View source for World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools

{{short description|Child abuse-related organization}}
{{Infobox organization
| formation                = {{start date and age|1998||}}
| founder                  = [[Robert Lichfield]]
| founding_location        = [[La Verkin, Utah]], US
| purpose                  = Supporting the [[troubled teen industry]]
| headquarters             = 
| location_city            = 
| status                   = 
| key_people               = {{Unbulleted list|Ken Kay [[President (corporate title)|President]]}}
| website                  = http://www.wwasp.com
}}
The '''World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools''' ('''WWASPS''' or '''WWASP''') is an organization based in [[Utah]], in the [[United States]]. WWASPS, founded by [[Robert Lichfield]] and incorporated in 1998, stated that it was an [[umbrella organization]] of the [[troubled teen industry]]. Many outside observers believe,{{Which|date=July 2025}} however, that the WWASPS-affiliated institutions were actually owned through [[limited partnership]]s, many of which have used the same street addresses used by WWASPS, its principal officials or their close relatives.<ref>{{multiref2 |{{Cite web |date=September 20, 2004 |title=Investigation shows troubled school may be buying interest with lawmakers |url=https://www.heraldextra.com/news/2004/sep/20/investigation-shows-troubled-school-may-be-buying-interest-with-lawmakers/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250727064840/https://www.heraldextra.com/news/2004/sep/20/investigation-shows-troubled-school-may-be-buying-interest-with-lawmakers/ |archive-date=2025-07-27 |access-date=2025-07-27 |website=heraldextra.com |language=en-US}} |{{Cite news |last=Hayes |first=Toby |date=2003-07-06 |title=Utah-based school owner banned |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20030706/ai_n11411568/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612132750/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20030706/ai_n11411568/ |archive-date=2011-06-12 |access-date=2025-07-27 |work=Deseret News |language=en |publication-place= Salt Lake City}} |{{Cite news |last=Sullivan |first=John |date=April 15, 2005 |title=Former student alleges months of abuse |url=http://www.unmarriedamerica.org/emancipation/stories/Former_student_alleges_months_of_abuse.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060221074309/http://www.unmarriedamerica.org/emancipation/stories/Former_student_alleges_months_of_abuse.htm |archive-date=2006-02-21 |access-date=2025-07-27 |work=Columbia Daily Tribune}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Szalavitz |first=Maia |date=2006-12-28 |title=The Trouble with Troubled Teen Programs |url=https://reason.com/2006/12/28/the-trouble-with-troubled-teen/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250628045201/https://reason.com/2006/12/28/the-trouble-with-troubled-teen/ |archive-date=2025-06-28 |access-date=2025-07-27 |work=Reason |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="weiner">{{Cite news |last=Weiner |first=Tim |date=2003-06-17 |title=Parents Divided Over Jamaica Disciplinary Academy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/17/world/parents-divided-over-jamaica-disciplinary-academy.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240410235214/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/17/world/parents-divided-over-jamaica-disciplinary-academy.html |archive-date=2024-04-10 |access-date=2025-07-27 |language=en}}</ref>

WWASPS is connected to several affiliated [[for-profit]] companies. These include Teen Help LLC, the marketing arm of WWASPS and the entity that processes admissions paperwork; Teen Escort Service, a [[teen escort company]] that transports teenagers to WWASPS facilities; R&B Billing, which does tuition billing and payment processing;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dahlburg |first=John-Thor |date=July 13, 2003 |title=Key to His Schools' Success? It's God, Founder Says |url=http://cafety.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=305&Itemid=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008190025/http://cafety.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=305&Itemid=2 |archive-date=2007-10-08 |access-date=2025-07-27 |website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> and Premier Educational Systems, LLC (also called Premier Educational Seminars), which conducts orientation and training workshops for parents whose children are in WWASPS facilities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Premier Educational Seminars |url=http://www.premier-ed.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070226151114/http://www.premier-ed.com/ |archive-date=2007-02-26 |access-date=2007-03-11}}</ref> WWASPS claims to have helped over 10,000 students with issues related to personal behavior.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WWASPS Rebuttal website |url=http://wwaspsrebuttal.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805042130/http://wwaspsrebuttal.com/ |archive-date=2018-08-05 |access-date=2008-08-28}}</ref>

