World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools
Encyclopedia
The World Wide Association Of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS or WWASP) is an organization based in Utah
, in the United States
. WWASPS was founded by Robert Lichfield and was incorporated in 1998. WWASPS states that it is an umbrella organization
of independent institutions for education and treatment of troubled teenagers, all operating in accordance with WWASP guidelines. Many outside observers believe, however, that the WWASPS-affiliated institutions are actually owned (through limited partnership
s, many of which have used the same street address) by WWASPS or its principal officials or their close relatives. 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; and Premier Educational Systems, LLC (also called Premier Educational Seminars), which conducts orientation and training workshops for parents whose children are in WWASPS facilities. WWASPS claims to have helped over 10,000 students with issues related to personal behavior. Some participants and parents give 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. WWASPS officials report that the organization is no longer in business, but because of ongoing litigation, it has not been dissolved.
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. 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:
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. The Boonville City Council rejected the proposal.
Ken Kay is now superintendent of Browning Distance Learning Academy, a provider of homeschooling
curriculum. Its materials were used by Mentor School in Costa Rica.
and torture
by staff at programs supported by WWASPS. 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
.
Numerous former students or their parents have filed lawsuit
s 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 plaintiff
s 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.
On several occasions, WWASPS and its principals have responded to criticism by suing their critics. Robert Lichfield sued two individual people 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]."
On August 31, 2007, Randall Hinton was convict
ed 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. Hinton was sentenced to jail followed by probation.
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. WWASPS was founded by Robert Lichfield and was incorporated in 1998. WWASPS states that it is an umbrella organization
Umbrella organization
An umbrella organization is an association of institutions, who work together formally to coordinate activities or pool resources. In business, political, or other environments, one group, the umbrella organization, provides resources and often an identity to the smaller organizations...
of independent institutions for education and treatment of troubled teenagers, all operating in accordance with WWASP guidelines. Many outside observers believe, however, that the WWASPS-affiliated institutions are actually owned (through limited partnership
Limited partnership
A limited partnership is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership, except that in addition to one or more general partners , there are one or more limited partners . It is a partnership in which only one partner is required to be a general partner.The GPs are, in all major respects,...
s, many of which have used the same street address) by WWASPS or its principal officials or their close relatives. 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
Teen escort company
Teen escort company, also called a youth transport firm, is a term used in the United States and Denmark to describe a business that specializes in transporting teenagers from their homes to various facilities.- United States :...
that transports teenagers to WWASPS facilities; R&B Billing, which does tuition billing and payment processing; and Premier Educational Systems, LLC (also called Premier Educational Seminars), which conducts orientation and training workshops for parents whose children are in WWASPS facilities. WWASPS claims to have helped over 10,000 students with issues related to personal behavior. Some participants and parents give 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. WWASPS officials report that the organization is no longer in business, but because of ongoing litigation, it has not been dissolved.
Facilities
WWASPS operates, formerly operated, or is 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. At one time, WWASPS facilities had tuitionTuition
Tuition payments, known primarily as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in British English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and Indian English, refers to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education.Tuition payments are charged by...
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. 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:
United States
- Cross Creek ProgramsCross Creek ProgramsCross Creek Programs is a therapeutic boarding school in La Verkin, Utah, operated by the controversial World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools . It sometimes is referred to as two facilities, with the name Cross Creek Manor applied to the girls' program and the name Cross Creek...
in Utah - Gulf Coast Academy in Lucedale, MississippiLucedale, MississippiLucedale is a city in George County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,458 at the 2000 census...
(formerly Bethel Girls' Academy, Bethel Boys' Academy, and Eagle Point Christian Academy) - Old West Academy (formerly Majestic Ranch Academy) in Utah
- Horizon Academy in Amargosa Valley, NevadaAmargosa Valley, NevadaAmargosa Valley is an unincorporated community in Nye County, in the U.S. state of Nevada.-Description:The community is named for the Amargosa River which flows through the valley from its origination in Nevada to its terminus in Death Valley, California...
- Red River Academy in Lecompte, LouisianaLouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. - Woodland Hills Maternity Home in UtahUtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
Other countries
- Pillars of HopePillars of HopePillars of Hope is a "specialty" boarding school in Costa Rica, located on the former site of the Academy at Dundee Ranch that was shut down by the Costa Rican government in 2003.Mark Johnson, , Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, November 8, 2004. Archived September 29, 2007....
