Name

Unit/Position

The following is a statement from Mrs. M who is trying to rescue her husband as of July 29th, 2009:

Thank God I'm not crazy!!!! I knew this was a cult! Please feel free to contact me to help put these evildoers out of business, They are just a bunch of ex-addicts/sexually abused reforms, that are more messed up in their minds they our loved ones that they are allegedly helping. Using God's name to made tax free dollars! They makes millions of dollars of tax free money by flying under the radar. They claim non-profit/non denominational. This means no taxes and no one governs them. They are sick twisted people and sadistic as well. I am trying desparately to get my husband out of there with no success. He was original Court Ordered but should have graduated 7-12-09. Now he is not scheduled to graduate until sometime in October 2009. This is in an attempt to keep him from his wife and children. For some reason they will not allow him to return home to his wife and little girl. Both of us are chronically ill. Myself I have come out of remission and have active cancer again. My prognosis is grim, and I am taking care of our 9 yr. old little girl who is in end stage renal failure and needs a kidney transplant and is on dialysis 11 hours a day at home. This is just the tip of the iceberg. And I have been doing this all alone. I have been tormented, neglected and thrown out to the wolfs by these people. I have done nothing but be kind and respectful up until now. I want my husband back and my little girl wants her daddy. They are forcing him to divorce me and I know this from my husbands mouth when he snuck to call me.  The Pastors wife who counsels the married men, kepts telling me that my husband found God and wants to dedicate his life to God and doesn't want to be married to me anymore. Up until two months ago, my husband said it was his counselor and his sisters wanting this, not him and reminded me of how much he loved me. Now, I don't even hear from him anymore. I am so afraid that I've lost him and will never have the chance to have him hold me one last time, or be with his baby girl. I will help you in anyway I can, and I would appreciate any and all help from you.

E-mails between HEAL and Dave Rutledge of Bonifay Location (first message at the end, scroll down and read up):

----- Original Message -----

From: Dave Rutledge

To: 'HEAL'

Cc: 'Amy Montgomery'

Sent: Monday, June 02, 2008 2:48 AM

Subject: RE: What are you doing next weekend for hurting kids? 2

 

Your right general accusations without fact are a waste of conversation.  Now how would you raise the money to hire these professionals? 

Have you ever lived with students?  Am I angrily responding to general accusations of abuse that you posted about us on the Internet.  If phone calls are your proof then give me a phone number and let me have other parents challenge your conclusions. 

 

You have never been here, you do know me.  You know by now I am passionate about what I do, the same as you.  However I will carry out that passion tomorrow by counseling and loving kids.  You are warning people of supposed abuses and putting everyone in Teen Challenge in the same boat.  Question my grammar but not our heart nor the 38 people who work here with me long hours to help families. 

 

Ritualistic abuse may have happened in your childhood but not here.   The next stop in the system for my kids is jail.  That is a failing system.

 

Come see us and stop the empty rhetoric.  My wife’s grammar is much better. 

 

 

 

Pastor Dave Rutledge

West Florida Teen Challenge Boys Ranch

1213 Hope Lane

Bonifay, Florida 32425

Office-850-547-9011

Fax-850-547-2566

West Florida Teen Challenge is a non-profit faith-based program for boys 11-17 years old, located on a ranch northwest Florida.   We are celebrating ten years of service to boys with behavior problems and their families.     

 

---

From: HEAL [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2008 6:30 PM
To: Dave Rutledge
Subject: Re: What are you doing next weekend for hurting kids? Apparently you are taking them on a rural retreat for ritualistic abuse.

 

Dear Mr. Rutledge,

 

Thank you for contacting HEAL.  We've addressed your questions and concerns in your first paragraph with our initial response.  We feel it would be redundant to go over what we are doing and have done to help families and why we would not run a residential treatment program. 

 

Because it may not have been clear before, we have reports from surviving family members regarding deaths a Teen Challenge in Florida, reports from parents of denial of contact with their children and illegal violations on your part of their parental rights, and reports of other abuses.  It sounds like you are unable to take responsibility for your actions and are very defensive.  That must mean our campaign is working.  Thank you for the encouragement.

