CEDU

CEDU Educational Services, Inc., known simply as CEDU (pronounced see-doo), was a company founded in 1967 by Mel Wasserman. The company owned and operated several therapeutic boarding schools, group homes, wilderness therapy programs, and behavior modification programs in California and Idaho. The company's schools have faced numerous allegations of abuse. CEDU originated from Synanon, a group that has been called one of the "most dangerous and violent cults America had ever seen."

Origins

CEDU originates from Synanon, a cult founded in Santa Monica, California in 1958 by Charles E. Dederich. According to an account in Santa Monica's ''Evening Outlook'' of January 23, 1959 in an article by R. D. Fox, Synanon stands for "Sins Anonymous". However, Synanon was incorporated in 1958 as a nonprofit foundation after a person struggling with substance abuse stumbled over the words "seminar" and "symposium", the mostly commonly accepted origin of the word. According to Maia Szalavitz, author of ''Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids'', "Synanon sold itself as a cure for hardcore heroin addicts who could help each other by 'breaking' new initiates with isolation, humiliation, hard labor, and sleep deprivation."
The troubled teen industry has continued to be associated with Synanon and the various CEDU spin-offs. Former students have made the assertion that CEDU was an acronym for Charles E. Dederich University.

Program

The average time a teenager spent at a CEDU program before graduating was years. The programs were year-round. CEDU had its own therapeutic language, derived from Synanon. Three times a week, for three to four hours, teenagers would attend "raps," psychology group sessions led by untrained staff. based on Synanon's "the game." Students and staff were incentivized to "indict" students for minor rule infractions in the name of emotional growth. This is commonly referred to as attack therapy, where screaming is appropriate and expected.

In addition to raps, in order to advance in the CEDU program, a student would have to participate in a workshop known as a "propheet" every three months. The propheets were based on Synanon's "trip", and would last anywhere from 24 hours to several days at a time. The propheets were led by unlicensed staff. They employed sleep-deprivation, humiliation, exposure to large variations in temperature, guided imagery, loud and repetitive music, regression therapy, and forced emoting. The propheet names by order were: Truth, Brothers, Childrens, Dreams, I Want to Live, I & Me, Challenge, and The Summit.

During intake, which occurred upon a teenager's arrival to a CEDU program, they were made to sign a contract consenting to CEDU's agreements. The three most emphasized agreements were no sex, no drugs, and no violence. Violators would be sent to the Ascent Wilderness Program located in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, which was CEDU's version of a six-week boot camp.

CEDU's Timeline

Original CEDU period (1967–1985)

The original CEDU program did not believe in the use of medicine.

Expansion (1982–1990)

In 1982, a small group of staff and students known as the "original seven" left the Running Springs, California campus for Bonners Ferry, Idaho, to open Rocky Mountain Academy (RMA). RMA's curriculum and philosophy were identical to the original school, CEDU Running Springs. In 1989, CEDU expanded tuition sources to allow payment from school districts and insurance companies, and started an endowment fund to allow scholarships. On rare occasions, staff and students were transferred between schools. The staff generally transferred campuses for promotions, while students were transferred because the staff felt a "fresh start" was the best (and usually last) option for the student. Rocky Mountain Academy was one of the largest employers in Boundary County, Idaho during the period, diversifying its timber and agriculture economy. In 1992, CEDU expanded with the opening of three programs: CEDU Middle School, a program for 9.5-13.5 year-olds on the CEDU Running Springs, CA, campus; Ascent, a 41-day wilderness camp in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, where many children were sent prior to enrollment before a second CEDU program, and CEDU Education, which provided teen transport services to all CEDU programs and safe housing, as well as in home enrollment.

CEDU Education - Brown Schools (1998–2005)

CEDU Education was sold to Brown Schools in 1998.

Closure

Brown Schools operated 11 boarding schools and educational facilities in California, Idaho, Texas, Vermont, and Florida. Upon closure, several CEDU employees reported to Lake Arrowhead ''Mountain News'' that pending litigation against CEDU for abuse and violation of rights as well as citations against the schools contributed to the downfall. In March 2005, Brown Schools declared bankruptcy. The same year, Universal Health Services bid $13.5 million for the Brown School properties in bankruptcy.

Idaho Educational Services

Universal Health Services Inc., a public company focused on hospitals and behavioral health centers, subsequently reopened three of the former CEDU facilities: Boulder Creek Academy (located on the former Rocky Mountain Academy property), Northwest Academy, and Ascent Wilderness Program, whose name they later changed to Caribou Ridge Intervention. These operate under the new name of Idaho Educational Services. Each program is overseen by individual directors.

In the news

December 12 1985 - Rescue teams search for five girls who went missing in a snowstorm during a survival course run by CEDU in the Joshua Tree National Park

July 15, 1994 - A male client from Texas hanged himself with a belt from a pipe of an overhead sprinkler system in one of the dormitories of Lower Camelot at Rocky Mountain Academy in Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

July 28, 1994 - It is revealed that a former CEDU employee and white separatist planned to kidnap students attending Rocky Mountain Academy for ransom, including the children of celebrities Barbara Walters and Clint Eastwood. The employee, who was a friend of Randy Weaver, was fired after federal agents discovered the plot.

June 27, 1996 - John C. D'Abreo files a lawsuit against CEDU in Monterey County, claiming he was physically and emotionally abused at Ascent and Northwest Academy.

November 1996 - Former Rocky Mountain Academy staff and owner of Boundarylines Crisis Intervention Richard "Rowdy" Armstrong is accused of drugging, raping and sodomizing former Rocky Mountain Academy staff and Boundarylines Crisis Intervention co-worker Twila Stephenson.

January 1997 - Five people are injured in a riot at Northwest Academy in Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

March 31, 1998 - Marsha and Ronald Accomazzo file a lawsuit against CEDU. Their son was enrolled at Ascent and Rocky Mountain Academy, and injured in the Northwest Academy riot.

March 31, 1998 - Nancy Dark makes allegations leading to charges against CEDU. Her son was enrolled at Boulder Creek Academy, Ascent, and the Northwest Academy, and injured in the Northwest Academy riot.

April 1, 1998 - CEDU is sued for fraud, racketeering, and battery.

April 5, 2000 - Dianne and Robert Reibstein file a lawsuit against CEDU for neglect and abuse. Their son was at Ascent and Rocky Mountain Academy.

October 13, 2002 - An article titled "When Rich Kids Go Bad" is published by ''Forbes'' magazine. Leigh Horowitz, along with several other anonymous CEDU clients, are interviewed.

January 14, 2004 - An article about Boulder Creek Academy titled "The Last Resort" is published by the ''Chicago Tribune''. Several CEDU clients and parents are interviewed.

June 25, 2018 - ''Running My Anger: The Legacy of the CEDU Cult,'' an account of what it was like to undergo the therapeutic process in CEDU in Idaho and California, is published on Medium.

May 26, 2020 - Adam Eget, an actor and comedian known for his work with Norm Macdonald, talks about his experiences with CEDU on ''The Joe Rogan Experience'' podcast. Eget describes CEDU as an abusive cult, and talks about multiple examples of child endangerment he saw as a client attending a CEDU School.

June 3, 2020 - ''The Lost Kids,'' a six episode podcast about the disappearance of Daniel Yuen from CEDU's Running Springs, California campus is released. Hosted by Josh Bloch, Universal Content Productions (UCP).

September 14, 2020 - ''This Is Paris'', a documentary that covers the time Paris Hilton spent at CEDU High School, Ascent Wilderness Program, Cascade School, and Provo Canyon School, premieres on YouTube.

January 17, 2021 - The Los Angeles Times publishes an article where CEDU client Rachel Uchitel describes allegedly having to dig a grave with a spoon and then being forced to lay in it.

January 18, 2022 - ''This Will Be Funny Later,'' a memoir by Roseanne Barr's daughter Jenny Pentland, is published. In it, she describes the time she spent at Rocky Mountain Academy, Boulder Creek Academy, and Ascent, along with several other troubled teen programs.

See also

;Related topics
*Teenage rebellion
*Continuation high school
*Residential education
*Residential treatment center
*Youth rights

;Techniques
*Therapeutic community
*Operant conditioning
*Behavior modification

;Therapies
*Group psychotherapy
*Behavior therapy
*Attack therapy

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website

Surviving Cedu
a 2008 documentary by Liam Scheff, featuring a closing segment with cult expert Paul Morantz.
Running My Anger: The Legacy of the CEDU Cult
an anonymous account of what it was like to be a student at CEDU in Idaho and California. Medium Anonymous discusses the current documentaries on CEDU, Rocky Mountain Academy, and articles on trauma and how they relate to them as a prior student of CEDU.

Therapeutic community
Education companies of the United States
Defunct schools in Idaho
Defunct schools in California
Educational institutions established in 1967
Educational institutions disestablished in 2005
Therapeutic boarding schools in the United States
1967 establishments in the United States
2005 disestablishments in Idaho