1984
M*ll*r N*wt*n opened KIDS of Bergen County in Hackensack, New Jersey. This was the first in a plan of an international franchise of 25 or more facilities across the United States and Canada. KIDS of El Paso even had Mexican national children as part of a possible plan for a facility based in Mexico. Allegations of abuse in KIDS of Bergen County were soon to follow.
July 1985
West Side El Paso families organized and teenagers were sent to the New Jersey KIDS program to form the pilot group that would later relocate to El Paso, Texas.
November 1985
KIDS of El Paso Inc. broke ground at 6500-K Boeing Drive in El Paso, Texas.
February 1986
KIDS of El Paso opened with 19 teens flown to El Paso on a chartered plane from the New Jersey KIDS program.
March 1986
KIDS was licensed (#285) as a treatment facility by the Texas Commission of Alcohol and Drug Abuse.
August 1986
New Jersey prosecutors investigate KIDS of Bergen County in New Jersey for "possible mistreatment of participants, people being held against their will, intimidation, and possible physical abuse."
40 male and 30 female teens were enrolled in the KIDS of El Paso program at this time and only one person had been pulled by their parents to date.
January 1987
106 teens were reportedly enrolled in the program at this time, 4 had quit.
March 1987
An eighteen year-old was released from KIDS when police obtained a search warrant and escorted him from the building after they received a report that he was held in the program against his will for three months. The allegations were investigated by the El Paso Police Department Crimes Against Persons and Intelligence Divisions.
A complaint was filed with the Texas Department of Human Services regarding the eighteen year-old and his sister being held in the program involuntarily. The complainants sister was seventeen years of age the time.
KIDS was inspected for annual license renewal. Relicensure was delayed pending the results of the investigation.
April 1987
The eighteen year-old that was released from KIDS requested all charges filed be dropped out of fear that the charges would prohibit his sister from being permitted to leave the program.
A second report was filed by a teen's great-grandmother alleging abusive conditions. This complaint was not referred to TCADA, as the complainant did not reflect first hand knowledge of many of the allegations.
An El Paso attorney and Texas DHS filed two complaints against KIDS of El Paso with the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.
May 1987
A third complaint was filed with TCADA from Texas DHS which was based on a report filed with the El Paso Police Department that alleged a fifteen year-old teen was dropped, restrained on the floor, and tortured methodically so as to not leave visible marks. This complaint was made by the teen after he ran from the program. A DHS caseworker interviewed the teen and determined he did not need to be removed from his parent's custody or from the program.
TCADA initiated a formal investigation on KIDS of El Paso to include the first visits to the program by state investigators.
KIDS initiated several fundraising events including a phon-a-thon and a rummage sale.
June 1987
The eighteen-year-old that filed the original complaint requested that the investigation be continued. The El Paso County District Attorney took a special interest in the case at this time because of the teen's indecisiveness. The attorney was quoted as saying "I'm not going to pursue those charges unless I am absolutely certain. If I charge them with false imprisonment, they are through." The attorney later decided not to prosecute saying that the teen gave a different version of his story and he found nothing to corroborate the allegations.
July 1987
KIDS of El Paso elected new board officers and members.
September 1987
Public praise of KIDS was published in newspaper testimonials by parents and graduates of the program. KIDS of El Paso ran anti-drug advertisements in the same local papers that contained editorials calling the program a cult.
October 1987
TCADA investigators made their second visit to KIDS of El Paso.
January 1988
TCADA found that KIDS of El Paso was in violation of 56 rules and regulations. The Commission reported that KIDS would be forced to close its doors in April if it did not correct the deficiencies.
Six teens ran from the program in 1987.
February 1988
A group of parents united to hire a private investigator to gather evidence to disbar a local attorney that had a special interest in the KIDS case. The investigator was also hired to find a teen that ran from the program. The investigator later filed a lawsuit against KIDS of El Paso for breach of contract because the group of parents did not pay the investigator a $1,500 retainer or provide him with promised information. The investigator reportedly sought $50,000 in damages.
A KIDS teen was arrested after running away from the program and stealing her mother's car. The teen reportedly rammed police, ran an eighteen-wheeler off the road, and drove at speeds over 100 mph in a station wagon to avoid returning to the program. The teen lost the police in the pursuit but was later arrested after locking herself in the vehicle.
