World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools
{{short description|Child abuse-related organization}}
{{cleanup reorganize|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox organization
| formation = {{start date and age|1998||}}
| founder = Robert Lichfield
| founding_location = La Verkin, Utah, US
| purpose = Supporting the troubled teen industry.
| headquarters =
| location_city =
| status =
| key_people = {{Unbulleted list|Ken Kay President}}
| website = http://www.wwasp.com
}}
The World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS or WWASP) was an organization based in Utah, in the United States. WWASPS was founded by Robert Lichfield and was incorporated in 1998. WWASPS stated that it was an umbrella organization of the troubled teen industry. Many outside observers believe, however, that the WWASPS-affiliated institutions were actually owned through limited partnerships, many of which have used the same street address by WWASPS or its principal officials or their close relatives.See [http://old.heraldextra.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=34937 Investigation shows troubled school may be buying interest with lawmakers]{{dead link|date=April 2018|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} (Associated Press, September 20, 2004), [https://web.archive.org/web/20110612132750/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20030706/ai_n11411568/ Utah-based school owner banned] (Deseret News, July 6, 2003), and [http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/Apr/200504165News002.asp Former student alleges months of abuse] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070408111555/http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/Apr/20050415News002.asp |date=2007-04-08 }} (John Sullivan, Columbia Daily Tribune, April 15, 2005.)Maia Szalavitz, [http://www.reason.com/news/show/117088.html The Trouble with Troubled Teen Programs], Reason, January 2007
WWASPS is connected to several affiliated for-profit companies. These include Teen Help LLC, the marketing arm of WWASPS and the entity that processes admissions paperwork; Teen Escort Service, a teen escort company that transports teenagers to WWASPS facilities; R&B Billing, which does tuition billing and payment processing;John-Thor Dahlburg, [http://cafety.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=305&Itemid=2 Key to His Schools' Success? It's God, Founder Says] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008190025/http://cafety.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=305&Itemid=2 |date=2007-10-08 }}, Los Angeles Times, July 13, 2003 and Premier Educational Systems, LLC (also called Premier Educational Seminars), which conducts orientation and training workshops for parents whose children are in WWASPS facilities.See {{cite web |url=http://www.premier-ed.com/ |title=Archived copy |access-date=2007-03-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070226151114/http://www.premier-ed.com/ |archive-date=2007-02-26 }} WWASPS claims to have "helped" over 10,000 students with issues related to personal behavior.{{Cite web |url=http://wwaspsrebuttal.com/ |title=WWASPS Rebuttal website |access-date=2008-08-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805042130/http://wwaspsrebuttal.com/ |archive-date=2018-08-05 |url-status=dead }}
Some participants and parents gave positive reports of their experiences, but others say that WWASPS programs were abusive. WWASPS has faced widespread allegations of physical and psychological abuse of the teenagers sent into its programs, resulting in a lawsuit filed against the organization in 2006.[http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=22096 Troubled Teen Programs - 25 Plaintiffs Join in Lawsuit Against WWASPS, Cross Creek Manor, Robert Lichfield, and Associates – More Expected to Join In], press release by Coalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse, Webwire, October 16, 2006 WWASPS officials report that the organization is no longer in business, and the facilities originally under it no longer associate with the name, but because of ongoing litigation, it has not been dissolved.Kirk Brown, [http://www.independentmail.com/news/2010/dec/17/abbeville-school-had-role-rise-and-fall-enterprise/ Abbeville school had role in rise and fall of enterprise for serving troubled teens] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614051838/http://www.independentmail.com/news/2010/dec/17/abbeville-school-had-role-rise-and-fall-enterprise/ |date=2013-06-14 }}, Anderson (South Carolina) Independent Mail, December 17, 2010
Facilities
WWASPS operated, or was associated with, several facilities in the United States and in other countries. In 2003, there were 2,300 students enrolled in its facilities and programs.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE3D71238F934A25755C0A9659C8B63 Parents Divided Over Jamaica Disciplinary Academy] by Tim Weiner, The New York Times, June 17, 2003 At one time, WWASPS facilities had tuition income of more than $90 million per year.
In July 2007, World Wide's president, Ken Kay, told the Salt Lake Tribune that only two schools remained in the WWASPS network, including Majestic Ranch Academy in Utah, which he said was likely to sever its ties with the organization.[http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_6385296 Loophole in state law has allowed some in teen-help industry to go unlicensed] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221116/http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_6385296 |date=2016-03-03 }}, The Salt Lake Tribune, July 16, 2007 In a December 2010 newspaper article, Kay was reported to have said that the organization was no longer in business, but because of ongoing litigation, it had not been dissolved.
