We speak for them to be heard

About WWASP Survivors

WWASP Survivors is run by a dedicated group of concerned alumni of WWASP-affiliated programs.

Our mission is threefold: to raise awareness of the true dangers of WWASP Programs, to advocate for those still being held and abused within the Troubled Teen Industry, and to provide support to survivors of WWASP programs.

The Truth will set them free!

Submit Testimony

Join Our Facebook Support Group

The WWASP Survivors Facebook group was created to process reports and offer love, understanding and support to survivors of all programs through their respective healing process. This group is a safe place for survivors to speak out and be heard. In order to join our community you must first request to join and briefly answer all questions.

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No Child Deserves Abuse

in the name of treatment.

  • Everyone deserves to know the truth about what goes on behind these gates. BUYER BEWARE. Please use our Red Flags List to help identify a WWASP program. The Troubled Teen Industry uses deceptive marketing techniques. Don’t be fooled by the slick marketing. Do your research.
  • Restraints and solitary confinement. Experimental “attack” therapy. Cruel and unusual punishments. The unsafe and unethical procedures used by the TTI must be prohibited. Learn more about our Legislative Policies.
  • American youth deserve all the same human rights as any other citizen. Parental rights DO NOT trump the child’s right to consent, safety, and decency in treatment. Signing a child’s rights away to any business is a predentary contract and should be outlawed. 
  • Programs shouldn’t refuse reasonable access to unmonitored phone calls. Children should not be prevented from being able to alert the authorities and child protective services if they witness or experience abuse.
  • Mandate minimum standards for education, training and licensing requirements of all staff. When staff members are not properly trained to de-escalate with safe and ethical practices, things go wrong. Children die. Many more live with lifelong trauma.
  • If the program director and therapists or “case managers” do not have adequate degrees, certifications, and experience to be mental health practitioners, you should avoid placing your child into their care.

Help shouldn’t have to hurt. “Tough Love” isn’t love at all, it’s abuse. We advocate for families to seek the least restrictive community-based treatment option possible. Programs must be licensed and regulated.  Polices and procedures must be transparent, ethical, evidence-based, and trauma-informed. Avoid at all costs, coercive and oppressive behavior modification programs.

Change is possible

What Can YOU Do?

Want to help? There are lots of ways to get involved! If you’re a survivor, please consider submitting your testimony of your experiences for our online repository. You can also sign our petition, leave comments on our site, and help us get our message out on social media. If you have a specialized skill like web coding, database engineering, public relations, mental health treatment, or law, and you’re willing to donate your time, we’d also love to hear from you! Finally, we do take donations, which go towards our domain and web hosting costs.

Submit your Testimony

Our voices matter! Share your story and let your voice be heard. 

Sign our petition

Our legislation efforts are continuously ongoing. Your support gives us power!

Leave Comments

Comments provide support and validation for other survivors.

Share On Social Media

Sharing our site and articles raises awareness and gives our voices an engaging platform.

Latest in Activism

Breaking Code Silence

WWASP Survivors is teaming up with BreakingCodeSilence.net and SDLS (Suburbia’s Dirty Little Secret) to support the #breakingcodesilence campaign to spread awareness of the troubled teen industry and the need for reform.

What I needed was therapy, love & compassion.. what I got was C-PTSD, trust issues & anxiety. Taken from my home at 3am, dragged out of my bed by 2 strangers & forced into a car that would eventually take me to Tijuana, Mexico. I was 16 years old, all alone, held captive at “Casa By The Sea”. This behavior modification “reform” school was anything but the help I needed, there was no therapy, no compassion & no way to convince our loved ones it was the hell it really was.. I survived 7 months there & today I am Breaking Code Silence.

Kirby M.

Casa By The Sea Survivor

At age 15 I was kidnapped while sleeping and taken to a WWASP program in Montana. The premise of the program was to break the students will and rebuild them under behavior modification. I experienced what could only be considered as psychological torture through the pseudoscience therapy techniques while in a high abuse environment. This experience has left me with long-term ptsd and trust issues. I survived 18 months at Spring Creek Lodge and today I am breaking code silence.

Jenna B.

Spring Creek Lodge Survivor

It took me years to vocalize how I really felt and admit that what happened at Tranquility Bay was wrong. As an adult I have been diagnosed with C-PTSD and General Anxiety Disorder. I have deep abandonment issues that have negatively affected relationships throughout my entire life. Imagine the fear in a child as they’re ripped from their home in the middle of the night and blindly sent to another country and having no idea what lies ahead of them. I’m speaking out, so that no more children ever have to feel that same fear. I am Breaking Code Silence.

Kate Smith

Tranquility Bay Survivor

What is The The Troubled Teen Industry?

The Troubled Teen Industry is a vast, highly profitable network of programs and residential facilities that advertise treating, rehabilitating or reforming “troubled” youth. However much of the industry claiming to treat them is barely overseen, under-regulated, and riddled with abuse. These children are dollar signs, and with big money comes big corruption. 

Latest in Advocacy

Open Letter:

Close “Troubled Teen” Programs For COVID 19

Recently, as member of a multi-organization coalition, WWASP Survivors along with The Freedom Village Experience and The National Youth Rights Association, co-wrote an open letter to our law makers to close “troubled teen” programs for youth.

WWASP Survivors Blog

#BreakingCodeSilence

#BreakingCodeSilence

WWASP Survivors, is teaming up with BreakingCodeSilence.net and SDLS (Suburbia’s Dirty Little Secret) to support the #breakingcodesilence campaign to spread awareness of the troubled teen industry and the need for reform.
Each year, thousands of teenagers are held, most without consent, in residential treatment centers.

Sunset Bay Academy – Natasha

How my friend killed himself and SBA didn't do shit, they knew he was gonna do it but later then I talked to DR. Hugo and he said, "we couldn't do nothing, because he already had a Choice" It was a normal day at my school in San Diego, some girls had gone to the park...

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admin@WWASPSURVIVORS.com