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Met this group, while they were on tour to our church. we were impressed wtih their evening performance, and felt that this place would be a place where our daughter could find rest, and comfort and a place to get away from it all after a severe accident left her with some serious physical complications...
it was not what we had expected, nor was it what we were promised.We were told of mending broken relationships, academically getting on track and counseling...
punishment started right away, for things that were not understood, red shirt, punishment, left my daughter with many physical problems, untreated medical condition, UTI that was untreated, afer I spoke about her needing to get medical attention, they said they would, and did nothing.
blood in her urine, blood in her bowels, hives all over her body.
Our letters were kept from her, her letters to us were never sent, she was not allowed to speak to us freely on the phone, but every word was to be judged, and she was expected to speak to us in monotone, so as not to communicate anything other than what was allowed. She was on punishment, and red shirt discipline throughout her stay, and has foot, knee, hip inflamation from the constant standing on the wall with her hands behind her back, both feet flat on the floor.
she wakes up nightly with nightmares, of being taken back to New beginnings Girls academy.
Bill macnamera has a very bad temper, in which he did lose all self control with me, while I was asking him questions about educational neglect for my daughter. We were told that she would start counseling, up to two days a week, right away...after two months, she recieved one processing counseling interview...when I asked about the counseling and the lack of education, Bill Macnamers became angry with my questioning his authority, telling me that he did not have to listen to this, and slammed the phone down...a man with a lack of control, exploding on the phone in a temper tantrum fashion, is also in charge of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and 30 little girls who needed a safe place to be, and protection...very concerning...
we called to ask our daughter if she were ready to come home, a nd she had already been in Bill Macnamera's office earlier, and agreed under duress, to stay 6 more months...at which time she told me on the phone she could not come ahome, and it was not perfect at New Beginnings, but she could not come home...now she wanted to stay another 6 months...during my conversation, she was told she had 3 minutes to get off the phone for a counseling session...so they could than tell her why she needed to stay there...
The world is sin, your family is in the world, if you leave NBGH you will going back into the world, your family is in the world, the world is in sin...
They are not allowed to know the day of the week or the date of the month, and must learn to tell time backwards...no speaking of family you miss, or anything that is reminders of home, family, affection, caring loving people in your life outside of New Beginnings.
You get punished for making eye contact with any other girl, no matter what..no speaking at any time..you must raise your hand and be silent until you are called, if you are called.
Bathroom is punishment: with 5 sheets of toilet paper, or 7 depending on your need...open stalls for shower and bathroom...strip search, solitary confinement writing sentences for up to 4 hrs. a time..
When I went to rescue my daughter from this place, I was met by the counselor who told me to come into the office, we needed to talk...told me to sit down, I refused, he than got himself a chair, so we could sit and talk before I could see my daughter...he than told me that it was a dangerous idea to take my daughter home, It was not safe, she did not want to go home, and she made it very clear, told them many times she did not want to come home, she wanted to stay,
She was severely punished after I was hung up on with more discipline...she would than say anything that would make them happy hoping they would lighten up on the severe punishment...it didnt help...
she was severely distraught, terrified, freightened, full of shame, fear, intimidation, and terror...the look inher eyes the moment I saw her was one that I had never seen in her eyes before...it was the same look I have seen on a dog, lost on the side of a highway, trying to avoid traffic, sticks and stones, wet dripping with freezing rain, terrified for its very life, shivering, full of fear, begging for help...it shocked me and paralyzed me to see my daughter sickly pale, ghostly white, bug eyed, trembling, shivering, fulll of fear in her eyes...fear and intimidation not knowing why she was now in the Office...she looked at me, and said, Mom is that you...she than began crying saying, O God, O my God, Mom, is that really you, O my God mom you came...I ran to her, picked up her trembling body, and she melted in my arms, so I picked up her weak body, and felt how weak her hug on me was...she was trembling in my arms, and I whispered...do you want to go to Braums with me...will you go to lunch with me...I knew if I could remind her of a happy childhood memory, she would answer me freely before she remembered what she was supposed to say...she said, food, o God yes...she was in shock, and was trembling as we turned to walk out...she was than ordered to take off her red shirt and return it...big red T shirt to degrade as punishment, humiliate, and abuse mentally and emotionally...she had nothing else on with the T-shirt in Missouri snow storm, boots, thin black summer skirt...when I got there, they had her hurriedly put on a purple sweatshirt...she was confused, but never knew anything about me traveling to get her...she was in total shock and surprise...she was convinced that whe was not allowed to ever coem home again, she was not loved, not wanted, and at the same time, /Bill Macnamera told my husband to just let her go, give her away...let her go...they got tiered of all of our phone calls asking questions...
later on she was able to open up, telling me that she never would have went home with me if Bill macnamera was in town there..He was on vacation with his daughter and son-in-law who are his assistant directors...family run business...he would have let her know what the right response was...she would have done exactly what he told her to do...she was fulll of fear, intimidation, she was terrified of what would happen to her if she said the wrong thing...shw would have told me she was not going home.
