Yes i was contracted out by the state of mass as well as another female investigative associate. I was in the boys dorm as well as the main house or mansion. from 10-02 through 06-03. My finding were that the school was doing everything they could possibly do to satisfy OCCS regs. Their was some gossip of a male teacher being escorted of property for something sexual then later convicted. I am not sure weather it was something on his computer or what. all of the children in my care were safe. staff was very attentive. This is my third investigation into area residential schools. The desisto school is not a cult from my observation. I have a feeling though their was past maltreatment in the previous years but more so sided on abuse/punishment issues in the early 80's. never any cult issues. I am interested in hearing your experences. The teachers that worked for the school had to have a BA degree and be enrolled in a masters program at the time i was there. The therapists were contracted out my lamirposa group and were all Master and beyond in education. I worked with some of the therapists at previous social service and government agencies (clinical staff was remarkable) Please if there is anything i can do to help please feel free to ask me anything.

Sincerely

Peter

The program appeared consistent compared to some of the other residential programs eg-valleyhead,hillcrest,kolburne, academy at swift river in the berkshires desisto came out on top as far as quality. their were issues which i am sure you read in the media. But these are quite small in the residential school world medication errors do happen
kids will try to eat razor blades
kids often run away
kids will also make fasle inflated accusations
staff will screw up a restraint now and then this happens even with the best treatment and training and certifications.
as for cult issues i'm am pretty sure it didn't happen here but i was only there for six months so i am very interested in hearing more.

pbm77,

The problems with the troubled teen industry schools stem from the use of manipulation, abuse, neglect, and the use of LGAT "technology" (see Large Group Awareness Training threads).

kids will try to eat razor blades

In this case she DID eat a razor blade and the faculty delayed her trip to the hospital. That is criminal. The longer they waited to get her to the hospital the farther along the blade moved and the more damage it could have done.
During most of my time there things were pretty cool. I hated a lot of it but it turned for the worse around 1985-86.
So, you were an undercover agent of the state, eh? Pretty cool :)! You came as faculty? Did htey ever use an agent to pose as a child?
Cheers,
Dave

i'm sorry but their was not a "large group Same way thinking or brainwashing. Their were few problems in the time that i was there. The staff there we all independant thinkers many with professional and clinical backrounds. If desisto's admissions were not frozen by Occs they would still be open. Their are other school in the area with many more infractions that are still running. If you want to look at a residental school. Occs seemed to have something personal towards desisto. some real facts of the girl who ate the razor. She did superficial cutting and this was a problem for her. She said she swallowed the razors but none were found upon x-ray. All of the kids in crisis had their rooms searched before bedtime. a 1 on 1 staff to student throughout the day and night for that student to remain safety. To answer the other question my friend who is also an investigator was a "staff" member as well as myself. [/size:ecc3a1a8fc]

She said she swallowed the razors but none were found upon x-ray.

Does that excuse the fact that the school delayed treatment?

YES I WAS THERE WITH DAWN WHEN SHE SWALLOWED THE RAZOR BLADE.. MY NAME IS DANIELLE BELTRAN AND I ATTENDED DESISTO IN JUNE I THINK OF 2003? LOL NOT SURE LONG TIME AGO.. DAWN DID SWALLOW A RAZOR BLADE I WAS IN THE GRI WITH HER AS HER ROOM MATE AND THEY WAITED FOREVER TO CALL THE AMBULANCE.. I REMEMBER THIS BECAUSE I RAN OFF THE DORM TO THE SCHOOL BUILDING TO USE THE PHONE! SO I DO REMEMBER THAT.. THE SCHOOL SUCKS PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR MONEY.. MY OWN MOTHER DISAGREED WITH THE PLACE.. ALL THE PARENTS WERE FUCKIN NUTS NO WONDER WHY THEIR KIDS WERE THERE..

