Close Pathway Family Center Online Petition!

I, Ali M. declare and state as follows:

1. Pathway Family Center

2. Indianapolis Indiana

3. Summer of 2002

4. I was put in treatment (Pathway) by my mother at age 15. She'd found a shot bottle of alcohol in my purse, and coming from a long line of alcoholics thought she'd scare me and take me for an assessment. During the assessment I was infuriated with my mom & not thinking she'd ever be convinced of me staying, I told the lady EVERYTHING that I had experimented with, which at that time, was marijuana, alcohol, pain pills, and at the time I had an 18 yr old, abusive, boyfriend ( probably a giant contributor) who had literally MADE me do cocaine. Shoved my head down, and threatened he'd kill me if I didn't snort it. ANYWAY. After the assessment I was asked to go to another room while she spoke with my mother, after waiting a few minutes my mother came in and stated that I'd be staying, I was of course devastated. I had no clue why I'd need to be in a drug treatment facility but I was no longer allowed to speak to her at this point. So I couldn't ask her anything... It was horrible, you had no time to transition in this environment, and were forced to use the same behavior as the other children who you could tell had inevitably, literally been brainwashed.

By the way, when my mom came to her senses and picked me up 4 months later,after other parents who were obviously brainwashed tried talking her into having 16-20 yr old men who had been in trouble with the law repeatedly, come to our house where there was a 2 yr old baby and be a host home she realized what she had done. When we were leaving and I was able to walk freely and not have my arms tied behind my back from another person, I asked her what made her let me stay. She said " I was told you were an "extreme case", and used cocaine and oxycotin on a regular basis." I was appalled. They had lied to my mother.   And I'm not just saying all of this now, this is all true. Believe me, I'm almost 23 yrs old, and would have no reason to lie. I at that time in my life had NEVER been using any drug on a regular basis, I was 15 yrs old. I had tried cocaine ONCE. Yes it might have seemed like I was bragging or letting it all out on the table, and I was, again like I said, at that moment I was angry with my mom and just told the lady everything. But I think there needs to be some fine line there. I definitely didn't need to be in a long-term drug treatment facility for my mom finding a 2 oz alcohol bottle in my purse.

   Here are a few examples for you parents on the environment and what kind of children are there. This is ALL true, and not blown out of any proportion. I mean all of what I am about to say. It is the truth.

    I at one point in time, didn't scream that I was "READY" loud enough and was put on "sack lunches" which means, I literally had to eat a deli meat sandwich for EVERY Time that I ate. I was not allowed ANY other food. When people had spaghetti or healthy protein filled chicken breast, I was forced to eat enriched white bread, and processed deli meat. I mean it... Literally that was it. Which over time, you can imagine is pretty unhealthy, I had a problem with an eating disorder and was also told that I had gained an immense amount of weight by the nurse. (I'm not sure if she thought that would help, or make me hate myself AT that time even more, because it did just that) I later found that I had lost almost 20 lbs over the course of 4 months. I was on sack lunches for approx. 3 months.

I was taken to Michigan to stay for 2 weeks, without my mom knowing at all. She didn't know until I told her when I was getting out... She had no clue at all, that they had taken me out of state.

    Never being in ANY trouble and being one of the children who wasn't court ordered there, I was one of the only ones who had to travel far to host homes. Once you're "phasered" in a room (stripped down and checked for any inanimate objects you may be hiding. This process is done when you go to the bathroom, when you take a shower, before you go to bed, and after you wake up), you're locked in. So if there is any fire, or extreme circumstance, you literally are bolted into a room from the outside, and unable to get out. It's preposterous. There was a father of one of the children, and a "host home dad" out of one of the homes we had to go to, who while the mother would "phaser" us into a room or bathroom, would watch us dress, change, or undress. After a complaint being filed and everyone knowing, we still were forced to go there and stay. These parents that are "hosts" at host homes, require NO background check. We Found out later, he was actually a child molester... thank god noone was hurt right, but what if they were...

    I could literally feel my brain washing away if that makes sense. Not being in school, learning curriculum, exercising, socializing with people, or even seeing sunshine are all things needed for a brain to function! I was allowed no contact with the outside world. No contact with peers except the ONE girl out of 7 I was allowed to talk to whom had made it to a high enough level to speak. The only other form of communication I had with peers, was to be FORCED to basically tell them how horrible and pathetic they were... when I didn't think that was the case at all. The only communication I had with my parents, was in front of about 70 ppl, having to tell them a story of when I was using drugs. These of course were practiced before and monitored in order to make sure that you had a story worthy and horrifying enough to tell your parents in front of everyone, when you didn't, they'd say makeup one!! They (my parents) then had to tell me a time when they were hurt by me. Again, this is in front of community members and others parents. You are humiliated and belittled on purpose, and I'm sure the parents feel some sort of embarrassement as well. You are allowed absolutely NO contact with your parents, I mean you are LITERALLY not even allowed to make EYE CONTACT with them. If you do, you are punished in some way, whether it be, no "funtime" or skipped back down to the beginning of the first level. You can't communicate EVER until you make it to 2nd level, which can take years. There were ppl who had been there for 4 yrs, and never made it.

