Fornits Blog

Pathway Eviction docs…courtesy of ISACCORP  Released by the president of ISACCORP (William Earnshaw, Senior).

http://www.isaccorp.org/pathwayfamilycenter.asp

Let’s celebrate good times, c’mon! – cool and the gang /1980

-Deprogrammed

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/birthdays/93225?m=e0bc6388

The building that once was the home of Straight Inc/Kids Helping Kids/Pathway Family Center located at 6070 Branch Hill-Guinea Pike is up for sale at the whopping price of $799,000……It is really $788,000 and some odd change but we may as well round it up. Glad to see that the building could possibly now be bought by some other entity that won’t be using it for a torture chamber for local and out of town teens. WEST SHELL…WE SELL!

Who wants to buy it and turn it into a local tavern?

Any takers?

Here is the contact info

This story brought to you first at http://pathwayfamilycenter.fornits.com

Pathway Family Centers is closing in it’s Southfield, Michigan Facility!

January 28th, 2009 11:34 am

I personally called and spoke with “Pam”, the intake coordinator at Pathway Family Center at it’s Southfield, Michigan branch recently, and was told that Pathways is closing their Michigan facility as of this coming Friday, January 30, 2009. The reason that “Pam” stated for this current closure of the facility was given as “funding”.  I do not believe this to be the whole reason considering that Pathways has recently had a barrage of complaints to Pathways Michigan certifying body, as well as, Michigan’s health board.

I also learned through this same conversation that the center will be referring clients to it’s Indianapolis, Indiana facility.  This seems to possibly be another duck and run situation for Pathway Family Center, considering they closed down their Ohio branch in late 2008 under similar controversies.

Over the past four years there have been many public complaints about Pathway Family Centers treatment model,  that is based on the same treatment model as the infamously abusive treatment program Straight Incorporated. This is not all that surprising considering that Pathways CEO and Founder, Teri Nissley is a former program parent of Straight Inc.

Teri Nissley has publicly touted the treatment model as good for children despite many instances that prove otherwise.

I will be awaiting further confirmation of this closure as I work to obtain confirmation that Pathway Family Center has surrendered their license to their certifying entity.

Please stay tuned for more coverage.

Breaking News This Just in……

December 8th, 2008 12:12 am

Sunday, December 7th, 2008

A series of emails have been released by the

International Survivors Action Committee about the current status
of operations taking place at the Milford, Ohio branch of
Pathway Family Centers, known as Kids Helping Kids.
According to emails from Jim Lapczynski,
(a legal representative employed with ODADAS, Ohio Dept.
of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services) Pathway Family Centers
has decided to close their Milford, Ohio
location of Pathways.

This decision comes to light after over a month of emails and
reporting, as well as, investigating of this particular issue.

Read the article here:

http://pathwayfamilycenter.fornits.com/assessments-and-clinical-treatment-closed/

Here is an email that I received yesterday morning from an apparently cowardly and anonymous source yet to be named. I say to the source,” If ye feel so strongly in your opinion then show yourself and personally stand by your convictions.  As for the website or anyone that is involved with the website being even remotely involved with the organization HEAL(Human Animal Earth Liberation), it is simply not true.  Although, we do not refute HEAL, we also do not condone or endorse HEAL either.

Without any further procrastination, I give you the email that I have received:

from Rusty Nail Tetnus <liars_stick_together@hotmail.com> to pathwayfamilycentersexposed@gmail.com date Tue, Dec 2, 2008 at 8:19 AM subject Your website is a sad joke. mailed-by hotmail.com

Dear PFC “Exposed” :

It is obvious that you’ve decided to join forces with HEAL and bombard the internet with propaganda against Pathway Family Center.  It’s very amusing that you’ve tried to “distance” yourself from the others and create a “show” of dischord when everyone knows you all work together to fight the “bad” program called Pathway Family Center.

Pathway Family Center and its staff are not fooled by your online “disagreements” with “WDTony” and know exactly what kind of game you all think you are playing.  You can create as many websites against Pathway Family Center as you wish.  It won’t work.  You are weak and foolish children playing online games and no one is buying it.

You only make yourselves look more idiotic by playing these games.  Leave Pathway Family Centers alone.  You did not close Kids Helping Kids.  It was closed in order to consolidate and strengthen the Indianapolis and Chicagoland facilities.  You may have noticed other successful and good treatment centers, such as Aspen Education Group, have done the same thing in these troubling economic times.  How dare you claim that your actions over the last few years closed down a good program.  It did nothing.  You are weak and you will never achieve anything more than chasing your own tails.

I hope everyone looking for a good program sees how you and your “friends” operate and fool the public with games of argument on your little fornits pages and elsewhere online.  Who cares?  You all look like idiots.  Stop the bullshit and come clean about what you are really up to, you drugged out freaks.  Everyone at Pathway knows you are only trying to make money and give the “finger” to people who’ve done nothing to harm you.  Get over yourselves.

