KIDS of El Paso

KIDS back in business for now

KIDS of El Paso County Inc. opened its doors Friday. ***, chairman of the board of directors for KIDS, said the center was allowed to open at 4:40 p.m. because of a court order modifying a temporary restraining order issued earlier this week which had forced the closing of the... Read more →

Hearing to decide KIDS' fate is put off till Friday in Austin

A court hearing to determine if KIDS of El Paso County Inc. must stay closed has been rescheduled for Friday. The hearing in state district court in Austin had been scheduled for Tuesday. The hearing will determine if a restraining order forcing KIDS to close will remain in effect. KlDS... Read more →

KIDS shuts doors; 90 sent home

Parents' reactions mixed about program's methods KIDS of El Paso County Inc. has shut its doors. About 90 clients of the drug rehabilitation program went home with their parents Thursday night. ***, chairman of the board of directors for KIDS, said the program was complying with a court order issued... Read more →

KIDS defies order to close

The State Attorney General's Office has ordered KIDS of El Paso County Inc. to shut down. But the drug rehabilitation center is not giving up its fight. It remained opened today, claiming the state is being "uncooperative and unjust." ***, the center's attorney in Austin, said she filed a motion... Read more →

State lawyer says KIDS harms clients

xx/xx/xx Hearing on center starts in Austin AUSTIN - KIDS of El Paso terrorizes and brainwashes clients, an assistant attorney general told a judge here this morning. Assistant Attorney General *** said in a hearing that she would produce evidence to show that clients of KIDS of -El Paso County... Read more →

KIDS should use its second chance

xx/xx/xx Too many parents whose children have benefited from the KIDS of El Paso program, Tuesday's lifting of a restraining order that temporarily closed the project was good news. It's good that the injunction has been lifted against this organization that tries to help young people who abuse drugs and... Read more →

Court hearing for KIDS Inc. rescheduled for Thursday

A court hearing to determine whether KIDS of El Paso County Inc. must stay closed has been rescheduled for Thursday. The hearing in state district court in Austin has been rescheduled several times. Read more →

Court closes KIDS of El Paso

The controversial KIDS of El Paso County rehabilitation program bowed to a court order Thursday afternoon and closed. “We're telling parents they need to make alternate arrangements," KIDS spokeswoman *** said. The Texas attorney general ‘s office won a temporary restraining order to close KIDS. Judge *** of the 331st... Read more →

Judge hears KIDS case Thursday

xx/xx/xx District Judge *** will hear arguments in Austin Thursday on whether to allow KIDS of El Paso County to continue operating its embattled drug rehabilitation program in El Paso. Last week, the center closed for one day after a judge ordered it shut down at the request of a... Read more →

State lawyer says KIDS harms clients Hearing on center starts in Austin

xx/xx/xx AUSTIN - KIDS of El Paso terrorizes and brainwashes clients, an assistant attorney general told a judge here this morning. Assistant Attorney General *** said in a hearing that she would produce evidence to show, that clients of KIDS of El Paso County Inc. are emotionally and physically abused.... Read more →

KIDS graduates defend program

Drug treatment center isn’t abusive, just tough, reformed youths say *** remembers walking into the hospital room where her grandfather lay dying. "I was 15. And I was, high on LSD. My grandfather was dying, but he lay there wondering what had happened to his little granddaughter." ***, now 19,... Read more →

Teen trying to escape KIDS hospitalized

A 17-year-old who tried to leave the KIDS of El Paso County rehabilitation program Thursday is in Thomason Hospital's psychiatric ward. *** said he tried to leave his host home on Ashwood Drive in East El Paso at about 9:45 p.m. Thursday. El Paso police Officer *** said two people... Read more →

Parents say KIDS needs changes

Parents who favor a controversial drug rehabilitation center, as well as some who oppose it, say the program needs to improve. KIDS of El Paso County Inc. had its license revoked last week. Attorneys of the 2-year-old program plan to appeal the revocation by June 17 said ***, an Austin... Read more →

Agency says KIDS should lose its license

State investigators recommended Thursday that the license of KIDS of El Paso County, a rehabilitation program, be revoked. The staff of the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse made the recommendation after finding physical abuse, neglect and civil rights violations at the rehabilitation program. KIDS officials have 30 days... Read more →

State Revokes KIDS license

Commission gives rehab center 30 days to appeal A state agency has revoked the license of an El Paso center that runs a rehabilitation program to get youths off of drugs. But KIDS of El Paso County Inc. can continue operating while it appeals the revocation. The revocation is a... Read more →

KIDS to rebut charges alleging it abused clients

A point-by-point rebuttal of a report stating that KIDS of El Paso County Inc. abused clients will be delivered next week to the state agency that made the report. *** of Austin, the lawyer hired to represent KIDS, Friday denied allegations by an investigator from the Texas Commission on Alcohol... Read more →