I must confess that I am not one with free time on my hands to write openly, but this trauma is not half described due to time restraints...I am a mother of great love devotion, and concern for my daughter, and other daughters across America...Mothers who think thye are doing the right thing, finding out after it is too late, that we made the worst possible mistake of our lives...allowing total strangers, to have dominant control over the lives of a child that we have invested so many years, to a person that we knw so very little about.
I am reaching out to Moms everywhere, no matter how desperate you are to find help for your daughters, do not give up, do not give in, and do not send them to a place with your eyes closed, and imagine it is a good thing...if your heart is aching and grievingf, and warning you...listen to those cautions, it is real life screams in the dark...she was very exhausted and walked painfully...when I stoped for the night she was barely able to walk with terrible muscle cramps, and joint pain from the constant standing ont he wall, 7 days a week, *8- hrs. a day, and 500 jumping jacks each evening you are on punishment...she was in terrible pain, and groaned each time I held her, she was having muscle spasms throughout the night, with nightmares of being taken back to NBGH.
She now has anxiety attacks throughout the day, gag reflex from being force fed large amounts of food, and punished if you dont eat it all, or throw it up...punish is by demerits, and the girls who have grown up in the system and arrived at the age of 18, than become the new guards, to give punishment demerits without question...
the prisoner becomes the guard, so the abuse of the bully system continues, and the fear factor of this is evident in the lives of the girls that are full of fear to look anyone in the eye again...
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Do you people not get that all we are trying to do is stop children from being abused? I feel like we are the ones being bullied because we called someone out on a lie. Children are being tortured here and all you people care about is nonsense that has nothing to do with it. We have been featured in national news magazines and websites, but you wouldn't know that because you didn't do your research. There is no reason for this thread to continue with nonsense when all we are trying to do is help children.
I have been to NBGA and came back last year. There was NO abuse there at all and any body who says so is a liar and I pray for you if you are that bitter you have to make rubbish up like that. All the Macs ever did was love us girls. The staff loved all of us. Many girls who leave and try and make trouble is because they need the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart and have seious mental issues. it is a home for troubled girls after all.. Please remember you will be held resposible by God for stopping other people from getting saved and there blood will be on your hands. The home has helped me and if you are a parent and your teen is troubled SEND them too NBGA because the Lord will really change your child. Please dont listen to these lies. Remember All things work together for good to them that love God who are called accroding to his purpose. And and I want to say whoop! to all the girls who have stuck up for the home, may God bless you :)
Not a problem at all! Here are the links:
ABC News article by Susan Donelson James: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/independent-fundamental-baptist-discipline-call-tough-love-abuse/story?id=13310172#.Tt6BMFbdLms
Mother Jones article: http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/08/new-bethany-ifb-teen-homes-abuse
Our blog:stopnbga.blogspot.com
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NBGAsurvivors/
We are a legit group who have several people helping us, and we also post around the internet to help spread awareness hoping prospective parents who might want to send their child there will find it and not send them! That is all! Hope the links are helpful and will clear up any misunderstandings you may have about us. :)
Unfortunately this story is not "new." I attended this school back when it was still Rebekah Home for Girls in 1986. At the time the school had been forced out of Texas (ie Texas said that it would be subject to oversight, which the school leaders were unwilling to comply with) and was located in Missouri. I can tell many horror stories, but I won't bother because those who love the way that Rebekah/NBGA is run will not accept them to be true. So I'll simply mention this fact: during my "era" the girls were housed on the 3rd floor, with windows with child locks that only allowed them to open approximately 3 inches, and the fire escape doors were chained and padlocked shut at night. If there had been a fire there would have been no way for the students to evacuate.
Schools of this nature miss the entire point of Jesus. He showed LOVE to the outcasts, the sinners, the tax collectors, the prostitutes. He was a Friend to these people when everyone else would turn their back. For those who were dragged down by life, who made bad choices, He was not punitive. He offered forgiveness. Those He was harsh towards were not those who had gone astray. Instead, He saved His just anger for the hypocrites. He drove the moneylenders from the temple because they were making a mockery of Him. He challenged the Pharisees to learn how to sacrifice their wants for others' needs.
