INVESTIGATION

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traumatized, not troubled

SURVIVING THE TROUBLED TEEN INDUSTRY

SURVIVOR VOICES

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Hurricane, UT Breaks Ground on New Robert Lichfield Recreation Center

In 1998, Utah businessman Robert Lichfield started the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASP) as an umbrella company for numerous Troubled Teen Industry programs in the United States as well as a number of third-world countries. For over twenty years, children in 49 WWASP programs around the world endured unspeakable abuse and neglect while Lichfield profited and prospered.

In 2022, Hurricane, UT mayor Nanette Billings approached Lichfield to request the use of an unassembled, prefabricated building owned by Lichfield for the city’s new recreation center.

Lichfield agreed to donate the building to the City of Hurricane and it was decided that the recreation center would be named the Robert “Bob” Lichfield Recreation Center.

Considering the vast and countless instances of horrific child abuse that occurred within WWASP programs, the Troubled Teen Industry survivor community, understandably, is outraged, appalled, and deeply hurt by the willingness of Billings and the City of Hurricane to so blatantly dismiss and devalue the traumatic experiences of WWASP survivors by demanding that Lichfield’s name be on this public building because he gifted it, saving the city millions and allowing an alternative funding source other than taxpayer dollars.

The State of Utah Denies License Renewal to Diamond Ranch Academy

Following the medical neglect death of student Taylor Goodridge on December 20, 2022, Diamond Ranch Academy was put on Conditional Status.

On July 11, 2023, the State of Utah denied DRA's request to renew their license to operate, and forced the closure of the program on August 14, 2023.

Escaping Justice

overlooked deaths in the troubled teen industry

Since 1934, there have been over 300 preventable deaths of youth and adolescents in Troubled Teen Industry programs. The vast majority of these children never get justice, and the programs responsible never face a single consequence, legal, civil, criminal, or otherwise. Families of these lost children passionately demand punishment and action over the course of years to find justice for their kids, only to be silenced by the American legal system that repeatedly sides with the programs in favor of protecting the financial stability and social reputation of those who own and operate Troubled Teen Industry programs.

By Nora Ashleigh Barrie

April 12, 2023

We Survived the Troubled Teen Industry

survivor accounts

While it is unknown how many adolescents enter the Troubled Teen Industry each year, it has been reported that there are 120,000-200,000 children confined to Industry programs at any given time. Current regulations do not require these numbers to be reported, leading to significantly lower reported enrollment rates of students in the Troubled Teen Industry. Since Industry programs became commonplace beginning in 1970, there have been millions of youth shuttled in and out of facilities, resulting in millions of Troubled Teen Industry survivors now living as adults in the United States.

By Nora Ashleigh Barrie

October 4, 2022

Whiteout in the West Desert

my story of survival IN A UTAH WILDERNESS PROGRAM

On December 22, 2003, I was awoken at 4am by two people looming over my bed who I had never seen before in my life. I was told I could go "the easy way or the hard way". I was then kidnapped from my home by juvenile transporters hired by my parents to traffick me into the Troubled Teen Industry. I was put on a plane and abandoned at the headquarters of my first program, Outback Therapeutic Expeditions, located in Lehi, Utah. I was driven into the isolated expanse of Utah's West Desert and left there. Seven teenage girls and myself spent the following 26 days fighting for survival.

By Nora Ashleigh Barrie

November 13, 2022

The Troubled Teen Industry: A Photo Essay

A visual story of life in the troubled teen industry

The Troubled Teen Industry uses vast and varied methods of gaining compliance from children including outdated therapies, isolation, severely limited freedom, various restraint methods, strenuous exercise, harsh conditions, and more. Because of the use of these tactics, survivors of the Troubled Teen Industry have all experienced their own versions of odd, confusing, and questionable punishment. These experiences and memories result in intriguing and unbelieveable stories. In programs where students are permitted cameras, there is photographic evidence of these experiences.

By Nora Ashleigh Barrie

October 10, 2022

IN MEMORY OF CHILDREN WHO HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE TTI

By Nora Ashleigh Barrie

Lonely Child in the Doorway

Information about Childhood Trauma

LEARN MORE ABOUT WHY TRAUMATIZED TEENS "ACT OUT"

By Nora Ashleigh Barrie

Survivor Outcomes

HOW TTI SURVIVORS ARE AFFECTED LONG-TERM

By Nora Ashleigh Barrie

SITE REFERENCES

Surviving the Troubled Teen Industry

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2022