But if they shut down, some rich people might be forced to spend time and emotional energy on their children!

Yeah, it’s like sacking an abusive guard at a concentration camp when the problem is the existence of the camp.

I’ve met quite a few Mormons in my life and without fail they are pleasant, polite, and committed to community work. But there’s a rotten core to it, like Southern manners and Minnesota nice. The politeness is really  a cover for a corrosive church that embodies vicious racism, misogyny, homophobia, and abuse of…

It’s pretty clear they don’t have good relationships with their parents before this, so the parents probably don’t notice.

I think much of the problem is that these schools are run by the same people who apply to be prison guards.

I’ve heard the similar things from Mormons when I left the church as a child. All you have to look up is “LDS 1978" to understand any moral high ground they may claim is the bottom of a lake.

Ive always heard Utah is the juvenile treatment center capital of America. Drug abuse is a huge factor in kids getting sent to these places. The one I went to about 75% of the boys were in the chemical dependency program. The main drug counselor wasn’t Mormon and was a recovering addict, but my main counselor and…

This is a webcomic about the Elan school, which sounds similar to this Provo thing. I don’t know about Provo but at Elan the adults had no concern for their charges’ welfare. If any kid was “helped” there it was accidental. Tiffany Sedaris was sent there.

A “change in ownership” means precisely jack-fucking-shit in terms of the attitude, behavior, or even basic makeup of staff. These aren’t exactly the kinds of jobs that most people aspire to, so I’m guessing the staff was unchanged. People with a great deal of empathy don’t tend to last very long in these settings.

Paris' parents sent her be cause they were embarrassed....she wasn't completely out of control. More parental or family time and possibly time away from New York? That might have "fixed" her issue. Its not all that simple, but she was far from being out of control.

For my parents, they made the decision to send me to a residential program (an emotional growth boarding school) because having me in four different kinds of therapy for the better part of a decade and on more than a dozen medications didn’t reduce my depression or panic attacks and they were only getting worse as I…

These types of schools are so prevalent in Utah, and such a big business, that I’m shocked there was enough support to get any oversight.

I had several friends who worked at schools like this, because it was a job you could get with little education and training. They had several stories of children stuck in…

This.  He is “on the take” (in mobster parlance).

How do you have a good relationship with your parents after something like this?

He probably makes money either directly from shilling or from part ownership of some sort. Dude is a total charlatan. 

“Dr" Phil is on promoting these types of places all. the. fucking. time. I hate that guy.

This is just awful, I can’t imagine what living like that sort of fear is like.

The book Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres is an amazing look inside one of these reform ‘school’ systems operating under the guise of religion. When I finished the book and looked at the online testimonials, I was shocked to see that a lot of these places are still operating.  

I recently listened to a harrowing podcast about this type of school and the troubled teen industry called “The Lost Kids” by UCP Audio, I highly recommend it if you have the stomach for it

Good for her for using her spotlight and money to try and get these places shut down. This is such a disgusting cycle - the news highlights stories about abusive, creepy ‘treatment’ centers for teens (who have few if any rights if they’re being warehoused by awful parents), there’s an outcry, there’s some shuffling of…