    Some of the children there DID NOT belong there. People need to understand that DRUGS are the medication, NOT the problem. You must get to the root of the problem before you are able to deal with the using of drugs. Especially if a 15 yr old is EXPERIMENTING and not into anything serious. There was a girl who was raped by her brothers all the time, raped so often she started having sex with them voluntarily, she NEEDED to be in another facility, treating a drug problem would NEVER help her. Another child walked into his home right after his father had killed himself, he swore he saw demons in his head, and would self-mutilate all the time, he DID not need to be in a center for drugs, he needed to be in a place that would love him into recovery. He had been deeply hurt. Another girl, would twist her hair in knots and RIP it out, it was horrible, and the sound was awful. She needed to be in a loving psychiatric place, not in a drug rehab for overdosing on pills she was PRESCRIBED to.

    My intent is not to tell others stories and everyone will absolutely remain nameless, but these are just a few examples of who is in there, and how they need to be helped, and how they are NOT being helped at all. People need to learn to identify the actual PROBLEM which most of the time is NOT drugs. I am in school right now for these people, I have my BA in Psychology Mental Health, and am working on my Masters, and will one day have my doctorate in Psychiatry. I am learning how to treat and love these people so that I am able to actually make a difference for them. Not just mentally and emotionally torture them to get more money in my pockets. These treatment centers charge as much money as it would cost for 4 years of college, and in the end, I would say, psychologically mess them up even more than when they started. I feel I was meant to go here. If I hadn't I'd probably never have known that these places are out there, and that there are children out there who actually do need help, good help! This is what I think my calling is, and it's what I'm meant to do. This has been my passion since I've left that place 7 yrs ago. Since then, I have been even more involved with drugs, gotten clean, graduated high school, graduated college, married an AMAZING man, had a BEAUTIFUL boy, and would say that NONE of Pathway contributed to that. I would say I wasted 4 months of my life, but I didn't, it opened my eyes to what I need to do. And I'm determined to shut all of these places down, and change the world of rehab as we know it.

Ali M.
Executive Administrator
Carmel, In.
Mother of 1.

