Name

Unit/Position

From C. (Mother of victim of Stone Mountain Teen Challenge--Dated: July 21st, 2009):

My teenage son who was fifteen then, went to a teen challenge program in Stone Mountain, GA in January..He was assaulted by another kid the first week...he ran away from the facility and spent the night out in 10 degree weather...he was able to escape from the staff at least three times....they didn't even call me one time to let me know what was happening....he told me that there was another kid there that repeatedly masturbated in front of the other kids there.  He ran away another time and when they got him back they took him to a barber and had his head shaved...my son told me while he was in the barber shop the staff member who was supposed to be supervising him left to go next door to a tanning bed leaving him alone...where he obviously had the oportunity to run again...then he ran away again and the next day called me on someone's cell phone saying he was at the home of a staff memeber with another teenager...luckily my cousin was close enough to drive up there and get him...after I got him back I had problems getting them to send my son's belongings....I was informed during one phone call to try to retrieve his belongings that they were in the process of closing that facility down...one of the results of my son being there is a that when he ran away one time he shoplifted at a WalMart...we now have that legal issue to deal with...I thought I was paying for a twenty four hour babysitter and I got more problems...he was much worse when he got home...he had nightmares and lots of psychological problems including depression and anxiety which we have had to deal with...this program needs to be eliminated....I want them to pay for what they did to my son and to other kids.  that was the worst experience of my child's life to date...I hope they shut them down forever."

This program is closed.

REPORTING GUIDE FOR VICTIMS, SURVIVORS, AND WHISTLEBLOWERS:
 
In Georgia, the criminal statutes of limitation are 2 years on misdemeanors, 4 years on most felonies, and no statute of limitations on more serious felonies including rape, murder and kidnapping.  For civil suits in Georgia, the statute of limitations is 2 years.  The Columbus Girls Academy is headquartered in Columbus, GA but operates in Seale, AL as well.  In Alabama, the criminal statutes of limitation are 1 year on misdemeanors, 5 years on most felonies, and no statute of limitations on more serious felonies including rape of a minor under age 16 at time of crime and murder.  For civil suits in Alabama, the statute of limitations is 2 years. Here are your options:
 
1.  Report crimes such as fraud, assault, battery, labor trafficking, and child abuse to law enforcement in Alabama and/or Georgia.  You can call the respective law enforcement/police department on the location where you were a victim of crime to inquire about filing an official complaint which may provide the probable cause needed to get a warrant for investigation and/or prosecution.  Below is a list of locations and the contact information for the law enforcement body responsible for enforcing the laws in that jurisdiction:

TEEN CHALLENGE LOCATION	LAW ENFORCEMENT
Columbus Girls Academy in Seale, Alabama	Call the Russell County Sheriff at (334)298-6535
Atlanta Teen Challenge	Call the Atlanta Police at (404) 614-6544
Columbus Girls Academy in Columbus, Georgia	Call the Columbus Police at (706) 225-3205
Macon Teen Challenge	Call the Macon Police at (478) 751-9134
Meansville Teen Challenge	Call the Pike County Sheriff at (770) 567-8431
Dublin Teen Challenge	Call the Dublin Police at (478) 277-5023

 
2.  File a consumer complaint with your home state's attorney general against Teen Challenge and include your request for compensation for any harm done to you.  You can find the easy online forms for filing such a complaint (which may result in an investigation, prosecution, and/or civil resolution on your case) under your home state's (state where you currently reside) header at https://www.heal-online.org/report.htm .  If your home state is Georgia or you'd like to file with the Georgia State Attorney General as a non-resident, here is that link:  https://consumer.georgia.gov/resolve-your-dispute/how-do-i-file-complaint  If your home state is Alabama or you'd like to file with the Alabama State Attorney General as a non-resident, here is that link: https://www.alabamaag.gov/consumercomplaint
 
3.  If you do not wish to file a consumer complaint, you can contact a private personal injury attorney and look into suing in tort/civil court.  However, if you can't afford the retainer, you should expect to settle out of court with a non-disclosure agreement which may bar you from speaking publicly about the incident because you've agreed (even if with a grumbling assent) to the terms of the settlement.  You can find legal resources at https://www.heal-online.org/legal.htm  and legal causes of action related to institutionalized abuse claims at https://www.heal-online.org/legalarguments.htm .
 
4.  You may post a statement about your experience at your program on our unmoderated message board at http://pub40.bravenet.com/forum/show.php?usernum=3407841501&cpv=2  OR send a new e-mail to rev@cope.church with subject "Post My Feedback" and we will post your feedback (e-mail printed to .pdf disclosing your name and e-mail address and any information in your e-mail with that subject) to https://www.cope.church/feedback.htm  and add a direct link to those .pdf files to this page . 

 5. You may also wish to provide a guest sermon.  Guest sermons are posted at https://www.cope.church/sermons.htm , under Progress Reports/Guest Sermons at https://www.heal-online.org  where appropriate, and on program info pages when applicable.  So, one provided by you on your program would also be placed on this page .  Guest sermons should be written into the body of an e-mail and sent to rev@cope.church . Your first and last name will be disclosed (contact info will not be unless you expressly ask for that).  For sermons available on our site see https://www.cope.church/sermons.htm  (and sermon archives linked on that page).  If you have questions about this option, please contact rev@cope.church. Please see https://www.cope.church/givetoday.pdf  to get an idea what your sermon may be worth.

