and it passed unanimously.
We're also working on legislation in New Hampshire to ensure
that agencies placing foster youth in residential facilities prioritize placements
in their community instead of shipping kids across state lines.
The bill also limits the child's length of stay so
(33:59):
that a youth can end up in facilities for years
at a time. Progress is made by passing all of
these bills that continue to chip away at the issue
one step at a time. We're dedicated to the long game,
and I'm confident that we will see sweeping change across
the country and the world because of the efforts of
dedicated advocates.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
We're doing what we can to hold people accountable in
the future because there has been such a massive failure
to do so in the past.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
And we couldn't do our work without public awareness. After
Paris's documentary This Is Paris came out, social media became
a safe space for thousands of survivors to speak out
and share their own untold stories, and their voices have
made a profound difference.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
My use of social media as a platform also started
after the release of Paris's documentary. For over fifteen years,
I had stuffed away my memories of the academy at
Ivy Ridge, But once the trauma started to bubble up
again and I learned kids were still suffering in these programs,
I made the intentional decision to do something about it.
(35:07):
My first step was sharing my story and joining the
chorus of other voices of survivors who have chosen to
speak their truth and set themselves free from the shame
of what we've been through.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Breaking code, silence and I See You survivor hashtags gained
significant traction after Paris released her documentary. Survivors of all
types of facilities flooded social media sharing their lived experience,
which has led to broad public awareness, youth being pulled
from programs, facilities being investigated and shut down, and of
(35:39):
course policy changed too. Another survivor, Daniel, who goes by
at Daniel C. Stearns on social media, said his activism
began at that time.
Speaker 8 (35:51):
The catalyst for me certain to speak of about this
online was and he was May of twenty twenty. I
just hopped on TikTok and I don't know what compelled me,
but I just made a silly little video like with
my best friend, like treatment Stories Check, and we were
(36:13):
just going back and forth telling funny stories. Like the
video kind of blew up a little bit.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Daniel told us that going public can be scary, but
oftentimes it's worth it.
Speaker 8 (36:26):
I always say my mission, education, validation, prevention. I think
those are the three most important things. People on the
Internet are going to say whatever they want and are
going to be angry and judgmental and selfish. But I
(36:48):
feel like if I had a chance to say anything
to somebody who was kind of on the fence about
wanting to get involved in this kind of work for activism,
it would be that your story is so damn important,
and until you speak to it and breathe life into it,
(37:10):
it will sit there next to you and wait for you.
It's not going anywhere. It's patient and it loves you.
But you have to be fully confident that your story
is yours. You have to brace yourself for people to
push up against that and know when it's time to
(37:31):
back off. You have to be patient with other people.
You can't fly off the rails and to do something
for somebody else in the sense of giving them, giving
them a piece of your confidence, like in the truth
of their story is invaluable, and it's also really easy.
(37:54):
People are don't understand how easy it is for your
strengths like rub off on other people, especially when what
you've been through is like their parallel experiences. I really
want more people to be doing what I'm doing for
a lot of reasons, but it's like that encouragement is
(38:15):
so important, and I think it's hard to find. And
I just think that the more people that speak, the
more I actually don't think. I know that the more
people that speak about this, it's like a diffusal of
strength and confidence and leaning into that is while taking
(38:38):
care of yourself. It's really a magical thing to do.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
Parents play such a huge part too. Some people's relationships
with their parents have been irrevocably broken, while other people
are still working on mending their connections. Chelsea Filer has
one strong piece of advice for any parent who is
considering sending their child to one of these types of pros.
Speaker 6 (39:01):
I highly suggest any parent that is looking into these
programs to do your due diligence and ultimately keep your
kid home. I mean, it's been proven that community based
services have so much better outcomes, wrap around services that
are strength based services that are based in ethics and
(39:27):
clinical standards. Because truly, these kids they deserve to be
well cared for. They deserve you know, ethical treatment. That's
the only way that they're actually going to get through
this hellscape we called life, especially as a teenager, is
(39:48):
if they have proper support, and they have good mentorship,
and they have their parents really involved in their lives. So,
I mean, sending a kid off just isn't the solution.
It's not it. You can't just send your kid away
and to get fixed. It takes the family dynamic. It
takes working on your self as much as trying to
(40:12):
help your kid. You know, we really do need to
start changing our mindset about how we parent our children
and our expectations of teenagers and what they're going to
experience as teenagers, and maybe just remember what it was
like to be a teenager and you know, help them
(40:35):
through it. Keep your kids home, Try to find community
based services, they're available, they're.
Speaker 4 (40:41):
In your area.
Speaker 6 (40:43):
There's never any reason to send your kid away to
be punished. That's not going to work. They're not going
to come back better for it. So save your money,
keep your kids home, and just love them through it.
Speaker 4 (41:03):
Justice is a.
Speaker 1 (41:04):
Slow, yet ever evolving cycle. It requires patients. But as
a survivor, I've been patient long enough. We have been
patient long enough. Through legislation, advocacy work, social media, and
platforms like this podcast, we continue to turn our pain
(41:25):
to purpose to ensure no future generations ever have to
endure this too. The survivor community is still fighting and
putting the pieces together themselves about WASP and its continued
influence today, and it's working.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
But we're not done. These atrocities are still happening right
now today in Jamaica next week on the season finale
of Trapped in Treatment. All of our efforts to reach
(42:11):
Robert Litchfield, Ken Kay, and Carl Farnsworth for comment were
unsuccessful and they did not respond to our request for comment.
From our research, none of them have ever been charged
with or found guilty of any crime stemming from allegations
of abuse or in connection with WASP or any of
the schools affiliated therewith.
Speaker 4 (42:32):
Hey everyone, it's Paris.
Speaker 6 (42:33):
Thanks for listening to episode eleven.
Speaker 3 (42:36):
We have so many problems in our country right now
and it's easy to feel discouraged, but I believe we
can make a change.
Speaker 4 (42:43):
It's on all of us to do something about it.
Speaker 3 (42:45):
Follow us on Instagram at Trapped in Treatment and leave
us a comment.
Speaker 7 (42:49):
Tune in next week for our final episode.
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