142. Hephzibah House

Corporal punishment is the first thing which pops up when you search for this so-called Christian boarding school for at-risk girls. It seems that there is no lower limit to how old the girls must be before they should be spanked. An old article suggest that the minister wants to be the one who spanks the newborn just after birth so it can be disciplined.

Anderson Cooper from CNN put spotlight on the program and it seems that they don’t spank the girls as much as before but the girls are kept from peers and family and it is safe to say that it is not fun to be there as a teenager.

Sources:

• Video: UnGodly discipline investigation (CNN)
• Former Hephzibah Girls SISTERS OF SURVIVAL
• Factsheet about the facility (Secret Prisons for Teens)

2020 update

It has been reported that the facility has closed down due to insurance issues but also after the Dr. Phil show interviewed former participants. While the girls were no harder treated that the children exposed to “treatment programs” related to the Dr. Phil show, they were not among his sponsors and was hit by a negative review as result.

Anyhow the cruelty the girls had been exposed to might have reached an end until a new project in the nearby Kosciousko county results in a new version of this terrible program

Source:
Hephzibah House Permanently Closed, When And Why Not Answered (Times Union Online)