Whatever we do to the least, we do to Christ. Places like NBGA do not demonstrate Jesus, they teach fear and self-loathing. Rather than teaching that we are free, in Christ, they teach young people that they must hate themselves and be afraid of stepping out of line in fear of eternal damnation.
This is not a state regulated home and they have a way of getting around things. I could be here for days telling you of all the horrible abuse that NBGA has caused hundreds if not more teenagers but unfortunately I don't have that kind of time, that is the reason I posted our blogspot site, those are first hand survivor accounts of what life at NBGA is like. The parents do sign agreements but thats not know exactly what will be done, they lie to the parents. The phone calls & mail are monitored so if something is wrong you can't tell your parents because they will cut the phone call and just tell your parents you haven't gotten the help you need and are lying, thats how alot of people end up stuck there for years! Luckily I only spent one year in this hell hole and that was enough for me, I know people who were there 5+ years. And about the attorney, several of us have talked with them and done research but you have to be under 18 when filing the report and it can't be more than two years after you leave, some people suffer from stockholm syndrome (you might want to look that up) or block out what happened while there and then later on when they realize what happened and want to do something about it, its too late. That's where the brain washing tactics come into play. Its hard to explain everything here, Its all is super complicated and there is SO much to it... Honestly we don't want any more children to go through what we did. Some of us have medical disorders from being there and such...That's why we are doing this.
We have and still are fighting to have this place shut down. We are turning to legal cases too. Any one who thinks this is a good place and hasn't experienced it, I don't really know what to tell you besides nbga has made me turn to meds for depression and anxiety and has made me anti religious.
Sadie McConathy
All I have to say is all you have seen or heard is a huge lie . I myself attended New Beginnings for a year and a half. I can honestly say that it was the best time of my life. The Macs are wonderful people who only want the best for you and your daughters' life .
They do instill Biblical priciples in everything they do. There is nothing wrong with that . It is still a free country and we still have freedom of religion. They never force you to do anything, it is a choice!They only tell you about a loving God who died to take away your sin and your past. That is the best thing anybody can ever do for a person.They tell you because they love you and do not want to see you go to hell. The thing is that you all are not bitter or upset with the Macs or New Beginnings . You are bitter with God.I would take a look at who you are battling with because you can't win when you oppose an almighty
God.He is in control whether you like it or not.I have learned that the hard way. I'll tell you things are so much easier when God is your closest companion. That is what I gained at New Beginnings .A friend who I took with me and who will always be with me. A friend who helped me to conquer the past and who is leading me to a brighter future.If you attended New Beginnings you have the same opportunities as I do. You can either choose the old or the new, God or yourself. You make that choice.God has been good to me by sending me to New Beginnings. Any mom or dad who is reading this, I would encourage you to send your daughter . I assure you it is a wonderful opportunity for your daughter to turn her life around. And anyone who has been to New Beginnings please help me to shed the truth about what really goes on. I love New Beginnings!
Why would we lie about any of this? That would be a waste of time. And we aren't comparing to anything being worse this place. We know there are alot worse of places out there. We are just trying to stop this place. And to the 2nd person above me, I've never heard of you before, it wouldn't surprise me if you are one of the owners of this place. So ya. Nice try with all your biblical talk.
You are getting just as much attention as I am getting on here so I highly doubt that.
Yup Sadie is a fake, just checked.
Yeeeeeah this Sadie character seems like they might work there, whoever you are...maybe Sarah Mac? I'm not pointing fingers I just think its funny you say "freedom of religion" Because I know when I was there the Jewish girls didn't get to celebrate their holidays, the Chinese didn't get to ring in the Chinese New Year, and you weren't allowed to be any other religion. ... nope all Christian holidays were celebrated and we were told that we were going to Hell if we didn't conform to their beliefs...How in the heck is that freedom of religion Sadie? Could you please explain that to me? AND they never force you to do anything?...I mean seriously ?. Thats why if you didn't eat all your food you got in major trouble? If you didn't have your clothes, hair, appearance wasn't perfect to the T also, in big trouble, among a MILLION other things I could mention...New Beginnings is joke and they are not helping teenagers, they are greedy con-artists who will take your money and abuse your child, maybe not physically, or maybe so. But definitely mentally. There is no freedom there, you have to do EVERYTHING way or you will majorly suffer..Sicking girls on other girls who don't do what they want them to do..its awful...seriously DON'T SEND YOUR CHILD TO NEW BEGINNINGS. Our group of survivors will not shut up until this facility is SHUT DOWN.
