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“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 1
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The Abusive Rehab Program Called Straight Inc.
For 17 years Melvin Sembler and his wife Betty operated one of the most destructive and world’s largest chain of juvenile rehabilitation programs, Straight, Inc. As many as 50,000 kids were in the Straight program. Straight, Inc. is the biggest violator of human rights and civil liberties that the USA has ever seen. This was torture – there was deliberate degrading and humiliating treatment, sexual abuse, physical beatings, lack of proper food or sanitation, deliberate sexual humiliation, sleep deprivation, and lack of medical care. With inhuman conditions of confinement likened to Korean prisoner of war camps and amidst thousands of law suits alleging severe child abuse, the Straight Inc was finally shut down after a US Congressional investigation. The International Survivors Action Committee Corporation[i] (ISAC)(2) estimates that two Straight clients died wrongfully for every one thousand who survived after being incarcerated for any length of time at Straight. Some estimate is that as many as a hundred to even a thousand children perished as a result suicide secondary to the psychological trauma of being tortured in Straight Inc. During his research Wes Fager was able to document 40 suicides of known Straight Inc abuse.[ii] Five percent of children and adults who attended Straight Inc. did so with court order and even after child abuse allegations had already filed against the facilities. But an important lesson we can learn from the history Melvin Sembler’s Straight Inc. is that any revulsion authorities have to cruelty and mistreatment of teens can be redeemed by the transformative power of political contributions. Melvin Sembler was a very successful political campaign fundraiser. People at the highest levels of the US government have endorsed and approved of Straight and its spin off programs including Nancy Reagan, George Bush Sr., Jeb Bush, and George Bush Jr.
According to statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics, in 1987 the Tampa Bay area (Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas Counties) had the highest suicide rate in the country. It's not just because of the large number of retirees there. The juvenile suicide rate in Pinellas County rose 130% between 1980 and 1986. A 1992 study found that 1 out of 4 girls in neighboring Pasco County attempted suicide in 1991 (national average was 10%). And in neighboring Hillsborough County the juvenile suicide rate rose from 3 in 1980 to 9 by 1987. 19 youths committed suicide in Pinellas/ Hillsborough Counties in 1989 (up to nine of these were gay/LGBT.) Straight operated its founding center, Straight-St Pete, in Saint Petersburg, Florida in Pinellas County from 1976 to 1993.[iii]
After extensive federal and state investigations into the abuse, the Straight Inc. program just changed its legal name and continued business as usual. This gave rise to a myriad of programs under various names but all with the same abusive treatment of children. Torture which is prohibited under US law and under International law had been used by Straight Inc as a means to perpetuate extensive medical insurance fraud some of which involved fraud against the US taxpayer (Medicaid fraud). As Straight Inc. branched out it started using governmental grants to fuel its growth.
[i] The International Survivors Action Committee Corporation was a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created by survivors of Straight, Incorporated. ISAC works “to expose child abuse within privately owned behavior modification centers, drug treatment centers, specialty boarding schools and teen boot camps.” ISACgroup.org, http://www.isacgroup.org
[ii] The following former clients from various Straights and Straight legacy programs around the country have committed suicide: Gregg Hughes, Steve Matthews, Chris Weiss, Duane Rholfs and Chris Kelly, Mathew W. Hunter, Paul Riffle, Kevin Yriondo, Glen Steepleton, Terry Long, Nancy, Chris Weiss, Lisa D., Jamie C., Travis Stone, Dan Brown, Jeff Leugers. Rob H., Dane W., Paul, Ryan K., Phil W., Albert Perez, Ron Hill, Richard B., Anna B., Kay Helms, Andy M., Tracy B., Shirley C., Brian Neal, Bennett Beverly, Bill French, Dan Hubbard, David Hicks
[iii] Kelly Mathews, a Straight Inc. Survivor – Her brother who was also in Straight Inc. died of suicide. WebDiva.org, http://webdiva.org/straight/ , Kelly Matthews, is in process of making a movie entitled Surviving Straight Inc - The Movie. SurvivingStraightTheMovie.com, http://www.survivingstraightincthemovie.com/ This is her own story, WebDiva.org, http://webdiva.org/straight/ SurvivingStraightInc. Com, Surviving Straight Inc.
Melvin Sembler’s Legacy of Torturing of Children
Torture is the calculated physical and psychological assault on the
individual, a practice used to instill fear, punish or degrade, to
dehumanize, or to obliterate the self. It is often said that anyone who
has been tortured remains tortured, long after the physical wounds have
healed. Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain by one
human being against another, thus it leaves particular kinds of mental
and psychological scars. This trauma is different from other traumas
because torture is a violation committed in secret and in spite of
official denial. Many believe that torture only occurs in the most
repressive regimes but the reality is that torture is widespread in all
parts of the world. Although it is often perpetuated by police or
security forces, it can also be carried out by armed forces, detaining
authorities such as immigration officials, hospital staff, or prison
wardens. Torture can be physical or psychological. New methods of
torture are unfortunately being invented every year. Many can
understand severe beatings, extraction of nails or teeth, burns,
electric shocks, suspension, suffocation, excessive light, heat, cold or
noise, sexual aggression (rape and other sexual violence), forced
nudity, isolation and sensory deprivation, mock executions as torture.