KIDS denies allegations, says investigation biased

A local drug rehabilitation center that reportedly abuses its clients denies the allegations and calls an investigation of the program biased. Officials with KIDS of El Paso County Inc. filed a rebuttal on Thursday with the Texas Commission of Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Austin. The program responded to allegations... Read more →

KIDS says state unfair, partial

State investigators were not fair and impartial in their reports against the controversial KIDS of El Paso County rehabilitation program, KIDS officials say. In their rebuttal to a recent report by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, KIDS officials allege that the agency's investigators intimidated clients when they... Read more →

KIDS to rebut charges

Officials with KIDS of El Paso County Inc. said today they plan to file a rebuttal next week against charges of physical abuse of their clients. The rebuttal will be given to ***, executive director of the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, in an effort to keep the... Read more →

Report: KIDS still misbehaving

Clients at KIDS of El Paso County Inc. are still being mistreated, and the controversial rehabilitation program could lose its license May 12, a state commission ruled Tuesday. The Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse which has been investigating KIDS since last summer released a 50-page report Tuesday based... Read more →

KIDS could lose license

Official: Center continuing to abuse it’s young patients Young people at a trouble-plagued drug rehabilitation center are still being abused and physically assaulted, a state official said today. This means KIDS of El Paso County Inc. may still lose its license on May 12, the official said. The 2-year-old program... Read more →

Families turn to KIDS to get teens off drugs

There are no "instant miracles" in weaning teenagers from drugs. But several Utah families are hoping that a River Edge, N.J., treatment program with an 80 percent success rate "Kids of Bergen County, Inc." can be established sometime this year in the Greater Salt Lake area and provide another way... Read more →

Investigator charges KIDS Inc. with foul play

xx/xx/xx An El Paso private investigator has alleged in a lawsuit that KIDS of El Paso County Inc. hired him to try to disbar a lawyer. *** filed the lawsuit this week against KIDS, KIDS chairman ***, and three others connected with the program. KIDS is a drug-rehabilitation program for... Read more →

KIDS blight on El Paso

xx/xx/xx EDITOR: Fifteen months later, officialdom has ponderously moved to revoke the license of KIDS of El Paso. In no less than three written reports the public has been told of physical, emotional and psychological abuse on the rampage behind the windowless walls of this torture chamber posing as a... Read more →

KIDS files rebuttal to investigation

KIDS of El Paso County, Inc. officials filed a rebuttal late Thursday to a state agency's investigation that alleged client abuse, KIDS public relations director *** said. Lawyer *** of Austin filed the rebuttal by 5 p.m., but officials in El Paso will not know specific contents until they receive... Read more →

Drug abuse program better reporting

*** February and March articles on charges brought against KIDS of El Paso by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse seemed biased. I sensed an air of condemnation of the program in these articles. When the commissioner's investigator only interviewed kids who were against the program, why didn't... Read more →

Authorities say lawyer harbored runaway from KIDS

An El Paso lawyer and antagonist of the KIDS of El Paso County rehabilitation program has been charged with harboring a teenager who ran away from the program Friday. Judge *** of County Court-at-Law No. 2 said a summons was issued Wednesday for lawyer *** of the 11200 block of... Read more →

Investigators visiting KIDS

State agency seeing whether center is complying with regulations Four investigators are in EI Paso today to examine the operation of a controversial drug rehabilitation center. The team of investigators from the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Austin came to El Paso on Tuesday to see whether... Read more →

KIDS is refused the right to appeal

KIDS of El Paso County Inc. have been refused the right to appeal a license revocation by a state agency. The Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse in February informed the center it would lose its license April 12 unless 56 violations were corrected. According to a press release,... Read more →

KIDS says charges stem from disgruntled patients

A controversial El Paso rehabilitation program's license is jeopardized by complaints "from disgruntled patients making false statements," the program's director said Saturday. KIDS of El Paso plans to appeal a report by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse that threatens to revoke the program's license April 12, KIDS... Read more →

KIDS of El Paso will be forced to shut its doors, lawyer says

"It's likely that KIDS of El Paso Inc. will close in April, said a local attorney who has made several complaints against the program. The Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse recently found that the KIDS of El Paso staff violated 56 of the commission's rules. The program was... Read more →

KIDS of El Paso could lose license

Youth rehab program violates civil rights, state panel says The KIDS of El Paso rehabilitation program will have its license revoked in April unless it treats its clients better, a state commission warned this week. The Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse found physical abuse, neglect, and civil rights... Read more →

Thanks KIDS We couldn't have done it without you.

It's a tough program but getting off drugs isn't easy. We owe our futures to KIDS of El Paso. It helped us get straight. Without the discipline and self-awareness we learned at Kids we would not here today. If you know someone 12 to 21 who has a problem with... Read more →

‘It was a nightmare’

Mother says KIDS used ‘emotional blackmail’ to keep her children There is remorse in *** voice when she talks about how she gave up her only two children to strangers. *** was 13 and *** was 16 three years ago when *** enrolled them in KIDS of Bergen County in... Read more →

Assault charges filed; chase led to Cruces

An 18-year-old woman led police on a freeway chase at speeds up to 100 mph Friday and was charged with aggravated assault with a motor vehicle. *** reportedly was a runaway from KIDS of El Paso, police said. *** was jailed late Friday. Officer *** said, "She tried to swerve... Read more →

Father recalls how drugs turned his son into professional liar

xx/xx/xx Two years ago, ***, a real estate salesman, and his wife, *** found out their 14-year-old son had a drug problem. ***, who requested his sons name not be used, talks about how they discovered their son's drug problem. Their son, now 16, has been in a Kids of... Read more →

KIDS saved her life

xx/xx/xx Editor: My daughter was 35th in her class at Coronado High School, she was a flag girl in the band, had a job at Kentucky Fried Chicken to pay for her band trip to Hawaii, was first in city 400-meter track and field, and was sixth in a city... Read more →

Woman who led cops on chase released from jail over weekend

02/xx/88 An 18-year-old woman who reportedly ran away from the KIDS of El Paso County Inc. program was released during the weekend after being booked into the County Jail on charges of aggravated assault with a motor vehicle. She was arrested Friday on the Westside, and released Saturday, according to... Read more →

Private investigator sues KIDS

Organization sought information to disbar lawyer, suit alleges A private investigator who is suing KIDS of El Paso County Inc. for breach of contract claims program officials hired him to dig tip evidence that would get an unnamed lawyer disbarred. In the suit, investigator *** alleges KIDS never paid him... Read more →

Abuse complaint fades County finds 1 charge against KIDS too weak

One of the complaints against KIDS of El Paso County Inc. that helped put the program in jeopardy was investigated by local authorities, who decided not to prosecute. El Paso police looked into a complaint by ***, 18, who said he was falsely imprisoned at the center. Detectives made no... Read more →

Rehab program cited for 56 violations

A drug-rehabilitation program for teens might have taken its get-tough theory too far. KIDS of El Paso County Inc. will be forced to close its doors April 12 unless they correct 56 violations cited by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, said ***, legal counsel for the Austin-based... Read more →

Mayoral candidate motivated by duty

MADEIRA BEACH - ***, once the guiding hand behind the Straight Inc. drug treatment program and an unsuccessful candidate for Congress, is aiming at a new public job - mayor of Madeira Beach. ***, 49, dropped out of local public affairs more than four years ago when he resigned as... Read more →

Parents glad son entered program

Rehabilitated teenager now a KIDS counselor *** and *** say after they learned their 17-year-old son was hooked on drugs, it was a relief to see him leave the house. ***, now 19, left his Westside home two years ago to enter a program called KIDS of Bergen County in... Read more →

Mother says she witnessed abuses at KIDS

xx/xx/xx 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... Read more →

About KIDS of El Paso

xx/xx/xx EDITOR: With the possible exception of various totalitarian governments common to the Eastern Bloc, I have seldom seen any organization more allergic to critical analysis and examination than KIDS of El Paso and its band of desperate followers. That, perhaps, is because those governments and this organization have so... Read more →

Clinics vary, but basic approach is the same

KIDS of El Paso, P.O. Box 9069 (street address withheld upon request); 772-5437. Average length of stay: 12 to 15 months Price: $600 a month. KIDS of' El Paso - an offshoot of the highly successful KIDS of Bergen County, N.J., clinic - is big on tough love. The five-phase... Read more →

SPECIAL REPORT: KIDS of El Paso Inc.

KIDS gets tough with youngsters KIDS of El Paso is stopping kids from destroying themselves, say program advocates. Some people disagree. They suggest KIDS of El Paso itself is destructive. KIDS of El Paso County Inc. opened in February 1986. Since then, it's been diagnosing and treating adolescents ages 12... Read more →

KIDS Inc. elects new board officers

KIDS of El Paso County has elected new board officers and board members for 1987-88. KIDS of El Paso is a private, non-profit organization that diagnoses and treats adolescents who have drug and alcohol abuse problems, eating disorders and other behavior problems. The new board of trustee officers are: ***,... Read more →

Adults help kids battle drug abuse

Honesty, not ridicule, is first rule Teenagers can be turned from drug users to drug fighters if parents, teachers, and the kids stop fooling, themselves and confront their problems. That's what *** learned at Charles Junior High School in Northeast El Paso. When he became principal of' the school of... Read more →

Inquiry of drug center is on again

An 18-year-old El Paso man who claimed he was held against his will at a drug rehabilitation center told prosecutors he did not want to pursue the case, but later changed his mind and said he did, County Attorney *** said. *** left the KIDS of El Paso County Inc.... Read more →