Tag Archive | Virginia
28/05/2023  

946. Cumberland Hospital for Children and Adolescents 

The Cumberland Hospital for Children and Adolescentslocated in New Kent, Virginia is based on reviews found on the Internet accused of being understaffed which can affect the result of the treatment the children get.

Here is one the reviews made by a parent

While I am happy that my child is getting the treatment he needs for weight, the behavior of the other children has set him back severely. He is starting to give up hope at ever returning home. He has no access to counseling on the weekends and most of the weekdays and he needs more consistent mental health care than they are able to provide. The fact that they are always understaffed doesn’t help at all. I feel lost as a parent hearing my child cry over the phone and constantly being told I cant speak with him because they are doing protocol

Deckland Knee

and

My friend has a child that was transferred from NY to this facility and not once they allowed my friend to speak to his son , it’s been about 4 months. We called, he called left numerous messages not once they reached out to us.
Than one day before this all started, I came across the hospital ratings, it was so disturbing to read what I have read. It’s crazy. Could anyone give some advice, or referrals plz …thank you
God bless.
I know abuse is definitely an issue

Izabella Iriz

There are also a number of reviews made by former patients. Over all it does not paint a bright picture of the facility.

More recently it was revealed that a former long-time employee might have abused his position and as result the police has charged him with four felony sex crimes in connection with abuse. Also a lawsuit has been filed. The outcome of the legal proceedings is yet not over, but in general it must be considered safe to state that it is not a fun place to be as a child in need of treatment.

Sources:

12/12/2021  

870. Little Keswick School

The facility was founded in 1963 as a summer camp but transitioned into a year around facility marketed as a therapeutic boarding school.

In 1990’s the approach towards the children were modelled into a strict behavior modification program with 4 levels. The results was a number of cases where the children ran away and were restrained just to prove strength in a powerstruggle between children and the employees.

March 2021 one of the buildings called “The Barn Center” burned to the ground.

The Feedbacks from former students are not positive. On Reddit one former student wrote:

Unfortunately, the experience was nothing short of traumatic.

There was so much that happened that I won’t be able to do other survivors justice, but I’ll do my best.

There was a hyper-regimented structure that broke down all the actions into components of “the program” (a proxy for following their system that was essentially absolute obedience to authority figures such as parents, on their terms). The program was a level system, which was in turn governed by a “point sheet” (each 45 minute period was overseen as a block, and you were rated on how you did. The net total of your periods determined your daily score, which in turn collectively determined your week, etc. The levels came with increasing privileges (such as being out of staff supervision and increased prestige), but they were obtained by following exactly what the therapists mandated. My therapist was particularly sadistic and was a major factor in my self-hatred, which has taken me years to effectively overcome. The overarching ethos was to “break” (they considered it reform or instruction) each student through constant pressure; this was tailored by the therapist and the lead teachers and dorm staff for that student’s unique profile. For example, if a student liked video games, they would use specific tactics to curtail video games in order to instill cooperation (admittedly, some of them were genuinely addicted, but it was abhorrently dehumanizing throughout). Not a single student had a voice. Not one. The specific tactics were abusive restraints (the staff were very aggressive with their restraints in both usage and function), tricking parents into thinking the school was a beneficial component, and the standard tactics you and many of the members of this subreddit are all too familiar with. The only noteworthy exception was that social pressures weren’t sanctioned by staff the same way they were elsewhere.

It is telling that of the 4 years I was there, only 2 students that I can remember were actual “success stories”, one of whom got into an elite STEM college (I forgot the name), while the other one is in school to be a social worker (I hope he didn’t get gaslighted, as he was a stellar human being.

I’m sorry that you went through treatment centers/therapeutic schools of any kind. They wreak havoc upon nearly everyone who comes through them.

Hopefully this description is beneficial.