#	NAME	REASON FOR SIGNING	STATE	COUNTRY	COMMENTS
1.	Angela Smith	Loved One of Kids Helping Kids Survivor	WA	US	Pathway Family Center is an abusive brainwashing cult and should be shutdown immediately. The public deserves to be protected from fraud, torture, and deception.
2.	Catherine Smith	Human Rights Advocate	WA	US	Please close this palce down now! It is a gross human rights violation and it is harming our children! No one should ever be subjected to this type of so called treatment!! It is inhumane to torture and abuse our children!
3.	Anthony Connelly	Kids Helping Kids Survivor	KY	US	Parents don't really know what their kids are subjected to in group sessions and if they did know, they would pull their kids immediately.
4.	Aaron Seymour	Not Given	WA	US	Shut the place down today!
5.	Janie Moerlien	Human Rights Advocate	IL	US	Straight & Pathway Family Centers are not the only abusive 'behavioral treatment programs' which are abusive. I was enrolled in a religion oriented program myself over 19 years ago, I still suffer effects of emotional and other abuses. As an advocate for kids I have come into contact with numerous individuals that were abused in the name of 'treatment'. The effects of these abuses are emotional, physical, and long term. They can devastate an individual. Help us put a stop to the abuses, help us make the abusers accountable. Thank you,
6.	Richard Meehan	Human Rights Advocate	NY	US
7.	Michael Crawford	Human Rights Advocate	Paris	France
8.	Peter Orozco Earle	Human Rights Advocate	WI	US	While not a survivor of this particular program, I am a behavior modification survivor. I believe to my heart that when a nation turns it's back on ill treatment and/or torture and/or harm of it's own youth, it has reached a moral crisis. By the way, the most dangerous drugs are legal (Opiates, benzodiazepines, a.d.d. medication/stimulants, and more). I don't support legalized recreational use of any drugs. These programs should be thoroughly investigated, strongly regulated and if necessary, shut down with the owners and direct perpetrators of abuses heavily sentenced. Let them eat their own incarceration.
9.	Suzanne Puckett	Kids Helping Kids Survivor	OH	US
10.	Tim Brown	Human Rights Advocate	KY	US
11.	Aubrey Blackwell	Loved One of Kids Helping Kids Survivor	KY	US
12.	Wendy Lane	Human Rights Advocate	KY	US
13.	Lindsay Hatfield	Loved One of PFC Survivor	KY	US
14.	Karen Burnett	Human Rights Advocate	KY	US	PFC has direct ties to the now infamous Straight Inc. All they did was change the name of the program to avoid the attached infamy. The program itself is the same Synanon based, seriously abusive treatment as Straight and the Seed before it. This is child abuse for profit. Any community that allows this to continue should be deeply ashamed.
15.	Carly Nichols	Human Rights Advocate	KY	US	A friend of mine is a survivor, luckily! He works very hard to bring attention to the abuses being carried out in PFC. I hope this petition will be one step closer to bringing the torture to an end!
16.	Keith Connelly	Kids Helping Kids Survivor	KY	US	The most overlooked issue: These organizations use unlicensed children to treat other children. The few licensed individuals rarely see the children. They also use statistics that do not show long term results. They are not easily or effectively monitored. Therefore, until these important issues are resolved, I believe they should cease to practice and let real hospitals and treatment centers help these children.
17.	Loretta Spickelmire	Human Rights Advocate	ID	US	Troubled Teen Facilities, do permanent damage to the young people they are claiming to help. I deal with survivors of many different teen facilities and they all seem to share permanent disabilities such as low sense of self, PTSD, and depression.
18.	Brandy Bader	Friend of PFC Survivor	KY	US
19.	Laura Elrod	Human Rights Advocate	OH	US	My life was completely ruined by KHK from the years 2003-2005 in Cincinnati, OH. The same building that PFC is in right now, and it is the same program style: break you down, build you back up to be a productive member of society. I lost my entire family because of KHK brainwashing, and I still have panic attacks constantly. I am still controlled by it. I am at a loss of how to "get over it." Fuck you, Straight, KHK, PFC. Fuck you.
20.	Catherine E. Sutton	Human Rights Advocate	CA	US
21.	Erin Long	Kids Helping Kids Survivor	KY	US
22.	Kristina Montesi	Loved One of PFC Survivor	KY	US	This should be stopped. Kids don't need to be tortured in order for them to cooperate with us "humans".
23.	Sandra Connelly	Parent of Kids Helping Kids Survivor	KY	US	I am a parent of a KHK survivor and I am not a "wacko" who believes in legalizing drugs. These programs are inhumane and should be an embarassment to this so-called "free" country. It is utterly incredulous to me that these manipulative programs are allowed to exist. Under the guise of "protecting children's privacy", the powers that be claim that their hands are tied and these programs cannot be scrutinized even as well as our prisons? PLEASE LISTEN to our pleas. These children are being ABUSED in the worst sense of the word. If ANYONE would like to hear the horrendous story my family has lived through, please feel free to call me at 859-261-8182.
24.	Chelley Tumminia	Not Given	NJ	US
25.	Cherie Haas	Human Rights Advocate	KY	US
26.	John Larkin White IV	Kids Helping Kids Survivor	AZ	US	Kids Helping Kids is a horrific "establishment". My rights as a Human Being were violated, along with countless other children, as though they never existed. I was one of the lucky few to have escaped before my life was ruined, like countless other children. I understand the Kids Helping Kids is not exactly like P.F.C. or STRAIGHT but from what I gather, it is just as horrific. The brain washing, the degradation, the solitary confinement. They ban children from THINKING about music ! THINKING about music !! It's a cult. It should be shut down and it's "leaders" should be imprisoned. If anyone has any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me @ [email protected]. Thank you. -John White
27.	Gabriella Fleury Sheldon	Friend of PFC Survivor	MI	US	I am also a survivor of another abusive home from Indiana. Please help the children who are confined to this dangerous brainwashing cult.
28.	Nicola Martin	Loved One of PFC Survivor	OH	US
29.	Teen Advocates USA	Human Rights Advocate	withheld	US
30.	Anonymous*	Human Rights Advocate	OR	US	I am a parent of a child that was sent to an Aspen Education Wilderness Camp. Not good!
31.	Sara Boswell	Human Rights Advocate	CA	US	(Survivor and loved one of survivor(s) of abusive programs.)
32.	Amanda (withheld)*	Pathway Family Center Survivor	withheld	withheld	That place caused me to have regularly occuring nightmares, PTSD, flashbacks, they supressed who I was, used coercion and brainwashing techniques, and changed who I am as a person. I am seeking couceling to get back who I truly am and deprogram completely from the program I endured!!!
