World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools
Child abuse-related organization
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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?] however, that the WWASPS-affiliated institutions were actually owned through limited partnerships, many of which have used the same street addresses used by WWASPS, its principal officials or their close relatives.[1][2][3]
| Formation | 1998 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Robert Lichfield |
| Founded at | La Verkin, Utah, US |
| Purpose | Supporting the troubled teen industry |
Key people |
|
| Website | http://www.wwasp.com |
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;[4] and Premier Educational Systems, LLC (also called Premier Educational Seminars), which conducts orientation and training workshops for parents whose children are in WWASPS facilities.[5] WWASPS claims to have helped over 10,000 students with issues related to personal behavior.[6]
Some participants and parents gave positive reports of their experiences, but others say that WWASPS programs were abusive.[3] WWASPS has faced widespread allegations of physical and psychological abuse of the teenagers sent into its programs,[3] resulting in a lawsuit filed against the organization in 2006.[7] 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.[8]
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.[3] At one time, WWASPS facilities had tuition income of more than $90 million per year (equivalent to $133 million in 2025).[8]
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.[9] 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.[8]
Schools and programs currently or formerly associated with the organization include the following:
| Name of school | In Operation? | Location | Circumstances/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy at Ivy Ridge |  |
Ogdensburg, New York, United States | Closed in early 2009 due to accreditation issues |
| Bell Academy | |
Terra Bella, California, United States | Shut down in 2003 after issues with state Social Services |
| Bethel Academy | |
Mississippi, United States | Shut down in February 2005 after state officials investigated reports of abuse |
| Brightway Hospital | |
St. George, Utah, United States | Closed in 1998 by authorities for providing inadequate care and abuse |
| Carolina Springs Academy | |
Due West, South Carolina, United States | Opened in 1998 and closed in April 2009 when its license was revoked... |
| Cross Creek Programs | |
La Verkin, Utah, United States | Also known as Cross Creek Manor and Cross Creek Center... |
| Darrington Academy | |
Blue Ridge, Georgia, United States | Closed in March 2009 |
| Gulf Coast Academy | |
Lucedale, Mississippi, United States | Formerly known as Eagle Point Christian Academy... |
| Horizon Academy | |
La Verkin, Utah, United States | Originally located in Amargosa Valley, Nevada... |
| Mentor School *(partly overseas but US-run? optional placement)* | |
— | — |
| MidWest Academy | |
Keokuk, Iowa, United States | Closed in 2016 after a federal raid... |
| Never Give Up Youth Healing Services | |
Utah / Nevada, United States | Closed in April 2023... |
| Old West Academy | |
Randolph, Utah, United States | Formerly Majestic Ranch Academy... |
| Royal Gorge Academy | |
Canon City, Colorado, United States | Closed in October 2008... |
| Sky View Christian Academy | |
Hawthorne, Nevada, United States | Closed abruptly in 2007... |
| Spring Creek Lodge Academy | |
Sanders County, Montana, United States | Operated until January 2009... |
| US Youth Services | |
Lecompte, Louisiana, United States | Closed in 2018... |
| Woodland Hills Maternity Home | |
Woodland Hills, Utah, United States | Closed on an unknown date... |
Overseas programs
| Name of school | In Operation? | Location | Circumstances/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy at Dundee Ranch | |
Costa Rica | Raided by authorities on May 22, 2003... |
| Casa by the Sea | |
Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico | Investigated and shut down by the Mexican government... |
| High Impact | |
Tecate, Baja California, Mexico | Investigated and shut down by the Mexican government... |
| Mentor School | |
Costa Rica | Closed in March 2011... |
| Morava Academy | |
Brno, Czech Republic | Closed after managers were arrested... |
| Pacific View Retreat | |
Mexico | Located in Baja California... |
| Paradise Cove | |
Western Samoa | Shut down by Samoan authorities... |
| Pillars of Hope | |
Costa Rica | Reopened after Dundee Ranch closure... |
| Sunrise Beach | |
Cancún, Mexico | Closed in 1996 over abuse... |
| Tranquility Bay | |
Treasure Beach, Jamaica | Closed in January 2009... |
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.[10][11] The Boonville City Council rejected the proposal.[12]
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]
Ken Kay was superintendent of Browning Distance Learning Academy, a provider of homeschooling curriculum.[8] Its materials were used by Mentor School in Costa Rica.[13] 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.[14] The programs have been the subject of legal investigations by several U.S. states.[12] 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.[3]
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.[7]
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."[15] 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 Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, because Lichfield was one of six co-chairs of the Utah state fundraising committee for Romney's campaign.[15][16]
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'."[12] 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]."[17]
On August 31, 2007, Randall Hinton was convicted 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.[18] Hinton was sentenced to jail followed by probation.[19]
In 2010, animals were removed from Carolina Springs Academy due to neglect and malnourishment. There were also several animal corpses found on the property.[20]