, (previously the site of closed school Academy at Dundee RanchAcademy at Dundee RanchAcademy at Dundee Ranch was a behavior modification facility for United States teenagers, located on La Ceiba Cascajal, west of Orotina, province of Alajuela, Costa Rica...
) in Costa RicaCosta RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east.... - Sunset Bay Academy in MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
United States
- Academy at Ivy RidgeAcademy at Ivy RidgeAcademy at Ivy Ridge was an independent privately owned and operated for-profit therapeutic boarding school in Ogdensburg, New York.-Ownership and affiliation:...
in Ogdensburg, New YorkOgdensburg, New YorkOgdensburg is a city in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 11,128 at the 2010 census. In the late 18th century, European-American settlers named the community after American land owner and developer Samuel Ogden....
(closed in early 2009; property has been sold) - Bell Academy in CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
(shut down in 2003 after issues with state Social Services) - Bethel Girls Academy in MississippiMississippiMississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
(shut down in Feb. 2005 after state officials investigate reports of abuse) - Brightway Hospital in St. George, Utah (closed in 1998 by authorities for providing inadequate care and abuse)
- Carolina Springs Academy in Due West, South CarolinaDue West, South CarolinaDue West is a town in Abbeville County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,209 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Due West is located at ....
, was opened by Narvin Lichfield in 1998 and closed in April 2009 when its license was revoked due to lack of compliance with licensing regulations. The campus was abandoned as of September 2010, but a South CarolinaSouth CarolinaSouth Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
newspaper reported in December 2010 that a coeducational Christian boarding school would open on the site in 2011. - Darrington Academy in GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. Closed in March 2009; 90 students were enrolled at the time of closure. School director Richard Darrington was arrested in May 2009 and charged with battery of two students at the school. - Royal Gorge Academy in Canon City, ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, closed in October 2008. Youth sent to Red River Academy. - Sky View Christian Academy, for boys, in Hawthorne, NevadaHawthorne, NevadaHawthorne is a census-designated place in Mineral County, Nevada, United States. The population was 3,311 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Mineral County...
. Enrolled about 120 students and employed about 63 staff and teachers, with a total annual payroll of $1.57 million. It was closed abruptly in 2007 after a hazingHazingHazing is a term used to describe various ritual and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group....
incident. - Spring Creek Lodge AcademySpring Creek Lodge AcademySpring Creek Lodge Academy was a boarding school located in Thompson Falls, MT . The school, formerly known as Spring Creek Community , was first opened in the 1970s by Nancy and Steve Cawdrey. In the fall of 1996, the school and the property were purchased by Cameron Pullan and Dan Peart and...
, Sanders CountySanders County, MontanaSanders County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of 2010, the population was 11,413. Its county seat is Thompson Falls.-Geography:According to the U.S...
, MontanaMontanaMontana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
; operated from the late 1970s until January 9, 2009.
Other countries
- Academy at Dundee RanchAcademy at Dundee RanchAcademy at Dundee Ranch was a behavior modification facility for United States teenagers, located on La Ceiba Cascajal, west of Orotina, province of Alajuela, Costa Rica...
, Costa Rica (raided by authorities on May 22, 2003 after an investigation into child abuse) - Casa By The SeaCasa by the SeaCasa by the Sea was a private residential school/residential treatment center located in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. It was operated by the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools and primarily enrolled teenagers from the United States who had behavioral issues...
, EnsenadaEnsenada, Baja CaliforniaEnsenada is a coastal city in Mexico and the third-largest city in Baja California. It is located south of San Diego on the Baja California Peninsula. The city is locally referred to as La Cenicienta del Pacífico, or, The Cinderella of the Pacific...
, Mexico (investigated and shut down by the Mexican government after allegations of abuse; raided by Mexican authorities on Sept. 10, 2004) - High Impact in Tecate, MexicoTecateTecate is a small city in Baja California, Mexico and the municipal seat of Tecate Municipality. It is located on the border with Tecate, California, United States in the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. There is a small port of entry betwixt the sister cities that serves as a calmer...