I ONLY LASTED AT DESISTO FOR ABOUT 2 1/2 MONTHS THEN GOT "TERMINATED" THE STAFF THERE SUCKED... THEY WERE HAVING SEX WITH EACHOTHER ON THE JOB... FIGHTING WITH THE KIDS THERE.... THE LIST GOES ON... I MAY HAVE CAUSED HELL THERE BUT I WAS NEVER A VIOLENT KID UNTIL I WENT TO THE DESISTO SCHOOL

Hey danni, thanks for writing on my post.....I can understand the situation regarding never being a violent kid before DeSisto......Thats how I was. I was pretty harmless untill being there, and being cruely-taunted by the kids and the ocasional ass-hole staff....
Anyway, wow thats something else that you actually knew the girl that swallowed the razors there! You must have freaked-out & was really scarred.... Thank-God that you ran and called the proper people for her, because it sounds like she wouldn't have been in good shape... I looked up some public court papers on the situation regarding the staffs' neglagence with her & the razor blades, and it made me sick how the staff was so consumed with "protecting themselves"......hmmm.
(And to whomever on this post earlier that said that the girl was faking it......You make me sick!!!) Its funny to hear from so-called "staff members" from there, because you look rediculas talking about, "how saintly you all were"......Ha! Something that I do regarding my hurt & anger is to give it to God and see what happens, & what will ultimately come of all this... :P ..... Its funny how things change and how the tables turn....lol....Karma is a bitch.

I attended DeSisto from 94-95. I have to say that it was one of the strangest, hardest, and yet enlightening experiences of my life. There is not a week and sometimes not even a day that goes by that I do not think about it. I can honestly say that I was not brainwashed by the program there. I ran away more than once and ultimately for good without finishing the program.

I have to disagree with the notion that it was a cult however. Prima facially it did appear to be somewhat cult-like. But I believe that that was more due to the nature of the program than than any inherent "cultness".

The objective of the program in the beginning stages was certainly to more or less cut the teen off from the outside world, and so in that respect it was certainly cult-like. But the purpose behind that was legitimate. The focus was to get teens to get in touch with the emotions and feelings that are troubling them and to express those feelings and emotions in a positive way with dorm parents, counselors, and fellow students rather than in a negative acting out way that can be harmful and destructive to themselves and others around them. Furthermore cutting off ties with parents and family, at least in the beginning of a student's stay at the school, was legitimate because anyone who is at all familiar with addictive and acting out behavior knows that co-dependency with family only reinforces that negative behavior. In order to remedy that you have to get outside of it for a little while to realize what is actually going on.

I suppose one could call that brainwashing if they want, but really all we are doing is arguing semantics. All therapy etc...is brainwashing to a certain extent. A person must learn how to develop knew thinking patterns and behavior strategies in order to change.

Anyway, enough soapboxing. I think it is very telling that a neutral objective observer, our friend the state investigator, generally concurs with my assessment. For those of you who do not, I nevertheless understand. I felt the same way that you did for a long time after I left. My parents would not talk to me for a long time due to the school's influence and the fact that I was "on the road". However it is hard to see what the school was really trying to do when you are so recently divorced from the situation, and resentment is probably running high. It is even harder to see what the program was attempting to do when you are in the midst of it. BELIEVE ME, when I first got there I thought I was in a really bad episode of the twilight zone. I mean come on, "turn-ins", "off-limits", "inappropriate", "sitting", "farmed", what the hell is all this??!! Looking back though and thinking about what I was doing with my life, it doesn't seem all that crazy.

I won't sit and here and say that DeSisto was perfect, great, or even right for everyone. Clearly it wasn't. Nothing ever could be. But in a school that deals with teens who are/were that troubled certain incidents are bound to happen. I was on the Farm for about 7 months and so I saw my share of crazy "incidents". The school did all that it could do, all that any school of that sort could possibly do. It made a good faith diligent effort to keep those incidents to a minimum.

In the end I would have to say that DeSisto saved my life in a lot of ways. I was a very depressed teen who was withdrawn from my feelings and consequently from those around me. While I was there I was forced to deal with those feelings and to share them. This was an invaluable trait that I was sorely lacking. The best friend I have ever had in my life was a dorm parent there. Anyone there when I was there surely remembers Big D.

I would just ask those that have recently left the school for whatever reason, because it closed or otherwise, to give yourself time and maybe even let a few years pass and see if you do not think about your experience differently. Looking back with a little age/wisdom may change your perspective.