THE TRUTH:

All segregated congregate care providers, including those on our watch-list, are welcome to contact us to correct any information or provide additional data that may assist with delivering the whole truth to the public.  We've found in many cases where this offer has been abused or resulted in revealing additional basis for our concerns. For some examples see: http://www.heal-online.org/tcfl.htm,  http://www.heal-online.org/bolthouse.htm and http://www.heal-online.org/abundant2.htm.  Now, we are willing to look at the facts and may have questions or require documentation backing up any claims.  We do verify licensing, academic backgrounds, and other qualifications when investigating and researching programs on our watch-list to assist consumers seeking additional information on such programs or victims requiring assistance with getting corroborating evidence of their claims.  We do that in order to make sure the information we provide is accurate and verified and cite our sources.  In the event any information we've posted is in error, we're happy to make a correction.  And, for information on how such requests are handled and have been resolved historically, see: http://www.heal-online.org/requests.htm. 

HEAL does not support segregated congregate care for many reasons which include that many such facilities are abusive, exploitative, fraudulent, and lack effective oversight often as a result of fraudulent misrepresentation coupled with the ignorance of those seeking to enroll loved ones in such facilities, programs, schools, or centers without a valid court order and involuntarily.  In the United States such involuntary placements done without a court order are apparently illegal as they either violate the Americans with Disabilities Act community integration requirement or due process rights of those involuntarily placed.  Now, in regards to parents, in the United States parents have the right to waive their own rights, but, not the rights of their minor children.  See http://www.heal-online.org/legalarguments.htm for more information.  Now, most facilities on our watch list include waivers, indemnity clauses, and sworn statements parents must sign assuring the program that the parents have the right to make the placement involuntarily and without due process in a segregated congregate care environment, however, California and federal prosecutors as well as settled law appears to suggest that is not the case.  In fact, in the David Taylor case found at http://www.heal-online.org/provocases.htm, Taylor sued Provo Canyon School and his mother as co-defendants.  His mother was found liable for 75% of the damages awarded to Taylor as a result of multiple complaints including false imprisonment, while the program was found only 25% liable because the mother owed a duty of due diligence to investigate anyone to which she would entrust care of her child and she failed to do so. 

Now, HEAL opposes segregated congregate care and we find most placements are happening illegally in the USA which if the youth understood their rights would result in unfortunate outcomes for the parents, particularly when they don't exercise good judgment and support the fraud and abuse rather than their own children when they need remedy and justice.  And, HEAL supports all victims of fraud and abuse in seeking remedies at law for any crimes or torts committed against them.  And, that's true whether or not the program or victims are in the USA. 

HEAL has a 5 point argument against segregated congregate care we'd like you to consider:

a.  Segregated care is unconstitutional and a civil rights violation.  It is only permissible if a person is unable to survive independent of an institutional environment.  For more on this, watch the HEAL Report at  https://youtu.be/C4NzhZc4P0A.  Or, see:   http://www.ada.gov/olmstead/  which includes in part:    "United States v. Florida – 1:12-cv-60460 – (S.D. Fla.) – On April 7, 2016, the United States filed an Opposition to the State of Florida’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment.  In the Motion, the State had asked the Court to rule, on a variety of grounds, that the United States could not recover damages for unnecessarily institutionalized children to whom the State had been deliberately indifferent."

b.  Institutionalization is always dehumanizing and coercive.  Institutionalization always harms the institutionalized and deprives them of protected civil rights.  Dr. David Straker, Psychiatry Professor at Columbia University's School of Medicine (Ivy League) explains this in detail at http://changingminds.org/disciplines/sociology/articles/institutionalization.htm.  "Many institutions, from prisons to monasteries to asylums, deliberately want to control and manage their inmates such that they conform and do not cause problems. Even in less harsh environments, many of the institutionalization methods may be found, albeit in more moderated form (although the psychological effect can be equally devastating)."  (See website linked in this paragraph for more info.)

c.  Institutionalization is not in the best interest of children.  Institutions are not ever better for a child than living with a loving family.  Source:   http://www.unicef.org/cambodia/12681_23295.html       

d.  Reform schools, residential treatment programs, and other segregated congregate care settings have been shown to be ineffective and harmful.  Best source on this currently is:     https://www.acgov.org/probation/documents/EndoftheReformSchoolbyVinny.doc

e. Boarding Schools, even the "good ones", result in a form of social death, isolation, and cause both anxiety and depression.  Therefore, it is clearly not in the best interest of the youth subjected to those environments.  Sources: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/08/boarding-school-syndrome-joy-schaverien-review and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/11662001/The-truth-about-boarding-school-syndrome.html

Beyond the above arguments against segregated congregate care, we have reports from the NIH, Surgeon General, Yale University Studies, and much more showing the methodologies of behavior modification are damaging, harmful, and ineffective.  You can request these documents via e-mail.  In addition, for such programs offering academic services or claiming to offer diplomas, certifications, or the like, it is important to check to see if it is a diploma mill with no accredited academic services.  Please see article: "Avoiding Scams: What You Need To Know"  for important information on how to avoid education/training scams.

If you'd like to see what HEAL suggests rather than segregated congregate care (i.e. committing a crime or tort against your child if done against their will without a court order), please see articles: "Fix Your Family, Help Your Teen" and "Emancipation Guide".

If you have a complaint against any facility, please file a complaint with the appropriate law enforcement agency or your home state's attorney general.  For reporting resources see: http://www.heal-online.org/report.htm.  (Reporting guide is for USA only at this time.)