33.	Sarah B.*	Human Rights Advocate	KY	US	I now know 2 curvivors. If I'm able to meet 2 people who dealt with the same abuses in my little corner of the world, just imagine how many kids are suffering right now across the US.
34.	Amy *	(withheld)	VA	US	IF PFC IS ANYTHING LIKE STRAIGHT INC, IT NEEDS TO BE SHUT DOWN. ABUSE SHOULD NOT BE TOLERATED NO MATTER HOW IT IS DISGUISED!
35.	Anonymous*	Pathway Family Center Survivor	IN	US
36.	Amy Hall	Human Rights Advocate	VA	US	I am a straight survivor.
37.	Patrick Eugene Liberg	Human Rights Advocate	IL	US	HEAL-IL Coordinator and Friend of PFC Survivors.
38.	Heather Voigt	Pathway Family Center Survivor	IN	US	I was in Pathways in 1996 for six months. My parents sent me there for experimenting with weed. Thank god, six months in to it I turned 18 and signed myself out... best day of my life still. I had been trapped and isolated and broken down. I became overweight and pale. I worked my way up to level three, and had just gained the right to wear my shoes. It truly effects me to this day in an extremely negative way. I still have nightmares about being there. I still feel bad for leaving the younger people in there, that were stuck until they completed the -two year- program, turned 18, or had their parents run out of money. So glad I am not the only one that still feels scarred by this experience.
39.	Leslie O.*	Loved One of Pathway Family Center Victim	MI	US
40.	Gary Parton	Loved One of Pathway Family Center Survivor	MI	US
41.	Anonymous*	Loved One Of Pathway Family Center Survivor	MI	US
42.	Thomas Oser	(withheld)	IL	US
43.	Alia Wiener	Human Rights Advocate	CA	US
44.	Anonymous*	Human Rights Advocate	CA	US	My daughter is a survivor of a similar program. The damage done by abusive counselors is tantamount to child abuse but for some reason not prosecuted as such. It should be.
45.	Anonymous*	Pathway Family Center Survivor	MI	US
46.	Anonymous*	Loved One of Pathway Family Center Survivor	IN	US	My best friend has been held in Pathway Family Center, Indianapolis for 11 months. His parents are divorced and shared legal custody. His mom and step dad put him in PFC illegally because his step dad and mom signed as his legal guardians. When his real father sued his mother for this the judge awarded her sole custody. His mom and step dad are currently trying to keep him there until he is 21. He was admitted to the hospital to have surgery on his leg that he had broken years before. While in the hospital he called me and told me about what was going on there. Things like, isolation, brainwashing, etc.
47.	Gerald Wayne	Human Rights Advocate	IN	US	PFC is a direct descendant of Straight Inc.
48.	Penny Graham	Loved One of Pathway Family Center Survivor	IN	US
49.	Anonymous*	Parent of Pathway Family Center Survivor	IN	US	I put my son in PFC Indianapolis on a Friday afternoon and by Sunday my gut wouldn't let me alone so I started researching on the internet and ran across the I-Team video and saw the brainwashing going on there and on Monday morning I left in an ice storm to drive the 2 and a half hours to pull him out. On the way home he told me all the kids are brainwashed in there and act crazy. They sing baby songs and shake their bodies in order to show they are cooperating. The one thing that still bothers me today is that he was told that when he could finally go home after he got out of first phase he was to never speak the words "Them" "They" "he" "she" ..in other words he could NOT tell what happened "inside" if he did he would be sent back to phase one. I'm still shaking over what I almost did to my son. He spent 2 whole days at a strangers house and a half day at PFC and I thank the good lord every day that I listened to my gut.
50.	Amy Weber	Kids Helping Kids Survivor	OH	US	Kids Helping Kids (Hebron)and Kidscope (Columbus) survivor - 1985-1988
51.	Anonymous*	Parent of PFC Survivor	IN	US	My child was in the program until I could not get answers to my questions and I was planning to pull her. Pathway found out and I told them I was getting treatment plans in place as an outpatient with Drs and groups closer to home. They then told me I had to leave that moment with my child. We left with NO referral for follow up treatment and NO documentation to give to follow up care givers. We were kicked out for not committing to them. That I now thank them for! They miss lead me at admission and would not allow us (my child and I) to veiw the program before agreeing to treatment. They separated us to evaluate us. And by my insistance I was allowed a controlled (by them) conversation with my child after the assessment. The just over 2 months my child was there I had NO "Family theraphy" as promised, many lies were feed to me and my child not only by the staff but the untrained host families. The Host families are a scary part of this program...Who are these people and how are the qualified to take care of 4 children with emotional and substance abuse histories? We were told that the staff had all kinds of degrees and certifications, why not for the residential time also. Also the teacher / school issue. The time my child spent there they had NO licensed teacher!!! Many children were not enrolled in school for 12 month or longer while in this program because it is an expensive correspondense program if your childs home town school would not provide material.
52	Richard Mark West	Parent of PFC Victim	IN	US	My son is currently being held at the PFC program in Indianapolis. Day 399 and back on Phase 1 of the program. Use my name, I will never give up in freeing my son, and to get Pathway closed permanently. Abuse is not treatment. Mark West
53	Anna Maria Flores	Human Rights Advocate	MI	US
54	Sage Infinity	Loved One of Kids Helping Kids Survivor	CA	US	SHUT DOWN ALL PATHWAY FAMILY CENTER FACILITIES!!!
55	Meghan Dunn	Kids Helping Kids Survivor	OH	US	I was once in the Kids Helping Kids Program. And I must say it is a load of crap. You have no rights at all. I had got a urinary tract infection while i was in there and they would not let me call my parents let alone go to the doctor. Its a bad place and I don't recommend it to anyone!
56	Anonymous*	Kids Helping Kids Survivor	OH	US
57	Melanie Collins	Kids Helping Kids Survivor	OH	US	My name use to be Baisden and I was in khk (85-86) and want to give my support to all of those who have surrived. As for those who are calling the survivior stories lies I can personly attest to both Tony and Amys stories i was there with them and not only wittnessed the abuse but was forced to partisipate in it. A fact that will haunt me all of my days. Would love to hear from other survivors please emil me @ [email protected]
58	Leah Thornburg	Pathway Family Center Survivor	IN	US	I am a PFC survivor and the short period of time I spent in their facilities had an extremely negative impact on my life. I would be more than glad to testify about my experience and the abuse I endured during my time there.
59	Lisa Higgins	Parent of Pathway Family Center Survivor	IN	US	This was a week of hell for my daughter. It was extremely hard for us to get her out!!! Don't go there!!!!