 

Your own grammar is very poor.  I am sorry that children are being "taught" anything by someone with such poor language skills.  However, it is a miracle that the children you mentioned in your previous e-mail managed to earn their diplomas and GED's under such poor instruction.  Is Jesus a curse word for you?  We consider his story a blessing and inspiration at HEAL.  It is likely Jesus would consider you a heretic, false prophet, and certainly a bearer of false witness.  So, we need not continue this discourse.

 

At least you are willing to admit that you have staff ill-equipped and poorly trained for dealing with addicts and children with emotional/behavioral issues.  This is why HEAL feel's it imperative that all people with such problems, including children and teens, get appropriate help from trained professionals.  If you do not make a practice of hiring trained professionals and the people you do hire have a tendency to "snap", and this "snapping" is something you make excuses for, that is evidence enough that your program is certainly no place for real help.  But, we have plenty of evidence of that.

 

You have directly provided us with your own correspondence with evidence of slavery, abuse, ill-trained/unqualified staff, and the fact that you are unlicensed in your state.  I would suggest contacting an attorney before corresponding with us further as your statements thus far can and will be used in the legal actions families are pursuing against your organization at this time. 

 

Sincerely,

 

Angela S.

HEAL Coordinator

----- Original Message -----

From: Dave Rutledge

To: 'HEAL'

Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2008 3:16 PM

Subject: What are you doing next weekend for hurting kids?

 

Dear Heal

 

How many kids have you lived in residence with and tried your methods?   Pretend you’re a parent and call around to some of the licensed treatment places.  You'll find they are only for the rich.  Pretend you’re a parent and call DCF.  Pretend you’re a parent and call the sheriff and tell them your son has runaway.  There is little help for parents with kids who out of control.

 

A report of abuse can be made by any student about anything that is not going their way.  Drugs always affects the emotional intelligence of any teen and causes them unbelievable stress and immaturity leaving them almost handicapped when someone gives them a simple NO.  Would you like to hear from the other 600 families of students who have been involved with us over the last 12 years?  I can send you dozens of examples of students that have come to us in trouble because of all the psychosomatic meds that they have been given over the years that may improve 10-15% of the student's behaviors.  Many say it is the parents fault.  There is some truth to that but my calling to serve kids can't use that as a cop out. 

 

The Pharisees were a religious people with lots of methods and little compassion for the hurts of people.   Any program can start out with good intentions and become calloused.  Where are the caring professionals?   They are mostly at the psycho wards waiting for the 1k a day insurance money.  Why don't you visit a Teen challenge center and see really goes on?  We take people off the streets.  I take illiterate street kids, whose moms are coke freaks and teach them to read and write.  Yes I do tell them about the greatest human of all J_ _ _ _ _.   

 

What do you think happens when a manipulative addicted son and an enabling/co-dependent mother turns on you after you have reached out to them?  Accusations of Abuse.  Yes, I have had to terminate staff because they snapped under the pressure.  If you haven’t had a kid swing on you, spit on you, or cuss you then you don’t the anger that your capable of. 

 

Next weekend our staff will be leading small groups with 150 parents taking them through a book called Boundaries by John Cloud and Henry Townsend.  We will spend Friday night, Saturday and Sunday with them.  We do this every first weekend of the month.  What are you doing next weekend?  Why don't you come and watch?

 

Pardon my attitude, but accusations without evidence is wrong in America.  If you want to warn people then be more informed. 

 

Dave Rutledge

 

West Florida Teen Challenge Boys Ranch

 

1213 Hope Lane

 

Bonifay, Florida 32425

 

Office-850-547-9011

 

Fax-850-547-2566

 

West Florida Teen Challenge is a non-profit faith-based program for boys 11-17 years old, located on a ranch northwest Florida.   We are celebrating ten years of service to boys with behavior problems and their families.     

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: HEAL [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, May 30, 2008 7:44 PM
To: Dave Rutledge
Subject: Re: (un)WARRANTED Accusations--REALITY CHECK.