And as I stated previously it would take DAYS literally weeks to name off all the horrible stuff that has happened to girls at NBGA, you people have no right to tell us we don't know what abuse is when we all experienced it first hand. Some people have SEVERE mental health issues from being in this place. Some were beaten with 2x4s, mini blind rods, and paddles, force fed, held in stress positions for hours on end, sat on by other girls for hours, plus so much more...you wanna tell me this isn't abuse?
Posted for my friend and fellow NBGA survivor, Katy:
do you think that we just sit around and make up stories of abuse for fun and to fight this "all-mighty God" you speak of? That would be quite the social experiment, don't ya think girls?! Ha! I for one know that every individual experience is different, so the fact that you completely discredit the majority of our experiences is ignorant. I am happy for you that you were able to gain a loving relationship with a higher power and through that continue to have spiritual experiences, but some of us did not. It is comforting to know that someone came out of the home feeling better, but I can tell you with certainty that that was not the case for me. I was abused. I was abused emotionally, mentally, physically, and sexually. I left that home with abandonment issues, emotional issues, and a very unclear perspective as to what I believed in spiritually. I have since appreciated my experience after years of psychotherapy, after realizing that much can be gained through pain and suffering. I have gained a lot of perspective about what I believe in now when it comes to rigid religion and its parallels it has with cults. People start off with good intentions I'm sure, but without a clear vision or guidelines of what they should be doing to help young teenage girls things can start to get messy, and frankly they got REALLY messy. Like I said previously, I'm glad that you had a spiritual awakening, but most of us did not. So if you would please think with compassion and empathy like your savior Jesus would, and try to not judge others for their pain and discredit them. You simply look like an ignorant fool when you do that. Jesus and God would have been outraged and horrified by the things I experience in their name.
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8 hours ago via ·
Try to make that more clear - had to fix some things.
Posted for my friend and fellow NBGA survivor, Katy:
Do you think that we just sit around and make up stories of abuse for fun and to fight this all-mighty God you speak of? That would be quite the social experiment, don't ya think girls?! Ha! I for one know that every individual experience is different, so the fact that you completely discredit the majority of our experiences is ignorant. I am happy for you that you were able to gain a loving relationship with a higher power and through that continue to have spiritual experiences, but some of us did not. It is comforting to know that someone came out of the home feeling better, but I can tell you with certainty that that was not the case for me. I was abused. I was abused emotionally, mentally, physically, and sexually. I left that home with abandonment issues, emotional issues, and a very unclear perspective as to what I believed in spiritually. I have since appreciated my experience after years of psychotherapy, after realizing that much can be gained through pain and suffering. I have gained a lot of perspective about what I believe in now when it comes to rigid religion and its parallels it has with cults. People start off with good intentions I'm sure, but without a clear vision or guidelines of what they should be doing to help young teenage girls things can start to get messy, and frankly they got REALLY messy. Like I said previously, Im glad that you had a spiritual awakening, but most of us did not. So if you would please think with compassion and empathy like your savior Jesus would, and try to not judge others for their pain and discredit them. You simply look like an ignorant fool when you do that. Jesus and God would have been outraged and horrified by the things I experience in their name.
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Here is some information for you in regards to NBGA:
You will find all of the documents, articles and complaints against NBGA at the site listed below.
http://www.heal-online.org/newbeg.htm
At the link listed below, you can see literaly thousands of pages of confirmedly abusive childrens homes/programs. For those of you who think these girls are lying, shame on you! They were CHILDREN and they had no choice! There was no one to listen to them, as their voices were taken away from them the second they arrived at NBGA. They aren't disgruntled adults, they are now grown women, with careers, with children, and now they have that voice that was taken away from them during thier time at this horrific place. They weren't in the military, or in state custody. They were in the middle of nowhere, with a man who has NO training in this type of field. He has no degree for counseling, no license to have this 'home' open, and not an ounce of compassion for the needs of a group of young teenaged girls. He makes his own rules, doles out unfair punishments, and brainwashes these CHILDREN (by force and fear) into believing in his 'God'. Unless you were there you just dont understand. Stop and listen, imagine if it was you who had to suffer and survive this horrendous abuse, as a young CHILD...
http://www.heal-online.org/
A CHILDHOOD MEMORY, SHOULD NOT BE SURVIVAL...
My first attempt at posting didn't work, so hopefully there won't be a duplicate post from me in a few minutes, but just in case I'm posting again.
In response to the above:
...people have.
...people do.