March 1988
KIDS attempted to file an appeal to the allegations, but was informed that they would have to await the findings of a follow-up unannounced inspection. This was because an administrative appeal could only be made after the license was actually revoked.
KIDS made the first public statement about the allegations stating that they were "from disgruntled patients making false statements."
Four TCADA investigators made an unannounced follow-up visit and interviewed teens, staff, and board members about the program.
KIDS submitted their clinical manual to TCADA for review. After investigating, TCADA found that the clinical manual was merely a copy of the manual for KIDS of Bergen County.
KIDS of Southern California opened in Yorba Linda, California. 21 teens and staff left the El Paso program on a chartered plane to start the new program.
April 1988
An attorney involved with the effort to close KIDS of El Paso was charged with harboring a runaway teen that escaped from the program. The attorney denied the charges and filed a police report against the teen for stealing a gun from his home. The teen stated that he felt he needed the gun for protection from people in the program that were looking for him. The gun was later returned and charges were dropped.
May 1988
Investigators reported that the program failed to correct the 56 deficiencies and that the program could be closed in the following week. The program had 100 teens enrolled at this time and 25 graduates according to a 222-page report filed the Commission.
KIDS called the investigation "unfair, partial, and biased" and stated that teens were intimidated by investigators that were "only looking for the negatives."
KIDS of Southern California was notified by the State of California Health and Welfare Agency that they were in violation of California law by operating without a license.
June 1988
State Investigators recommended that KIDS license be revoked on the grounds of physical abuse, neglect, and civil rights violations. KIDS had thirty days to appeal the recommendation.
A teen tried to escape a host home on the East Side and was discovered by El Paso Police Department while restrained. The teen was later taken to Thomason General Hospital's Psychiatric Unit.
TCADA revoked KIDS license stating that the program could remain open while in the appeals process. This is the first time in the history of the state agency that they have taken such an action against a facility.
The Texas Attorney General filed a restraining order to close KIDS and scheduled a hearing to determine if the closure would become a permanent order. The Chairman of the KIDS Board of Directors was quoted as saying, "The Commission is harassing us."
KIDS defied the order to close. The program remained open saying that the state was being "uncooperative and unjust". A spokesperson for the Texas Attorney General's office said, "If they violate the court order, they could end up in jail." The attorney for the program was later quoted as saying, "Unless I get a hearing, I may have to advise my client to close."
KIDS gave in to the order and shut it's doors. 90 were sent home after a temporary injunction to close the program was filed. During this time there were slight modifications in the manner in which KIDS conducted business. Oldcomers were called "friends," host homes were referred to as "houses," etc. Teens on the first phase of the program still went home with teens on higher phases. On the following day, group met in a privately owned warehouse. The group played games, sang songs, and had loosely structured raps until they returned to the building later that afternoon.
The KIDS group returned to the building the day after it shut its doors because of a court order by a different judge that modified the previous injunction closing the program. The new order allowed the program to continue to operate until the conclusion of the hearing on the restraining order.
Three teens fled the program during the time the program was officially closed.
The Texas State Assistant Attorney General used the words "terrorizes and brainwashes" when referring to how KIDS treated clients.
A State Senator is hired as legal counsel to represent 60 teens and their families that desire to stay in program.
Testimony in the state capital, Austin, Texas, regarding the future of the program continued. A prominent psychiatrist stated that KIDS techniques "can destroy a person's ego making it difficult to rebuild? running the risk of treatment changing to a cult."
Testimony against the program included a statement by a former teen that described an incident where she was "forced to push another teen's face in a bag containing feces because the teen had defecated on the carpet?We all shoved her face in it and even had her take her pants off and were told to put a diaper on her."
A psychiatrist testified as an expert witness stating that "KIDS makes patients dependent on the program rather than drugs" which he called "very similar to a cult."
Headlines in El Paso newspaper read "KIDS called harsher than prisons."
Backers stand behind program lending financial and moral support by publishing pro-program editorials in local newspapers. Backers of the program at this time included prominent El Paso civic and business leaders including the mayor, the publisher of the local newspaper, real estate developers, physicians, pilots, county court at law justices, and high profile advertising executives.
KIDS Centers of America founder testified in defense of the program stating that the problems had been identified and corrected. After 2 1/2 days of testimony, a judge ruled that KIDS could remain open until a thorough investigation was completed. The judge stated that the testimony presented was not sufficient to convince him that the program posed immediate harm or irreparable damage to anyone.