But psychological torture can be just as traumatic and the psychological
wounds of both physical and psychological torture last a lifetime. The
coercive and abusive methods of Straight Inc. were designed to
obliterate the sense of self and instill fear and obedience to authority
in young teens. Some of the abusive methods of Straight Inc. included
sleep deprivation, beatings, sexual humiliation, sexual assault,
prolonged sitting or standing in forced positions, isolation, detention
for prolonged and indefinite periods of time, forcing one teen to abuse
another, and prolonged denial of rest, sleep, food, water, adequate
hygiene.
Many victims continue to suffer in silence and torture victims commonly
report feelings of fear, guilt, shame, anger, disillusionment,
insecurity and humiliation. For victims of torture coming forward to
speak about what happened to them is very difficult. This is true for
the tens of thousands of US children who were physically and
psychologically abused and even sometimes sexually abused in the program
called Straight Inc. What happened behind the closed doors of Straight
Inc. is very deeply personal and highly traumatizing and so speaking
about it can evoke for survivors a range of emotions. Survivors are
afraid to speak publicly and may not have fully revealed their
experiences to families and friends, in some instances they may not have
come to terms with it themselves.
But victims of the abuse came forward again this month to tell of an
emotional wound that will never heal. Listen to the straight survivors
tell about their ordeal on Medical Whistleblowers’ BlogTalk radio show
and how they feel about what they have been through.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/medicalwhistleblower/2010/12/22/straight-inc--legacy-of-abuse-continues-1H
Survivors of torture find it very difficult and challenging to try to
move forward with their lives. Many who had spent time in Straight Inc.
and other abusive teen rehabilitative centers speak with frustration
that the fact that their torture actually occurred has not been publicly
acknowledged. Survivors have individual and often have different
conceptions of justice, some speak of the importance of criminal
prosecutions, and others speak about civil compensation, rehabilitation
or prevention of recurrence. But for everyone there is a need to
restore that sense of dignity and control that was taken from them when
they were tortured.
The United States of America which has signed the UN Convention Against
Torture and therefore has an obligation to investigate, prosecute and
punish those who do torture. But the reality is that society has a
deep seated prejudice toward the weak or powerless and there is a
special stigma in the cases of persons who claim to be psychologically
injured and who need to seek compensation or support. Governments are a
reflection of the pervasive reactions to the horror of torture and so
therefore denial, indifference, avoidance and repression are common.
Impunity of the perpetrators will prolong, or in some cases deepen, the
mental scars borne by the victim or by members of their families, as
denial of the wrong makes psychological healing difficult. To obtain
any justice through the court system, the torture victim is expected to
testify to and provide a recounting of the violation suffered in order
to create a public record of the event, and while this truth– telling
may have a reparative value for many victims, it may also be deeply
traumatic bring to the surface old emotional wounds. In addition those
suffering from the mental anguish of torture do not always show physical
scars and thus it is easier to deny the extent of their trauma and
suffering. Can we afford to endorse the kinds of political compromises
that give rise to de jure or de facto amnesties for perpetrators of
torture when the right to reparation for victims of a wrongful act is a
well-established principle of international law?(1)
1. The right of torture survivors to reparations as a matter of international law. Chorzow Factory Case (Germany v Poland), 1928, PCIJ, ser. A, no. 17, p. 47.
The Abusive Rehab Program Called Straight Inc.
For 17 years Melvin Sembler and his wife Betty operated one of the most
destructive and world’s largest chain of juvenile rehabilitation
programs, Straight, Inc. As many as 50,000 kids were in the Straight
program. Straight, Inc. is the biggest violator of human rights and
civil liberties that the USA has ever seen. This was torture – there
was deliberate degrading and humiliating treatment, sexual abuse,
physical beatings, lack of proper food or sanitation, deliberate sexual
humiliation, sleep deprivation, and lack of medical care. With inhuman
conditions of confinement likened to Korean prisoner of war camps and
amidst thousands of law suits alleging severe child abuse, the Straight
Inc was finally shut down after a US Congressional investigation. The
International Survivors Action Committee Corporation (ISAC)(2) estimates
that two Straight clients died wrongfully for every one thousand who
survived after being incarcerated for any length of time at Straight.
Some estimate is that as many as a hundred to even a thousand children
perished as a result suicide secondary to the psychological trauma of
being tortured in Straight Inc. During his research Wes Fager was able
to document 40 suicides of known Straight Inc abuse. Five percent of
children and adults who attended Straight Inc. did so with court order
and even after child abuse allegations had already filed against the
facilities. But an important lesson we can learn from the history Melvin
Sembler’s Straight Inc. is that any revulsion authorities have to
cruelty and mistreatment of teens can be redeemed by the transformative
power of political contributions. Melvin Sembler was a very successful
political campaign fundraiser. People at the highest levels of the US
government have endorsed and approved of Straight and its spin off
programs including Nancy Reagan, George Bush Sr., Jeb Bush, and George
Bush Jr.