60	William Dimitre Wehr-Darroca	Pathway Family Center Survivor	IN	US	Pathway Family Center and its affiliates tore my family apart. I hope that CARF will do the right thing and not let this happen to anyone else's family. Dad if you read this I hope you have finally realized that this place ripped us apart and conned a lot of your hard-earned money.
61	Ali M. Martin	Pathway Family Center Survivor	IN	US	Thank you guys. It's needed to stop for awhile. The things they did to us were horrible, and I'm thankful you are taking children out of this environment. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU ... i cannot even express my gratitude. i'm in tears right now because i've blocked so much of that from my brain, and thinking about it now.. is just horrid! thank you!
62	Anonymous*	Loved One of Pathway Family Center Survivor	IN	US	These people are crazy and definitely need immediate removal.
63.	Andrew Stapleton	Pathway Family Center Survivor	MI	US	THANK YOU SO MUCH for making this website and exposing these monsters. I had a short stay at pathways and everything on your website rings true. These people prey on families in crisis and just want their cash with little regard to the well-being of the family and NO regard for the child. My whole time at Pathways (Michigan) I remember thinking 'How the hell is this legal?!" Being able to hold people without committing a crime for an indefinite period of time and being subjected to public humiliation and brainwashing. The other kids would shout at you, you needed to have hands n your knees at all times, no shoes, and an escort of other kids holding your arms while you moved. Also kids watching you go to the bathroom! There was absolutely no benefit whatsoever to this shit-hole. I distinctly remember kids on "phase 1" for periods of longer than a year. This means, in short, absolutely NO CONTACT with the outside world and being restrained at all times while moving. You actually have more freedom in jail, and MUCH more freedom in prison! I remember I faked insanity to be released shortly to a psych-ward. However, they constantly told me that I was coming right back and there was no escape. I told my dad everything while staying at the psych ward and at the time my parents were beginning to grow suspicious of the whole scam. They promptly took me out. Not after a lengthy fight to get their $30,000 back of course. Again, thank you for exposing this monstrosity. I would really like to assist you in any way possible if I can. Whether it be a protest or ANYTHING - I really want to help join the fight against these awful places.
64.	Anonymous*	(withheld)	IN	US	I was a student at New Horizons Youth Ministries in Marion Indiana and I witnessed staff havinf sex with minors and I also witnessed physical and emotional abuse of teens.
65.	Cyndee Kavula	Human Rights Advocate	NV	US	I am a seed survivor. Stop this abuse now.
66.	Dawn Patterson	Pathway Family Center Survivor	FL	US	All these places need to close down. I was brain washed for many years. I had a lot of problems after I got out. I do not wish this on any kid..
67.	Maria Paula Fonseco	Human Rights Advocate	Portugal		I sign this petition because i realy believe that what they make to the Kids is a brainwashing cult that defrauds families and harms children. There's people who believes that this is Empowerment.... I wonder do they know what empowerment is? Sincerely, Maria Paula Fonseca
68.	Michael Sherman	Human Rights Advocate	FL	US	Glad to hear this place is closed down.
69.	Anonymous*	(withheld)	IN	US
70.	Anonymous*	(withheld)	NV	US	i think it is cruel what these places do to trouble children and i think they should all be shut down!!!!
71.	Jennifer Schmidt	Loved One of a PFC Survivor	OH	US	This is nothing more than a cult that needs to be shut down.
72.	Emily Krysa	Pathway Family Center Survivor	IN	US
73.	Rebecca Freeman	Kids Helping Kids Survivor '88-'90	OH	US	I was in kids helping kids for 2 years and 8 days including the 6 months follow up. You can call it what you want KHK, Pathway whatever I know for a fact the place was a hellhole. To know there was no more "programs" like this, I would sleep better at night.
74.	Anonymous*	Pathway Family Center Parent	IN	US	My daughter and I went to "check out the program." They seperated us and resisted us seeing each other until I the mom insisted. They said my daughter was going to kill herself if I took her home with me. That's a scare tactic if I every heard one. We spent approx. 40 days in the program with lies, deception, and harassment of myself at work to pay the total fee for the program up front. No answers to me..NO money to them. They tricked me into coming for a family theraphy (Our 1ST and only in 40 days). On arrival they met me and said if I could not "commit to the program" I must leave with my daughter now. That is reckless care for someone at such risk to themselves. Care is not their main interest...it doesn't rate very highly. No care in place at home 150 miles from the Pathway site. They promised school and had 3 different people in the "teacher" position in our 40 days, yet my daughter did not received any school even though I got her school work from her high school and aided the contact between PFC Teacher and school counselor. They LIED! They also had 3 different therapists in those 40 days for my daughters region. Something is wrong there. They say the children get 3 billable sessions everyday... They must have a licensed therapist run these sessions to LEGALLY bill for them. Which they did not have for all sessions. They even addressed this in an open meeting forum to dismiss the talk some clients were voicing to their host homes or parents. I was to house 4 children in my home on weekends and lock them in an empty bedroom for the bedtime hours. My LIABILITY if fire or something was to happen. NO THANKS. My daughter continued the NA program after we left PFC. She would see some of the other "clients" from PFC at the meetings and this made her happy since she had spent hard time with them.... BUT PFC told the "clients" still in the program that they could not speak to my daughter or the would be set back or restarted...That's manipulation to the worst degree. My daughter was heart broken and felt she was a crappy person for leaving the program and not being allowed to foster a support group environment with the kids. PFC always told us parents that our kids were manipulating us...They support manipulation I guess. My heart was broken to have my daughter ripped out of my care on that Friday. I forgot to add that I learned on Monday that she was taken to a "host home" in OHIO. My minor daughter left state with a parent and 3 other girls only 8 hours after "intake". That parent had a hard weekend since any dependency she had was removed cold turkey..not with medical monitoring. PFC should be closed! They LIE! They steal your money! They manipulate both child and parent. These actions cost some families thier homes, jobs, scam investors and grants in our childrens names, and many survivors have post tramtic syndrome. Total cost for this program $66,000 for 11 month program. My daughters life is priceless and she is doing great. No thank you to Pathway.