Schools and programs currently or formerly associated with the organization include the following:
Related and spinoff programs and projects
Some personnel formerly associated with WWASP schools and programs have gone on to establish or work at other similar institutions.
In 2005, Robert Lichfield and the Utah-based holding company, Golden Pond Investments Ltd., made an offer to buy the campus of the Kemper Military School in Boonville, Missouri, to open a new school for adolescents needing help with discipline, responsibility and leadership skills. It was announced that the school would be directed by former WWASP staff member Randall Hinton and his brother Russell Hinton. The Hintons told Boonville officials that the proposed school would not be a part of WWASP.{{Cite web|url=http://columbiamissourian.com/news/story.php?ID=13217|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050425231708/http://columbiamissourian.com/news/story.php?ID=13217|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 25, 2005|title=Boonville to discuss Kemper proposal: A company involved in the plan has faced abuse allegations|work=Columbia Missourian|date=April 11, 2005|access-date=21 August 2012}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/Apr/20050405News002.asp|title=Kemper suitors plan new military school|last=Sullivan|first=John|work=Columbia Daily Tribune|date=April 5, 2005|access-date=21 August 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070410034112/http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/Apr/20050405News002.asp|archive-date=10 April 2007}} The Boonville City Council rejected the proposal.Amy Joi Bryson, [https://web.archive.org/web/20151017160636/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/print/600128053/Utah-based-group-under-fire.html Utah-based group under fire], Deseret Morning News, April 21, 2005
Randall Hinton later tried to resurrect the WWASP format with a similar "chain" of schools called Right Directions, but the effort never got past the planning stages. Most likely, this was meant to allow WWASP to retain many of its former properties under a new name with a clean slate, but ostensibly it would have been an entirely new entity.
Ken Kay was superintendent of Browning Distance Learning Academy, a provider of homeschooling curriculum. Its materials were used by Mentor School in Costa Rica. As of 2022 no other school or homeschooling group has used Browning Distance Learning Academy, and it's assumed the company went bankrupt after Mentor's closure. Browning Distance Learning Academy does not seem to be up and running at this time.
Controversy
WWASPS and its associated institutions have been the target of criticism over their treatment methods, including allegations of severe abuse and torture by staff at programs supported by WWASPS.{{Cite news |last=Green |first=Joanne |date=June 22, 2006 |title=Rough Love: Kids from South Florida and beyond are sent to Jamaica to straighten up. Or else. |work=Miami New Times |url=http://www.miaminewtimes.com/Issues/2006-06-22/news/feature_full.html |url-status=dead |access-date=21 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061020173054/http://www.miaminewtimes.com/Issues/2006-06-22/news/feature_full.html |archive-date=20 October 2006 |quote="Indeed at least six other WWASPS-affiliated schools and organizations in the United States, the Czech Republic, Western Samoa, Mexico, and Costa Rica have been raided and/or closed during the past decade, following allegations of abuse or questionable practices."}} The programs have been the subject of legal investigations by several U.S. states. In 2003, a reporter for The New York Times interviewed 60 current and former program participants and parents; some gave positive reports of their experiences, while other participants and parents said that WWASPS programs were abusive.