After extensive federal and state investigations into the abuse, the
Straight Inc. program just changed its legal name and continued business
as usual. This gave rise to a myriad of programs under various names
but all with the same abusive treatment of children. Torture which is
prohibited under US law and under International law had been used by
Straight Inc as a means to perpetuate extensive medical insurance fraud
some of which involved fraud against the US taxpayer. As Straight Inc.
branched out it started using governmental grants to fuel its growth.
"How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature which interest him in the fortune of others and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it. Of this kind is pity or compassion, the emotion which we feel for the misery of others when we either see it or are made to conceive it in a very lively matter.... By the imagination we place ourselves in his situation. We enter, as it were, into his body and become in some measure the same person with him."
Adam Smith 1723-1790, Scottish philosopher and economist. Opening sentences of :The Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1759
Pathway - Indiana - Father alleges son mistreated
Mind Control Experiments funded by federal taxes
In
1982 Donald Ian Macdonald, MD was appointed Director of Medical Research for
Straight-national, and in 1986 Richard H. Schwartz, MD was Director of Research
for Straight-Springfield. The 1991 report by author Richard Lawrence Miller
titled Teens and marijuana: Ethics of research accuses Straight's Doctor
Richard Schwartz of performing medical experiments on Straight clients without
their informed consent. In 1971 the United States Senate's Judiciary Committee,
Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights under the directorship of Senator Sam
Ervin began an investigation of the US government's role in behavior
modification. Ervin's 650 page report was published in November 1974 under the
title "Individual Rights and the Federal Role in Behavior
Modification." In the report about The Seed which was Straight’s
predecessor, the “brainwashing” methods used were likened to those methods
employed by North Koreans against American servicemen during the Korean War.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) had funded The SEED under NIH. NIDA
was at that time directed by Dr. Robert L. DuPont, Jr. Senator Ervin directed
Dr. DuPont and NIDA to require The Seed to issue NIDA human consent forms to
Seed participants and to their parents acknowledging that they were
participating in human experimentation as required by NIDA's own regulations.
Doctor Miller Newton
Melvin
Sembler, a real estate magnate and strip-mall developer, earned his fortune as
chairman of the Sembler Company, a Florida-based real estate company. Mel and
Betty Sembler had a son in The Seed. When it closed Mel, Betty and some other
Seed parents formed their own Seed-like program in 1978 which they called
Straight, Inc. Straight was quickly accused of criminal child abuse by
Florida's licensing and investigating agency the Department of Health and
Rehabilitative Services (HRS). Bob Marshall, the principal investigator for HRS
was fired and thus further investigation was halted. There is sound evidence that
the HRS report was covered up. One of the Straight Inc victims, Jerry Vancil
who testified disappeared, and has never been seen or heard from since--dead or
alive. Melvin Sembler responded to the allegations of child abuse by replacing
Straight’s clinical director Jim Hartz with Miller Newton.
In 1983 Reverend Doctor Miller Newton,
Straight's national clinical director, left Straight in Florida to setup his
own second-generation Straight in New Jersey. In 1989 California health
authorities closed down his expansion program in that state for reasons of
criminal child abuse. Straight moved into the facility and took over Newton's
clients. In just over a year later state authorities closed the California
Straight too citing: "Documentation on file indicates that there have been
incidents where children have been subjected to unusual punishment, infliction
of pain, humiliation, intimidation, ridicule, coercion, threat, mental abuse or
other actions of a punitive nature, including . . . interference with daily
living functions such as eating, sleeping or toileting, or withholding of
medication." (3)
CBS Reports – KIDS and Virgil Miller Newton
Part 2 Miller Newton KIDS
Miller Newton and his wife Bankrupt? Destitute?
Miller Newton becomes a Priest
NIDA and LEAA federal grants pays for abuse
The
NIDA was not the only federal agency to have funded The Seed. The Law
Enforcement Assistance Agency (LEAA) had also made grants. Under pressure by
Senator Ervin LEAA Administrator Santarelli announced the cancellation of all
LEAA funding for medical research, psycho surgery, and behavior modification
because, in his words, there "are no technical skills on the staff to
screen, evaluate, or monitor such projects." LEAA had been approached by
Straight to fund its startup because Straight Inc. realized that NIDA would
demand that Straight Inc. parents and children sign human consent forms
acknowledging that their kids were participating in a medical experiment.
Straight which was founded in 1976 after The
Seed was shut down, needed startup money but it was still too risky to approach
NIDA for funds as much had been made in the newspapers about NIDA's
relationship to The Seed. It was a certainty that NIDA would have to ask
Straight parents and their children to sign human consent forms acknowledging
that their kids were participating in a medical experiment. But LEAA had not
been setup to fund programs involved in human experimentation and thus it had
no policy for human consent forms. True, LEAA Administrator Santarelli had held
a news conference announcing the cancellation of all LEAA funding for medical
research, but after Senator Ervin retired, LEAA staff quickly forgot the
guidance of their own administrator. Straight Inc. managed to get two startup
grants from the LEAA in 1976 and again in 1977 for $50,000 each. Around 1978
NIDA's director Robert DuPont left NIDA and became a paid Straight consultant.
