A Texas Father's True Story

"It all started when my son was born (10/07/84), him aging and me fermenting."

In May of 2002 I had just about had enough of the lies, arguments and late night worries with our son. Ryan was 17 at this point and going through the same aging techniques many of us chose in our lives. The school of hard knocks combined with a destructive path escalating out of control. Ryan had been diagnosed as ADD at twelve years previous to his junior year. However the latest symptoms did not indicate ADD behavior. His behavior had now turned into disgruntled child. We as parents could see his grades dropping, the attitude changes, mood swings, etc. He was just starting to experiment with marijuana and chasing that with alcohol.

As a parent, I've always wanted the best for my children. And as parents who were raising three children, they had the best I could afford. The way I was raised and with my values, my goal was to provide modern society with a young man, who was accountable for his actions and could survive in today's economy. We have achieved that mark with our oldest daughter this past September. However, with Ryan, we were having difficulties. His disrespect and lackadaisical attitude towards everything and everyone had us concerned.

Our search began. I contacted local and state agencies, as well as private facilities within our financial range. Because of his age & being six months from turning the magical age of "18", any local or state treatment facilities were out of the question. All of them basically stated; "he was to close to becoming of legal age." I then increased our search nationwide. Again, I was informed, because of his age, no one wanted to take on the task of a soon to be legal adult.

Then, I stepped up our search to the Internet and found the World Wide Association of Specialty Schools (WWASPS). I couldn't help but find them they were with every search term I typed in. I also realized that they owned so many different URL's, as every toll free number I dialed, they answered! That should have been my red flag, but I was desperate enough to believe anything and discard red flags. All of a sudden the telephone was ringing, the emails started to pop up, etc. I was informed that they had a special school for every child in need. I sat down with Ryan, informed him of our plans and he was not receptive of the idea. Once he saw the school was in Mexico, he really didn't like the concept. However, once we received the marketing literature & brochures, he was curious. We too could not believe that such programs existed without any prior knowledge on our part. After a couple of weeks, we as a family, Ryan included, decided that he would be willing to try this at least until he was "18". Casa By The Sea here we come! We flew out to San Diego, California and had a mini vacation prior to our beautiful drive down the Mexican coast. When we pulled up, Ryan, stated, "I can't believe you are going to leave me here." "This place is a dump," not actually a club med but it had potential. The price, we were paying nearly $3,000 per month. Not to mention the $2,000 administration fees, and the $295 for uniforms, and the $95 a month for incidentals, $35 for a physical, $50 for a visa, etc. Total over two months was approximately $15-20K, including expenses. So much for a less expensive program as reality is, the costs add up like a Wal-mart receipt.

The marketing glossy brochures and video's, depicted children swimming on the beach, horseback riding, being able to work in the local town, fishing, snorkeling, group therapy, onsite counselors, etc. They lied, it's on the water, but the cliff to dive into it, would most likely kill your child. Snorkeling? Who are they kidding! Fishing? Dream on children. Group Therapy? Where is the therapist? Counseling? Oh, you wanted counseling? Not included, please pay more.

The therapy that is included consists of your dysfunctional child sitting with my problem child and his delusion of earth as it is to him discussing 25 other messed up children's problems in a group. I wonder why my insurance is having a problem covering this one? The family Representative (FR) / Therapist (not a real therapist) is a person who I understand receives less than minimum wage, and not licensed. For the most part a poorly paid babysitter with your child being their only income. The FR's job is to inform the parents to disregard the letters your child is sending you. Everything he is writing about does not or did not happen. During this time, everyone from "the program" is constantly telling you to hurry up and get to the Resource Realizations seminars. Another form of misrepresentation, now the blinders are in place. The seminars are basically everything I have been through as businessman with the exception that they "Act" like they are therapists. The seminar is to make you aware of why you messed your child up. Then they attempt to change your lifestyle forever. I personally think they change your lifestyle by soaking your bank account. I think humiliating people in front of others is simply not appropriate. Making people cry, telling them they should blame their parents for the way they have been raised, in your face until you disclose some deep dark secret. The worst part was when a facilitor (who is not a qualified therapist) tells the parents to go to Hawaii (or any trip) and send your child a postcard, "Having a great time without you." Now that was an eye opener. I will disclose to anyone, how I love my parents and they did the best they could with what they had. Look at me, I'm not a model citizen, but I do know the difference between right and wrong. I forgot to mention the end of the seminar, they sales pitch about signing up others to defer your expenses. Pyramiding, I believe, is the correct term, at your child's expense. For every parent I could refer in, they would give me a free month of tuition. If Ryan is already home, I would receive $1000.00 for each referral in. Sounds like an Amway pyramid to me. I believe it is worse, since children are involved.

