World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools

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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 partnerships, many of which have used the same street address) by WWASPS or its principal officials or their close relatives.[1] 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 forcibly removes teenagers to WWASPS facilities; R&B Billing, which does tuition billing and payment processing;[2] and Premier Educational Systems, LLC (also called Premier Educational Seminars), which conducts orientation and training workshops for parents whose children have been sent into WWASPS facilities.[3] Since its inception, WWASPS claims to have helped over 10,000 students with issues related to personal behavior.[4] 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.[5]

Contents

[edit] Facilities

WWASP operates, formerly operated, or is associated with, several facilities in the United States and in other countries. 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.[6] Schools and programs currently or formerly associated with the organization include the following:

[edit] Currently operating

[edit] United States

[edit] Other countries

[edit] Now closed

[edit] United States

  • Bell Academy in California (shutdown after issues with state Social Services)[11]
  • Bethel Girls Academy in Mississippi (shutdown after state officials investigate reports of abuse)[12]
  • Brightway Hospital in St. George, Utah (closed by authorities for providing inadequate care and abuse)[13]
  • Sky View Christian Academy, for boys, in Hawthorne, Nevada. Enrolled about 120 students and employed about 63 staff and teachers, with a total annual payroll of $1.57 million. Closed abruptly in 2007 after a hazing incident.[14]

[edit] Other countries

  • Academy at Dundee Ranch, Costa Rica
  • Casa By The Sea, Ensenada, Mexico (investigated and shut down by the Mexican government after allegations of abuse )
  • High Impact in Tecate, Mexico (investigated and shut down by the Mexican government after allegations of abuse)[15]
  • Morava Academy, Czech Republic (closed in 1998, when Czech police charged and arrested its managers with child torture)[16]
  • Paradise Cove, Samoa (shutdown by Samoan authorities because an investigation determined credible allegations of abuse)[17]
  • Sunrise Beach, Cancún, Mexico (raided and closed by Mexican authorities over abuse)[18]

[edit] Related and spinoff programs and projects

Some personnel formerly associated with WWASP schools and programs have gone on to establish or work at other similar institutions.

In 2005 Robert Lichfield and the Utah-based holding company, Golden Pond Investments Ltd., made an offer to buy the campus of the Kemper Military School in Boonville, Missouri, to open a new school for adolescents needing help with discipline, responsibility and leadership skills. It was announced that the school would be directed by former WWASP staff member Randall Hinton and his brother Russell Hinton. The Hintons told Boonville officials that the proposed school would not be a part of WWASP.[19] The Boonville City Council rejected the proposal.[20]

[edit] Controversy

WWASPS and its associated institutions have been the target of criticism over their treatment methods, including allegations of severe abuse and torture by staff at programs supported by WWASPS.[21] The programs have been the subject of legal investigations by several U.S. states.[22]

Numerous former students or their parents have filed lawsuits against WWASPS, its personnel, or individual schools. Most have been settled out of court or dismissed for procedural reasons. For example, a 2005 lawsuit filed in California on behalf of more than 20 plaintiffs was dismissed because the judge found that California lacked jurisdiction. In June 2007, Utah attorney Thomas M. Burton told a reporter that six suits he had filed against WWASPS on behalf of his clients had been dismissed on procedural grounds. WWASPS president Ken Kay told an interviewer that lawsuits against WWASPS are ploys to get money, brought by people who "are never going to be happy."[23] 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 has 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.[23][24]

On August 31, 2007, Randall Hinton was convicted of one count each of third degree assault and false imprisonment, for mistreating students at the WWASP-affiliated Royal Gorge Academy, of which he was manager and co-founder. However, the jury returned verdicts of "not guilty" on four other counts of third-degree assault and one other count of false imprisonment.[25] Hinton was sentenced to jail followed by probation.[26]

[edit] References

  1. ^ See Investigation shows troubled school may be buying interest with lawmakers (Associated Press, September 20, 2004), Utah-based school owner banned (Deseret News, July 6, 2003), and Former student alleges months of abuse (John Sullivan, Columbia Daily Tribune, April 15, 2005.)
  2. ^ John-Thor Dahlburg, Key to His Schools' Success? It's God, Founder Says, Los Angeles Times, July 13, 2003
  3. ^ See http://www.premier-ed.com/
  4. ^ http://www.wwasprebuttal.com/
  5. ^ Troubled Teen Programs - 25 Plaintiffs Join in Lawsuit Against WWASPS, Cross Creek Manor, Robert Lichfield, and Associates – More Expected to Join In
  6. ^ Loophole in state law has allowed some in teen-help industry to go unlicensed, The Salt Lake Tribune, July 16, 2007
  7. ^ Joanne Green, Rough Love,Miami New Times June 22, 2006
  8. ^ School Information on Pacific View Academy
  9. ^ School Information on Seaside Academy
  10. ^ Sandra Dibble & Anna Cearley, Baja raids shut boarding schools for U.S. teens, The Union-Tribune, September 11, 2004
  11. ^ Henry Winckel, The Porterville Recorder, September 26, 2003
  12. ^ CAROL MARBIN MILLER, [1], Miami Herald, June 1, 2005
  13. ^ Coalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse
  14. ^ Housing slump indefinitely delays Hawthorne project, Reno Gazette Journal, December 2, 2007, and Hawthorne project postponed, by David C. Henley, Lahontan Valley News, December 1, 2007.
  15. ^ Sandra Dibble & Anna Cearley, Baja raids shut boarding schools for U.S. teens, The Union-Tribune, San Diego, September 11, 2004
  16. ^ Too-tough love?, Forbes Magazine, March 22, 1999
  17. ^ Legal Affairs
  18. ^ Denver Rocky Mountain News
  19. ^ Boonville to discuss Kemper proposal: A company involved in the plan has faced abuse allegations, Columbia Missourian, April 11, 2005, and John Sullivan, Kemper suitors plan new military school, Columbia Daily Tribune, April 5, 2005.
  20. ^ Amy Joi Bryson, Utah-based group under fire, Deseret Morning News, April 21, 2005
  21. ^ Joanne Green, Rough Love: Kids from South Florida and beyond are sent to Jamaica to straighten up. Or else, Miami New Times, June 22, 2006.
  22. ^ Amy Joi Bryson, Utah-based group under fire, Deseret Morning News, April 21, 2005.
  23. ^ a b Alexander Bolton, Lawsuits hit a Romney money man, The Hill, June 20, 2007
  24. ^ Maia Szalavitz, Romney, Torture, and Teens: The former governor's connections to abusive "tough love" camps, Reason Magazine, June 27, 2007.
  25. ^ Hinton guilty on two counts: Jury finds Royal Gorge Academy official guilty of assault, false imprisonment, The Cañon City Daily Record, 9/1/2007, Page A8.
  26. ^ Randall Hinton Sentenced to Jail for Bloody Assault on Child, November 20, 2007, by Tracy Harmon, and Top 10 stories of 2007, The Cañon City Daily Record, 12/31/2007, Page A1.

[edit] External links

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Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links.

[edit] Web sites for WWASP facilities and affiliated institutions:

[edit] Marketing web sites promoting institutions associated with WWASP

[edit] WWASP critics

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