Straight then went national and became the largest juvenile drug rehabilitation
program in theworld--and one of the most destructive.
The Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) was a U.S. federal agency within the U.S. Dept. of Justice. It administered federal funding to state and local law enforcement agencies, and funded educational programs, research, state planning agencies, and local crime initiatives. The LEAA was established by the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 and was abolished in 1982. Its predecessor agency was the Office of Law Enforcement Assistance (1965–1968). Its successor agencies were the Office of Justice Assistance, Research, and Statistics (1982–1984) and the Office of Justice Programs (1984–) LEAA included the National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, which had its functions absorbed by the National Institute of Justice on December 27, 1979, with passage of the Justice System Improvement Act of 1979. The Act, which amended the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, also led to creation of the Bureau of Justice Statistics. LEAA also included the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse or NIDA has the mission is to lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction. This charge has two critical components. The first is the strategic support and conduct of research across a broad range of disciplines. The second is ensuring the rapid and effective dissemination and use of the results of that research to significantly improve prevention and treatment and to inform policy as it relates to drug abuse and addiction. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) , a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Miller Newton – KIDS of Bergen County
Videos on Straight Inc Abusive Programs
Straight Inc. Abusive Model
Straight, Inc. (1976-1993) publicly claimed to rehabilitate teenage drug users by using tough love and Alcoholics Anonymous principles. Straight, Inc. provided NO professional counseling: Straight, Inc.'s "treatment model" relied exclusively on "positive peer pressure" from unprofessional staff (program graduates) and from the teenage clients. Straight, Inc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyRqo0lwUYQ
SAFE - Straight Inc. Part 1
Pathway Family Center and Kids Helping Kids share the same SAFE modality and are all descendants of Straight Inc. which has since been classified as a cult.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5PXmvknypI
SAFE - Straight Inc. Part 2
Pathway Family Center and Kids Helping Kids share the same SAFE modality and are all descendants of Straight Inc. which has since been classified as a cult.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWQ5AdRb420
Straight Inc. Model Pervades
Check out: http://www.pfctruth.com/ A small section of the congressional hearing describing Straight Inc. spinoff programs followed by a preview of the movie, "Over the GW".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyK3XlsWIEQ
President (H.W.) Bush pushing Straight, Inc.
President (H.W.) Bush pushing Straight, Inc. in a television spot (under the guise of a Public Service Announcement or PSA)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpfVJZ5xRs4
Trailer for Aaron Bacon.
Pathway Family Center obtains Kids Helping Kids
Ohio turned in fake certificate - Pathway closed down
"There are two levers to set a man in motion, fear and self-interest."
Napoleon Bonaparte 1769-1821, French general and emperor
Drug Free America Foundation
In 1995 the Semblers
fearing civil suits by the victims of the abuse and fearing possible criminal
prosecution, changed the mission of Straight, Inc. from "treatment"
to "education" and its name from "Straight, Inc." to
"Straight Foundation, Inc." In 1995, two years after Straight had to
be closed; Betty Sembler changed the name of the educational foundation again
to the Drug Free America Foundation (DFAF). They changed the mission of Straight
to one of helping companies to set up drug free workplace environments and
obtained a federal grant. The name was changed to Drug Free America Foundation
and another mission was added -to work to establish national and international
drug policy. So today Straight has morphed into an organization called the Drug
Free America Foundation, which specializes in helping small businesses set up
Drug Free Workplaces, and in promoting national and international drug policy.
Through the Drug Free America Foundation and other think tanks such as the
American Enterprise Institute,[i]
Melvin Sembler still influences drug policy in this country by promoting public
policy that allows coercive and abusive treatment methods. The Drug Free America Foundation (DFAF)
helped sponsor the Canadian Drug Conference in May 2002 in Vancouver where AARC
is trying to expand its $50,000 /a year per person program. Both George W. Bush and Jeb Bush remained active
in the Drug Free America Foundation work. Governor Jeb Bush is on the Advisory Board for
Straight, under its current name, Drug Free America Foundation (DFAF) along
with his wife Columba and Florida Lt. Governor Toni Jennings. Antoinette
"Toni" Jennings was the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Florida. She was
nominated to the office by Governor Jeb Bush in February 2003 and served in
that capacity until 2007. Former Drug Czar Robert
DuPont of Bensinger & DuPont is another Straight board member. Drug Free
America Foundation is still funded by the US government.