 

Dear Mr. Rutledge,

 

Thank you for contacting HEAL.  We have dozens of families who have reported abuse, torture, and wrongful death at Teen Challenge facilities.  At your facility, we have reports of abuse, civil and human rights violations, and blatant violations of family and consumer laws. 

 

We offer a number of suggestions to parents regarding safe and proven methods of dealing with family problems.  If you had taken a few moments to review our website you would have seen the parenting guide <http://www.heal-online.org/parent.htm>  and suggested alternatives <http://www.heal-online.org/childtortureusa.htm>  to tortious and criminal (both illegal) actions such as placement in involuntary, unregulated, and unlicensed "treatment" facilities. 

 

HEAL is made up of legal, medical, and mental health professionals as well as families and survivors of abusive and fraudulent treatment facilities such as yours.  We understand that keeping children with their families, strengthening family communication and bonds, and working within the child's community is the most effective treatment and that programs such as yours do more harm than good.  This is a scientifically proven statement of fact according to the National Institute of Health.  HEAL would never participate in a practice that is unproven scientifically and/or that causes harm to children and families, therefore, HEAL would NEVER open a residential treatment facility.

 

If you are unclear on what HEAL is doing, please review our website at www.heal-online.org and check out our campaigns.  We have rescued a number of children from torture facilities such as yours.  We have worked to prevent children from being sent to torture facilities such as yours.  And, we are currently working on legislation <http://www.yesoni-999.com>  in Washington State to protect children and families from abusive and fraudulent facilities such as yours. 

 

We are also supporting the Congressional Education and Labor Committee and Government Accountability Office in their efforts to investigate, expose, and regulate abusive and fraudulent facilities such as yours.  We hope that HR 5876, the "Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008" passes and has the necessary bite and funding to protect children and families from abusive and fraudulent institutions such as yours.

 

We hope this has clarified things for you.  Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

 

Sincerely,

 

Angela S.

HEAL Coordinator

 

          ----- Original Message -----

          From: Dave Rutledge <mailto:[email protected]> 

          To: [email protected]

          Sent: Friday, May 30, 2008 10:16 AM

          Subject: Unwarranted Accusations....................

 

           

 

          What’s the basis of you all calling our organization a torture facility?  Do you offer any hope to parents who don’t what else to do with a rebellious teen?  Why don’t you open a residential facility and help teens instead sitting in the bleachers pointing out the faults of those of us who do?  I love my boys at Teen Challenge.  We gave out 8 high school diplomas and 6 GEDs in the last five months.  We saw 5 kids join the military and 4 others join humanitarian service organizations.  We have built 37 homes for the poor in Guatemala in the last 9 trips (4 years). 

 

          What are you doing? 

 

           

 

          Pastor Dave Rutledge

 

          West Florida Teen Challenge Boys Ranch

 

          1213 Hope Lane

 

          Bonifay, Florida 32425

 

          Office-850-547-9011

 

          Fax-850-547-2566

 

          West Florida Teen Challenge is a non-profit faith-based program for boys 11-17 years old, located on a ranch northwest Florida.   We are celebrating ten years of service to boys with behavior problems and their families.

[End of E-mail Message]

As you will see by the above e-mail, Teen Challenge in Bonifay is not accredited, licensed, nor regulated by Florida State government agencies, officials, nor departments.  This is an excellent reason not to place any child in Teen Challenge.

REPORTING GUIDE FOR VICTIMS, SURVIVORS, AND WHISTLEBLOWERS:
 
In Florida, the criminal statutes of limitation are 1 year on misdemeanors, 2 years on first degree misdemeanors, 3 years on first and second degree felonies, and no statute of limitations on more serious felonies where the death penalty or a life sentence is the penalty.  For civil suits in Florida, the statute of limitations is 4 years.  Here are your options:
 
1.  Report crimes such as fraud, assault, battery, false imprisonment, labor trafficking, and child abuse to law enforcement in Florida.  You can call the law enforcement office in the jurisdiction where your location operates using the directory below to inquire about filing an official complaint which may provide the probable cause needed to get a warrant for investigation and/or prosecution. 