Read the articles associated with this topic and it will make more sense. Do ten minutes of research on the "troubled-teen industry" and it will all make sense. The problem with New Beginnings is just a small piece of a much bigger problem: residential care facilities in the United States which can skirt around the law, investigation, regulation, and oversight. There have been thousands of similar cases, hundreds of homes and hundreds of survivor group and advocacy group activists getting things done. They have reached out to officials, the media, advocacy groups, legal representatives, government representatives. These processes can be slow when it comes to changing things on a large enough scale to ensure that real, permanent, solid reform happens. It's a huge problem. There are major groups like SIA, HEAL, and CAFETY (the actual organized group of NBGA survivors works with all three, in addition to several activist groups) leading organized and peaceful protests, holding public awareness conferences, and collecting data and submitting it to the Government Accountability Office. Based on the public outcry and the statistical analysis of the human rights violations which occur within these homes - running amok and lining their pockets with all the money desperate families can give - bills have been introduced. Blatant problems in the US which the government takes time to do anything about... unheard of?
It's too bad that icu2 doesn't practice what she preaches.
Lots of people have to understand that the McNamaras are aware of what us survivors are up to. NBGA is a lot less abusive than it used to be. I was in the home from 2004 to 2008. Within those four years the home lightened up a lot, because they knew survivors were finally getting together to make a difference. The McNamaras have been watching their backs for a long time now. I'm not saying that NBGA isn't abusive anymore, but the girls are probably being treated a little better now because the Macs know everyone is waiting for them to really mess up so we can shut them down for good. So great work girls! Our words are not only helping to put a stop to this madness, but I'm sure our words are helping the poor girls attending NBGA now have a less painful experience.
For those of you who apparently DO NOT understand. NBGA is an Independent Fundamental Baptist home/program. Therefore, they use the phrase from the constitution, in regards to the seperation of church and state, as thier claim to NOT being investigated by the state. They claim the the seperation between church and state gives them the right to complete privacy. (No state interference) This is NOT what the constitution is refering to, they just use it that way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state
This does NOT give any 'religious' person the right to abuse CHILDREN! They simply use it as a guise, a cover-up, an excuse, as well as a type of sickening power play, on innocent CHILDREN.
THE TOADSTOLL HAS BROKEN LOOSE, AND HEADING FOR MY3CENTS VILLE! LOOK OUT!
Highly educated individuals, with multiple degrees and/or doctorates? I have some as well, I don't feel the need to brag about it, as that is NOT the subject we are discussing here.
The subject of this COMPLAINT board is NBGA. And the abuse that happened to the ladies posting here. They are trying to give their opinions, as to what they went through while at NBGA. They are warning parents about what happens to children at NBGA. They are the ones who experienced it. The original post is from a parent, who was deceived, and has to pick up the pieces of the damage that was done to her child.
I could go in to the deceptive marketing, and fraud that NBGA is guilty of, but that is something that can easily be viewed at the HEAL site.
The McNameras were originally residents in a couple of Roloffs homes. After 'graduating' the programs, they were taken under the wing of another man. Named Wylie Cameron. Wylies wife Faye, was FOREVER banned from working with children at any of the homes. http://www.caller.com/news/2000/apr/28/state-forever-bans-roloff-home-leaders-wife-working/. So they took a couple of former addicts, and placed them in charge of teen-aged girls?
If any of you have doubts that this is a recipe for disaster, you are the ones that are in need of some mental health assistance.
While this is an open forum, for everyone to voice their own experiences, it clearly states above that it is for COMPLAINTS against NBGA. I don't see how this isn't clear to those of you who disagree? While you have your right to disagree. Name calling, accusations of these women needing mental help, calling them liars, and acting as if only your opinion matters. Will never stop them from voicing their experiences. It only gives them more drive to keep on going! I support their efforts 100%, and will stand beside them in helping to get NBGA (and other places just like it) shut down.
@ Simone - You can't have your cake and eat it too on a public board. Everyone has a right to put their 2 cents in.
I don't know what it was like when you all were there, but I experienced nothing like that. Tough yes, but it is a place for troubled youth. I believe it has changed because of closer government scrutiny, so you may be railing about old ghosts. After six months of stay at New Beginnings, the detained girl is granted a 3 day, 2 night visit with her family and if any thing is wrong they can tell their parents or the police then or in phone calls and e mails. The current program is great so I don't know who you're tryong to save? Seek counselling to help you move on if you haven't already and let God work His healing in your broken minds.
I thank God for New Beginnings.If not for them, my daughter may very well have been dead by now.