75.	Levi West	Pathway Family Center Survivor	IN	US	Thank you for all of your efforts. I am a pfc discharge and it took me 15 monthes to get out.I still feel not myself and face the reprecautions from day to day. Please contact me at my email for any additional information or if there is any way that i could help the cause.
76.	Ali Martin	Pathway Family Center Survivor	IN	US	I, Ali M. declare and state as follows: 1. Pathway Family Center 2. Indianapolis Indiana 3. Summer of 2002 4. I was put in treatment (Pathway) by my mother at age 15. She'd found a shot bottle of alcohol in my purse, and coming from a long line of alcoholics thought she'd scare me and take me for an assessment. During the assessment I was infuriated with my mom & not thinking she'd ever be convinced of me staying, I told the lady EVERYTHING that I had experimented with, which at that time, was marijuana, alcohol, pain pills, and at the time I had an 18 yr old, abusive, boyfriend ( probably a giant contributor) who had literally MADE me do cocaine. Shoved my head down, and threatened he'd kill me if I didn't snort it. ANYWAY. After the assessment I was asked to go to another room while she spoke with my mother, after waiting a few minutes my mother came in and stated that I'd be staying, I was of course devastated. I had no clue why I'd need to be in a drug treatment facility but I was no longer allowed to speak to her at this point. So I couldn't ask her anything... It was horrible, you had no time to transition in this environment, and were forced to use the same behavior as the other children who you could tell had inevitably, literally been brainwashed. By the way, when my mom came to her senses and picked me up 4 months later,after other parents who were obviously brainwashed tried talking her into having 16-20 yr old men who had been in trouble with the law repeatedly, come to our house where there was a 2 yr old baby and be a host home she realized what she had done. When we were leaving and I was able to walk freely and not have my arms tied behind my back from another person, I asked her what made her let me stay. She said " I was told you were an "extreme case", and used cocaine and oxycotin on a regular basis." I was appalled. They had lied to my mother. And I'm not just saying all of this now, this is all true. Believe me, I'm almost 23 yrs old, and would have no reason to lie. I at that time in my life had NEVER been using any drug on a regular basis, I was 15 yrs old. I had tried cocaine ONCE. Yes it might have seemed like I was bragging or letting it all out on the table, and I was, again like I said, at that moment I was angry with my mom and just told the lady everything. But I think there needs to be some fine line there. I definitely didn't need to be in a long-term drug treatment facility for my mom finding a 2 oz alcohol bottle in my purse. Here are a few examples for you parents on the environment and what kind of children are there. This is ALL true, and not blown out of any proportion. I mean all of what I am about to say. It is the truth. I at one point in time, didn't scream that I was "READY" loud enough and was put on "sack lunches" which means, I literally had to eat a deli meat sandwich for EVERY Time that I ate. I was not allowed ANY other food. When people had spaghetti or healthy protein filled chicken breast, I was forced to eat enriched white bread, and processed deli meat. I mean it... Literally that was it. Which over time, you can imagine is pretty unhealthy, I had a problem with an eating disorder and was also told that I had gained an immense amount of weight by the nurse. (I'm not sure if she thought that would help, or make me hate myself AT that time even more, because it did just that) I later found that I had lost almost 20 lbs over the course of 4 months. I was on sack lunches for approx. 3 months. I was taken to Michigan to stay for 2 weeks, without my mom knowing at all. She didn't know until I told her when I was getting out... She had no clue at all, that they had taken me out of state. Never being in ANY trouble and being one of the children who wasn't court ordered there, I was one of the only ones who had to travel far to host homes. Once you're "phasered" in a room (stripped down and checked for any inanimate objects you may be hiding. This process is done when you go to the bathroom, when you take a shower, before you go to bed, and after you wake up), you're locked in. So if there is any fire, or extreme circumstance, you literally are bolted into a room from the outside, and unable to get out. It's preposterous. There was a father of one of the children, and a "host home dad" out of one of the homes we had to go to, who while the mother would "phaser" us into a room or bathroom, would watch us dress, change, or undress. After a complaint being filed and everyone knowing, we still were forced to go there and stay. These parents that are "hosts" at host homes, require NO background check. We Found out later, he was actually a child molester... thank god noone was hurt right, but what if they were... I could literally feel my brain washing away if that makes sense. Not being in school, learning curriculum, exercising, socializing with people, or even seeing sunshine are all things needed for a brain to function! I was allowed no contact with the outside world. No contact with peers except the ONE girl out of 7 I was allowed to talk to whom had made it to a high enough level to speak. The only other form of communication I had with peers, was to be FORCED to basically tell them how horrible and pathetic they were... when I didn't think that was the case at all. The only communication I had with my parents, was in front of about 70 ppl, having to tell them a story of when I was using drugs. These of course were practiced before and monitored in order to make sure that you had a story worthy and horrifying enough to tell your parents in front of everyone, when you didn't, they'd say makeup one!! They (my parents) then had to tell me a time when they were hurt by me. Again, this is in front of community members and others parents. You are humiliated and belittled on purpose, and I'm sure the parents feel some sort of embarrassement as well. You are allowed absolutely NO contact with your parents, I mean you are LITERALLY not even allowed to make EYE CONTACT with them. If you do, you are punished in some way, whether it be, no "funtime" or skipped back down to the beginning of the first level. You can't communicate EVER until you make it to 2nd level, which can take years. There were ppl who had been there for 4 yrs, and never made it. Some of the children there DID NOT belong there. People need to understand that DRUGS are the medication, NOT the problem. You must get to the root of the problem before you are able to deal with the using of drugs. Especially if a 15 yr old is EXPERIMENTING and not into anything serious. There was a girl who was raped by her brothers all the time, raped so often she started having sex with them voluntarily, she NEEDED to be in another facility, treating a drug problem would NEVER help her. Another child walked into his home right after his father had killed himself, he swore he saw demons in his head, and would self-mutilate all the time, he DID not need to be in a center for drugs, he needed to be in a place that would love him into recovery. He had been deeply hurt. Another girl, would twist her hair in knots and RIP it out, it was horrible, and the sound was awful. She needed to be in a loving psychiatric place, not in a drug rehab for overdosing on pills she was PRESCRIBED to. My intent is not to tell others stories and everyone will absolutely remain nameless, but these are just a few examples of who is in there, and how they need to be helped, and how they are NOT being helped at all. People need to learn to identify the actual PROBLEM which most of the time is NOT drugs. I am in school right now for these people, I have my BA in Psychology Mental Health, and am working on my Masters, and will one day have my doctorate in Psychiatry. I am learning how to treat and love these people so that I am able to actually make a difference for them. Not just mentally and emotionally torture them to get more money in my pockets. These treatment centers charge as much money as it would cost for 4 years of college, and in the end, I would say, psychologically mess them up even more than when they started. I feel I was meant to go here. If I hadn't I'd probably never have known that these places are out there, and that there are children out there who actually do need help, good help! This is what I think my calling is, and it's what I'm meant to do. This has been my passion since I've left that place 7 yrs ago. Since then, I have been even more involved with drugs, gotten clean, graduated high school, graduated college, married an AMAZING man, had a BEAUTIFUL boy, and would say that NONE of Pathway contributed to that. I would say I wasted 4 months of my life, but I didn't, it opened my eyes to what I need to do. And I'm determined to shut all of these places down, and change the world of rehab as we know it. Ali M. Executive Administrator Carmel, In. Mother of 1.