[i] American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036, The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) is a conservative think tank. As an independent non-profit organization it is primarily supported by grants and contributions from foundations, corporations, and individuals. It’s headquarters are in Washington, D.C. Some AEI scholars are considered to be some of the leading architects of the second Bush administration's public policy. More than twenty AEI scholars and fellows served either in a Bush administration policy post or on one of the government's many panels and commissions. AEI.org, http://www.aei.org/
Sembler Finance Chairman of the Republican National Committee
From 1997 to 2000, Sembler served as Finance Chairman for the Republican National Committee and from 1994 to 2000 as Florida's National Committeeman to the Republican National Committee. He then lent his fund-raising skills to the presidential campaign of George W. Bush. After his election, the younger Bush named Sembler Ambassador to Italy. Sembler served as U.S. Ambassador to Australia and Nauru during the presidency of George H.W. Bush.[i] Sembler was an adviser to Mitt Romney during the race for the 2008 Republican Party presidential nomination. According to Opensecrets.org, during the period 1989-2009, Sembler donated nearly $500,000 to political races and conservative political action committees. Sembler also supported former Bush administration. Lewis Libby by serving as chairman of the Libby Legal Defense Fund, which raised money for the ultimately unsuccessful defense of Libby, Dick Cheney’s former chief staffer, against perjury and other charges related to the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame’s name. Joseph Zappala, co-founder of Straight Inc. was sent to Spain armed for diplomacy with just a high school education. Governor Jeb Bush named August 8, 2000, "Betty Sembler Day" for her "work protecting children from the dangers of drugs." DFAF, founded by the Semblers, receives hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants from the Small Business Association to advance workplace drug testing in businesses -- for example, in 2000 they received $314,000. Betty Sembler is president and Melvin has served as chairman.
[i] “Biography: Melvin Sembler,” U.S. State Department, January 28, 2002 Former Ambassador to Italy (2001-2005); Former Ambassador to Australia and Nauru (1989-1993) http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/7043.htm
.
Melvin Sembler asks for tax breaks
"Corporation, n., An ingenious device for obtaining profit without individual responsibility."
Ambrose Bierce 1842-1914, American columnist and writer of horror stories, The Devil's Dictionary 1906
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."
-- James Madison
Bergen Kids Program now ARC in Canada
“Straight officials have generously allowed me to witness some of their group sessions firsthand . . . I believe that Straight's treatment can be fairly compared with 'brainwashing' in prisoner-of-war camps as documented by Brown (1963, chap. 2). Thus, procedures that would be reprehensible in any context outside of a prisoner-of-war camp are considered acceptable 'treatment' in the case of drug addiction.”
Dr. Bruce K. Alexander of Simon Fraser University[i]
This child abuse is not limited to the U.S.A. Now the former staff of the KIDS program has established an abusive teen rehabilitation center in Canada called the Alberta Adolescent Recovery Center (AARC).[ii] [iii] In 1988 Kids of Bergen County had 40 Canadian clients and the Canadian government was paying $25 for each or $1,000 a day. When the Canadian authorities learned that they had not been paying for psychiatric or physician services, they then refused to continue payments to KIDS but they had already paid $250,000.[iv] So on November 1, 1988 Straight, Inc. added a "sales" office at 104th Street, Suite 114 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to its insurance coverage. On January 13, 1989 Straight added "Straight Association of Edmonton" to its insurance coverage. Meanwhile Miller Newton was recruiting so many Canadian teens from Calgary, Alberta (173 miles from Edmonton) into his New Jersey program that he opened Kids of the Canadian West--a support center to aid kids who had been through his New Jersey program in integration back into society; but also Newton hoped to make KIDS of the Canadian West his Canadian franchise treatment program. Dean Vause who worked as counselor at North Battleford High School had been referring Calgary kids to Miller Newton. Vause took a job at KIDS with the intention of directing KIDS of the Canadian West or KCW. The Drug Free America Foundation (DFAF) helped sponsor the Canadian Drug Conference in May 2002 in Vancouver where AARC is trying to expand its $50,000 /a year per person program. Using the same pattern as KIDS, AARC boards kids out in host homes which they call "recovery" homes. AARC's web page speaks of "peer" staff. But the "Peer" staff, just as was true at KIDS programs, is just teens further along in their treatment who are tending to newcomers. This is how confrontational-type therapeutic communities operate and still keep operational costs low and profits high. The costs of the AARC program are covered by a combination of "user fees, private and corporate donations, government grants, service group donations, third party fundraisers as well as AARC's own fundraisers. AARC is a tax exempt charity and got a $1 million gift from the Rotary Club. Though there is a medical doctor paid by the program to provide clinical services for sick children there are no medical doctors on the actual drug rehabilitation staff. With some peer staff unpaid and former program graduates only receiving low salaries, there are very low staffing costs, yet AARC charges $50,000 a year for treatment. Reports of abuse have surfaced at AARC, yet it still continues to thrive and grow.
“Straight, like many religious cults, has maintained its right to conceal its aims from potential inductees. . .By any objective standard, the activities of Straight Inc. and its imitators run afoul of these criteria [Susan Andersen's Four Criteria for inferring cult-like deceptive practices]. While Straight may be among the worst offenders, it is far from alone.” [v]
Professor Barry L. Beyerstein,
A leading Canadian researcher on opiates and brain functioning
[i] Dr. Bruce K. Alexander of Simon Fraser University in Peaceful Measures: Canada's Way Out of the 'War on Drugs', p. 75 and referencing Techniques of Persuasion: From Propaganda to Brainwashing by J. A. C. Brown.
