Academy at Dundee Ranch

Academy at Dundee Ranch was a behavior modification facility for United States teenagers, located on La Ceiba Cascajal, 10km West of Orotina, province of Alajuela, Costa Rica. It was promoted as a residential school, offering a program of behavior modification, motivational "emotional growth seminars," a progressive academic curriculum, and a structured daily schedule, for teenagers struggling in their homes, schools, or communities.^[1]

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The facility was associated with World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASP).

In May 2003, the facility was shut down by the authorities in Costa Rica due to claims of child abuse, and investigated the school and its managers. The facility reopened in 2004 as Pillars of Hope.

Controversy

There were claims from both parents and detainees about food being withheld as punishment ^[2]. Former students complain of emotional scars due to their stay there ^[3].

A judgment in Louisiana caused Costa Rican authorities to investigate the facilities ^[4]. A riot occurred at the facility in May 2003 ^{[5] [6]}, leading to its closure. Reportedly the Costa Rican immigration authorities found that 100 of the 193 children enrolled in the program did not have appropriate migration papers.^[7]

Due to the closure U.S. Representative George Miller asked U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to investigate WWASP^[8].

Narvin Lichfield, who was the director at the time of the facility's closure, was jailed in Costa Rica for a brief period at the time of the closure. He was later tried in Costa Rica on charges of coercion, holding minors against their will, and "crimes of an international character" (violating a law based on international treaties, specifically referring to torture).

On February 21, 2007 a three-judge panel returned a verdict of innocence on all charges. Narvin Lichfield was declared innocent of ordering the abuse. During closing arguments the prosecutor had told the court that the evidence and testimony presented during the two-day trial were insufficient to link Lichfield to the crimes of which he was accused. The Tico Times reported that the judges said they believed the students at Dundee had been abused, but there was no proof that that Lichfield ordered the abuse. ^[9]. Three other Academy employees, all Jamaicans, had reportedly been wanted in connection with the same case, but they fled Costa Rica following the closure of the Academy.^[10]

Following the acquittal, Lichfield claimed in an e-mail to A.M. Costa Rica that when the school was raided, police stood by and watched youths sexually assault each other, that police held parents and staff at gunpoint and that one parent was ordered at gunpoint to hang up the phone when she attempted to phone the U.S. Embassy for help, and that police left the school in a shambles.^[11]

Today - Pillars of Hope

A new program, Pillars of Hope, opened on the same site in 2004.

The main target group for Pillars of Hope is young adults age 18 and over, including enrollees from other WWASPS programs who would turn 18 before they graduate. As an alternative to an "Exit Plan" parents and staff can pressure the enrollee to apply for a stay at this facility ^[12].

Although they still have have a very strict conduct code for the persons enrolled in the facility they no longer use punishment like observation placement, where the detainees were forced to sit on their knees with their hands behind their backs for hours^[13]. Instead the persons staying at the facility can be expelled ^[14]

References

1. ^ Academy at Dundee Ranch website, accessed January 31, 2007.
2. ^ Dundee Ranch: Riots at Costa Rica school for troubled young Americans raises questions about programs (Inside Costa Rica, June 2003)
3. ^ Desperate steps, dark journey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
4. ^ Officials to Investigate 'Tough Love' Facility Here (The Tico Times)
5. ^ Rioting, escapes put teen facility under scrutiny (Miami Herald-News from Babylon)
6. ^ Tough love school sent to timeout (Inside Costa Rica, June 2003)
7. ^ Dundee Ranch owner rips police after his acquittal, A.M. Costa Rica, Vol. 7, No. 39, Feb. 23, 2007
8. ^ U.S. Federal Probe of WWASP Requested, The Tico Times, November 5, 2003)
9. ^ Lealand Baxter Neal, Lichfield Declared Innocent, Tico Times - Daily News
10. ^ Leland Baxter-Neal, Tough-Love’ Camp Owner Faces Trial, The Tico Times, July 2006.
11. ^ Dundee Ranch owner rips police after his acquittal, A.M. Costa Rica, Vol. 7, No. 39, Feb. 23, 2007
12. ^ Seven Days I Will Never Forget (Taylor Kirkpatrick)
13. ^ Mark Johnson, Academy's grip lingers as son, family transform Paragraph "Postscript", JS Online
14. ^ Academic Honesty, section "Honor Code Committee Involvement", facility homepage

Coordinates: 9°54′21″N, 84°37′15″W