77.	Sheri Wills	KidsCope Survivor	IL	US	I went through KidsCope in Columbus Ohio, a branch of KHK.
78.	Jennifer Davenport	Pathway Family Center Survivor	MI	US	fuck pathway
79.	Kelly Doe	Straight Inc. Survivor	MI	US	i was in the orignal program called straight based in plymouth michigan, at the time i was placed in straight they closed and relocated to southfield michigan and called it pathway.i went through all the changes and also the mental and physical abuse this was a devastating time in my life and as an adult i think i try to block things out. i have a family of my own now and could not imagine ever putting my kids through something like this ever!!. i think that everyone who has been through this program would agree with me it was very hard core at the time i was there,it may have mellowed out some through the years but still abusive. we should be compensated for the grief and confusion this program put us all through.i hope this message gets out to some people and please dont ever put your kids in this place it is worse than what you are dealing with right now, trust me and all the other survivors this is hell on earth it will do more harm then good.
80.	Natalya Mezenina	Loved One of PFC Survivor	IN	US	My boyfriend (William Dimitre Darroca) has told me NUMEROUS stories of the HORRIBLE things pathway forced its youth to do. Depriving the youths of NUTRITION, SLEEP, their loved ones, and worst of all THEIR DIGNITY. Its ironic how a rehab facility can make one fall into heavy drugs...and things that one was NOT involved in PRIOR to being enrolled in the tortuous program. Clearly the progam did NOT help, it merely attempted to BRAINWASH - the children and their families. Just looking at the program..one can ask - what was it they were trying to achieve? IF a child is going to recover from alcohol/drug abuse, then STABILITY and LOVE is needed, psychological treatment is needed... NOT the instability created by traveling in host homes (of families with no background checks), being forced to LIE, to show HATE towards others, to belittle each other. All that Pathway aimed to do (so it seems to me)is DEHUMANIZE the youth, and DRAIN their parent's bank accounts to the last drop. I hope that no such facilities will come into existence. I hope that when I have children people will be smart enough to recognize such charlatans. I wish all the best to the survivors and their families. all the best & with love, Natalya