A WebWire report on October 16, 2006, stated that children housed in WWASP programs were denied adequate food, denied access to toilets, forced to drink their own vomit, chained to dog cages, and emotionally and sexually abused.{{Cite web |title=Troubled Teen Programs - 25 Plaintiffs Join in Lawsuit Against WWASPS, Cross Creek Manor, Robert Lichfield, and Associates – More Expected to Join In |url=https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=22096 |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=WebWire}}
Numerous former students or their parents have filed lawsuits against WWASPS, its personnel, or individual schools. Most have been settled out of court or dismissed for procedural reasons. For example, a 2005 lawsuit filed in California on behalf of more than 20 plaintiffs was dismissed because the judge found that California lacked jurisdiction. In June 2007, Utah attorney Thomas M. Burton told a reporter that six suits he had filed against WWASPS on behalf of his clients had been dismissed on procedural grounds. WWASPS president Ken Kay told an interviewer that lawsuits against WWASPS are ploys to get money, brought by people who "are never going to be happy." A lawsuit filed in 2007 against WWASPS and its founder, Robert Lichfield, on behalf of 133 plaintiffs alleging physical and sexual abuse and fraudulent concealment of abuse brought negative publicity to Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, because Lichfield was one of six co-chairs of the Utah state fundraising committee for Romney's campaign.{{Cite news|url=http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/lawsuits-hit-a-romney-money-man-2007-06-20.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070625201139/http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/lawsuits-hit-a-romney-money-man-2007-06-20.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 25, 2007 |title=Lawsuits hit a Romney money man|work=The Hill|first=Alexander|last=Bolton|date=June 20, 2007|access-date=21 August 2012}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.reason.com/news/show/121088.html|title=Romney, Torture, and Teens: The former governor's connections to abusive "tough love" camps|work=Reason Magazine|last=Szalavitz|first=Maia|date=June 27, 2007|access-date=21 August 2012}}
On several occasions, WWASPS and its principals have responded to criticism by suing their critics. Robert Lichfield sued two individuals associated with the International Survivors Action Committee (ISAC) for defamation, invasion of his privacy, and causing "intentional interference with 'prospective economic advantage'." That suit was pending as of April 2005. In May 2005 a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed (on jurisdictional grounds) a defamation lawsuit brought by WWASPS against a United Press International reporter who had done research for a news story about alleged abuse at several WWASPS schools. The reporter was accused of having made defamatory statements about WWASPS to "potential students, former students, parents of potential and former students, an employee of a state agency responsible for licensing a member school, and a Utah attorney who had filed numerous suits against [WWASPS]."[http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2005/05/04-4181.htm Order and Judgment, World Wide Association of Specialty Programs ad Schools v. Thomas G. Houlahan], United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, May 10, 2005. No. 04-4181 (D.C. No. 2:04-CV-107-DAK)
On August 31, 2007, Randall Hinton was convicted of one count each of third degree assault and false imprisonment, for mistreating students at the WWASP-affiliated Royal Gorge Academy, of which he was manager and co-founder. However, the jury returned verdicts of "not guilty" on four other counts of third-degree assault and one other count of false imprisonment.{{Cite news|url=http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/default.aspx?tabid=71&pDesc=1017,1,1|title=Hinton guilty on two counts: Jury finds Royal Gorge Academy official guilty of assault, false imprisonment|work=Cañon City Daily Record|date=September 1, 2007|page=A8|access-date=21 August 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071216070411/http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/default.aspx?tabid=71&pDesc=1017%2C1%2C1|archive-date=16 December 2007}} Hinton was sentenced to jail followed by probation.{{Cite news|url=http://wwasp.blogspot.com/2007/11/randall-hinton-sentenced-to-jail-for.html |title=Randall Hinton Sentenced to Jail for Bloody Assault on Child|date=November 20, 2007|first=Tracy |last=Harmon|access-date=21 August 2012}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/default.aspx?tabid=71&pDesc=2181,1,1|title=Top 10 stories of 2007|work=Cañon City Daily Record|date=2007-12-31|page=A1|access-date=21 August 2012}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
In 2010, animals were removed from Carolina Springs Academy due to neglect and malnourishment. There were also several animal corpses found on the property.{{Cite web |title=Prosecutor ask SLED help in animal cruelty case |url=http://www.independentmail.com/news/local/prosecutor-ask-sled-help-in-animal-cruelty-case-ep-414038573-349662371.html |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=www.independentmail.com |language=en}}
In Popular Culture
= Documentaries =
= Literature =
- Help at Any Cost (2006) by Maia Szalavitz
See also
References
{{Reflist|2}}
Further reading
- Cindy Art, Trapped in Paradise: A Memoir, CreateSpace, 2012. {{ISBN|978-1475192278}}
- Claire and Mia Fontaine, Come Back: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back, HarperCollins, 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-06-079216-9}}
- {{Cite book |last=Scribner |first=Campbell F. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1199329371 |title=Spare the rod : punishment and the moral community of schools |date=2021 |others=Bryan R. Warnick |isbn=978-0-226-78567-7 |location=Chicago |oclc=1199329371}}
{{Troubled teen industry}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Wide Association Of Specialty Programs And Schools}}
Category:Behavior modification
Category:Child abuse-related organizations
Category:Organizations established in 1998
Category:Education companies of the United States
Category:Educational organizations based in the United States
Category:World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools