Complaint Review: Newport Academy

Worst experience ever!  My daughter was traumatized by bullies at Newport. the bullies were both other girls and staff members. When she tried to tell me what was going on over the phone a counselor took the phone away from her. She convinced me that I was being manipulated and that my daughter simply wanted to come home. When I arrived for a family therapy session, I was shocked at how awful my daughter looked. She was thin, had dark circles under her eyes and as a mother I knew that she wasn’t eating or sleeping. When I asked her what was going on- she seemed afraid to say anything and kept looking at the floor. (This was not something that I had ever seen before.) When I tried to get her to talk- the therapist would keep redirecting us to talk about family issues and not what was happening in treatment. I’m ashamed to say that I fell for her ploy. Over the course of the next two weeks I had disturbing phone calls in which I could hear people fighting in the background. Every call felt like she was holding something back. Finally after four weeks, my husband and I checked her out of the program despite heavy pressure to keep her enrolled for another month. Once home, she had nightmares, problems eating and what we later learned were exaggerated reflexes. When I learned the specifics of her emotional abuse from both girls and staff as well as physical abuse from other girls, I called to express by concerns. I was again told that my child was manipulating. This time I was told that she was just trying to make me feel guilty for sending her to treatment. Another counselor told me that she needed to “toughen up”. I don’t want my kid to get tough. I want her to get well. She is now in a program where she has spent the first two weeks dealing with trauma of going to Newport. Nobody at Newport seems to care. Hopefully by posting in a public forum, I can get them care and/or save another family from going through what we did.

By the way - this is the same place that housed the "Affluenza" case kid (Ethan Couch).  He was a drunk driver that ran over 4 people and instead of getting jail time, he was sentenced to a year at Newport Academy!  His defense was that he didn't know right from wrong because he was brough up affluent!  After a fll year of "treatment" he was released and was immediately back to his old ways.  Last I heard, he was on the run from law enforcement and was eventually apprehended in Mexico!  It just goes to show the lack of treatment that actually goes on in this place!