Some participants and parents gave positive reports of their experiences, but others say that WWASPS programs were abusive.<ref name="weiner" /> WWASPS has faced widespread allegations of physical and psychological abuse of the teenagers sent into its programs,<ref name="weiner" /> resulting in a lawsuit filed against the organization in 2006.<ref name="25Plaintiffs">{{Cite web |date=October 16, 2006 |title=Troubled Teen Programs - 25 Plaintiffs Join in Lawsuit Against WWASPS, Cross Creek Manor, Robert Lichfield, and Associates – More Expected to Join In |url=https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=22096 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806134440/https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=22096 |archive-date=2024-08-06 |access-date=2025-07-27 |website=WebWire}}</ref> WWASPS officials report that the organization is no longer in business, and the facilities originally under it no longer associate with the name, but because of ongoing [[litigation]], it has not been dissolved.<ref name="BrownAbbeville">{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Kirk |date=December 17, 2010 |title=Abbeville school had role in rise and fall of enterprise for serving troubled teens |url=http://www.independentmail.com/news/2010/dec/17/abbeville-school-had-role-rise-and-fall-enterprise/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614051838/http://www.independentmail.com/news/2010/dec/17/abbeville-school-had-role-rise-and-fall-enterprise/ |archive-date=2013-06-14 |access-date=2025-07-27 |work=Anderson Independent Mail |language=en-us}}</ref>

==Facilities==
WWASPS operated, or was associated with, several facilities in the United States and in other countries. In 2003, there were 2,300 students enrolled in its facilities and programs.<ref name="weiner" /> At one time, WWASPS facilities had [[Tuition payments|tuition]] income of more than $90 million per year (equivalent to ${{Inflation|USD|value=90|start_year=2010}} million in {{Inflation/year|US}}).<ref name="BrownAbbeville" />

In July 2007, World Wide's president, Ken Kay, told the ''[[Salt Lake Tribune]]'' that only two schools remained in the WWASPS network, and that one, Majestic Ranch Academy in Utah, was likely to sever its ties with the organization.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stewart |first=Kirsten |title=Loophole in state law has allowed some in teen-help industry to go unlicensed |url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?itype=NGPSID&id=6385296 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250105070726/https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=6385296&itype=NGPSID |archive-date=2025-01-05 |access-date=2025-07-27 |website=The Salt Lake Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref> In a December 2010 newspaper article, Kay was reported to have said that the organization was no longer in business, but because of ongoing [[litigation]], it had not been dissolved.<ref name="BrownAbbeville" />

