Aspen Education Group has announced that they will close 5 residential programs. No longer will minors be forced to wear orange jumpsuits at Aspen Ranch in Loa. While some of the girls at Bromley Brock School found some comfort by a male staff member most suffered because they were removed far from their family and friends. Their suffering is now coming to an end. Also the divorce academy New Leaf will close down. While some custodial parents now have a tool less at their hand if they want to keep their daughter from the non-custodial parent, there will be girls out there which now are able to keep contact with both parents.
Two substance treatment centers will also close down. It is no surprise as the fact is that you cannot force an addict to be sober. People cannot change what they don’t acknowledge is wrong. All such treatment centers can do is wasting money.
Another closure is Elan School best known for beating a “confession” out of Michael Shakel. The rather controversial therapy consisted of putting a minor into a boxing ring just to let the other students beat the minor up until the minor broke and confessed to some problems the treatment employees then could start to treat. It is not known whether the closure would improve Shakel’s chance of an appeal or a pardon.
Finally the authorities in Costa Rica raided a boarding school with children from the United States. The school used a system from the former WWASP schools and it seems that some of the WWASP owners were involved in this school. 21 teenagers were freed.
2011 seems to be a good year. Also it seems that we have been spared deaths in residential treatment programs so far. Last year 7 children died in residential care in U.S. treatment facilities. If we are lucky we could end up with less deaths this year.