TEEN CHALLENGE LOCATION	LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTACT
Tampa Location	Contact Tampa Police at (813) 931-6500
Orlando Location	Contact Orlando Police at (321) 235-5300
Sanford Location	Contact Sanford Police at (407) 688-5070
Fort Myers Location	Contact Fort Myers Police at (239) 321-7700
Pensacola Location	Contact Pensacola Police at (850) 435-1845
Davie Location	Contact Davie Police at (954) 693-8200
Lakeland Location	Contact Lakeland Police at (863) 834-6900
Bonifay Location	Contact Holmes County Sheriff at (850) 547-3681
Jacksonville Location	Contact Jacksonville Police at (904) 630-7600
Vero Beach Location	Contact Vero Beach Police at (772) 978-4600

 
2.  File a consumer complaint with your home state's attorney general against Teen Challenge and include your request for compensation for any harm done to you.  You can find the easy online forms for filing such a complaint (which may result in an investigation, prosecution, and/or civil resolution on your case) under your home state's (state where you currently reside) header at https://www.heal-online.org/report.htm .  If your home state is Florida or you'd like to file with the Florida State Attorney General as a non-resident, here is that link:  https://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/Main/60FD9BD8FA71A5B185256CD1005EE5C5
 
3.  If you do not wish to file a consumer complaint, you can contact a private personal injury attorney and look into suing in tort/civil court.  However, if you can't afford the retainer, you should expect to settle out of court with a non-disclosure agreement which may bar you from speaking publicly about the incident because you've agreed (even if with a grumbling assent) to the terms of the settlement.  You can find legal resources at https://www.heal-online.org/legal.htm  and legal causes of action related to institutionalized abuse claims at https://www.heal-online.org/legalarguments.htm .
 
4.  You may post a statement about your experience at your program on our unmoderated message board at http://pub40.bravenet.com/forum/show.php?usernum=3407841501&cpv=2  OR send a new e-mail to [email protected] with subject "Post My Feedback" and we will post your feedback (e-mail printed to .pdf disclosing your name and e-mail address and any information in your e-mail with that subject) to https://www.cope.church/feedback.htm  and add a direct link to those .pdf files to this page . 

 5. You may also wish to provide a guest sermon.  Guest sermons are posted at https://www.cope.church/sermons.htm , under Progress Reports/Guest Sermons at https://www.heal-online.org  where appropriate, and on program info pages when applicable.  So, one provided by you on your program would also be placed on this page .  Guest sermons should be written into the body of an e-mail and sent to [email protected] . Your first and last name will be disclosed (contact info will not be unless you expressly ask for that).  For sermons available on our site see https://www.cope.church/sermons.htm  (and sermon archives linked on that page).  If you have questions about this option, please contact [email protected]. Please see https://www.cope.church/givetoday.pdf  to get an idea what your sermon may be worth.

THE TRUTH:

All segregated congregate care providers, including those on our watch-list, are welcome to contact us to correct any information or provide additional data that may assist with delivering the whole truth to the public.  We've found in many cases where this offer has been abused or resulted in revealing additional basis for our concerns. For some examples see: http://www.heal-online.org/tcfl.htm,  http://www.heal-online.org/bolthouse.htm and http://www.heal-online.org/abundant2.htm.  Now, we are willing to look at the facts and may have questions or require documentation backing up any claims.  We do verify licensing, academic backgrounds, and other qualifications when investigating and researching programs on our watch-list to assist consumers seeking additional information on such programs or victims requiring assistance with getting corroborating evidence of their claims.  We do that in order to make sure the information we provide is accurate and verified and cite our sources.  In the event any information we've posted is in error, we're happy to make a correction.  And, for information on how such requests are handled and have been resolved historically, see: http://www.heal-online.org/requests.htm. 