Schools and programs currently or formerly associated with the organization include the following:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| '''Name of school'''
| '''In Operation?'''
| '''Location'''
| '''Circumstances/Notes'''
|-
| [[Academy at Dundee Ranch]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=WWASPS Home Page |url=http://www.wwasp.com/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020807230745/http://www.wwasp.com/index.html |archive-date=7 August 2002 |access-date=1 February 2025}}</ref>
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Costa Rica]]
| Raided by authorities on May 22, 2003, after an investigation into child abuse. The property was later purchased by a company looking to turn it into a resort, but as of 2022 the only building remaining at the site is the former OP (solitary isolation) building.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}
|-
| [[Academy at Ivy Ridge]]
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Ogdensburg, New York]], [[United States]]
| Closed in early 2009 due to accreditation issues; the property was sold, but the buildings are still abandoned. Several former students have returned to the campus and found student records, rulebooks and videotapes from the facility's CCTV system. Some of these videos were later uploaded to YouTube.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Watch The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping |url=https://www.netflix.com/title/81579761 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250615160701/https://www.netflix.com/title/81579761 |archive-date=2025-06-15 |access-date=2025-07-18 |website=www.netflix.com |language=en}}</ref>
|-
| Bell Academy
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Terra Bella, California]], [[United States]]
| Shut down in 2003 after issues with state Social Services<ref>{{Cite news |last=Winckel |first=Henry |date=2003-09-26 |title=Bell Academy shuts down |url=https://www.recorderonline.com/bell-academy-shuts-down/article_88740140-5c22-55e9-8c61-5220584c5c75.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250727074435/https://www.recorderonline.com/bell-academy-shuts-down/article_88740140-5c22-55e9-8c61-5220584c5c75.html |archive-date=2025-07-27 |access-date=2025-07-27 |work=The Porterville Recorder |language=en}}</ref>
|-
| Bethel Academy
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Mississippi]], [[United States]]
| Shut down in February 2005 after state officials investigated reports of abuse,{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} also known as Bethel Girls' Academy and Bethel Boys' Academy. The property is currently used by the Watermark Congregational Methodist Church.
|-
| Brightway Hospital
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[St. George, Utah]], [[United States]]
| Closed in 1998 by authorities for providing inadequate care and abuse;<ref name="25Plaintiffs" /> the building is still in operation.
|-
| Carolina Springs Academy<ref name="WWASP">{{Cite web |title=World Wide Association of Specialty Programs |url=http://www.wwasp.com/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020807230745/http://www.wwasp.com/index.html |archive-date=7 August 2002 |access-date=1 February 2025}}</ref>
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Due West, South Carolina]], [[United States]]
| Opened by Narvin Lichfield in 1998 and closed in April 2009 when its license was revoked due to lack of compliance with licensing regulations. The campus was abandoned as of September 2010, but a [[South Carolina]] newspaper reported in December 2010 that a coeducational Christian boarding school would open on the site in 2011.<ref name="BrownAbbeville" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=September 10, 2010 |title=Animal Bones, Carcasses Found At Closed School |url=http://www.wyff4.com/news/24956710/detail.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323010911/http://www.wyff4.com/news/24956710/detail.html |archive-date=2012-03-23 |access-date=2025-07-27 |website=WYFF4}}</ref>
|-
| [[Casa by the Sea]]<ref name="WWASP" />
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Ensenada, Baja California]], [[Mexico]]
| Investigated and shut down by the Mexican government after allegations of abuse; raided by Mexican authorities on September 10, 2004;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Weiner |first=Tim |date=2004-09-26 |title=Mexico Shuts Tough-Love Center |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/26/world/americas/mexico-shuts-toughlove-center.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119162312/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/26/world/americas/mexico-shuts-toughlove-center.html |archive-date=2023-11-19 |access-date=2025-07-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> as of 2022 it was reverted to its original status as a motel run by a local family.<ref name="SanDiegoUT">{{Cite news |last=Dibble |first=Sandra |last2=Cearley |first2=Anna |date=September 11, 2004 |title=Baja raids shut boarding schools for U.S. teens |url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20040911-9999-1m11raid.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050913015224/http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20040911-9999-1m11raid.html |archive-date=2005-09-13 |access-date=2025-07-27 |work=The Union-Tribune |location=San Diego}}</ref>
|-
| [[Cross Creek Programs]]<ref name="WWASP" />
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|Yes]]
| [[La Verkin, Utah]], [[United States]]
| Also known as Cross Creek Manor and Cross Creek Center, originally two facilities separated by gender. When the first location of Horizon Academy was forced to close it moved to the La Verkin property before it was turned into the Three Points Center (a behavioral modification based RTC specializing in adoption issues and [[Reactive Attachment Disorder]]). Three key administrators including founders and directors were Cross Creek therapists;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Magill |first=Jenny |date=2022-03-11 |title=Three Points Center |url=https://www.breakingcodesilence.org/three-points-center/ |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=BREAKING CODE SILENCE |language=en-US}}</ref> The building was later converted into the Zion Inn Hotel, which still operates today. Some areas of the original school were left unrenovated since its conversion into a hotel, and much like the academy at Ivy Ridge, student records are believed to still sit in these areas, which were walled off or otherwise made inaccessible to guests.
|-
| Darrington Academy
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Blue Ridge, Georgia]], [[United States]]
| Closed in March 2009; 90 students were enrolled at the time of closure.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Finnicum |first=Brian K. |date=March 2, 2009 |title=Darrington closes doors |url=http://www.thenewsobserver.com/articles/2009/03/03/news/news02.txt |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20220928115254/https://archive.ph/20120912071718/http:/www.thenewsobserver.com/articles/2009/03/03/news/news02.txt |archive-date=2022-09-28 |access-date=2025-07-27 |work=The News Observer |publication-place=Blue Ridge, Georgia}}</ref> School director Richard Darrington was arrested in May 2009 and charged with battery of two students at the school.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Neufer |first=Scott |date=September 4, 2009 |title=Battery investigation trails Whittell dean |url=http://www.recordcourier.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090904/NEWS/909049977/1062&ParentProfile=1049 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20120329121806/http://www.recordcourier.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090904/NEWS/909049977/1062&ParentProfile=1049 |archive-date=2012-03-29 |access-date=2025-07-27 |work=The Record-Courier |publication-place=Gardnerville, Nevada |quote=According to the Blue Ridge News Observer, Darrington was arrested in May by Fannin County sheriff's investigators for allegedly slamming a 17-year-old student on the floor, causing a tooth to fall out, and pushing a 16-year-old juvenile into a wall. Darrington paid $6,000 bail and was released from jail. He relocated to Nevada, though the charges are still pending.}}</ref> It was converted into a hotel after its use by WWASP, but as of 2022 its status is unknown.