Another student wrote:

Holy shit this was my first program, I went for a year or so back in July 2015 to mid 2016. It was hell, I had a similar reaction once I was there and I have a lot of stories about that place, and I friend I had there who stayed after I left and I saw again recently who said it got only worse since I left (they banned Pokémon cards despite it being the one thing most of us found solace in, it was when I actually learned how to play and really got into it as well. Oh the joys of playing it with house mates in Jefferson on weekend mornings before staff woke up. I hated that place but it had its moments where I could mentally escape for a bit). I was on Green Sheet A LOT and tried to escape a few times (they have a alarm for staff when the doors open at night, so I never got much farther then the road near the cafeteria or maybe the nearby post office, where they publicly restrained me as well!). I got locked in the same room as well for a long time, with nothing but some random sleeping bags and a wall board I fiddled with to keep my mind active. A few times I didn’t want to go to school with the dress code of khackies (sensory issue, they are uncomfortable as hell and feel restrictive. They probably did it to keep us from moving too fast now that I think about it, or too look nice for school photos that they took without my permission and I kept taking down on the board with photos they had, ones with me I mean). I got sent to that room because of the pants rather then, I dunno, letting me just wear sweat pants or even uh maybe just letting me stay in the dorm or just NOT LOCKING ME IN A SECLUSION ROOM. Yeah but I have quite a few stories about that place so if you want someone to talk to about that more obscure place then I’m all for it. While most programs are in Utah there are others outside it people don’t talk about as much like LKS.

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

Sources:

28/10/2018  

739. Newport News Behavioral Health

Newport News Behavioral Health became known to the general public when a teenager died there in 2018. An investigation is ongoing to determine whether the death was caused by neglect.

It seems that the center is run putting profit before care

One parent wrote:

Literally THE WORST!!! From the beginning, to the end!! My child was checked in Tuesday night, I call on Wednesday afternoon to check on her and they’re unable to tell me anything “because they haven’t seen her yet”. Really?? She’s been there over 12 hours and no one has seen her?? Hmmm. THEN I GO to the facility on Friday and ask to talk to the counselor. She comes out looking clueless. She literally asked why I was there and what I wanted to know from her. Really??! I responded with “you’re the counselor??? I would think it would be a STANDARD question of parents asking how their children are.” How is she adjusting? How is she feeling?

Every time I called during the week she was there chaos greeted my calls. No one has a clue and apparently “so busy”. BTW… my daughter told me they only had SIX patients. Really??!!! Busy?? Ok.

Then to top it off out processing was just as bad. Some random lady who hadn’t even worked my daughters case greeted me, had me sign papers and rushed me out the door. She was unable to answer any of my questions regarding her care. I asked her at that time for a doctors note stating my daughter would be able to return to work.

It is now a week later, no letter. I called ALL DAY today (about 8 times… just randomly sent to different ppl, or no answer at all) I was told first thing this morning that I would receive the letter. It’s 4:30 pm… no letter. I call AGAIN. I eventually get ahold of a Ms Lisa who informs me that she was the one i spoke with in the morning, and *surprise* “she’s so busy and was going to send me the email at the end of the day.” Is 4:30 not the end of the day? Do you need to be RUDE in your delivery?

I was told “ignore the reviews! Only negative ppl leave reviews and no one ever leave their good experiences!” But I am telling you.. this is the least professional, unorganized group of individuals I have ever seen!! DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILDREN HERE if you’re truly wanting them to get help! (One more thing… my daughter told me they were only kept busy roughly 2 1/2 a day… the rest of the time they’re alone or watching TV) Terrible TERRIBLE terrible all around!!!!

It cannot be a fun place to be as a a teenager.

Sources:

15/03/2018  

658. Remuda Ranch

Remuda Ranch is a private owned asylum for people suffering from eating disorders. Sadly it seems that they use “one-strategy-fits-all” leaving some not having been met considering their needs.