81.	Jillian Grabowski	Pathway Family Center Survivor	MI	US	I attended pathway family centers in both michigan and indiana. the program helped me reconnect with my family but the experice was horrible and demeaing. i cannot even tell you what an experice from hell the program was and i spent 6months of my life involved in the program
82.	Donna S.	Loved One of Pathway Family Center Survivor	IN	US	BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE.... Oh my God. Beth Bunn and Vicktoria Winebargar are at it again. Linked to Pathway and Straight the cult like criminal organizations. Leave not before you get sucked into their manipulating tacktics to get your money and cult like control of your life. http://branchescounseling.org/. BEWARE!!!! These people who call themselves counselors controled the Pathway Family Center for years and subjected many clients and parents to cult like circumstances. On several occassions they didn't report sex abuse that was disclosed by the children in this program, which I think is against health board rules. Anyway PARENTS beware, they are master manipulators and will suck you into their cult and take all your money up front. Oh...yes be aware that they lie about the counseling sessions they have with kids and still get paid. Your better off going to a safe reputable organization. These people will tell you they are your childs only chance but what they are building is another cult. Beware..
83.	Christopher Robb	Human Rights Advocate	(w)	US	I went to a behavior modification facility called Carlbrook.
84.	Chad Anderson	KHK Survivor 1989-1991	TX	US	Nothing worse than a belly full of beer and a head full of KHK!!! The focus was on me and my dad had them fooled of what a great man he was. Fake it till you make it dosent work. I am an alcoholic and am in recover, KHGK is on my 4th step list. Please I am wanting to contact other survivors from my group. contact me @ [email protected] for those who remembered, my dad burnt the beans... LOL
85	Michelle	Survivor of Unrelated Programs	(w)	US	HAPPINESS HILL CHRISTIAN HOME AND ACADEMY PALMERS
86	Anonymous*	Human Rights Advocate	OH	US
87	Anonymous*	Survivor of Unrelated Programs	MI	US	I like Christopher Robb went to a behavior modification program called Carlbrook.
88	Spencer *	Kids Helping Kids Survivor 1989-1991	OH	US
89	Peter H.*	Human Rights Advocate	MA	US	fuck pathways,fuck straight inc and fuck you
90	Tracy (Katkowsky) Pannuto	Straight, Inc. Survivor	MI	US	Straight, Inc in Plymouth, MI changed my life forever. The girl that walked into that warehouse NEVER came back out. To this day (almost 20 years later) more and more from my time there continues to haunt me (most of which I'm just starting to remember again). These facilities ruin lives.
91.	Elliott Bowles	Unspecified	FL	US	Survivor of Second Nature Wilderness Program and Carlbrook School(CEDU)
92.	Chanda	KidScope Survivor 1986-1989	OH	US	I am glad to see these places are being shut down. I am also thankful to all the survivors who have taken their time to protest these places. If only there were people who stood outside KidScope and protested, it would have helped validate me. Instead, i struggled with the idea i was crazy for believing the program was terribly wrong. I was never a drug or alcohol user. I was in a situation where my home life was terrible. When i started staying away from home as much as possible to get away from it, my mother decided i had issues. Upon being told i was going into a treatment center for help i was ecstatic. I thought it was going to be a place to get away from my home situation, and also get psychological help. I had just turned 14. Instead, i was badgered into admitting drug use and shoved into a nightmare that i have struggled with for years. It took me a long time to realize i was not a horrible person. Ironically for a short period of time after i got out, i turned to alcohol for help.
93.	Danielle Wendt	Human Rights Advocate	NA	US	I am a survivor of other programs and suffered things in programs that have left me post traumatically stressed even eleven years later. Every confirmed abusive or neglectful program should be stopped immediately. Thank you for you organization and effort.

Pathway family center is closed!!!

See www.heal-online.org/kids.htm or www.heal-online.org/kentucky.htm for more information!

Sign Petition To Close Pathway Family Center (PFC) (MI, IN, & OH)!