|-
| Gulf Coast Academy
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Lucedale, Mississippi]], [[United States]]
| Formerly known as Eagle Point Christian Academy, located in the previous location of Bethel Girls' Academy and Bethel Boys' Academy. Closed on an unknown date, now the location of Watermark Congregational Methodist Church.
|-
| High Impact
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Tecate, Baja California]], [[Mexico]]
| Investigated and shut down by the Mexican government after allegations of abuse;<ref name="SanDiegoUT" /> its current status is unknown, but some of the buildings remain.
|-
| Horizon Academy
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[La Verkin, Utah]], [[United States]]
| Originally located in [[Amargosa Valley, Nevada]], it was forced to relocate onto the campus of [[Cross Creek Programs|Cross Creek]] after the original location was sold and renamed Northwest Academy in 2013. Its original campus in Nevada continued to operate as Never Give Up Youth Healing Services until 2023, when its license was revoked by the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services.<ref name="nevergiveupclosure">{{Cite news |date=2023-05-02 |title=State closes youth psychiatric facility at center of RJ investigation |url=https://pvtimes.com/uncategorized/state-closes-youth-psychiatric-facility-at-center-of-rj-investigation-121161/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502141040/https://pvtimes.com/uncategorized/state-closes-youth-psychiatric-facility-at-center-of-rj-investigation-121161/ |archive-date=2023-05-02 |access-date=2024-05-30 |work=Pahrump Valley Times}}</ref> 
|-
| Mentor School
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Costa Rica]]
| Closed in March 2011.<ref name="horizonbootcamp">{{Cite web |title=Mentor School |url=http://horizonbootcamp.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207225506/http://horizonbootcamp.com/ |archive-date=2011-02-07 |access-date=2025-07-27}}</ref> Mentor was housed in the former Hotel Carara near [[Tárcoles]] and was headed by Robert Walter Lichfield. There were approximately 20 U.S. teenagers enrolled at the time of closure. It was closed by Costa Rican child welfare authorities on March 18, 2011, following complaints of abuse by parents of enrollees. At the time of closure, it was reported that the program had not been licensed by Costa Rican authorities. Officials who visited the facility reported that "physical, psychological and verbal mistreatment" were "apparent".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Williams |first=Adam |date=April 1, 2011 |title=Parents revile Teen Mentor, others claim program's value |url=http://www.ticotimes.net/News/Top-Story/Parents-revile-Teen-Mentor-others-claim-program-s-value_Friday-April-01-2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510084217/http://www.ticotimes.net/News/Top-Story/Parents-revile-Teen-Mentor-others-claim-program-s-value_Friday-April-01-2011 |archive-date=10 May 2011 |access-date=21 August 2012 |work=Tico Times}}</ref> The property has since been abandoned.
|-
| [[MidWest Academy]]
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Keokuk, Iowa]], [[United States]]
| Purchased in 2003 with funds from Robert Lichfield, closed in 2016 after a federal raid to investigate abuse allegations. The operator of the facility and owner of record, Ben Trane, was convicted December 2017 of sexually and physically abusing students at the school and was sentenced in May 2018 to nine years in prison and will be required to register as a sex offender.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Former Iowa boarding school director sentenced to 9 years for abuse |url=https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2018/05/11/former-iowa-boarding-school-director-benjamin-trane-sentenced-9-years-abuse/602089002/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210804191725/https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2018/05/11/former-iowa-boarding-school-director-benjamin-trane-sentenced-9-years-abuse/602089002/ |archive-date=2021-08-04 |access-date=2025-07-27 |website=The Des Moines Register |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rood |first=Lee |date=2018-05-11 |title=80 sheriff calls in 3 years to Keokuk boarding school |url=https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2016/02/13/80-sheriff-calls-3-years-keokuk-boarding-school/80202780/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210926053000/https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2016/02/13/80-sheriff-calls-3-years-keokuk-boarding-school/80202780/ |archive-date=2021-09-26 |access-date=2025-07-27 |work=DES MOINES REGISTER AND TRIBUNE COMPANY}}</ref>
|-
| Morava Academy
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Brno]], [[Czech Republic]]
|  Opened in 1998 and closed later that year when Czech police arrested its managers and charged them with child torture.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 22, 1999 |title=Too-tough love? |url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/1999/0322/6306112a_print.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041118050909/http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1999/0322/6306112a_print.html |archive-date=November 18, 2004 |access-date=21 August 2012 |work=Forbes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=LeBor |first=Adam |date=November 20, 1998 |title=Czech school accused of torturing pupils |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/czech-school-accused-of-torturing-pupils-1186098.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250403155125/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/czech-school-accused-of-torturing-pupils-1186098.html |archive-date=2025-04-03 |access-date=2025-07-27 |work=The Independent |location=London}}</ref> The managers, Glenda and Steven Roach, are married former police officers from Salt Lake City; they would later go on to open Sunrise Beach in Mexico. After the Roaches' arrest and deportation the facility reverted to being a hotel.
|-
| Never Give Up Youth Healing Services
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[La Verkin, Utah]], [[United States]]/[[Amargosa Valley, Nevada]], [[United States]]
| Opened by Jade Robinson after he left Casa by the Sea, and originally called Horizon Academy, it was forced to move to the former location of the male Cross Creek facility. It was sold to a family who renamed it Northwest Academy and continued to employ many of the former Horizon staff. In 2019, Northwest was closed after it was discovered that the school's water supply was heavily contaminated, but it quickly reopened as Never Give Up Youth Healing Services. Never Give Up Youth Healing Services closed in April 2023.<ref name="nevergiveupclosure" />
|-
| [[Old West Academy]]
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Randolph, Utah]], [[United States]]
| Formerly Majestic Ranch Academy (it changed its name to publicly distance itself from WWASP, but was owned and operated by the same staff members). Closed on an unknown date, website is now inactive. The property currently operates as a vacation/dude ranch named Dot Bar Ranch.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}
|-
|Pacific View Retreat
|[[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
|Mexico
|Pacific View Retreat was a WWASP program located 50 miles south of [[San Diego]] in [[Baja California|Baja]] Mexico.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-10-01 |title=Pacific View Retreat |url=http://www.wwasp.com/pvr-introB.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031001235004/http://www.wwasp.com/pvr-introB.htm |archive-date=2003-10-01 |access-date=2024-08-22}}</ref>
