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World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools
Formation1998; 28 years ago (1998)
FounderRobert Lichfield
Founded atLa Verkin, Utah, US
PurposeSupporting the troubled teen industry
Key people
Websitehttp://www.wwasp.com

The World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS or WWASP) was a Utah-based organization that operated a network of behavior modification programs and boarding schools for teenagers. Founded in 1998 by Robert Lichfield, the organization was associated with the troubled teen industry and operated facilities in the United States and several other countries.

WWASPS-affiliated programs enrolled teenagers referred to the programs by their parents or guardians. The organization operated through a network of affiliated companies that handled admissions, transportation, billing, and educational services. At its peak in the early 2000s, WWASPS-associated programs enrolled thousands of students and generated tens of millions of dollars in annual tuition revenue.

WWASPS and several affiliated schools faced widespread allegations of physical abuse, psychological abuse, neglect, unlawful restraint, and inadequate supervision of students. Multiple facilities were investigated, sanctioned, or closed by government authorities in the United States and abroad, and former students and parents filed numerous lawsuits against the organization and affiliated programs.

By the late 2000s, most WWASPS-affiliated schools had closed or severed ties with the organization. In 2010, WWASPS president Ken Kay stated that the organization was no longer operating. The organization and its programs have since been the subject of documentaries, investigative reporting, and survivor memoirs examining the troubled teen industry.

History

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Founding and early structure

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The World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS or WWASP) is an organization based in Utah, in the United States. WWASPS, founded by Robert Lichfield and incorporated in 1998, stated that it was an umbrella organization of the troubled teen industry.[1][2]

Expansion

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In 2005, Robert Lichfield and the Utah-based holding company, Golden Pond Investments Ltd., made an offer to buy the campus of the Kemper Military School in Boonville, Missouri, to open a new school for adolescents needing help with discipline, responsibility and leadership skills. It was announced that the school would be directed by former WWASP staff member Randall Hinton and his brother Russell Hinton. The Hintons told Boonville officials that the proposed school would not be a part of WWASP.[3][4] The Boonville City Council rejected the proposal.[5]

Decline and closure

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In July 2007, World Wide's president, Ken Kay, told the Salt Lake Tribune that only two schools remained in the WWASPS network, and that one, Majestic Ranch Academy in Utah, was likely to sever its ties with the organization.[6] In a December 2010 newspaper article, Kay was reported to have said that the organization was no longer in business, but because of ongoing litigation, it had not been dissolved.[7]

Programs and Operations

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Organizational structure

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WWASPS operated through a network of affiliated schools and companies, many of which were incorporated as separate legal entities. According to reporting by The New York Times and other publications, the organization provided centralized marketing, admissions, training, and administrative services to affiliated programs.[8][7][1][9][10][11]

Affiliated companies

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Associated companies provided services including student recruitment, transportation, tuition billing, and parent seminars for families enrolled in WWASPS-affiliated programs.[12][13][14][15][16][1][17][10]

Admissions and transport practices

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Some students were transported to programs by private escort services contracted by parents or affiliated referral companies.[18][19]

Schools and international facilities

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WWASPS-affiliated programs operated in several countries, including the United States, Jamaica, Mexico, Costa Rica, Samoa, and the Czech Republic.[20][21][10][15][22]

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Some former WWASP personnel have gone on to establish or work at other similar institutions:

Ken Kay was superintendent of Browning Distance Learning Academy, a provider of homeschooling curriculum.[7][23] Its materials were used by Mentor School in Costa Rica.[24] As of 2022 no other school or homeschooling group has used Browning Distance Learning Academy, and it is assumed the company went bankrupt after Mentor's closure. Browning Distance Learning Academy does not seem to be up and running at this time.

Controversy

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WWASPS and its associated institutions have been the target of criticism over their treatment methods, including allegations of severe abuse and torture by staff at programs supported by WWASPS.[25] The programs have been the subject of legal investigations by several U.S. states.[5] In 2003, a reporter for The New York Times interviewed 60 current and former program participants and parents; some gave positive reports of their experiences, while other participants and parents said that WWASPS programs were abusive.[8]

On August 10, 2001, a 17-year-old girl named Valerie Ann Heron ran from her room and jumped off the 35 ft high balcony at Tranquility Bay and consequently died from the fall. She had only been in the program for 24 hours.[26][27]

A 2006 WebWire report summarizing allegations in a lawsuit stated that children in WWASPS programs were denied adequate food, subjected to physical restraints including being chained in dog cages, forced to eat their own vomit, and experienced emotional and sexual abuse.[28][29]

