<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=44NYbT_1FeI3pYQ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=44NYbT_1FeI3pYQ00" width="600" height="400" ><figcaption>Terry McGraw , Watonga</figcaption></figure>Oklahoma Boarding School Marketed Help for Struggling Girls. Former Students Describe Punishment Instead.Mary Baerg’s adoptive parents sent her to New Lifehouse Academy in rural Delaware County after a suicide attempt, believing she would get the mental health support she needed. Baerg said she found something else: rigid discipline, food restriction, physical restraint and a teacher who she says made inappropriate sexual advances that staff dismissed.As Ashlynd Baecht reported for The Frontier, 24 former students who attended New Lifehouse over the past decade described a program built on control and isolation rather than treatment. New Lifehouse, operated by Adult &amp; Teen Challenge of Oklahoma, markets itself to parents of teenage girls who are depressed, withdrawn or self-destructive — but it is not licensed to provide mental health care and operates largely outside state oversight as a private, faith-based institution.Former students described punishments including forced exercise, food restriction, outdoor labor and writing Bible verses. Thirteen former students said one longtime staffer routinely restrained girls by sitting on their legs and holding them down. Three former students told The Frontier that staff members made inappropriate sexual advances toward them. The school said it had no record of many of these complaints.Baerg ran from the school twice. On her second escape, she walked toward Pensacola Dam — about eight miles away — planning to jump, according to psychiatric records. Two passersby intervened. She was hospitalized for nearly three weeks before being sent to another boarding school. She never returned to her adoptive parents’ home.When Baerg tried to obtain her records from New Lifehouse, the school’s lawyer refused. Two other former students previously received hundreds of pages of records from the school. Baerg received only her transcript.Her father said the program did not deliver what it advertised. After The Frontier contacted the school, it added a disclaimer to its website noting it does not provide clinical mental health treatment.If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 to reach Oklahoma’s mental health lifeline.More worth knowing: City Attorney Placed on LeaveEdmond City Attorney Madeline Sawyer, who recently dropped charges against Secretary of State Ben Lepak, was placed on paid administrative leave in a 4-1 vote of the Edmond City Council, and her replacement was unanimously appointed, though the reason for the sudden action remains unclear. [NonDoc] [The Oklahoman ▲]Judge ReprimandedThe Oklahoma Supreme Court publicly reprimanded a Tulsa county judge, saying her conduct was indefensible and reflected a lack of impulse control and judgment. The state’s high court, though, did not order Tulsa County District Judge Sharon Holmes to face removal proceedings, as a state agency that investigated the complaints recommended. [Oklahoma Voice] [Tulsa World ▲]Judge Opens 11 of 24 State Farm DocumentsOklahoma County District Judge Amy Palumbo ruled that 11 documents in one of the lead State Farm lawsuits brought by homeowners could not remain confidential. She took the plaintiff’s request to open 13 other documents under advisement. The documents have been painted as the smoking gun in claims that State Farm plotted to fraudulently deny wind and hail claims. [The Oklahoman ▲]▲=Possible paywall“Tell the president that the buffalo is my old friend, and it would make my heart glad to see a herd once more roaming around.”—Quanah Parker to President Theodore RooseveltCiao for now,Ted StreuliExecutive Director, Oklahoma Watch<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3IgxKp_1FeI3pYQ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3IgxKp_1FeI3pYQ00" width="800" height="1000" ></figure>Help Us Make a DifferenceOklahoma needs high-quality investigative journalism. That is our mission at Oklahoma Watch. We produce stories that hold government and public officials accountable and make transparent what some prefer to keep secret. We depend on financial support from readers like you to sustain our coverage. Will you help us make a difference?<h2>Support our publication </h2>Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.</div></body>

Block Source: oklahomawatch.org

Misinformation

Clickbait

Old or repetitive news

Explicit content

Location not relevant

Oklahoma Boarding School Marketed Help for Struggling Girls. Former Students Describe Punishment Instead. Mary Baerg’s adoptive parents sent her to New Lifehouse Academy in rural Delaware County after a suicide attempt, believing she would get the mental health support she needed. Baerg said she found something else: rigid discipline, food restriction, physical restraint and a teacher who she says made inappropriate sexual advances that staff dismissed.

First Watch: Stuff You Should Know

NewsBreak

Oklahoma Boarding School Marketed Help for Struggling Girls. Former Students Describe Punishment Instead. Mary Baerg’s adoptive parents sent her to New Lif

First Watch: Stuff You Should Know

Comments