|-
| Paradise Cove<ref name="WWASP" />
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Western Samoa]]
| Shut down by Samoan authorities because an investigation determined allegations of abuse to be credible.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Labi |first=Nadya |date=July–August 2004 |title=Want Your Kid to Disappear? |url=http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/July-August-2004/feature_labi_julaug04.msp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230815213929/https://legalaffairs.org/issues/July-August-2004/feature_labi_julaug04.msp |archive-date=2023-08-15 |access-date=21 August 2012 |work=Legal Affairs}}</ref> After its closure it reopened under the same name as a luxury resort for weddings, but it was later destroyed by a storm and abandoned.
|-
|[[Pillars of Hope]]
|[[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
|[[Costa Rica]]
|After Academy at Dundee Ranch was closed it was reopened under the rebranded name of Pillars of hope<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-02-23 |title=Academy Owner Declared Innocent |url=https://ticotimes.net/2007/02/23/academy-owner-declared-innocent |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250119154731/https://ticotimes.net/2007/02/23/academy-owner-declared-innocent |archive-date=2025-01-19 |access-date=2024-05-07 |website=The Tico Times |language=en-US |quote="In 2004, a new program called Pillars of Hope opened on the property, which is still owned by Lichfield."}}</ref>
|-
| Royal Gorge Academy
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Canon City, Colorado]], [[United States]]
| Closed in October 2008, with remaining youth sent to Red River Academy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zelinger |first=Marshall |date=October 17, 2008 |title=School Shuts Down, Dozens Lose Their Jobs |url=http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=9192964 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/kIDr5 |archive-date=2025-07-27 |access-date=21 August 2012 |publisher=KRDO Radio News}}</ref> The building, formerly known as St. Scholastica Academy, was abandoned for many years before it was purchased and torn down by a real estate developer to build apartments on the site.
|-
| Sky View Christian Academy
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Hawthorne, Nevada]], [[United States]]
| Enrolled about 120 students and employed about 63 staff and teachers, with a total annual payroll of $1.57 million. It was closed abruptly in 2007 after a [[hazing]] incident.<ref name="BrownAbbeville" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=December 2, 2007 |title=Housing slump indefinitely delays Hawthorne project |url=http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007712020348 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20211106063245/https://elkodaily.com/news/local/housing-slump-prompts-postponement-of-major-nevada-development/article_4764e789-b951-5bb7-bd12-89438d697d33.html |archive-date=2021-11-06 |access-date=2025-07-27 |work=Reno Gazette Journal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Henley |first=David C. |date=December 1, 2007 |title=Hawthorne project postponed |url=http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/article/20071201/News/112010049 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130111061633/http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/article/20071201/News/112010049 |archive-date=2013-01-11 |access-date=21 August 2012 |work=Lahontan Valley News}}</ref> Its current status is unknown.
|-
| [[Spring Creek Lodge Academy]]<ref name="WWASP" />
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Sanders County, Montana]], [[United States]]
| Operated from the late 1970s until January 9, 2009; it currently operates as a hotel.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Doran |first=Jamie |date=January 14, 2009 |title=Spring Creek closes its doors |url=http://www.vp-mi.com/articles/2009/01/14/breaking_news/doc496e176b41949364534296.txt |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713095716/http://www.vp-mi.com/articles/2009/01/14/breaking_news/doc496e176b41949364534296.txt |archive-date=13 July 2009 |access-date=21 August 2012 |publisher=Clark Fork Valley Press}}</ref>
|-
| Sunrise Beach
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Cancún]], [[Mexico]]
| Opened by Glenda and Steven Roach after they were deported from the Czech Republic, the facility was raided and closed by Mexican authorities in 1996 over abuse; it currently operates as a hotel.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kilzer |first=Lou |year=1999 |title=Desperate Measures |url=http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/desperate/site-desperate/day3/pg2-day3.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318051520/http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/desperate/site-desperate/day3/pg2-day3.shtml |archive-date=18 March 2009 |access-date=21 August 2012 |work=Denver Rocky Mountain News}}</ref>
|-
| [[Tranquility Bay]]<ref name="WWASP" />
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Treasure Beach]], [[Jamaica]]
| Subject of several documentaries detailing severe abuse; closed in January 2009. The property currently serves the Jamaican Police as a training center after it was briefly used as a COVID quarantine center for people entering the country from abroad.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Green |first=Joanne |date=June 22, 2006 |title=Rough Love |url=http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2006-06-22/news/rough-love/full |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617082907/http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2006-06-22/news/rough-love/full |archive-date=2012-06-17 |access-date=21 August 2012 |work=Miami New Times}}</ref>
|-
| US Youth Services
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Lecompte, Louisiana]], [[United States]]
| Formerly Red River Academy, the school has underwent heavy renovations before becoming US Youth Services. Closed in 2018, the website is now inactive.  A Family Rep and Registered Agent of USYS<ref>{{Cite web |title=Attorney: Father wants to see Lecompte school closed |url=https://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/2016/08/12/attorney-father-wants-see-lecompte-school-closed/88227174/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220409041051/https://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/2016/08/12/attorney-father-wants-see-lecompte-school-closed/88227174/ |archive-date=2022-04-09 |access-date=2025-07-27 |website=The Town Talk |language=en-US}}</ref> then went on to become the administrator of Never Give Up Academy in Nevada.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-19 |title=Youth psychiatric facility faces additional $120K fine |url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/youth-psychiatric-facility-faces-additional-120k-fine-2780326/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250403011107/https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/youth-psychiatric-facility-faces-additional-120k-fine-2780326/ |archive-date=2025-04-03 |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=Las Vegas Review-Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> The property is currently Mercy Behavioral Hospital.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-01-31 |title=Mercy Behavioral Hospital |url=http://www.mercybh.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131055651/http://www.mercybh.com/ |archive-date=2022-01-31 |access-date=2024-03-26}}</ref>
|-
|  Woodland Hills Maternity Home
| [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]
| [[Woodland Hills, Utah]], [[United States]]
| Closed on an unknown date, website is now inactive. As the program was unusual among WWASP programs in that it was run out of a residential house, it may now be a private residence.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}
|-
|}