The seminars are design to teach accountability. Who was accountable for watching over my son in Mexico? A drunk? The night watchman reeked of alcohol. How do I know? Ryan knows his beer. No, I am not proud of that, but realistically, that is why I sent my son to Casa By The Sea to stop him from starting to drink. Now, they place a man who does not speak our language, add alcohol and place my son in his care. Ryan was capable of hanging out with drunks in Texas and he failed Spanish. Boy, did I ever make a valid point with him on this decision.

The food, what there was of it, was not fit to feed to animals. Ryan lost about 20 pounds while residing at Casa By The Sea. Please understand Ryan was under weight prior to entering. He was hungry all of the time, then given categories and worksheets for eating someone else's food that they didn't want. Punishment for eating? My son returned home underweight and I paid near $3000.00 per month? It was clear to me this is not the place for my son or any human in my opinion. However his FR would continue to inform us everything is going fine with Ryan.

Everything I was hearing, smelling, tasting, seeing was all adding up to a very bad situation. I believe their term for this is "pigs chattering." Well my pig wasn't buying into this scam any more. So I removed Ryan in late August of 2002. We traveled to Casa By The Sea unannounced and picked up our son. The school wasn't thrilled we were there. Ryan was elated to see us, underweight and glad to be going home. His biggest regret when we were leaving was worrying about two students who had grown up at this facility. The two boys, ages 13 & 14, had been there 36 & 24 months, respectively. That is truly sad, and I feel the parents should put themselves there to understand the depth of agony they suffer. If you really don't want to be parents, give your children to a relative or even a ward of the state. At least then they would get an education and food. Many parents are paying thousands of dollars for this deluxe (and that is a very loose word) babysitting service.

The Director of this program, Mr. Dace Goulding, continued to inform us that he had nothing to hide. Mr. Goulding also personally stated that we would receive a full refund. Did I mention that this is on tape? Mr. Goulding knows he said it, my wife heard it, another adult who traveled with us heard it, my son heard it. After returning to the United States, Mr. Goulding developed convenient amnesia, and he instructed me to contact their headquarters in Utah. Now I thought I was making some progress. I was speaking with the man in charge, Mr. King Kay. Mr. Kay also informed me I would get a full refund, if I signed a settlement agreement. After further discussions, Mr. Kay decided I was not entitled to a full refund and expenses unless I signed his "confidentiality agreement." That was his settlement agreement, "keep my mouth shut about our findings, our recordings (tapes), and the facts that they fully misrepresented us as they are doing to many others." Obviously I decided not to sign any such agreement, as I believe parents need to know what is going on. Freedom of speech is our First Amendment, and when children are involved, I will shout it from the roofs. I am fortunate to be in a spot that I did not have to sign the agreement, as I believe many have, since they were striped of their savings.

That is where we are today, I have obtained legal council and will be filing a lawsuit against everyone involved with this organization of what I believe to be con men, thieves and liars. This merry band of so-called religious people, are raping families of life savings to warehouse their children. What a big mistake I made concerning my son's health and welfare. Our family is currently in licensed counseling and progressing towards a happy means.

I would recommend anyone who is contemplating placing a child in a WWASPS facility, to do your homework! Don't believe everything you hear, and remember those reference parents they give you may also have a hidden agenda. They are part of the pyramiding referral ladder. This has been a very learning experience for our entire family. Again, please do major research prior to placing your child in a warehouse for others to raise.

If you have any questions or comments, I welcome you to contact me via the number below. I do have all documents, tapes and evidence to back up my story. I do know there are many parents that fall for their tactics, and for this, I am sorry. If you are currently involved with WWASP, please disregard my story, or if you desire, do your homework. This is a factual story of our experiences and opinions.

LeeColburn@comcast.net

Casa by the Sea was shut down in the fall of 2004 due to allegations of abuse and neglect.

It is believed that Dace Goulding is currently residing in Georgia and assisting with a new program called Darrington Academy. Although they claim they are not affiliated with the WWASPS organization, it seems WWASPS marketing websites advertise Darrington Academy. In our opinion, it is very questionable.