In All Sincerity,

Rusty

Here is a disclaimer on the website: http://pathwayfamilycenter.fornits.com/about/

Disclaimer: This website is not in any way, shape or form affiliated with the organization HEAL(Human Earth Animal Liberation), or any other organization for that matter.

Source: Cincinatti BeaconStraight, Inc. and KHK survivors protest locally

Posted by Media Release

Numerous Straight, Inc. and Kids Helping Kids survivors, along with other concerned activists, traveled from 5 different states and the Greater Cincinnati area to participate in the July 11, 2008 protest in Milford, Ohio. The group protested Kids Helping Kids, a Pathway Family Center (aka Pathway Family Center, PFC and/or KHK), a behavior modification teen treatment facility which is not only the current renamed version of Straight, Inc, it also still uses the STRAIGHT, Inc. treatment modality. 

The protesters’ mission was to express opposition and to educate local residents about the “treatment methods” used by PFC, methods which this group believes pose a substantial risk of harm to children. Specifically, the protesters strongly object to, among other things, the use of coercive thought reform, isolation from parents, peers and society, unlicensed host homes, unqualified peer staff, unnecessary and/or disproportionate punishments, and the denial of basic human rights such as total bathroom privacy. Additionally, the demonstrators are extremely concerned about children having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other serious mental health issues caused by their ordeal in Pathway. Repeated reports to state agencies of systematic abuse and other improprieties have also been ignored for years.  

This protest comes on the heels of the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelming approval of H.R. 6358, The Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008. Recent congressional investigations uncovered thousands of allegations of abuse, neglect and youth deaths in private teen behavior modification facilities in the United States. This legislation aims to protect youth in all private treatment facilities, including Pathway Family Center.

The rocky start of the protest itself did not deter the determined activists from sharing their message. One Pathway official (Monica Mertens, according to Pathway insiders who spoke with protesters) displayed unprofessional conduct by confiscating one of the protestor’s signs. PFC officials also summoned Miami Township police twice. The first time was to remove protesters from the far side of the driveway who occasionally crossed it without blocking incoming traffic. The second time, participants were later told, was an attempt to stop protesters from videotaping the public event. Demonstrators did comply with law enforcement’s request to stay off to the sides of Pathway’s entrance but were never asked to stop filming. In spite of these incidents, the peaceful protest resumed without further confrontation.

At the demonstration itself, protesters carried and displayed numerous signs including “Coercive Thought Reform is Not Treatment,” “KHK Tortured Me,” and “Close PFC Now”. Many drivers showed solidarity either by honking, giving the thumbs up or by shouting “Thank you! My friend (or relative) was in there. This place stinks!” In addition, many passersby stopped, took literature and were given the free DVD set of the congressional hearings and KHK news footage. Even former clients of Straight and KHK, with no previous knowledge of our protests, no prior contact with activist survivors, saw the protest and stopped to speak with survivors. Both supported our efforts.

As the event was winding down, current PFC peer staff/graduates initiated peaceful discussions. At times the talks became a bit heated and emotional. Certainly there was much disagreement. But for the most part, both sides remained civil. 

At the end of the day, the exhausted survivors unanimously agreed that this event was nothing less than a smashing success and felt rejuvenated by the interest from the community. All participants vowed to continue their quest to educate the community about the harmful Straight Inc treatment model used by Kids Helping Kids, a Pathway Family Center. Their mission is to protect children from these harmful treatment methods. 

The protests against Kids Helping Kids, a Pathyway Family Center have now entered their 7th consecutive month.  Photo gallery here.  To those who doubt the effectiveness of protests, click here.  At the very least, it raises public awareness and lets those local to KHK know what is going on in their back yard.  At best, it reaches some on the inside.

Hurrikayne: Where have you protested?

Tony: Kids Helping Kids, Milford Ohio*

(editor’s note: also known as Pathway Family Center)

When?

Friday November 30th, 2007

What was your personal reason for this protest?

At age 14, I was falsely imprisoned in Kids Helping Kids (now a Pathway Family Center), where I spent 21 months in the program. This organization abused, tortured and brainwashed me and has caused severe psychological problems that haunt me to this day.

Six months ago I finally got up the courage to look up some old friends from the program. It had been almost 20 years and the overwhelming shame and guilt had kept me from attempting anything that would remind me of the horrible experience. I proceeded to search online and what I found next was terrible. I found a vast array of information about how my family and I had been lied to and that there were numerous programs associated with almost identical methods of brainwashing. I was in shock for almost a month. I knew instantly that I had to do something. The protest is just one of the many things I have done since.

Were you able to educate anyone about the facility and its mode of operation?