==Related and spinoff programs and projects==
Some former WWASP personnel have gone on to establish or work at other similar institutions:

In 2005, Robert Lichfield and the Utah-based holding company, Golden Pond Investments Ltd., made an offer to buy the campus of the [[Kemper Military School]] in [[Boonville, Missouri]], to open a new school for adolescents needing help with discipline, responsibility and leadership skills. It was announced that the school would be directed by former WWASP staff member Randall Hinton and his brother Russell Hinton. The Hintons told Boonville officials that the proposed school would not be a part of WWASP.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 11, 2005 |title=Boonville to discuss Kemper proposal: A company involved in the plan has faced abuse allegations |url=http://columbiamissourian.com/news/story.php?ID=13217 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050425231708/http://columbiamissourian.com/news/story.php?ID=13217 |archive-date=April 25, 2005 |access-date=21 August 2012 |website=Columbia Missourian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Sullivan |first=John |date=April 5, 2005 |title=Kemper suitors plan new military school |url=http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/Apr/20050405News002.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070410034112/http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/Apr/20050405News002.asp |archive-date=10 April 2007 |access-date=21 August 2012 |work=Columbia Daily Tribune}}</ref> The Boonville City Council rejected the proposal.<ref name="BrysonFire">{{Cite news |last=Bryson |first=Amy Joi |date=April 21, 2005 |title=Utah-based group under fire |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/print/600128053/Utah-based-group-under-fire.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017160636/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/print/600128053/Utah-based-group-under-fire.html |archive-date=2015-10-17 |access-date=2025-07-27 |work=Deseret Morning News}}</ref>

