933. Hope Haven

Hope Haven located near New Orleans in Louisiana was founded in 1911 as  St. Vincent’s Hotel. The targetgroup was homeless men and boys. Over time it grew. Maybe the facility became too big to monitor as information now surface that a priest abused boys. The organization in charge at the time of the alleged abuse is the religious orders of Salesians of Don Bosco and School Sisters of Notre Dame as they are named in a lawsuit.

It would not be the first time lack of supervision results in abuse.

It sounds like it was not a fun place to be as a teenager.

Sources:

• Priest, nun sexually abused boy living at home for troubled kids in the ’70s, suit says (The Sun Herald)
• Nostalgia: Hope Haven (NewOrleans.com)
• Priest, nun named in new Hope Haven sexual abuse lawsuit (Bishop Accountability)
• New lawsuit alleges members of Hope Haven children’s home sexually abused man when he stayed at home in 1970s (MSN)

917. ABA Therapy Solutions

ABA Therapy Solutions which were located in Calhoun, Louisiana, United States closed in 2018 due to problems with their license. Now the police is investigating and some of the employees were charged with abuse.

Articles speak of use of violence against the children. One of the claims mention a tooth being knocked out. Accusations supported by texts being sent among the employees.

It could not have been fun to be there as a child.

Sources:

• Abuse allegations at Calhoun behavioral clinic lead to arrests (KNOE News)
• Child health care center faces fraud investigation (Nexstar Media Inc)
• Former Calhoun behavioral clinic employees arrested following abuse allegations (The News Star)

878. 220i leadership program

In year 2021 several media sources began to broadcast information about abuse going on in this program which is marketed as a leadership program for youth if the youth have values in choice of life partner and other similar areas. Then the teenagers are bullied by the employees.

It does not sound like a fun place to be as a teenager.

Sources:

• This church program is accused of abusing teens with extreme ‘boot camps,’ ‘fight nights’ and shame (NBC News)
• Leaders of a Louisiana megachurch ‘forced teens on $5k Christian leadership program to exercise until they were sick, used homophobic and racist slurs and shot them with paintball guns from golf carts’ (The Daily Mail)
• A megachurch’s ministry program used inappropriate tactics to ‘train’ teens, ex-interns say (Yahoo News)
• Christian boot camp accused of ‘abuse’ and ‘targeting Black and LGBT+ teens’ (Pink News)

753. T.M. Landry College Preparatory

Sometime the price of higher education seems to be too high. According to various articles the environment at the school is marked by fear. The leader of the school was sentenced for simple battery and ordered to undergo a court-ordered anger management program. Currently the FBI is investigating the school.

It cannot be fun to be there as a teenager.

Sources:

• What the T.M. Landry Prep scandal reveals about race, stereotypes and inequality in American education (NBC News)
• F.B.I. Is Said to Be Investigating College Admissions Practices at T.M. Landry (New York Times)

178. New Bethany Home

The New Bethany Home actually covers the facilities in Louisiana due to the school being forced to move around every time the authorities began to investigate them.

They have been located near Longstreet, Walterboro and Arcadia. Mack and Thelma Ford were managers. Two employees Olin King and Robert King were convicted of false imprisonment but managed to get on probation instead of jail.

It didn’t sound like a fun place to be as a teenager.

Sources:

• It took 7 months to literally beat God out of me, and 27 years to be able to forgive those responsible. (Clark Word blog)
• State wins round in school inspection (The Advocate – Baton Rouge, La.)
• Detention center loses fight–Lawsuit pitched; Louisiana preacher holding Colorado teen will face inspection (Rocky Mountain News)
• The Long Road to New Bethany and Back

177. Red River Academy

Red River Academy located just outside Lecompte in Louisiana is regarded as one of the remaining boarding schools which uses the WWASP curriculum using some kind of psychodrama as tool when dealing with troubled teenagers. Daylong seminars combined with a lot of use of restraints fill the daily life of the students which is isolated from their family most of the time while they are forced to attend the program.

It does not sound like a fun place to be as a teenager.

Update 2018

Late 2017 an employee was convicted of obscenity for criminal sexual conduct involving a student (DeRidder man pleads guilty to obscenity at U.S. Youth Services KALB news). A number of lawsuits can be found on the Internet. The school seems to be inactive. The school changed its name to US Youth Academy

Sources:

• Factsheet about the program (Fornits Wiki)
• Christopher Michael Boothe at Red River Academy (From:youthrights.org) (Tales from the black school – testimonial blog)
• 2 kids escape from darrington academy (Topix – mentioned the school)
• Students Recall Special Schools Run Like Jails (The New York Times)

176. Grace Christian Home & Academy

Grace Christian Home & Academy was located near Shreveport in Louisiana. The program had almost no students arriving willingly. The girls oddly had to earn the right to talk to their own family.

It didn’t sound like a fun place to live as a teenager.

Sources:

• Staff information (HEAL-online)
• Factsheet about the program (Fornits Wiki)