Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Pathway Family Center Protest

Posted by Media Release

Guest article by WD Tony

On Friday, September 26th a group of people gathered outside of a nondescript building in Miami Township to protest Pathway Family Center. Some of the protesters are local but some drove from out of town to demonstrate their concerns. 

Pathway Family Center has a sordid past, started by a former STRAIGHT Incorporated parent and reported by recent clients to be using techniques that were once used in that facility. A reasonable effort has been made on several occasions to create a dialogue with program executives to no avail. We are repeatedly told to “go home and get a life”. 

This has been the 14th protest in a row at this program over the course of a year and there is always some type of interaction by those in support of the program and those opposing Institutionalized child abuse. So far, I would estimate that the police have been called five times and not one time was anyone arrested, charged or convicted of anything. In fact, I don’t recall anyone committing any crime or breaking any law. It would seem that those calling the police are trying to intimidate our group by using the local police as hired guns.

Bill HR 6358 is a bill directly concerning our efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of privately-owned, residential treatment programs. Its title, “Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008” speaks for itself and adds critical facts of confirmed abuse and deaths in these programs, according to Greg Kutz of the Government Accountability Office. What is most troubling to me is that there have been two hearings on this subject and the bill has passed the committee and the house of Representatives without any major media attention about the content of the findings. American teenagers are confirmedly abused and dying in these programs due to neglect and a façade of regulatory oversight. What some have been alleging for years is finally proven and it is not reported to the American people.

Unfortunately this seems to be a partisan issue. After checking to see the status of the bill and voting record of each Representative I noticed an alarming pattern. One Hundred and Three Republicans voted against this bill and Zero Democrats voted against it. Yes, that is correct, more than half of the Republican House voted against a bill to stop child abuse. I immediately went to the courthouse and changed my party registration which just happened to be Republican prior to this fascinating find.

There is big money to be made according to recent reports that suggest, it costs parents Sixty Five thousand dollars to enroll their child into the Pathway program. What’s more is that the kids stay in host homes overnight which begs the question, “where is all of the money going”? I can’t say with any certainty but I might theorize that some of that money is making its way to the Republicans in the House of Representatives. This could very well turn into a very large scandal for some in high positions of authority. 

One of the biggest problems with the abuse in the program in the past has been that parents are forbidden to communicate with their child until the executive program staff decide that the child has earned the privilege to do so. While I was being psychologically tortured as a teenager, this was the single most damaging aspect to my being abused. If I had been able to complain to anyone in the outside world, I would have had a chance to convey the tragedy occurring. I have received several reports by both program staff and recent clients that this restriction of communication is still being implemented. This is very troubling to me.

As I study programs for teens and the similarities between them, I realize that what was done to me was nothing unique or isolated. This type of Institutionalized abuse is a widespread problem in this country. I also have been studying the phenomenon of cults. The strange thing about this is, I was never interested in studying cults but little did I know, I had been entered into one against my will as a teenager. Once I recognized all of the methods that cults use and that all of those techniques were used when I was in the program, something began to emerge for me. I can now clearly see that the program I was entered into was a damaging mind control cult. 

Kids Helping Kids, Pathway Family Center, SAFE, Possibilities Unlimited and several other (self proclaimed) drug rehabilitation programs for teens can be linked to individuals who were involved directly with STRAIGHT Incorporated. 

When former program parents are asked their opinion, they state that the parents don’t really see all that goes on inside of the program and that anything questionable is explained away in some form or another. The parents seem to be bullied by the program as well as the parents around them to just relax and that everything is taken care of. If anyone starts to ask too many questions, the group of parents turns on them and uses a mob mentality to stop that parent from asking questions. The immense social force in the program is said to be enough to silence most and intimidate all. 

After this last protest it is evident to me that victims who were abused in programs and parents alike must come together to speak out about this mistreatment. In the last year we have seen a large increase in those willing to communicate what happened with their program experience and I believe it is only a matter of time before these programs will be forced to answer for their actions or be closed down completely.

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Leslie Orihel says:
10 Nov 2008  at  12:47 am | #

I sent this to the Detroit Free Press last month with no response after they printed an article supporting an upcoming PFC fundraiser.  Please read!