Some former patietns wrote on Yelp

In August 2015, my daughter arrived at Remuda Ranch’s inpatient program after spending almost a month at Denver ACUTE. She was very motivated to continue the great work she had done at Denver. She definitely wanted help. Unfortunately, Remuda mishandled her case and lost her trust so that the whole two month experience was a disaster. I would not recommend Remuda Ranch’s inpatient program to anyone.

I came to remuda ranch wednesday November 25th, 2016. I would not recommend this place to anyone. They were understaffed for one. And also the food was TERRIBLE. When you are first entering treatment and refeeding its scary while doing that you need to eat food that at least tastes okay. The food was from a place 10 minutes away, and it was not good. Often dry and not warm. They also wouldn’t allow us to heat up our food. You only has 30 mins to finish a meals and 15 for snacks. I didn’t talk to any of the doctors until i was there for almost 2 days! I should have seen every staff member i would have been working with day one. There are only 2 therapist there and 12 girls. They need more because i was expecting to see my therapist 2-3 times a week i saw him 1 time in the 8 days i stayed. They also don’t have any “down time” we weren’t allowed in our rooms at all until night time. Which i found really frustrating i had a headache and i couldn’t even lay down. Everything they say on their website is ONLY for the php and iop programs you don’t do anything they say on that site until you get there. Also i saw the horse one time the whole time i was there because unless you are on level green you are not allowed to work with the horses at all, and that was unfair. They have MAJOR restrictions at this place when it comes to the horses. Overall i didn’t even end up staying because i felt SO neglected as a patient. Some of the other girls felt the same way as i did. I cried buckets of relief the second i left. If you are recovering from an eating disorder i strongly strongly suggest that you go else where.

This place said they treated more than just anorexia and bulimia. Lies. No matter what disorder you have, they’ll treat you like youre anorexic and need to be shoved with food constantly. I went here in March 2015 on my own free will because I was desperate for help. They were completely disorganized, didn’t give one fuck about actually helping you. It was all superficial bullshit. “You can be fat and happy” , feeding poor girls who just wanted to be their idea of perfect about 3000 calories a day. 6 meals a day. 3 of which they called “snacks” but were the size of meals. And every thursday you went out to eat (pizza, burgers, mexican, etc) and still had to eat 5 other meals, which no normal person does. They lie to your parents. Ugh, just so many things wrong with this place. I realized they werent helping me and never were going to a week in. They forced me to stay 2 whole months, when I signed up for it myself (though I was a minor, age 17, so they could keep me there legally as long as they wanted) I sort of erased my memory of the place for a long time.. but have been thinking about it recently, which is why I decided to write this jumbled mess of a review.

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

Sources:

05/03/2018  

655. St. John Vianney Seminary, Richmond

St. John Vianney Seminary located 25 miles west of Richmond, Virginia is closed. When it was open the boys suffered by the strange and bizarre behavior among some of the employees which must be considered abuse.

Investigation was finally launced many years after. It remains unclear whether the full scale of events ever will be public, but it is safe to say that it could not have been fun to be there as a student.

Sources:

08/01/2018  

640. Piedmont Behavioral Health Center, LLC

Piedmont Behavioral Health Center is a residential treatment center in Leesburg. An article states that the facility is used as a store room for teenagers in the foster care system where teenagers are moved around without a long-term plan.

November 2017 a teenager was found dead at the facility. Something indicate that it cannot be a fun place to be as a teenager.

Sources:

11/12/2017  

634. Edgemeade of Virginia

Edgemeade of Virginia was a treatment center which closed in 1979. It was related to Edgeemade of Maryland, located near Fairland, which were mentioned in a serial rape case as late as in 2012. A former student wrote:

My name is Dave h.. I was in edgemeade of va during those years.. I remember Henry and Vj, house parent Joan, Ralph Waldron, richie Williams, Cindy mouncey, Fred green, Tyrone sheard, Minnie the cook, Larry Potts, “Luv him”.. Irving, Yvette Daniels, Robin, jr Mitchell, Doug vess, Johnny Reyes, Kathy Campbell, David Dahl, (poor soul), Esther from admin building, dr.dinnwiddie, nyna the cleaning lady, And of course that dam I.C.U. Under the admin. Ran away from there in 78 or 79, with Ed craigar, tony Cassidy, and myself,, after we came Out of a drug induced sedation when they forgot to shoot us up,, Escaped, and the adventure began.. Everything from gunfights to bikers to cops, Stolen horses and motorboats and ended up in TONS of trouble,, Made the wanted list. But it was all because it was either that or keep letting them turn us Into zombies.. Among other things that happened. “Yule Hunt” who is now I think “Sheriff Hunt” was one of two cops that believed our story about what we endured And why we did what we did.. Hunt and his partner “detective Jim Crook” have investigated the place A couple times before. From what I understand.. Our adventure was the beginning of the end of edgemeade.. But what I’ve said here is just the tiny tip of a Huuuuuge iceberg.. But Larry Potts the singing preacher was the one that I would Luv to find, if he’s still alive. I’m a professional musician of caliber because of his kindness and patience.. And musical guidance. Went back there a few years ago in my travels.. It’s pretty much torn apart and the dorms We’re rotting away in what’s now a field. The main house remains and is lived in by a family.. I talked to their neighbor, Had to tell him that the bullet holes in the house were not from the civil war as they believed.. But rather from that incident from our escape.. I heard Dean Brailey was accidentally shot,, But I don’t know.. Tony, Ed, and me were sent to some real hardcore bad places to be held till They figured out what to do with us. We all were separated and never saw each other again. I heard Ed went to s. Hampton, And tony was sent to a place I can’t remember.. And there’s waaaay too much to say at one sitting, Because life turned into an inescapable nightmare for yeeaarrs after that. Found myself buried in an extremely violent world where survival with sanity still intact Was a looong battle. If you’d like to talk some.. Get back to me thru this And maybe we can chat. Would Luv to hear from someone who knows edgemeade.. Was beginning to think I imagined it all.. Seems like all info on it was wiped off the planet.. I’m in Florida keys at moment and make my living in music and teaching wilderness survival. Hope to hear from u.. ;-]

Dave

There was not a lot of protect mechanism to secure the safety of the teenage patients. A girls was raped.

The center closed in 1979. The unsafe environment makes it safe to state that it could not have been fun to be there as a teenager.

Sources:

05/12/2017  

633. Carlbrook School

Carlbrook School was modeled after the CEDU boarding school chain which closed in 2005 after being treathened with a number of lawsuits. 3 boys are still missing from the CEDU school. They ran away and were never found.

The same goes for Carlbrook School. Forest Ferguson went missing in 2010 and has never been found. While lack of background check allowed a man later prosecuted for child murders to work on the campus, it is not known what caused Forest Ferguson to remain missing leaving his family in uncertaincy about his fate.

The so-called therapeutic model used at Carlbrook was invented in its early form at Synanon, which was a defunct religious community which closed down after a FBI investigation. The damaging components were basically the same. Marathon seminar sessions which in its controlled nature led to psycodrama rather than treatment.

Many teenagers now live with therapy on weekly basis trying to overcome what they were exposed to at Carlbrook School. The school closed in 2015 after teenagers became adults and began to speak out against it.

Sources:

06/10/2015  

371. Abundant Life Academy (III)

The new management decided to relocate the facility to Virginia

It didn’t take long before they caught the interest of the local authorities. The police charged several employees in relationship with the incident in the video above. It lead to the closure of the school. Maybe this will be the last chapter in the long history of this school.

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

Sources:

14/11/2014  

296. Randolph-Macon Academy

Hours before a 12 and 13 year old girl had to report at the academy their mother was found death. The girls were later found guilty having participated in the killing of their mother out of fear of the military school they were banished to.

The school is still in operation today and it might be another kind of environment the students face now than the fearful environment which we drove these girls to the ultimate tragedy – the killing of their mother.

It is safe to say that it wasn’t a fun place to be as a teenager back then.

Sources:

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