Numerous former students or their parents have filed lawsuits against WWASPS, its personnel, or individual schools. Most have been settled out of court or dismissed for procedural reasons. For example, a 2005 lawsuit filed in California on behalf of more than 20 plaintiffs was dismissed because the judge found that California lacked jurisdiction. In June 2007, Utah attorney Thomas M. Burton told a reporter that six suits he had filed against WWASPS on behalf of his clients had been dismissed on procedural grounds. WWASPS president Ken Kay told an interviewer that lawsuits against WWASPS are ploys to get money, brought by people who "are never going to be happy."[30] A lawsuit filed in 2007 against WWASPS and its founder, Robert Lichfield, on behalf of 133 plaintiffs alleging physical and sexual abuse and fraudulent concealment of abuse brought negative publicity to Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, because Lichfield was one of six co-chairs of the Utah state fundraising committee for Romney's campaign.[30][31][32]

On several occasions, WWASPS and its principals have responded to criticism by suing their critics. Robert Lichfield sued two individuals associated with the International Survivors Action Committee (ISAC) for defamation, invasion of his privacy, and causing "intentional interference with 'prospective economic advantage'."[5] In May 2005 a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed (on jurisdictional grounds) a defamation lawsuit brought by WWASPS against a United Press International reporter who had done research for a news story about alleged abuse at several WWASPS schools. The reporter was accused of having made defamatory statements about WWASPS to "potential students, former students, parents of potential and former students, an employee of a state agency responsible for licensing a member school, and a Utah attorney who had filed numerous suits against [WWASPS]."[33]

In 2010, animals were removed from Carolina Springs Academy due to neglect and malnourishment. There were also several animal corpses found on the property.[34][35]

[edit]

Multiple news outlets reported that Morava Academy was closed by authorities in the Czech Republic, and that its American managers, Glenda and Steven Roach of Utah, were arrested and charged with offenses including human rights violations, torture, and false imprisonment of students[36][37][38][10] According to reporting, Glenda Roach later left the country on a medical waiver, while Steven Roach failed to appear for further proceedings.[38]

The New York Times reported that at least three programs—Cross Creek Manor, Majestic Ranch, and Carolina Springs Academy—had operated without required licenses; the latter was fined $5,000 by the state of South Carolina for unlicensed operation. [20]

In 2003 Deseret News reported that US State Department had sent investigators to Paradise Cove program located in Wester Samoa. they were investigating allegations of Solitary Confinement, Withholding of rations and that by end of 1998 the program had closed down.[39]

In 2004 the Mexican government performed a raid on Casa by the sea and shut down the program.[15]

On August 17, 2005, The Academy at Ivy Ridge was ordered to pay civil penalties of $250,000 to the New York State Attorney General, stop issuing unauthorized high school diplomas, and refrain from advertising that it is an accredited school. In addition, it was required to make partial refunds to former students.[40][41] On December 1, 2006, the New York State Department of Education denied Ivy Ridge's application for authorization to issue high school diplomas. The department's letter to Ivy Ridge stated that the institution had been determined to be principally a behavior modification program, not a school.[42] Following this ruling, the school's enrollment dropped from about 500 to less than 100 students

On August 31, 2007, Randall Hinton was convicted of one count each of third degree assault and false imprisonment, for mistreating students at the WWASP-affiliated Royal Gorge Academy, of which he was manager and co-founder. However, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty for four other counts of third-degree assault and one other count of false imprisonment.[43] Hinton was sentenced to 25 days in jail followed by one year on probation.[44]

In May 2013, a lawsuit involving a company associated with World Wide was settled for $3 million without an admission of liability. The case stemmed from the 2004 death of a 16-year-old girl at Spring Creek Lodge Academy in Montana, a facility that has since closed. According to depositions from staff and owners, the girl had been subjected to disciplinary measures prior to her death.[45]

In 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investigation performed a raid on Midwest Academy in Keokuk, Iowa after allegations of sexual abuse and fraud.[46][29] It has been the subject of 80 calls to law enforcement over the course of three years and the subject of 19 founded child abuse claims..[47] Benjamin Trane who owned Midwest Academy was convicted of sexual abusing and physical abuse In 2018.[48][29]

Media coverage and legacy

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The World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools has been the subject of extensive media coverage. Contemporary reporting including investigative journalism by outlets such as Dateline NBC and many major newspapers such as The Independent, The New York Times and The Guardian, examining allegations of abuse during the organization’s operation. The BBC aired a program called locked in paradise about the organistation and their Tranquility Bay program.[49] PBS also released a documentary titled whose watching the kids.[50]

In later years, the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools was the subject of a Netflix miniseries documentary called The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping.

