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EDITOR'S Note A woman, whose 16 old daughter was a client of KIDS of El. Paso until Thursday' talks about the relief she felt when she learned the program was ordered to close. She spoke on the condition that her name not be printed. I am glad it's happening. I witnessed some of the abuses that went on in the program. My child will be back home and I'll be able to find out firsthand what's been going on with her life know that there were things going on in the program that shouldn't have been allowed to happen. I witnessed a lot of abuse. My daughter was in the program about a year. She did alcohol and had tried pot a couple of times. I’m glad the government got involved and closed them down. This way all the kids can still be friends. I hadn't taken her out of the program because I was afraid. Kids who were pulled out of the program by their parents were told to the (KIDS) staff “You will die, you will go out on the street, do drugs and die.” We (parents) were not allowed to talk about the program. They (KIDS staff) call it 'talking behind backs,' and you were terminated from the program if you were caught. You would lose every one of your friends, and your child would lose her support group. It was the most horrible situation. We were not allowed to talk to parents and kids who had been terminated from the program. We were accused of trying to sabotage the program. This way, with the program closing, at least we can keep our friends.
