US Congressional investigations don't stop abusive rehab centers

[iii] Final GAO Report on Residential Facilities (Highlights) (May 2008) Residential Facilities: Improved data and enhanced oversight would help safeguard the well-being of youth with behavioral and emotional challenges, Report to Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives [PDF, 1 pages] GAO.com, http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08346high.pdf.

[iv] GAO Report: Concerns Regarding Abuse and Death in Certain Programs for Troubled Youth (Full Report)(October 10, 2007) Full report of testimony before the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives. [PDF, 38 pages] GAO.gov, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08146t.pdf.

[v] Residential Facilities: State & Federal Oversight Gaps May Increase Risk to Youth (Highlights)(April 24, 2008) Highlights of the report by Government Accountability Office of testimony before the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives [PDF, 1 pages], GAO.gov, http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08696thigh.pdf.

[vi] Residential Facilities: State & Federal Oversight Gaps May Increase Risk to Youth Well-Being(April 24, 2008) Full report by the Government Accountability Office of testimony before the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives [PDF, 21 pages], GAO.gov, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08696t.pdf.

[vii] Residential Programs: Selected Cases of Death, Abuse, and Deceptive Marketing (Full Report) (April 24, 2008) Full report of testimony before the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives. [PDF, 24 pages].

[viii] Individual Rights and the Federal Role in Behavior Modification -- A Study Prepared by the Staff of the Subcommittee, Scribd.com, www.scribd.com/.../ Individual - Rights-and-the-Federal - Role-in-Behavior - Modification -A-Study-Prepared-by-the-Staff-of-the-Subcommittee, or obtained at NCJRS.gov www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/Abstract.aspx?id=142690.

[ix] TheStraights.com, Synanon Story, http://thestraights.com/theprogram/synanon-story2.htm#theseed

[x] The Seed, Inc. was founded in 1970 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Seed received a $1.8 million U.S. government grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) soon after it opened. And the grant had been administered by the founding director of NIDA who also happened to be the second White House Drug Czar-Robert DuPont. http://thestraights.com/images/seed-funding.gif The Senate forced NIDA to require Seed clients to sign a "risk to human subjects" form as required by NIDA's own policy for grants involving human experimentation. Barker balked at this and lost his bid for an additional federal grant for expansion. Another feature of The Seed was berthing clients at foster homes run by other Seedling parents. By 1975 Barker had opened four expansion Seeds, but in 1974 both houses of the US Congress had investigated The Seed and produced critical reports with the US Senate likening Barker's methods to the brainwashing methods employed on American POWs by North Korean Communists. http://thestraights.com/images/seed-Ervin-brainwash.htm .

[xi] The Seed had been founded by a comedian and recovering alcoholic named Art Barker. The St. Petersburg Times reported that Barker had a mail-order degree in psychology. Barker had ambitions to make The SEED a national program. http://www.survivingstraightinc.com/FloridaGovernmentDocuments/StraightInvestigations/Project-Straight-SPECIAL-MONITORING-REPORT-by-FL-Bureau-of-Criminal-Justice-Planning-and-Assistance-1978_Combine.pdf

http://www.thestraights.com/articles/russell-genung-dale-report.htm.

[xii] The Synanon organization, initially a drug rehabilitation program, was founded by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich, Sr., in 1958, in Santa Monica, California. Dederich, a reformed alcoholic and a member of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), was said to be an admired speaker at A.A. meetings. The Synanon group used a confrontational approach. Social control over members was achieved through the "Game" which they considered a therapeutic tool. Similar to a form of group therapy, the "Game" was an encounter session in which members humiliated one another and encouraged the exposure of one-another's innermost weaknesses. In the 1970's Synanon evolved into the cultish Church of Synanon. Synanon was a successful business enterprise that for a time generated roughly $10 million per year. Synanon was disbanded permanently in 1989 due to many criminal activities, including attempted murder, and civil legal problems, including federal tax-evasion problems with the Internal Revenue Service. Mel Wasserman who was influenced by his Synanon experience, in 1967 founded CEDU Educational Services, Inc., known simply as CEDU. The CEDU boarding schools were developed as parent-choice, private-pay residential programs. The schools used the confrontation therapy model of Synanon. The company owned and operated several therapeutic boarding schools and behavior modification programs in California and Idaho. A significant number of the schools in the therapeutic boarding school industry were developed or strongly influenced by people who were originally inspired by their CEDU experience. CEDU was sold to Brown Schools which went on to operate 11 boarding schools and educational facilities in California, Idaho, Texas, Vermont, and Florida. Facilities were in Austin, Texas and San Marcos, Texas. Brown Schools were sold to Psychiatric Solutions Inc. in 2003.

Szalavitz, Maia "The Cult That Spawned the Tough-Love Teen Industry," Mother Jones , August 20, 2007, http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/09/how_a_cult_spawned_the_tough_love_teen_industry.html.

[xiii] CEDU Sued for Abuse and Fraud, International Survivors Action Committee, was at http://www.isaccorp.org/cedu/ceduabuse.pdf but now see website SurvivingStraightInc.com, www.survivingstraightinc.com.

[xiv] Daytop History, Daytop Homepage, retrieved March 25, 2010, http://www.daytop.org/history.html.

[xv] Morgan, Fiona, One big dysfunctional family: A former member of the Synanon cult recalls the "alternative lifestyle" that shaped her, for better and worse, Salon Magazine, March 29, 1999, http://www.rickross.com/reference/synanon/synanon2.html.

[xvi] Clark, Michael D., Her life with "One Big Brother," San Jose Mercury News, March 19, 1999, http://www.rickross.com/reference/synanon/synanon4.html.

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