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World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools

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Organization associated with the troubled teen industry

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World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools
Formation1998; 28 years ago (1998)
FounderRobert Lichfield
Founded atLa Verkin, Utah, US
Key people
Websitehttp://www.wwasp.com

The World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS or WWASP) was a Utah-based organization that operated a network of behavior modification programs and boarding schools for teenagers. Founded in 1998 by Robert Lichfield, the organization was associated with the troubled teen industry and operated facilities in the United States and several other countries.

History

Expansion

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 WWASPS staff member Randall Hinton and his brother Russell Hinton. The Hintons told Boonville officials that the proposed school would not be a part of WWASPS.[1][2] The Boonville City Council rejected the proposal.[3]

Decline and closure

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.[4] 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.[5]

Some former WWASPS personnel have gone on to establish or work at other similar institutions:

Ken Kay was superintendent of Browning Distance Learning Academy, a provider of homeschooling curriculum.[5][6] Its materials were used by Mentor School in Costa Rica.[7] 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 abuse and torture by staff at programs supported by WWASPS.[8] The programs have been the subject of legal investigations by several U.S. states.[3] 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 abusive.[9]

Numerous former students or their parents have filed lawsuits 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 plaintiffs 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."[10] A lawsuit filed in 2007 against WWASPS and its founder, Robert Lichfield, on behalf of 133 plaintiffs alleging physical and sexual abuse and fraudulent conceallment of abuse brought negative publicity to Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, because Lichfield was one of six co-chairs of the Utah state fundraising committee for Romney's campaign.[10][11][12]

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'."[3] 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 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]."[13]

On August 31, 2007, Randall Hinton was convicted of one count each of third degree assault and false imprisonment, for mistreating students at the WWASPS-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.[14] Hinton was sentenced to 25 days in jail followed by one year on probation.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Boonville to discuss Kemper proposal: A company involved in the plan has faced abuse allegations". Columbia Missourian. April 11, 2005. Archived from the original on Apr 25, 2005. Retrieved Aug 21, 2012.
  2. ^ Sullivan, John (April 5, 2005). "Kemper suitors plan new military school". Columbia Daily Tribune. Archived from the original on Apr 10, 2007. Retrieved Aug 21, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Bryson, Amy Joi (October 17, 2015). "Utah-based group under fire". Deseret Morning News. Archived from the original on Oct 17, 2015. Retrieved Jul 27, 2025.
  4. ^ Stewart, Kirsten (July 16, 2007). "Loophole in state law has allowed some in teen-help industry to go unlicensed". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on Jan 5, 2025. Retrieved Apr 27, 2026.
  5. ^ a b Brown, Kirk (December 17, 2010). "Abbeville school had role in rise and fall of enterprise for serving troubled teens". Anderson Independent Mail. Archived from the original on Jun 14, 2013. Retrieved Jul 27, 2025.
  6. ^ "Home". browningacademy.org. Archived from the original on Dec 9, 2008. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
  7. ^ "Mentor School". Archived from the original on Feb 7, 2011. Retrieved Jul 27, 2025.
  8. ^ Green, Joanne (June 22, 2006). "Rough Love: Kids from South Florida and beyond are sent to Jamaica to straighten up. Or else". Miami New Times. Archived from the original on Oct 20, 2006. Retrieved Aug 21, 2012. 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.
  9. ^ Weiner, Tim (June 17, 2003). "Parents Divided Over Jamaica Disciplinary Academy". The New York Times. ISSN 2165-1736. OCLC 3638237. Archived from the original on Apr 10, 2024. Retrieved Jul 27, 2025.
  10. ^ a b Bolton, Alexander (June 20, 2007). "Lawsuits hit a Romney money man". The Hill. Archived from the original on Jun 25, 2007. Retrieved Aug 21, 2012.
  11. ^ Szalavitz, Maia (June 27, 2007). "Romney, Torture, and Teens: The former governor's connections to abusive "tough love" camps". Reason Magazine. Archived from the original on Jul 3, 2025. Retrieved Jul 27, 2025.
  12. ^ Haugen, David M.; Musser, Susan (2012). Discipline and Punishment. Teen Rights and Freedoms Ser. New York, NY: Greenhaven Publishing LLC (published September 7, 2012). ISBN 978-0-7377-6649-3.
  13. ^ World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools v. Thomas G. Houlahan (Docket Report), D.U.T., February 10, 2004, no. 2:4-cv-00107-dak "04-4181 -- World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools v. Houlahan -- 05/10/2005". Archived from the original on Jul 23, 2011. Retrieved Dec 19, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. ^ "Hinton guilty on two counts: Jury finds Royal Gorge Academy official guilty of assault, false imprisonment". Cañon City Daily Record. September 1, 2007. p. A8. Archived from the original on Dec 16, 2007. Retrieved Aug 21, 2012.
  15. ^ Harmon, Tracy (November 20, 2007). "School director gets 25 days in assault case". Retrieved Apr 27, 2026.

Further reading

  • Art, Cindy (2012). Trapped in Paradise: A Memoir. CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1475192278.
  • Fontaine, Claire; Fontaine, Mia (2021). Come Back: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-079216-9.
  • Scribner, Campbell F.; Warnick, Bryan R. (2021). Spare the rod : punishment and the moral community of schools. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-78567-7. OCLC 1199329371.
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