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Seen 'n Heard - Jul,
1999 Issue (page 3)
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Page 3 of 3 - Previous
WOODLAND LODGE CLOSES
(June 10, 1999) Jack Cummings, Director of Admission for St. Johnsbury Academy in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, 802-751-2132, announced
they would be discontinuing the Woodland Lodge Program as of this spring. St. Johnsbury, a traditional day and boarding school, started
Woodland Lodge a few years ago to serve students with mild behavioral/emotional problems who had potential, but were not ready to
succeed in a traditional school environment. In announcing the closing of Woodland Lodge, Cummings pointed to the fact that it worked
beautifully for a number of adolescents, but the final decision was based on the “difficulty retaining staff because of burnout…“it
required a lot of administrative time for so few kids.”
LOREN JOHNSTON WITH YOUTH REBOUND
(June 11, 1999) Loren Johnston, formerly with Wilderness Treatment Center in Montana, has taken on the Admissions and marketing for
Youth Rebound in Spokane, Washington, as part of his consulting business. Youth Rebound, formerly known as KIDS INC., is owned and
operated by Steve Kramer, as a small, home centered, diploma focused, personal growth program for 18-23 year adult males. Loren and
Steve can be contacted at 509-448-2290.
AP ARTICLE ON CASA BY THE SEA
(June 13, 1999) Michelle Ray Ortiz, writing for the Associated Press, published an article about Casa by the Sea, one of the World
Wide Association of Specialty Programs, located in Mexico. Entitled “Teen Behavior Modification Programs: Salvation or Brainwashing?,”
it quotes students who credit the program for saving their lives, contrasting it with remarks from parents who have been critical.
CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY VOTES TO TIE PARENT’S HANDS
(June 15,1999) The California Assembly passed Bill 705, with the stated intention of establishing reasonable standards for regulating
the private transport/escort of at-risk youth. It now goes to the state Senate. A section at the end of the bill would ensure that
the only way an out-of-control youngster could be transported to a program to get the kind of help that is needed, is with that youngster’s
permission. The result: elimination of a resource that desperate parents sometimes need in order to save their child from his/her
own negative decision.
NATSAP AND OBHIC AGAINST BILL 705
(June 19, 1999) The National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP), 805-687-5825, a national organization of schools
and programs for at-risk teens, and the Outdoor Behavioral Health Industry Council (OBHIC), 562-467-5519, a national association of
wilderness programs, both came out strongly against California Assembly Bill 705. Both organizations are hard at work developing standards
of quality and safety for private residential programs for at-risk teens, and feel strongly that passage of this bill into law in
the State of California would have the effect of denying badly needed help for out-of-control teens.
CEDU REUNION
(June 19, 1999) The CEDU Family of Services had their first CEDU Alumni Reunion in Newport Beach California. Graduates and parents
from as long ago as 1976 traveled up to 3, 000 miles to attend. (For additional information, see Scott Canter’s report in the News
Section).
LEGISLATOR VISITS ELK MOUNTAIN ACADEMY
(June 23, 1999) Idaho State Senator Shawn Keough (representing Boundary and Bonner Counties in Northern Idaho) spent the day visiting
Elk Mountain Academy, Clark Fork, Idaho, 800-355-3823. Keough was given a tour by owner and founder Carl Olding, and had a chance
to meet most of the boys attending the school. She said she was impressed by the boys and how well they seemed to be doing. She said
many legislators have been asking about the new private schools and programs in Idaho, but few know much about them, so she appreciated
the chance to see the school in action. She also emphasized the legislature has been very clear in instructing state regulatory agencies
that it is important that their oversight of private programs be done in a way that supports rather than hinders. Keough is a member
of the Senate Education Committee. Director Olding said any legislator is welcome to visit the school any time.
NEW CLINICAL DIRECTOR FOR CRATER LAKE SCHOOL
(June 24, 1999) The school’s new Headmaster, Scott F. Young, Sprague River, Oregon, 541-533-2279, announced the school also has a
new Clinical Director – Tony Swan, who had worked with Young for the last five years at Raven’s Way in Sitka, Alaska. He says “the
school’s focus is solidifying as an equal balance of academics, emotional growth, and adventure-based activities.” The school also
is a certified 4-H School, with the students learning to care for the domestic animals living on their ranch. For more information,
call 888-774-8724.
Copyright © 1999, Woodbury Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced
without prior approval if the copyright notice and proper publication and author attribution accompanies the copy.)
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