(investigated and shut down by the Mexican government after allegations of abuse) - Mentor School, Costa Rica, closed in March 2011. Mentor was housed in the former Hotel Carara near Tárcoles and was headed by Robert Walter Lichfield. There were approximately 20 U.S. teenagers enrolled at the time of closure. It was closed by Costa Rican child welfare authorities on March 18, 2011, following complaints of abuse by parents of enrollees. At the time of closure, it was reported that the program had not been licensed by Costa Rican authorities. Officials who visited the facility said that "physical, psychological and verbal mistreatment" were "apparent."
- Morava Academy, BrnoBrnoBrno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
, Czech RepublicCzech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. Opened in 1998 and closed later that year when Czech police arrested its managers (Glenda and Steven Roach, former police officers from Utah) and charged them with child torture. - Paradise Cove, SamoaSamoaSamoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
(shutdown by Samoan authorities because an investigation determined credible allegations of abuse) - Sunrise Beach, CancúnCancúnCancún is a city of international tourism development certified by the UNWTO . Located on the northeast coast of Quintana Roo in southern Mexico, more than 1,700 km from Mexico City, the Project began operations in 1974 as Integrally Planned Center, a pioneer of FONATUR Cancún is a city of...
, MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
(raided and closed by Mexican authorities in 1996 over abuse) - Tranquility BayTranquility BayTranquility Bay was a residential treatment facility affiliated with World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools , that operated from 1997 to early 2009. It was located in Calabash Bay, Saint Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica....
in JamaicaJamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
(subject of several documentaries detailing severe abuse; closed in Jan. 2009)
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
Kemper Military School
Kemper Military School & College was a private military school located in Boonville, Missouri. Kemper filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2002. The school's motto was "Nunquam Non Paratus" .-Early years under Frederick T. Kemper:...
in Boonville, Missouri
Boonville, Missouri
This page is about the city in Missouri. For other communities of the same name, see Boonville Boonville is a city in Cooper County, Missouri, USA. The population was 8,202 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cooper County. The city was the site of a skirmish early in the American Civil...
, 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. The Boonville City Council rejected the proposal.
Ken Kay is now superintendent of Browning Distance Learning Academy, a provider of homeschooling
Homeschooling
Homeschooling or homeschool is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school...
curriculum. Its materials were used by Mentor School in Costa Rica.
Controversy
WWASPS and its associated institutions have been the target of criticism over their treatment methods, including allegations of severe abuseChild abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
and torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
by staff at programs supported by WWASPS. The programs have been the subject of legal investigations by several U.S. states. In 2003, a reporter for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
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
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
.
Numerous former students or their parents have filed lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
s 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 plaintiff
Plaintiff
A plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
s 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
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Presidential candidate Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
, because Lichfield was one of six co-chairs of the Utah state fundraising committee for Romney's campaign.
On several occasions, WWASPS and its principals have responded to criticism by suing their critics. Robert Lichfield sued two individual people associated with the International Survivors Action Committee (ISAC) for defamation, invasion of his privacy
Privacy
Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
, 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
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
reporter
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
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]."
On August 31, 2007, Randall Hinton was convict
Conviction
In law, a conviction is the verdict that results when a court of law finds a defendant guilty of a crime.The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal . In Scotland and in the Netherlands, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which counts as an acquittal...
ed of one count each of third degree assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
and false imprisonment
False imprisonment
False imprisonment is a restraint of a person in a bounded area without justification or consent. False imprisonment is a common-law felony and a tort. It applies to private as well as governmental detention...
, for mistreating students at the WWASP-affiliated Royal Gorge Academy, of which he was manager and co-founder. However, the jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
returned verdicts of "not guilty" on four other counts of third-degree assault and one other count of false imprisonment. Hinton was sentenced to jail followed by probation.
See also
- Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-teen Industry Cons Parents And Hurts KidsHelp at Any CostHelp at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids is a non-fiction book by Maia Szalavitz analyzing the controversy surrounding the tough love behavior modification industry. The book was published February 16, 2006, by Riverhead Books. Szalavitz focuses on four programs:...
Further reading
- Claire and Mia Fontaine, Come Back: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back, HarperCollins, 2006. ISBN 978-0060792169
Web sites for WWASP facilities and affiliated institutions
- Cross Creek Programs
- Carolina Springs Academy
- Darrington Academy
- Gulf Coast Academy
- Midwest Academy
- Oceanside
Marketing web sites promoting institutions associated with WWASP
- Help My Teen
- Parent Support Services
- Teen Paths
- Teen Recovery
- Teen Revitalization
- Teen Soulutions
- Teens with Problems