I hope so, I am not finished with this campaign; this protest was only one small step on the long road ahead. Eventually people won’t be able to look away anymore, but this will take time and patience. I hope I am part of the snowball effect in getting people interested.

Do you have additional comments you would like included?

I am happy with what we are doing and will continue to search for better ways to defeat these deceptive programs. I commend everyone else out there who are fighting alongside in spirit. Intelligent, planned protests are needed, along with letters to anyone in positions of authority, to let them know we are out here and not going away. Any actions that are detrimental to this cause may be made out of good intentions but may indirectly be of benefit to the programs.

My advice: Don’t be a detriment by going off half cocked, acting like an idiot and giving the public the appearance that we are a bunch of fanatics. This is a serious issue and should be treated with much forethought. We haven’t gained enough ground to afford any setbacks. I will never give up on this and I encourage everyone else to dig in and prepare for a long fight. I think it is important to recognize those who have been fighting for years without support who have managed to hold things together and lay the groundwork that enables us to do what we are doing.

Hurrikayne:  I have additional questions about your experience in Kids Helping Kids that I’d like you to explain for those who are unfamiliar with the terminology used.  In Part III you stated, “Penny Walker would instruct us to act differently than we would normally in front of the reporter and crew.  We weren’t allowed to ‘motivate’ in front of them, instead we would raise our hands.”  Can you tell us what it means to “motivate”?

Survivor B:  To Motivate is when program clients are required by staff and program rules to flap their arms up and down in a fast motion in order to get called on to talk or relate to other clients in groups sessions. It also is used to gain the respect and trust of the other group members as well as the staff, as a way to move up in the program. If you do not get ‘motivated’ you will not advance to the next level. If you are on a higher level and do not get ‘motivated’ in this way, you will be stood up in ‘group’ by staff and questioned about not being honest, scrutinized about your thinking and motives not only by the staff, but by the whole group and then set back to a lower phase of the program, and often all the way back to first phase, day one. It is called being “started over”.

You have mentioned to me in our many discussions about this topic, that you have arthritis as a result of this practice of ‘motivating’, are there any other lasting physical problems that you are still suffering from?

Yes, I developed arthritis as a young adult in my elbows, as well as my wrists as a direct result of ‘motivating’ when I was a client of Kids Helping Kids. I also have had neck and back problems for years from ‘motivating’ as well; the sheer strain of ‘motivating’ so hard to impress staff and other clients, thrusting my whole body to ‘motivate’ as hard as I could, contributed. The staff at KHK made it like a symbol of status to see who could ‘motivate’ the hardest and the longest and would at times force us to have ‘motivating’ contests.

Very early on in our discussions, you mentioned Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; do you currently suffer any effects as a result of your time in KHK?

Yes, I have suffered from devastating effects as a result from my time in KHK. I have Post traumatic Stress disorder and also Panic disorder. The very organization of their treatment modality is abusive in and of itself in the fact that it causes a child to not self identify anymore (meaning the child loses their self identity within the confines of “the program”). This happened to me because I was put in there right at the stage of development when I was supposed to be finding out who I was and developing my self identity.

The KHK treatment modality does not give the child any room to be ones self because the program requires the child to conform to the programs every whim and abusively strict program rules, even at the foster home, with no relief. The child is threatened to conform by the program in extremely abusive ways, such as being threatened with homelessness, death, insanity, or jail. This particular tactic scared the life out of me, as it did with most others; it is a very harmful tactic because it induces panic and forces one to conform to ideals against their will, under threat to self and personal safety. This type of environment is what causes things like Panic Disorder.  

For people unfamiliar with what Panic Disorder is, the symptoms are as follows: Trouble breathing, chest pains – including tightening of the chest, sweating profusely, dizziness, a sense of feeling not in reality, extreme fear, fight or flight response impaired, fear of crowded places, tingling sensations in random body parts. The effects of Panic Disorder, especially before the person has a name for what is happening to him/her, can be extremely frightening, simply devastating them socially. Untreated Panic Disorder can lead to Agoraphobia, which is the fear of leaving ones home because the person afflicted with Panic Disorder starts associating the panic with every place they go, and therefore eventually concludes that it is just best to stay home out of fear. Obviously this type of panic reaction can have devastating effects on ones life such as job loss, social isolation, extreme stress, relationship troubles etc…

Now to address my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I would say it is very similar to Panic Disorder as far as the fear, but it differs in the fact that with PTSD I have awful flashbacks like I am actually re-living the traumas all over again. I’ve had to work very hard to fight those flashbacks and fight to stay in real time since leaving Kids Helping Kids.

Being physically restrained against your will and being forced into lying about your past traumatizes you, especially when you are still a developing child, as I was at the time. Witnessing other children being hurt, restrained, laughed at, ridiculed and scrutinized on a daily basis traumatizes you as well. It further traumatizes you when staff tell you to look forward, away from the incident, and all you can hear is crying and screams for help from behind you, knowing the whole time you can do nothing because you will be the one crying and screaming next if you try to intervene.