Randall Hinton later tried to resurrect the WWASP format with a similar chain of schools called Right Directions, but the effort never got past the planning stages. Most likely, this was meant to allow WWASP to retain many of its former properties under a new name with a clean slate, but ostensibly it would have been an entirely new entity.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

Ken Kay was superintendent of Browning Distance Learning Academy, a provider of [[homeschooling]] curriculum.<ref name="BrownAbbeville" /> Its materials were used by Mentor School in Costa Rica.<ref name="horizonbootcamp" /> As of 2022 no other school or homeschooling group has used Browning Distance Learning Academy, and it is assumed the company went bankrupt after Mentor's closure. Browning Distance Learning Academy does not seem to be up and running at this time.

==Controversy==
WWASPS and its associated institutions have been the target of criticism over their treatment methods, including allegations of severe [[child abuse|abuse]] and [[torture]] by staff at programs supported by WWASPS.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Green |first=Joanne |date=June 22, 2006 |title=Rough Love: Kids from South Florida and beyond are sent to Jamaica to straighten up. Or else. |url=http://www.miaminewtimes.com/Issues/2006-06-22/news/feature_full.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061020173054/http://www.miaminewtimes.com/Issues/2006-06-22/news/feature_full.html |archive-date=20 October 2006 |access-date=21 August 2012 |work=Miami New Times |quote="Indeed at least six other WWASPS-affiliated schools and organizations in the United States, the Czech Republic, Western Samoa, Mexico, and Costa Rica have been raided and/or closed during the past decade, following allegations of abuse or questionable practices."}}</ref> The programs have been the subject of legal investigations by several U.S. states.<ref name="BrysonFire" /> In 2003, a reporter for ''[[The New York Times]]'' interviewed 60 current and former program participants and parents; some gave positive reports of their experiences, while other participants and parents said that WWASPS programs were [[child abuse|abusive]].<ref name="weiner" />

A WebWire report on October 16, 2006, stated that children housed in WWASP programs were denied adequate food, denied access to toilets, forced to eat their own vomit, chained in dog cages, and emotionally and sexually abused.<ref name="25Plaintiffs" />

Numerous former students or their parents have filed [[lawsuit]]s against WWASPS, its personnel, or individual schools. Most have been settled out of court or dismissed for procedural reasons. For example, a 2005 lawsuit filed in California on behalf of more than 20 [[plaintiff]]s was dismissed because the judge found that California lacked jurisdiction. In June 2007, Utah attorney Thomas M. Burton told a reporter that six suits he had filed against WWASPS on behalf of his clients had been dismissed on procedural grounds. WWASPS president Ken Kay told an interviewer that lawsuits against WWASPS are ploys to get money, brought by people who "are never going to be happy."<ref name="TheHill" /> A lawsuit filed in 2007 against WWASPS and its founder, Robert Lichfield, on behalf of 133 plaintiffs alleging physical and sexual abuse and fraudulent concealment of abuse brought negative publicity to [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] Presidential candidate [[Mitt Romney]], because Lichfield was one of six co-chairs of the Utah state fundraising committee for Romney's campaign.<ref name="TheHill">{{Cite news |last=Bolton |first=Alexander |date=June 20, 2007 |title=Lawsuits hit a Romney money man |url=http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/lawsuits-hit-a-romney-money-man-2007-06-20.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070625201139/http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/lawsuits-hit-a-romney-money-man-2007-06-20.html |archive-date=June 25, 2007 |access-date=21 August 2012 |work=The Hill}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Szalavitz |first=Maia |date=June 27, 2007 |title=Romney, Torture, and Teens: The former governor's connections to abusive "tough love" camps |url=https://reason.com/2007/06/27/romney-torture-and-teens/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250703033944/https://reason.com/2007/06/27/romney-torture-and-teens/ |archive-date=2025-07-03 |access-date=2025-07-27 |work=Reason Magazine}}</ref>