HEAL does not support segregated congregate care for many reasons which include that many such facilities are abusive, exploitative, fraudulent, and lack effective oversight often as a result of fraudulent misrepresentation coupled with the ignorance of those seeking to enroll loved ones in such facilities, programs, schools, or centers without a valid court order and involuntarily.  In the United States such involuntary placements done without a court order are apparently illegal as they either violate the Americans with Disabilities Act community integration requirement or due process rights of those involuntarily placed.  Now, in regards to parents, in the United States parents have the right to waive their own rights, but, not the rights of their minor children.  See http://www.heal-online.org/legalarguments.htm for more information.  Now, most facilities on our watch list include waivers, indemnity clauses, and sworn statements parents must sign assuring the program that the parents have the right to make the placement involuntarily and without due process in a segregated congregate care environment, however, California and federal prosecutors as well as settled law appears to suggest that is not the case.  In fact, in the David Taylor case found at http://www.heal-online.org/provocases.htm, Taylor sued Provo Canyon School and his mother as co-defendants.  His mother was found liable for 75% of the damages awarded to Taylor as a result of multiple complaints including false imprisonment, while the program was found only 25% liable because the mother owed a duty of due diligence to investigate anyone to which she would entrust care of her child and she failed to do so. 

Now, HEAL opposes segregated congregate care and we find most placements are happening illegally in the USA which if the youth understood their rights would result in unfortunate outcomes for the parents, particularly when they don't exercise good judgment and support the fraud and abuse rather than their own children when they need remedy and justice.  And, HEAL supports all victims of fraud and abuse in seeking remedies at law for any crimes or torts committed against them.  And, that's true whether or not the program or victims are in the USA. 

HEAL has a 5 point argument against segregated congregate care we'd like you to consider:

a.  Segregated care is unconstitutional and a civil rights violation.  It is only permissible if a person is unable to survive independent of an institutional environment.  For more on this, watch the HEAL Report at  https://youtu.be/C4NzhZc4P0A.  Or, see:   http://www.ada.gov/olmstead/  which includes in part:    "United States v. Florida – 1:12-cv-60460 – (S.D. Fla.) – On April 7, 2016, the United States filed an Opposition to the State of Florida’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment.  In the Motion, the State had asked the Court to rule, on a variety of grounds, that the United States could not recover damages for unnecessarily institutionalized children to whom the State had been deliberately indifferent."

b.  Institutionalization is always dehumanizing and coercive.  Institutionalization always harms the institutionalized and deprives them of protected civil rights.  Dr. David Straker, Psychiatry Professor at Columbia University's School of Medicine (Ivy League) explains this in detail at http://changingminds.org/disciplines/sociology/articles/institutionalization.htm.  "Many institutions, from prisons to monasteries to asylums, deliberately want to control and manage their inmates such that they conform and do not cause problems. Even in less harsh environments, many of the institutionalization methods may be found, albeit in more moderated form (although the psychological effect can be equally devastating)."  (See website linked in this paragraph for more info.)

c.  Institutionalization is not in the best interest of children.  Institutions are not ever better for a child than living with a loving family.  Source:   http://www.unicef.org/cambodia/12681_23295.html       

d.  Reform schools, residential treatment programs, and other segregated congregate care settings have been shown to be ineffective and harmful.  Best source on this currently is:     https://www.acgov.org/probation/documents/EndoftheReformSchoolbyVinny.doc

e. Boarding Schools, even the "good ones", result in a form of social death, isolation, and cause both anxiety and depression.  Therefore, it is clearly not in the best interest of the youth subjected to those environments.  Sources: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/08/boarding-school-syndrome-joy-schaverien-review and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/11662001/The-truth-about-boarding-school-syndrome.html

Beyond the above arguments against segregated congregate care, we have reports from the NIH, Surgeon General, Yale University Studies, and much more showing the methodologies of behavior modification are damaging, harmful, and ineffective.  You can request these documents via e-mail.  In addition, for such programs offering academic services or claiming to offer diplomas, certifications, or the like, it is important to check to see if it is a diploma mill with no accredited academic services.  Please see article: "Avoiding Scams: What You Need To Know"  for important information on how to avoid education/training scams.

If you'd like to see what HEAL suggests rather than segregated congregate care (i.e. committing a crime or tort against your child if done against their will without a court order), please see articles: "Fix Your Family, Help Your Teen" and "Emancipation Guide".

If you have a complaint against any facility, please file a complaint with the appropriate law enforcement agency or your home state's attorney general.  For reporting resources see: http://www.heal-online.org/report.htm.  (Reporting guide is for USA only at this time.)