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Statement
Ken Kay, President
WWASP
December 19, 2002
Lon,
This is the message that I would like to convey to readers of the
article that visit your site, and I have attached a court record of the judges take on the Scheff situation. He clearly states that
she has a specific business objective in being an “anti-WWASPS” person.
The program in Utah that is referred to as being under investigation
for abuse and the order to obtain a residential treatment facility license is doing well and has government officials’ support. The
two are working together to educate one another on the purpose of having such a valuable asset for those families in crisis. Our motto
is “Creating Family Unity through Education, Growth, and Change.” We are assisting families in their search for happiness. As for the
abuse allegations, the staff member involved has been given permission by the judge and Child Protective Services to return to and continue
to work at the school.
Carolina Springs Academy was not required to license as a Residential Treatment
Facility as originally told. After officials were adequately educated in their purpose they were licensed as a Child Caring Facility.
The program that is referred to in Samoa that was shut down in 1998 was not a program affiliated with World Wide in any manner. The
program referred to in the Czech Republic stemmed from a disgruntled employee’s unhappiness with the work place. The parents and students
involved there were very pleased and satisfied with the school save one. Children in the population of students that are dealt with
in emotional growth programs, at times, are very manipulative and will do nearly anything to convince their parents to take them home
so they are able to continue their negative behavior as before. This behavior must be expected and understood. Allegations of abuse
MUST be investigated. We are very supportive of that. Where we do not believe fairness is always represented when the student’s complaints
are found to be truly false and the investigators turn their focus on a witch hunt to find fault with the school that generally is not
able to be substantiated.
Mr. Lichfield is a consultant and investor, but is not involved in the day to day
operation of any affiliate or involved in direct child care at any facility. He is very active in support services for youth programs
and is a valuable asset to the World Wide by his willingness to serve on the World Wide Board of Directors. We value his advice and
vision for all youths.
Due to the organization’s size we are possibly the most visible youth program in
the world. We are the most closely monitored program that I am aware of. The best judge of how any school’s performance is by the parents
of the teens enrolled. We have a graduation requirement that all parents visit their school for a two day workshop on each campus. We
encourage visiting our schools prior to enrollment, visiting their student when the student earns that privilege, and when the parents
have attended certain workshops to meet eligibility requirements for those visits. We require that the teens have at least two home
visits prior to graduation. There are actually very few days that our schools do not have parents or government officials present on
campus.
Because there are many aspects to a business of our size and many subcontractors,
suppliers, and support services needed there are many corporations involved. Most of these have nothing to do with any investor or Board
Member. Stating that there is a “complicated web of corporate entities” is not necessarily the case. We serve thousands of families
at any given time. It takes involvement by many corporations just to do the day to day business required to support our families.
I would like to thank Mr. Stephen Martin for an excellent article, Mayor Gudgel
for his efforts, Mr. Lowell Junkins, and all of the local official that understand that being part of society’s solution is much more
rewarding than being an antagonist or to cast doubt due to economic personal gain purposes.
We at World Wide and all of our affiliates are PROUD of the service we provide
in the family healing process. We continually seek to improve our system and add new services while keeping the tuition rate low to
make us accessible to more families.
Ken Kay
President
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