[ii] Alberta Adolescent Recovery Center, 303 Forge Road S.E. Calgary, AB T2H0S9, 403.253.5250, 403.640.2520,
[iii] AARC: Recovering Krystal. Additional information can be obtained from Dr. David Suzuki, "The Nature of Things" CBC.ca, letters@cbc.ca, national@cbc.ca, tnot@toronto.cbc.ca, TheStraights.com, http://www.thestraights.com/aarc.html
[iv] The Bergen Record, Aug 16, 1990, p. B1
[v] From Treatment, Thought Reform, and the Road to Hell by Professor Barry L. Beyerstein, a leading Canadian researcher on opiates and brain functioning who operates a laboratory at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. TheStraights.com, http://thestraights.com/essays/beyerstein_report_on_straight.htm
Sembler hides Straight Inc assets from US Courts
Melvin
Sembler co-founder and CEO of Straight Inc. claims that Straight Inc. no longer
has any financial assets – all the financial profits disappeared after the
victims of Straight Inc. abuse started to win their cases in a court of law.
Obtaining diplomatic immunity by becoming President George Bush Jr’s Ambassador
to Italy, the money from Straight Inc. just disappeared into a myriad of complicated
real estate transactions. Competent and dedicated FBI agents who were trying to
pursue the money trail were told to not pursue their cases. Family court Judges
who felt that justice had finally been served by court findings of damages to
the victims, found that redress and restitution were denied because the court
ordered damages were never paid by Melvin Sembler and his business associates.
Private attorneys who spent endless hours compiling the needed documentary
evidence were thwarted in their pursuit of justice for the Straight Inc
survivors. One attorney tried to assemble a civil RICO case involving thousands
of victims’ cases but when the FBI could not assure the payment of money to
those who had already won their court cases, further legal pursuit of
reparation to victims seemed pointless.
Citizens United vs FEC
In
January 2010 five justices of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United
v. Federal Election Commission that corporations have a First Amendment right
to spend unlimited funds promoting or attacking candidates in local, state and
federal elections. This opened the way for unlimited election campaign spending
by corporations. Corporations such as Melvin Sembler’s Florida real estate
corporation were already spending considerable amounts of money to influence
elections, but Citizens United v. FEC allowed CEOs to spend as much as they
want and hide their campaign contributions from the public. Corporate front
groups can sponsor campaign advertisements supporting the candidates of their
choice and the public will never know who is funding the ads. Thus Melvin
Sembler as an anonymous corporate donor can influence the election of federal
judges and the election of members of the US Congress and not have the US
public even know which political candidate is beholden to him for campaign
contributions through American Crossroads or American Future Fund. This is how
money gained in medical insurance fraud, fraud against governmental programs
and financial profits gained from abusing children finds its way into national
politics and thus influences the investigative and legislative environment
facilitating the criminal enterprises.
In March 27 2008 a complaint was filed against
American Future Fund - violations of Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 as
amended. American Future Fund failed to register and report as a political
committee with the Federal Election Commission and to comply with the
obligations applying to such committees. American Future Fund in 2008 received
$7.5 million in donations and was spending approximately $6.3 million in the
2010 election. Sandra Greiner, Director and President of American Future Fund,
was previously an Iowa State Senator and is currently an Iowa State
Representative. American Crossroads and its affiliate — Crossroads GPS,
reportedly planned to raise $52 million. In the state of Kansas the American
Future Fund poured an estimated $900,000 to defeat an incumbent Attorney
General, Steve Six in the November 2, 2010 election. Attorney General Steve Six
served as the highest ranking Department of Justice official in the state of Kansas
and was thus responsible for all investigation and prosecution decisions made
for any administrative, civil or criminal case in the state. Attorney General
Steve Six was noted for aggressively investigating and prosecuting medical
fraud and also was an effective prosecutor against those who abuse children,
prosecuting those who do human trafficking and do pornography. The group called
American Future Fund (AFF), which is based out of Iowa, has spent millions
opposing selected incumbents across the country. AFF has not shared with the US
public their real reasons for their targeting particular elected officials and
judges in multiple states. Neither have they volunteered to provide the names
of their contributors to the Federal Election Commission.
Prior
to the November 2010 election the grassroots non-governmental organization,
Public Citizen had filed a complaint to the Federal Election Commission against
both the Crossroads GPS and American Future Fund alleging violations of federal
election campaign laws and requesting that the Federal Election Commission take
immediate steps to enforce the law and expose these groups’ secret financing to
light of day. Currently Melvin Sembler can secretly donate any amount of money
anonymously to these secret non-profit funds like American Future Fund and
Crossroads- GPS and by doing so control who will be the highest Department of
Justice official –the State Attorney General as well as which sitting judges
will continue to serve the bench. That is the kind of non-transparent political
power that allows this system covert governmental power to continue to allow
abuse children to continue, and to allow those corporations who violate human
rights to flourish and prosper in the United States of America. Constitutional
civil rights and human rights have little chance of success when millions of
dollars are spent to unfairly bias the election of judges or the State Attorney
General.
Teen Challenge follows in the abusive footsteps of Straight Inc.
There
are several teen rehabilitation facilities in Kansas run by Teen Challenge USA.