My twin sister, a 2002 graduate of Pathway’s program, committed suicide in August at 23 years old.  I am not attempting to draw an exact correlation between her death and her experience at Pathway, nor do I have the ability to completely condemn the program.  I cannot judge for those who will attest to its effectiveness in positively changing their lives.  I can only attest on behalf of my sister, that the program can be a harmful and traumatic experience for some, effectively changing their lives too.
Last year, in January 2007, a magazine called, “The Sun,” printed an interview with Maia Szalavitz, titled “The Myth of Tough Love,” on her book published in ‘06, “ Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids .” In the interview Ms Szalavitz argues that “ ‘Adolescence strikes fear in the hearts of even the best parents,’ and that fear drives well-meaning mothers and fathers to send their misbehaving teens to ‘tough-love’ programs, where they’re subjected to abusive treatment in the name of helping them.” (I won’t detail the article, though I highly recommend an excerpt which can be found at the following link:
http://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/373/the_myth_of_tough_love )
I want to share with you a response to this article written by my sister and inlcuded in the following issue of The Sun’s correspondence:

Dear Sun,

My feeling was one of overwhelming gratitude when I read Marc Polonsky’s interview with Maia Szalavitz, “The Myth of Tough Love,” and his personal memoir, “The Seed.” I left Pathway Family Center (an adolescent “treatment” center that is a branch off of the Straight program) in 2002, and in the intervening years, two of my fellow “pathlings” have since commited suicide; another was rescued minutes after an attempt; many others, like myself, have struggled to maintain stability or a sense of hope in our early adulthood.  My experience with these programs has shown that addiction ceases to be the central problem for clients when the counselors and environment create a more complete sense of powerless than any drug ever could.  Psychological defeat from any source is destructive, and love, not misunderstanding, is the true foundation for people to construct a meaningful life.  My relationship with The Sun gave these articles more credibility than if i had written them myself.  Thank you.

Alicia Orihel

Considering my sister’s own death adds a new significance to her words.  I believe the qualities that made Alicia so wonderful, her creativity, sensitivity, compassion, wit and insight, made her a poor candidate for a program that takes such dead aim upon the adolescent’s ego.  They break teens down (in the name of re-building a healthier individual) at a time when they are so fragile, especially when you consider the self-esteem issues that have already driven them to self-medicating and destructive behaviors.  The irony is that the teens most vulnerable are likely the ones experiencing a greater severity of problems.  However, my sister strongly believed that these problems would only re-emerge after the Pathway experience.  I came to understand that the psychological imprint of Pathway would never fade, as Alicia described Pathway-nightmares that continued to haunt her years after she had left.
I do not agree with Pathway’s ideology or methods, as a family witness and as the twin of someone who “survived” the program.  I strongly question their projected “success rates” and I hope for an increased awareness among the parents who are put in the sad position of deciding on a rehabilitation program for their teen.  I believe Szalavitz’s book, “Recovery Options: The Complete Guide: How You and Your Loved Ones Can Understand and Treat Alcohol and Other Drug Problems” (2001), co-authored with Dr. Joseph Volpicelli, M.D., Ph.D. can help along with greater disclosure of the truth on ‘tough-love’ type programs by those who have oversight, investigate, and especially from those with a personal experience. 
As a newly graduated nurse (BSN from Wayne State), I believe that the programs, through the care-providers (though they often include unliscensed staff), can make changes too.  They can take greater consideration of the individual’s involvement in their care, promoting autonomy and self-esteem rather than offering it in a reward-punishment manner.  They can also do more extensive screening for teens whose psychological make-up is particularly vulnerable, recommending alternatives rather than compounding the problem.  The question is, are they willing to put the health of their clients before the self-interest of their institution?

Shell says:
20 Nov 2008  at  01:41 pm | #

Are things like this going on at the Indianapolis Pathway Family Center?

Learn More says:
21 Nov 2008  at  11:19 am | #

about all Pathway Family Centers and other branches that came from Straight Inc at:  http://www.heal-online.org/kids.htm

and more... says:
21 Nov 2008  at  11:34 am | #

Here is more information regarding Pathway Family Center from the International Survivors Action Committee:
http://www.isaccorp.org/pathwayfamilycenter.asp

Royal Water says:
22 Nov 2008  at  06:35 pm | #

Leslie,

I am very sorry to hear the news about your sister. I hope you will be able to find peace. Back in 2002 I constructed a memorial in my front yard for the departed who had been in STRAIGHT, Inc. and any of their spinoff programs. 6 kids who were in the program with me in 1983 have died, 4 from suicide within a few months of their stays at STRAIGHT, Inc. There have been many more who have died since that time and the number keeps growing. This program kills. I would testify in court to that effect. I have suspected for a long time that people who have been subjected to the STRAIGHT, Inc. treatment modality may very well be highly susceptible to suicide and other self-harming behavior that could lead to an untimely death and other devastating side effects. Just knowing that it is still operating causes me great stress and I long for the day that it will be stopped once and for all. Efforts have been effective to expose this treatment for the truths which lie within, however, much still needs to be done to end it.

says:
09 Dec 2008  at  03:47 pm | #

Find more information about Pathway Family Center here:

http://www.pfctruth.com/