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 Leonard, Andrew (January 30, 1998). "21st: Schools of hard knocks".
  2. ↑ Reamer, Frederic G.; Siegel, Deborah H. (2008). Teens in crisis: how the industry serving struggling teens helps and hurts our kids. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-14462-9.
  3. ↑ "Boonville to discuss Kemper proposal: A company involved in the plan has faced abuse allegations". Columbia Missourian. April 11, 2005. Archived from the original on Apr 25, 2005. Retrieved Aug 21, 2012.
  4. ↑ Sullivan, John (April 5, 2005). "Kemper suitors plan new military school". Columbia Daily Tribune. Archived from the original on Apr 10, 2007. Retrieved Aug 21, 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 Bryson, Amy Joi (October 17, 2015). "Utah-based group under fire". Deseret Morning News. Archived from the original on Oct 17, 2015. Retrieved Jul 27, 2025.
  6. ↑ Stewart, Kirsten (July 16, 2007). "Loophole in state law has allowed some in teen-help industry to go unlicensed". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on Jan 5, 2025. Retrieved Apr 27, 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 Brown, Kirk (December 17, 2010). "Abbeville school had role in rise and fall of enterprise for serving troubled teens". Anderson Independent Mail. Archived from the original on Jun 14, 2013. Retrieved Jul 27, 2025.
  8. 1 2 Weiner, Tim (June 17, 2003). "Parents Divided Over Jamaica Disciplinary Academy". The New York Times. ISSN 2165-1736. OCLC 3638237. Archived from the original on Apr 10, 2024. Retrieved Jul 27, 2025.
  9. ↑ Sullivan, John (April 15, 2005). "Former student alleges months of abuse". Columbia Daily Tribune. Archived from the original on Feb 21, 2006. Retrieved Jul 27, 2025.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Too-tough love?". Forbes. March 22, 1999. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  11. ↑ Haugen, David M.; Musser, Susan (2012). Discipline and Punishment. Teen Rights and Freedoms Ser. New York, NY: Greenhaven Publishing LLC (published September 7, 2012). ISBN 978-0-7377-6401-7.
  12. ↑ Szalavitz, Maia (December 28, 2006). "The Trouble with Troubled Teen Programs". Reason. Archived from the original on Jun 28, 2025. Retrieved Jul 27, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Premier Educational Seminars". Archived from the original on Feb 26, 2007. Retrieved Mar 11, 2007.
  14. ↑ admin (March 9, 2010). "Abuses in Programs for Struggling Teens: The Legacy of Scandal". This Emotional Life. Retrieved Apr 24, 2026.
  15. 1 2 3 Haugen, David M.; Musser, Susan (2012). Discipline and Punishment. Teen Rights and Freedoms Ser. New York, NY: Greenhaven Publishing LLC. ISBN 978-0-7377-6649-3.
  16. ↑ Reamer, Frederic G.; Siegel, Deborah H. (2008). Teens in crisis: how the industry serving struggling teens helps and hurts our kids. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-14462-9.
  17. ↑ "Teen Help". www.vpp.com. Archived from the original on Apr 5, 2001. Retrieved Apr 24, 2026.
  18. ↑ Bryson, Amy Joi (April 27, 2005). "Boise accreditation firm questioned". Deseret News. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
  19. ↑ Bryson, Amy Joi (April 9, 2004). "Youth programs in Utah targeted". Deseret News. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  20. 1 2 Weiner, Tim (May 9, 2003). "Parents, Shopping for Discipline, Turn to Harsh Programs Abroad". The New York Times. Archived from the original on Jun 9, 2021. Retrieved Apr 28, 2026.
  21. ↑ Weiner, Tim (September 6, 2003). "Program to Help Youths Has Troubles of Its Own". The New York Times. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
  22. ↑ "Teen Help Specialty Boarding Schools". Archived from the original on Feb 28, 2007. Retrieved Mar 1, 2007.
  23. ↑ "Home". browningacademy.org. Archived from the original on Dec 9, 2008. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
  24. ↑ "Mentor School". Archived from the original on Feb 7, 2011. Retrieved Jul 27, 2025.
  25. ↑ Green, Joanne (June 22, 2006). "Rough Love: Kids from South Florida and beyond are sent to Jamaica to straighten up. Or else". Miami New Times. Archived from the original on Oct 20, 2006. Retrieved Aug 21, 2012. Indeed at least six other WWASPS-affiliated schools and organizations in the United States, the Czech Republic, Western Samoa, Mexico, and Costa Rica have been raided and/or closed during the past decade, following allegations of abuse or questionable practices.
  26. ↑ Locked in Paradise (Television documentary). December 7, 2004.
  27. ↑ Green, Joanne (June 21, 2006). "Rough Love". Miami New Times. ISSN 1072-3331. Retrieved Feb 19, 2026.