Teen Challenge is considered by HEAL (8) to be a teen torture center, managed
on the same principles as The Seed and Straight Inc. Teen Challenge is a
national faith-based residential drug treatment program that is in many states
including CA, WA, TX, AL, AZ, AR,CO, CT, ID, IL, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MA, MI,
MN, MS, MO, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY,OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, UT, VA. The programs
have no medical component and center instead of around prayer, Bible study and
religious conversion. Teen Challenge currently operates five drug treatment
centers in Texas – none of which have a state license, but only two of which
have formally registered their status as a faith-based facility exempt from
state licensing. As exempt faith-based drug treatment centers, Teen Challenge
facilities are not required to have licensed chemical dependency counselors,
conduct staff training or criminal background checks, protect client
confidentiality rights, adhere to state health and safety standards, or report
abuse, neglect, emergencies and medication errors. Even prior to seeking an
exemption from state licensing, a 1995 state inspection revealed that Teen
Challenge was not compliant with numerous state health, safety and quality of
care standards. Teen Challenge USA has been reported to be abusive and has even
hired staff even though they were already registered child sex offenders. It
would seem to be common sense to not hire a known convicted sex offender to be
director or on staff of a facility that treats children, but that is exactly
what Teen Challenge in Winthrop Maine did – not once but twice – two registered
sex offenders on staff.
How Can We Stop Child Abuse in Residential Treatment?
Thus
to stop further abuses of children and teens in residential programs the US
must identify those that enable this activity to flourish and shut off the
perpetrator’s access to grant money and political power. In order to prevent or
halt further abuse, it is important to know the identity of the key actors.
Explaining the role of the enablers as well as the perpetrators can make
governmental officials adopt new due diligence commitments to avoid be
complicit in what is actually criminal activity. Economic sanctions, reduction
of various forms of governmental assistance as well as public media attention
can all help to shine a light on the problem. Focused pressure on key
individuals can gain their attention and cause them to rethink their actions or
inactions. Much information is already available through several US
Congressional investigations; the most recent was done by the House Education
and Labor Committee chaired by Representative George Miller. H.R. 911: Stop
Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009 passed the US House
of Representatives on Feb 23, 2009 but still has not yet received any real
action in the Senate. This act was “To require certain standards and
enforcement provisions to prevent child abuse and neglect in residential
programs, and for other purposes.”
The Straight Inc. survivors need to feel that
the US government will create effective measures aimed at the stopping the
continuing violations and a verification of the facts and full public
disclosure of the truth especially for abuses occurring today. For 17 years
Straight Inc. and some of its medical doctors were in violation of
international law by being in violation of both the Helsinki Declaration and
the Nuremberg Code. We must have effective regulatory control over residential
treatment centers and wilderness camps. These are gross violations of
international human rights law and serious violations of international
humanitarian law and we need guarantees of non-repetition. We also must not
give de jure or de facto amnesty to the founder and CEO of Straight Inc. Melvin
Sembler and should require him to make effective and adequate reparations to
the victims of this institutional child abuse. Many victims feel that a public
apology including acknowledgment of the facts and acceptance of responsibility
is particularly pertinent because the US government knew of the abuse but still
failed to protect the children. The United States as a part of the
international community should keep faith and human solidarity with victims,
survivors and future human generations, and to reaffirm the international legal
principles of accountability, justice and the rule of law.
Additional Notes and References:
1. The right of torture
survivors to reparations as a matter of international law. Chorzow Factory Case
(Germany v Poland), 1928, PCIJ, ser. A, no. 17, p. 47.
2. The International Survivors
Action Committee Corporation was a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created by
survivors of Straight, Incorporated. ISAC works “to expose child abuse within
privately owned behavior modification centers, drug treatment centers,
specialty boarding schools and teen boot camps.” http://www.isacgroup.org.
3. Letter dated June 27, 1990
from Fred Dumont, Santa Ana, California District Manager for Dept. of Social
Services to Straight, National Headquarters explaining why state authorities
ordered the program closed.
4. Maia Szalavitz, “Why Jesus Is
Not a Regulator,” American Prospect, April 8, 2001.
5. John Gorenfeld, “Ambassador
de Sade,” Alternet.org, November 8, 2005.
6. “Biography: Melvin Sembler,”
U.S. State Department, January 28, 2002 Former Ambassador to Italy (2001-2005);
Former Ambassador to Australia and Nauru (1989-1993)
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/7043.htm
7. American Future Fund P.O.
Box 13434 Des Moines, IA 50310 The American Future Fund operates as a
501(c)(4). March 27 2008 a complaint was filed by DFL against American Future
Fund - violations of Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 as amended. The
American Future Fund failed to register and report as a political committee
with the Federal Election Commission and to comply with the obligations
applying to such committees. The American Future Fund evaded basic disclosure
requirements of the Federal Elections Commission by not filing a statement of
organization and by refusing to file required reports. In this manner the AFF
has evaded the oversight of the Federal Election Commission and failed to be in
accordance with basic disclosure requirements and has spent money to influence
elections. The AFF claim to provide Americans with a conservative multi-state
advocacy group to communicate a free market viewpoint and to have a mechanism
to communicate and a voice for free market ideals focused on bolstering
America’s global competitiveness across the country.