The program alleged no intakes had been admitted since April and that the program had a $28K monthly deficit.
An 18 year old former KIDS of El Paso teen requests that a judge invalidate her will that would leave KIDS $200,000 of a 1.7 million dollar trust fund that was established for her. The will was reportedly notarized by a KIDS business manager and was witnessed only by KIDS staff members.
July 1988
The Executive Director of TCADA warned the program that the battle was not over and that they would still continue the effort to revoke KIDS license.
Editorials by attorneys against KIDS published in El Paso newspapers use the word "evil" describing the program and stated that "the methods used divert a child's dependence from drugs to the program precluding the child's viability as an independent thinking and psychologically healthy adult." Other published editorials in favor of the program read "At least KIDS does things that the parents didn't have the guts enough to do, or didn't care enough to do. Anyone who thinks you can reverse a drug problem by being a weak-kneed pantywaist is a jackass."
Former KIDS of El Paso teen and her father battle in court over a 1.7 million-dollar trust fund.
October 1988
A former El Paso Police Department Detective, fired for off duty involvement with troubled juveniles, was charged with harboring an underage runaway teen from the program. The ex-detective worked as a private investigator with an interest in closing the program.
An ex-KIDS of El Paso teen was frequently in the news involved with a battle to win a 1.2 million-dollar inheritance from her father who still supported the program.
Spring 1989
In an administrative hearing, the Commission agreed to reinstate KIDS license for one year providing it complied with standards established by the Commission.
October 1989
KIDS announced that it was forced to close its doors over financial trouble. The program filed chapter 7 bankruptcy. It was reported that 20-25 teens were bussed to Salt Lake City KIDS program and the rest went to the New Jersey program. KIDS Centers of America National Clinical Director is quoted as saying "Kind of sad, it got nit-picked to death and the financial toll was too great," regarding the closure of the El Paso program.
The former El Paso Police Department detective previously charged with harboring a KIDS runaway stated that he would represent 25 former KIDS of El Paso teens in a federal class action lawsuit that alleged civil rights violations.
More than 500 companies reportedly file claims totaling over $225,000 against KIDS of El Paso which was filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy claiming only $86,000 in assets.
1989
KIDS of Southern California was closed by the state and re-opened as STRAIGHT Southern California.
1990
KIDS of Bergen County moves to Hudson County New Jersey and changes its name to KIDS of North Jersey after an expose airs on television
February 1990
A private detective claiming to initiate a class action lawsuit against the program was arrested for "commanding a gang of young auto thieves and drug dealers; mostly former clients of KIDS of El Paso." The detective was an outspoken critic of the program and served on the El Paso Police Department from 1972-1987 before he was ultimately terminated for discipline reasons. He was also arrested in 1988 for harboring a runaway of the KIDS of El Paso program, and a month later was arrested again for assaulting a 13 year-old Sunland Park boy. According to other reports, the detective was initially terminated from the El Paso Police Department in 1979 for sexual misconduct with several Juarez children before being reinstated with the Department at a later time.
September 1990
A notice of proposed sale is issues by a clerk of the United States Bankruptcy Court regarding the proposed sale of KIDS of El Paso "panels, chairs, chair frames, carpet, clothes, and other theater items."
July 1990
KIDS of Salt Lake City in Utah closed it's doors and re-opened the same day under the name Life-Line and added the adjunct treatment modality of psychotropic medication to the therapeutic community model. Life-Line continues to operate treating adolescents with substance abuse disorders.
August 1990
STRAIGHT Southern California, formerly KIDS of Southern California closed its doors amidst allegations of child abuse and its teens were relocated to STRAIGHT Dallas.
1990
A former understudy of N*wton's opened a KIDS spin-off program in Calgary. Dr. D**n V**s* opened the Alberta Adolescent Recovery Center, or AARC, which continues to operate today treating adolescents with substance abuse disorders
October 1991
STRAIGHT Dallas which included group members of the former KIDS/STRAIGHT of Southern California closed its doors.
March 2001
The first of many lawsuits against the program was settled out of court for 4.5 million dollars. A total of over 11 million dollars since March of 2001 has been reportedly paid to ex-KIDS teens secondary to litigation pursuits.
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