If I had a nickel for how many times I heard "or my daughter would be DEAD by now" I'd be filthy rich. You'd think all these moms had their kids posted up on some demarcation line or something. Most of those girls would not be "DEAD by now." But most parents who buy into these people's crap end up saying that or something close. This is in no way directed specifically toward you, "Carol heather's mom." Just a thought. Maybe your daughter would be, for all I know. But it's grotesque how often that's said. It's melodramatic, at best. At worst... well, maybe it should tell parents something about their parenting, not their kid. If you can't even keep 'em alive, maybe the parents are the ones who need specialized programs of some kind. Just a thought.
Suggested reading, more on all that: Help At Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids by Maia Szalavitz.
As far as "old ghosts" go... I've been networking with old Rebekah Home (that's where NBGA started and was once called, then New Beginnings Rebekah Academy, then finally New Beginnings Girls Academy and New Beginnings Ministries) alumni and NBGA alumni for years now. All the way from back in the day when they were in Corpus Christi, TX in the 70s and 80s to the reopening of Rebekah '99-'01 to right now. The amount of people who claim to have had traumatic experiences, TO DATE, outnumbers those who say it was just some kind of "tough love" by faaaarrr.
120 people in the NBGA Survivor Group on Facebook. 120 people are... just bored? After growing up, becoming parents themselves, having careers, families, productive lives, they're just... wasting their time for no reason?
I myself was in Rebekah/NBGA through the transition. The home was investigated, cases of abuse WERE substantiated in court. Then, in 2001 it WAS CLOSED DOWN by the state... while I was in it. But we didn't get to go home. We just got shoved into a bus with all our belongings and were carted off to another state (Missouri) and housed in a trailer in the woods until they could buy a new property. They found another place in Florida, so they carted us off to Florida. When I finally got out of there, I did call CPS. They were investigated. They closed and moved back to Missouri.
Like I said, read up on it. If you actually care, you will. It'll take you quite some time before you get a solid grip on the entire situation. It's a hell of a web.
The biggest problem with these types of homes is that they aren't supervised or regulated. Loopholes. It's not like calling CPS on your neighbor or something. Totally different deal. But I guess you wouldn't know until you have to do it yourself.
When reports are made, officials have to jump through all kinds of crazy hoops. (Check out the Mother Jones article that the original poster of this complaint was featured in. The link is in one of these comments. It'll tell you all about it.) Even then, half the girls are too scared to talk and generally don't until a few years after they've been out and have had time to process it. (If you aren't fully familiar, look up details on PTSD.) The rest are have just given up... they're told they're terrible people from the day they go in until the day that they leave and that New Beginnings is all that can save their lives. Thought reform will work on practically anyone who is frightened enough, isolated enough, separated enough from their own identity and anyone who could help them remember it.
I talk to girls all the time who got out not long ago at all who say the same things girls have been saying for years. I wish I could, but I don't believe it has gotten better. Maybe sneakier. Maybe slicker on the exterior. But suddenly miraculously therapeutic? ...I don't think so.
All that said, I don't discredit anyone's opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own. If you felt helped, I would never want you to feel the opposite way. But remember how much goes on behind closed doors. Remember how compartmentalized it is. And don't be naive enough to think that you knew everything about everything that's ever gone on there.
And, like I said, you're all entitled to your own opinions, but it literally made me ill to see anyone "thank God" for New Beginnings but a few posts after - on the very same page - as a girl who claims she was sexually abused there. I was there at the same time as that girl. She said the same thing ever since. Not a line of her story has changed.
Even if they snapped their fingers and tomorrow New Beginnings was perfect, would you really feel comfortable letting them take total control of your child with these very same incessant complaints pouring out of that place for years upon years? If so... I, too, am entitled to my opinion. And my opinion is that you'd have to be really stupid or just... s i c k.
You bring up a good point about parenting Brittany - which calls into questioning the parenting of the parents of many who have posted here. The thing about complaints outweighing compliments is a natural phenomenom. People who are satisfied with a business or what have you are much less likely to post as people who are dissatisfied with the business or what have you. Also, when someone does post negatively and a subsequent satisfactory resolution has been reached, they rarely come back and update on that. I hope you counsel the girls who recently got out to exercise their right to file reports with their ;ocal law enforcement and CPS agencies.