Crossroads Grassroots Political
Strategies – Crossroads GPS, 1401 New York Avenue NW, Suite 1200, Washington,
DC 20005
8. Human Earth Animal
Liberation, 126 SW 148th St, Ste C100-422, Seattle, WA, 98166-1984,
(877)845-3232 http://www.heal-online.org/childtortureusa.htm
9. Unlicensed counselors were
hired at the Teen Challenge facilities. In one Teen Challenge facility in Winthrop
Maine, a known child molester became manager of a Teen Challenge facility.
Shondi Fabiano listed officially as a co-head of Teen Challenge New England by
the website of the Northern New England District of the Assemblies of God, and
who is officially listed as a lifetime-registered sex offender for
second-degree child molestation and sexual assault in the third degree. An
online check of sex offender registries, including the Florida sex-offender
registry run by Florida Department of Law Enforcement, also shows Shondi
Fabiano also has a history of 2nd degree sexual assault conviction in Kent, RI.
Shondi Fabiano listed her residence as Teen Challenge in Maine’s sex offender
registry. Shondi Fabiano was convicted of Second Degree Child Molestation in Rhode
Island. She is listed on the National Sex Offender Public Registry.
http://www.nsopr.gov For additional information:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/2/17850/21034
Another sex offender Dennis
Knox was also at Teen Challenge in Maine Registered Sex Offender Dennis Knox is
the second rapist employed by the Teen Challenge in Winthrop, Maine. Dennis
Knox, age 35, was convicted of gross sexual assault after raping an unconscious
female. He is listed on the Maine Sex Offender Registry. http://sor.informe.org
At Teen Challenge there was
also evidence of educational neglect (educationally insufficient material) and
reports of physical, mental, sexual, and emotional abuse. There were many
reports of abuse including forced missionary activity, possible violation of
child labor laws, and forcing people to sign over paychecks to Teen Challenge.
Florida has a nearly identical scheme to the one Texas had until recently, in
that centers can be completely exempted from regulation by joining the Florida
Association of Christian Child Caring Agencies--and Teen Challenge happens to
be a member of FACCCA.
Action 9 reporter Todd Ulrich
in Orlando, Fla. uncovered an unlicensed telemarketing operation at the Sanford
Teen Challenge. Men convicted of financial crimes took customers' credit card
information over the phone. They were paid 33 cents a day for a 40-hour work
week. They were instructed to lie to potential customers about timeshare
vacations from the "Disney Planning Center Resort." Further
investigation revealed that the timeshare company has no relationship to
Disney. Sanford Teen Challenge director Wayne Gray resigned in the wake of the
scandal, and then fled when approached by Todd Ulrich for a follow-up story.
Florida's Division of Consumer Services, which regulates telemarketing, is
continuing its investigation.
Former Sanford, Fla. Teen
Challenge director Wayne Gray, who resigned in disgrace when Action 9 news
exposed an unlicensed telemarketing scam that paid workers 33 cents a day,
turned up 1300 miles away in Oklahoma. Gray is now the Executive Director of
Oklahoma Teen Challenge. No word yet on whether any of the Oklahoma Teen
Challenge locations is running a telemarketing operation.
10. Public Citizen, 1600 20th
Street NW Washington, D.C. 20009 (202) 588-1000 http://www.citizen.org
ProtectOurElections.org, ProsperityAgenda.us, AmericanCrossroadsWatch.org,
htp://www.citizen.org, Kevin Zeese, P.O. Box 9596, Washington, DC 20016,
301-996-6582, Chris Holman, 215 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20003, 202-454-5182,
202-454-5182
11. Florida Holocaust Museum,
55 Fifth Street South, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701, Tel: 727.820.0100, Fax:
727.821.8435
12. Drug Free America
Foundation Inc., 5999 Central Ave Ste 301, St Petersburg , FL 33710 Web
Address: www.dfaf.org Telephone: 727-828-0211 Mental Health, Crisis
Intervention / (Alcohol, Drug and Substance Abuse, Dependency Prevention and
Treatment) Year Founded: 1978 Mission statement To Prevent Drug Abuse and
promote awareness through education.
Medical Whistleblower Advocacy Network
MEDICAL WHISTLEBLOWER ADVOCACY NETWORK
P.O. 42700
Washington, DC 20015
MedicalWhistleblowers (at) gmail.com
CONTACT
Educational Materials from Medical Whistleblower
Medical Whistleblower Canary Brochures
Advice to Medical Whistleblowers
Advice to Whistleblower Supporters
The Spiritual Side of Whistleblowing
Your Problem Solving Personality
PTSD - Emotional and Psychological Symptoms
Effects of Whistleblower Retaliation
Behind the Blue Line - Law Enforcement Whistleblowers
Medical Whistleblower Canary Notes
Bridging the Gap - Communicating Across Disciplines
Martin Luther King Jr. , Title 42 and 1983
White Collar Crime and Criminal Intelligence
United Nations Declaration of Human Rights
"Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." Confucius
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Theodore
Roosevelt- Excerpt from the speech "Citizenship In A Republic",
delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910