School for Teens Tries to Survive
By Brooke Adams and Rhina Guidos
The Salt Lake Tribune

More than two dozen U.S. teens were trying to make their way home from Costa Rica on Thursday as parents, government officials and operators of the Academy at Dundee Ranch sorted out allegations of mistreatment and permit violations at the school for troubled youth.

Staff at the ranch, which is affiliated with the Utah-based World Wide Association of Speciality Programs and Schools, was trying to contact parents of about 20 teens who are demanding to be released. Another six were in the custody of Costa Rican child-welfare workers and three others who refused to return to the ranch were in contact with local authorities.

On Wednesday, the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI), the country's child-welfare agency, filed a complaint with local prosecutor Fernando Vargas over alleged health-code violations, inadequate staff certification and infringements of the students' rights at the ranch in the town of Orotina.

Vargas created some confusion when he told PANI it must ensure the students' safety but failed to specify whether the agency should take over the ranch or merely monitor it, said Tim Rogers, a reporter with the Tico Times of San José.

But by late Thursday, ranch officials, Vargas and the welfare workers agreed that PANI would make daily visits to the ranch for the next week or so, Rogers said.

"I was out there today and the situation was calming down somewhat from what had gone on the day previously," Rogers said.

Vargas visited the school Tuesday and informed the students that under Costa Rican law, they have a say in their treatment at age 15. Fanny Cordero, communications director for PANI, said word quickly spread among the teens that they could not be held against their will and many began walking out.

Between 30 to 55 of the 205 teens fled the ranch, which bills itself a "paradise for change."

Most returned by nightfall, said World Wide president Ken Kay in a telephone interview from company headquarters in St. George.

Staff members were trying to reach the parents of the 20 who want to go home, he said.

"It's difficult because of the [Memorial Day] holiday, but we are complying," Kay said, adding that he believed those teens were "using this as a technique to manipulate their way back home."

Cordero, however, said the teens in her agency's care say they have suffered psychological or physical abuse at Dundee Ranch.

PANI began an investigation of the ranch several months ago after a former staff director, some parents and their children accused the ranch of various violations.

Cordero said those claims include overcrowded conditions that forced some teens to sleep on the floor, food restrictions and the staff's refusal to let teens contact their parents.

The agency also found some staff members lack proper credentials and that many students' tourist visas have expired.

It also questioned whether the ranch, which is licensed as a Spanish-language academy, should actually be licensed as a rehabilitation facility. That concern is being investigated by the Costa Rican Department of Health.

Even though parents may have agreed to the conditions and tactics used at the ranch, the children are protected under Costa Rican laws and those laws may have been violated, Cordero said. On Monday, PANI gave Dundee Ranch 30 days to remedy any problems.

Kay said staff at Dundee Ranch, one of nine such schools affiliated with World Wide, believed they were in compliance with government and school accreditation requirements but would address the issues raised by PANI.

He described Dundee Ranch as a "specialty boarding school," not a residential treatment facility, that uses a reward and consequence system to build self-esteem.

Kay acknowledged that most of the teens at Dundee Ranch have "experimented" with drugs and that staff use motivational and educational tools to teach the risks of drug abuse. But Dundee Ranch, he said, has never billed itself as a treatment or therapeutic program.

"It is basically a character-building program," he said.

The ranch's Web site emphasizes its ability to aid teens who are acting out at home, school or in the community.

Dundee, which opened at the site of a former adventure lodge 18 months ago, charges $1,990 a month per teen.

On average, it takes a teen 16 months to complete the program.

See also:  Costa Rica Intervenes at U.S. - Owned Academy Dundee Ranch

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