I have way too many friends from this place that are suffering, myself included. Anxiety, PTSD, & physical health issues. I have a major problem with the fact that they lied to my parents the whole time I was there and I wasn't allowed to tell them what was really going on because everything was extremely monitored, you couldn't cough without someone knowing. One more thing I would like to mention is that they are a FRAUD. They charged my parents $500 a month for tuition(some parents more). &50-60 a month for some BS medical account that was never used because they wouldn't take you to the doctor, you had to be almost dying or complain about it enough to get on their nerves. And also a fee for our personal hygiene items that were always the cheapest brand, some parents would send their child their own stuff because their stuff was crap. Anyways, on top of that there was another general account so around $700 a month to feed me food that they would most often get for free or very cheap from a food bank and give us only the bare essentials. What a load of crap. If you do the math, $700 a month x 12 months= $8, 400 per year per girl, $8, 400 x 30-35 girls = roughly $252, 000 (and that is the tuition alone) they are very wealthy and only giving the girls the bare minimum, if that. They are more than likely millionaires, and they would shuffle us all around the country for weeks on end, have us sleeping in church pews or on hard floors, to sing at church services to earn more donations. Not to mention the monthly donations they receive. (And this was over 5 years ago when I was there, I heard they charge more now) Its a horrible, horrible place and my wish is to see them shut down. These girls have been suffering for way too long and it has got to stop.
I hate to hear that too, Brittany. More than likely none of the girls would be dead by now and with some parenting classes and maybe some counseling and restrictions the parents wouldn't even have to send their child somewhere where they have no idea what is happening to them, only hoping and trusting Bill McNamara's word that they are alright. I don't blame my parents for sending me there, they did what they felt was best for me at the time and they were lied to. I, myself would never resort to something of the such and would not recommend that any parent do so but thats what they did and I can't blame them for what happened to me while I was there or for trying to help the way they thought was best. It still doesn't change the fact that this place is nothing but a big FRAUD that is causing more hurt then help to innocent teenagers who just need some real guidance.
They don't teach you how to live in the real world and you are told that everyone out in normal society is wicked and of the devil. A lot of the time when girls get out, they actually end up worse then they were before they got sent there because they have no idea how to readjust to a normal world. You are so separated the only people you really get to see are the people at the facility and people from churches. This place is a terrible, terrible place and I urge any parents reading these comments not to send their child to this abusive facility.
@Ramelle and in general:
I agree. Indeed, 'cept for the bit about any satisfactory resolution (doesn't really apply here, most unfortunately.) Were that to ever happen for anyone who has had "grievances" with this place, some people would have to face the (really apparent now) fact that most of the children they've taken in to "put on the right track" (if that's even remotely anywhere in their mindset) consider their experiences there to have been extremely damaging in a myriad of ways. You'd think, if they really, truly cared about the struggling kids of America they'd eventually catch on to the notion that they're just not working out for the job. Their business model is not panning out. Products are not quality. Customers are not satisfied. My opinion again: I don't think they actually care. I think they know that society will not tolerate them and their actions for much longer and they want to milk the cash cow for all it's worth.
Complaints... natural phenomenon... yes. But this isn't your average, run of the mill consumer complaint. While it is, totally, false advertisement: It's not a school. There's no one I've known of there with a legitimate certification or degree in anything, who's actually qualified to teach anyone's kids anything. Oh, and they aren't a recognized school - all nontransferable and unaccredited. And it's not therapeutic. Again, (Simone mentioned it) these people were "converted" to religious fundamentalists and six months later were running teen homes and collecting tuition. They're maybe qualified to tie their shoe laces. But they're in charge of guiding these kids' "spiritual" lives (to quote them, ) their education, their health and welfare, their upbringing.
Like, if the same news story kept resurfacing, and you could track down the "witnesses" and roughly 120 of them said the same thing happened, you'd probably have a good idea of how things happened. Well, it is in the news. And has been, repeatedly. In each state in which this place has operated.
I guess, as "survivors, " we'll always have a disadvantage in the eyes of those who are too indifferent to know what all this is about. We did everything a casual poster here would suggest and everything we knew to do. We called CPS and our reports were ineffective or evaded due to some serious and evident need for organization in how the system works for - or doesn't work for since the state itself has to fight for the right to investigate - this particular type of home, and so we keep going ...choose to go the activism route and work toward bigger solutions, and we're "trying to get attention." But I think - to those same indifferent people - if the reality were not as it unfortunately is and our reporting went swimmingly and we had some big class action lawsuit going, I'm sure we'd just be a bunch of "grown delinquents in it for the money for our 'sustained damages.'"
I do counsel the girls to call authorities. I agree that this is the primary way to go about this. But sadly, the system in regard to these unregulated homes "running amok" as I said before, needs major reform. There's a Bill working on it right now, like I mentioned in my previous post. Theoretically, residential care facilities which have transparency and upstanding practices wouldn't fear some preventative measures to ensure that all kids are safe. Thus far, New Beginnings and places like it have moved to and fro within the United States in effort to retain the power to keep specific practices and avoid oversight. 'What are they evading?' a logical person might ask. The Bill would standardize certain measures to uphold human rights standards for children in facilities and eradicate the facilities that don't uphold those standards. Maybe it's not the ultimate solution, but it is a step in the right direction.