On several occasions, WWASPS and its principals have responded to criticism by suing their critics. Robert Lichfield sued two individuals associated with the [[International Survivors Action Committee]] (ISAC) for [[defamation]], invasion of his [[privacy]], and causing "intentional interference with 'prospective economic advantage'."<ref name="BrysonFire" /> In May 2005 a [[U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals]] dismissed (on jurisdictional grounds) a defamation lawsuit brought by WWASPS against a [[United Press International]] [[journalism|reporter]] who had done research for a news story about alleged abuse at several WWASPS schools. The reporter was accused of having made defamatory statements about WWASPS to "potential students, former students, parents of potential and former students, an employee of a state agency responsible for licensing a member school, and a Utah attorney who had filed numerous suits against [WWASPS]."<ref>{{Cite Pacer Docket |plaintiff=World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools |defendant=Thomas G. Houlahan |date=2004-02-10 |case-division=2 |case-year=04 |case-type=cv |case-sequence=00107-dak |case-state=UT |case-district=d |use-pacer=no |use-recap=no}} {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120710144732/http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2005/05/04-4181.htm |date=2012-07-10|nolink=1}}</ref>

On August 31, 2007, Randall Hinton was [[conviction|convict]]ed of one count each of third degree [[assault]] and [[false imprisonment]], for mistreating students at the WWASP-affiliated [[Royal Gorge Academy]], of which he was manager and co-founder. However, the [[jury]] returned a verdict of not guilty for four other counts of third-degree assault and one other count of false imprisonment.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 1, 2007 |title=Hinton guilty on two counts: Jury finds Royal Gorge Academy official guilty of assault, false imprisonment |url=http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/default.aspx?tabid=71&pDesc=1017,1,1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071216070411/http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/default.aspx?tabid=71&pDesc=1017%2C1%2C1 |archive-date=16 December 2007 |access-date=21 August 2012 |work=[[Cañon City Daily Record]] |page=A8}}</ref> Hinton was sentenced to jail followed by probation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Harmon |first=Tracy |date=November 20, 2007 |title=Randall Hinton Sentenced to Jail for Bloody Assault on Child |url=https://wwasp.blogspot.com/2007/11/randall-hinton-sentenced-to-jail-for.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250710035546/https://wwasp.blogspot.com/2007/11/randall-hinton-sentenced-to-jail-for.html |archive-date=2025-07-10 |access-date=2025-07-27}}</ref>

In 2010, animals were removed from [[Carolina Springs Academy]] due to neglect and malnourishment. There were also several animal corpses found on the property.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prosecutor ask SLED help in animal cruelty case |url=https://archive.independentmail.com/news/local/prosecutor-ask-sled-help-in-animal-cruelty-case-ep-414038573-349662371.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220505020204/https://archive.independentmail.com/news/local/prosecutor-ask-sled-help-in-animal-cruelty-case-ep-414038573-349662371.html/ |archive-date=2022-05-05 |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=www.independentmail.com |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|United States|Schools}}
* ''[[Help at Any Cost|Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids]]''
* ''[[The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping]]''

==References==
{{reflist|1=2}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book |last=Art |first=Cindy |title=Trapped in Paradise: A Memoir |date=2012 |publisher=CreateSpace |isbn=978-1475192278}}
*{{Cite book |last=Fontaine |first=Claire |title=Come Back: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back |last2=Fontaine |first2=Mia |date=2021 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-079216-9}}
*{{Cite book |last=Scribner |first=Campbell F. |title=Spare the rod : punishment and the moral community of schools |last2=Warnick |first2=Bryan R. |date=2021 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-78567-7 |location=Chicago |oclc=1199329371}}

{{Troubled teen industry}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Wide Association Of Specialty Programs And Schools}}
[[Category:Child abuse-related organizations]]
[[Category:Child care companies]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1998]]
[[Category:Education companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Educational organizations based in the United States]]
[[Category:World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools]]
[[Category:Human rights abuses]]
[[Category:Troubled teen programs in the United States]]
[[Category:Washington County, Utah]]