"In God's Name": Florida's unlicensed religious children's homes.

[madfloridian]

The Florida School for Boys at Mariana, FLorida was recently shut down after terrible abuses for almost a century.

Now there are others that are being questioned.

In God's Name. Abuse at religious children's homes

Watch the video of Samson Lehman's nearly fatal experience then read the rest. The parents speak. They thought they were doing what was best for their son.

This military school for troubled boys, connected with the international Teen Challenge network, was founded in 1998 by Dave Rutledge and accredited by FACCCA until 2006. Boys are initiated into the program with in-their-face directions from drill instructors and heavy doses of exercise. They must earn their way out of the orange jumpsuits they are given on Day 1.

In 2008, 15-year-old Samson Lehman was exercised until his body gave out. He was flown to a hospital with organ failure, on the verge of death.

Director Rutledge says the school has changed the way it exercises its new students since then, hired a registered nurse and now requires metabolic panels of incoming boys.

The school allowed Times reporters to interview four parents with students enrolled in the program, but only in front of staff, and only as a camera rolled. All parents said they had noted positive changes in their sons. As boys advance in the program, they gain privileges. They participate in sports and take trips to Guatemala. The school enrolled to seek accreditation from the Council on Accreditation a week before this Times investigation published.

Parts Two and Three are also listed at the top.

DCF is calling for Southeastern Military Academy in Port St. Lucie to be shut down. They appear to warning others as well.

[datasuspect]

1. god should have no place near children

adults should keep their mental diseases to themselves.

[putitinD]

2. I couldn't agree more

[madfloridian]

3. God and punishment intermingle at a reform home for girls in Florida. Times video.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/article1258892.ece

"Much of what goes on inside remains secret.

Lighthouse is one of about two dozen children's homes shielded from state oversight under a religious exemption created by Florida lawmakers in 1984. The homes are closed to state licensing officials and monitored instead by the Florida Association of Christian Child Caring Agencies, a private nonprofit organization whose inspection records are not made public.

Russell Cookston, head pastor at Lighthouse, offered no religious justification for restraining girls or putting them in isolation. He first said those measures were rare and used only to calm girls who were endangering others.

However, he went on to describe how multiple-day sentences in the Room of Grace are handed out on a sliding scale depending on the "offense" a girl committed.

Restraint and isolation, he said, are the last resort. They are followed by counseling sessions. The goal, he said, is to have a "therapeutic rapport."