So, whatever... smart people still read.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/08/new-bethany-ifb-teen-homes-abuse
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/independent-fundamental-baptist-discipline-call-tough-love-abuse/comments?type=story&id=13310172#.TuaPNuz4I84
@M3CSlimjim...I don't know if you are joking or not, and its not very funny if so, because this is a very serious matter. That would be very ignorant on your part if you sent your son to this place after finding out all this information and what they have done to people and how they are still suffering years later.
http://business.highbeam.com/410545/article-1G1-80924216/remember-christian-alamo-evangelist-lester-roloff-drew
http://motherjones.com/politics/2007/08/cult-spawned-tough-love-teen-industry
http://stopnbga.blogspot.com
Don't *judge* me or my parenting. Any parent's goal should be to do the best they can to ensure their child's physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual safety. NB helped turn my daughter's life around for the better. And yes, she most likely would have wound up dead. 1 acute case of alcohol poisoning, 2 overdoses where she had to have her stomach pumpedand damaged her esophagus, , a suicide attempt, I could go on for hours about the risky destructive behavior. If you are reluctant to point the finger at your own parents, don't point them at anyone else's.
Yes any parents goal SHOULD be the best they can to ensure their child's physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual safety. New Beginnings is NOT the place. Physically they made me gain 30 pounds because they force fed me and if we didn't finish all the huge amounts of food we would get put on discipline and i now have stretch marks all over my body. I am emotionally damaged now and I am now on anti depressants. Psychologically I am no longer here. I dont have as much and I no longer smile as much as I used to. AND SPIRITUALLY I am more anti-religious than I was before I went into the home because everything was forced on us. Nothing was accepting at all. No one was accepting at all. Your daughters acute case of alcohol poisoning, overdoses, and suicide attempts has everything to do with you as a parent. END OF STORY.
I'm not pointing the finger at anyone... except NBGA. They lie to parents, so parents make misinformed, bad decisions based on those lies.
Sincerely, I'm sorry that your child had such a hard time. But if any parent thinks they can send their kid off for some magic fix, pay $500+ per month to let some grimy stranger, ex-criminal-turned-fancy-Jesus-man do their job for them, and go to sleep at night with no worries, they're both wrong and exactly the sucker NBGA preys upon.
I meant no offense specifically to you. I feel for people in your position, because you've been lied to. If you do nothing, just give it a few years, you'll find out what I'm talking about. And you'll wish you listened.
Is she still there? Are you the one who posted a testimonial on their website? Pull her out early.
Every kid "LOVES" New Beginnings when they're still there - talking to you for 15 minutes every few weeks on the phone while Bro. Mac sits across from her or listens in on the call. You know they monitor all mail and calls, right? Why? That's YOUR kid. Try asking to talk to her alone on the phone - see what they say. Every kid is "MAGICALLY CHANGED" when they're there. Why? Because they want OUT in the worst way. Kinda like all criminals in prison are "really innocent" and find God and animals in cages can't get into much trouble.
If you were smart, you wouldn't necessarily just take our words for it, but you'd have a hard time resting easy until you did some digging. And if you did some digging, you wouldn't rest easy until she was back with her family.
From my experiences at New Beginnings Girls Academy, from my Mothers parenting skills, and from everything I have witnessed in life, I can definitely assure everyone that I will never let my children get to the point where they are suicidal and over dosing on drugs.
TWO major national news articles... one of which painstakingly details New Beginnings' history of trouble with this. How could anyone just up and decide to ignore that? Just me, but if 120 people were saying, "that daycare is abusive." I'd pull my kid the **** out just on principle. Just in case! Even if just to communicate to them how far I would go to ensure their well-being. I was a troubled kid too, and I know now that the biggest thing I needed was for someone to LISTEN. Instead, parents think they can shove 'em in a box for a few years, trust some stranger's word, close their eyes and mind like everything will come out like some picture-perfect dream in the end.
That, in my opinion - on this fine public opinion board - is mental ###ation.
No, the reality is that kids come out with nontransferable credits (so the longer one's kid is there, the longer their education is at a dead stop - he or she will likely have to repeat grades, ) stifled communicative skills (from not being allowed to speak, let alone speak honestly about their experience, ) and completely unprepared to face real-world problems like they had to face before the home. Recap: A New Beginnings "program graduate" comes out with no valid education for the time they were at New Beginnings, worse communication skills, and no concept of how to live in the real world. (Bro Mac's idea of a success wouldn't need any of those things anyway. Think about it.)