Then there is the guilt that I and others associate with not being able to do a thing to help another child. I live with that guilt everyday, even though I know that there was nothing I could have done. I still wish it had never happened to anyone at all. It created a self loathing in me for a long time, and I suspect in others as well.

Suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has permanently altered my perception of certain things to a degree where it has cost me relationships, jobs and friends. Although I am stable now, I still suffer from a lot of trust issues as well as residuals. My symptoms are fewer now than say, ten years ago, but periodically they flare up. I fight them with courage because I am determined not to ever let the program or those demons win.

The program may have stolen two years of my life, and my self identity for a time, but I took back what was, and is mine inherently, through hard psychotherapy work, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy and a lot of support from family members and friends to recover.

Is there anything good that you were able to take away from your experience in Kids Helping Kids?

 No, it was the worst experience of my life.

Did your parents struggle financially in order for you to attend KHK?

Yes, at that time the program cost them $20,000 USD. They bought a house 5 minutes from KHK, uprooted our whole lives. They also incurred further expenses by fostering program kids in our home (as required by the program) on things such as food and water, electric, laundry.

How was your relationship with your immediate family affected by your experiences in KHK?

The program lied to me, telling me if I would confess what drugs I had done with my brother, and they interviewed him and if he was honest and said the same, then they would let me see him. I told them, and he was honest with them, and they didn’t let me see my brother for a year and a half. It hurt our relationship immensely. We grew apart and we were best friends before that. We didn’t even know each other anymore.

The program stressed my relationship between me and my mother to where we did not talk for awhile. I didn’t feel comfortable letting her know that she had made a mistake by putting me in there for a long time because I knew in my heart that she did not know what had gone on behind closed doors. I waited to talk with her about it when I had decided the appropriate time, place and action to take with her about it.My father and I had never had a good relationship and the program only made it worse. My father was an alcoholic and abusive towards my brother and I before the program, and the strain and pressure of the program just made our relationship worse. We still do not talk to this day. In fact we had an abusive altercation since I have been an adult that landed him in jail and a restraining order in my hand.

How do your parents feel about what has happened to you as a direct result of your time in KHK?

My mother, after years of disagreements, hang up phone calls, and lots of talking hashing things out, me explaining what I witnessed along with things that had happened to me in there, started realizing a little bit of what had terrorized me.  Through lengthy discussions with her, she further started to understand and see how the place had affected me in a negative way in different areas within my life. She also now knows and understands why and how I was brainwashed and also admits that they had her fooled and brainwashed for awhile, as well. She supports and remains interested with my protest efforts against KHK. She supports me speaking out and educating the public about Kids Helping Kids.

My father, however, the last time we did speak, blamed my mother for that place even though he went along with putting me in there, as well.

Are there any other relationships that have been affected by your experience? 

I have chosen to be the loving caring parent to two wonderful children; as I had planned on being when I decided I wanted to be a mom at age 6. I chose to raise my children a bit differently, mainly because there were certain things about how I was raised that needed to change. I do not sweep things under the rug with my children or over shelter them. I also am a big advocate of, and encourage their dreams and right to freedom of artistic expression, as well as their freedom of speech. That has always been my attitude towards life in general, but it has definitely been magnified as a direct result of the process of trying to heal from my time at the program.

I was assaulted by a boss and she had trapped me in her office, blocking the door so I could not leave.  I had a flashback of being locked in the time out room at KHK.  I froze and could not accurately defend myself in all of the ways that I should have at the time, because I panicked inside and froze up.

It takes years to undo brainwashing, especially if it happens to you in childhood like it did to me.  While I was still stepping down and unreeling from the brainwashing I had several romantic relationships, separately but in between the reels.  Three of those people were from the same program and I worked parts of “my program” on all three of them, and they worked theirs on me as well.  By this I mean playing serious mind games just like in the program, but in a different playing field because we were out of the program and trying to re-adjust to reality. Mind games with romantic partners don’t work in the real world if you desire to obtain levels of true intimacy with the one you love. 

Adjusting to regular life after surviving the program is a big ordeal, and tends to leave you feeling relieved to be out, but also very lonely and isolated, with a sense of abandonment.  For me and many others, recovering from the program and attempting to do damage control after being brainwashed is a full time job every day for a period of many years. Any romantic relationship I had immediately following my time at KHK failed miserably because I still needed so much healing to take place within myself, and so did those I was involved with.

It is a common occurrence amongst Kids Helping Kids and behavior modification school survivors to re-learn how to successfully interact with others again because the abuse of the program steals spirits inside children. The abuses calculated with my recovery and healing process from the program, have definitely affected my relations with people in general and caused me to fight an uphill battle with those issues for the rest of my life little by little every day.