  28. ↑ "Troubled Teen Programs - 25 Plaintiffs Join in Lawsuit Against WWASPS, Cross Creek Manor, Robert Lichfield, and Associates – More Expected to Join In". WebWire. October 16, 2006. Archived from the original on Aug 6, 2024. Retrieved Jul 27, 2025.
  29. 1 2 3 Kolbe, Athena R. (January 20, 2025). "Ethical Concerns with Referral to Privately-Owned Therapeutic Boarding Schools: The Case of Iowa's Midwest Academy". Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal. doi:10.1007/s10560-024-01001-x. ISSN 1573-2797.
  30. 1 2 Bolton, Alexander (June 20, 2007). "Lawsuits hit a Romney money man". The Hill. Archived from the original on Jun 25, 2007. Retrieved Aug 21, 2012.
  31. ↑ Szalavitz, Maia (June 27, 2007). "Romney, Torture, and Teens: The former governor's connections to abusive "tough love" camps". Reason Magazine. Archived from the original on Jul 3, 2025. Retrieved Jul 27, 2025.
  32. ↑ Haugen, David M.; Musser, Susan (2012). Discipline and Punishment. Teen Rights and Freedoms Ser. New York, NY: Greenhaven Publishing LLC (published September 7, 2012). ISBN 978-0-7377-6649-3.
  33. ↑ World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools v. Thomas G. Houlahan (Docket Report), D.U.T., February 10, 2004, no. 2:4-cv-00107-dak "04-4181 -- World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools v. Houlahan -- 05/10/2005". Archived from the original on Jul 23, 2011. Retrieved Dec 19, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  34. ↑ "Prosecutor ask SLED help in animal cruelty case". www.independentmail.com. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved Mar 6, 2024.
  35. ↑ "Animal Bones, Carcasses Found At Closed School". WYFF. September 10, 2010. Archived from the original on Nov 15, 2019. Retrieved Apr 20, 2026.
  36. ↑ Lebor, Adam (November 20, 1998). "Czech school accused of torturing pupils". The Independent. ISSN 1741-9743. OCLC 185201487. Retrieved Apr 24, 2026.
  37. ↑ Green, Peter S (November 12, 1998). "Czechs Say School Abused U.S. Children". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved Apr 24, 2026.
  38. 1 2 Ortiz, Michelle Ray (June 13, 1999). "Boot Camps for Wayward Youths Offer Hope, Help, Hell". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 2165-1736. OCLC 3638237. Retrieved Apr 24, 2026.
  39. ↑ Hayes, Toby (July 6, 2003). "Utah-based school owner banned". Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  40. ↑ In the Matter of the Academy at Ivy Ridge, Assurance of Discontinuance Pursuant to Executive Law Section 63, Subdivision 15 (PDF), Watertown Office: Attorney General of the State of New York, August 17, 2005, archived from the original (PDF) on Dec 12, 2006
  41. ↑ "School for Troubled Youth to Issue Tuition Refunds" (Press release). Albany, NY: Office of the State Attorney General. August 18, 2005. Archived from the original on Feb 6, 2008. Retrieved Jul 18, 2025.
  42. ↑ "Latest News : Guiding Teens : Educational Consultant Advisory Services". News Watch 50 WWTI TV. Archived from the original on Sep 27, 2007. Retrieved Jul 18, 2025.
  43. ↑ "Hinton guilty on two counts: Jury finds Royal Gorge Academy official guilty of assault, false imprisonment". Cañon City Daily Record. September 1, 2007. p. A8. Archived from the original on Dec 16, 2007. Retrieved Aug 21, 2012.
  44. ↑ Harmon, Tracy (November 20, 2007). "School director gets 25 days in assault case". Retrieved Apr 27, 2026.
  45. ↑ Williams, Timothy (July 23, 2013). "Students Recall Special Schools Run Like Jails". The New York Times. ISSN 1553-8095. OCLC 1645522. Retrieved Apr 20, 2026.
  46. ↑ FOLEY, RYAN J. (September 8, 2017). "Boarding school owner charged with abusing teenage students". Associated Press. Associated Press. Retrieved Apr 24, 2026.
  47. ↑ Rood, Lee. "A look at abuse allegations against Iowa, Nebraska residential schools". Des Moines Register. Retrieved Apr 20, 2026.
  48. ↑ "Iowa boarding school director sentenced to 9 years for abuse". AP News. May 11, 2018. Retrieved Apr 20, 2026.
  49. ↑ Locked in Paradise (Television documentary). December 7, 2004.
  50. ↑ Gottesfeld, Marty (August 25, 2016). Parentectomy. BookRix. ISBN 978-3-7396-7025-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)

Further reading

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  • Art, Cindy (2012). Trapped in Paradise: A Memoir. CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1475192278.
  • Fontaine, Claire; Fontaine, Mia (2021). Come Back: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-079216-9.
  • Scribner, Campbell F.; Warnick, Bryan R. (2021). Spare the rod : punishment and the moral community of schools. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-78567-7. OCLC 1199329371.
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