Cross Creek Programs was a reform school facility in La Verkin,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, operated by the

World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools The World Wide Association Of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS or WWASP) was an organization based in Utah, in the United States. WWASPS was founded by Robert Lichfield and was incorporated in 1998. WWASPS stated that it was an umbrella org ...

(WWASPS). It sometimes is referred to as two facilities, with the name Cross Creek Manor applied to the girls' program and the name Cross Creek Center used for the boys' program, which were originally in different locations. Cross Creek Academy and Browning Academy have been used as names for the academic program. Cross Creek Programs was founded in 1988 by Robert Lichfield and Brent Facer, originally only for girls.Brooke Adams
Founder's Passion Is Helping Youths
''The Salt Lake Tribune'', 25 May 2003. Republished by ''Inside Costa Rica''. Archived by archive.org, August 13, 2008. Before founding Cross Creek, Lichfield had worked at

Provo Canyon School Provo Canyon School (PCS) is a psychiatric youth involuntary residential treatment center, owned and operated by Universal Health Services (UHS) since 2000. The involuntary residential program claims to use an "Acuity Based Care" (ABC) mode ...

. The school ("Cross Creek Academy") was educationally accredited through the

Northwest Accreditation Commission The Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC), formerly named the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, is a non-governmental organization that provides Educationalaccreditation, accreditation to educational institutions in the Northwes ...

. In an interview, multiple graduates, parents and staff members from the school described the program as manipulative, abusive and traumatic. One graduate claimed he was forcibly kidnapped from his home, handcuffed, beaten, and taken across state lines against his will in order to be transported to the program, or in short legally trafficked. Another graduate claimed to be supervised by a male staff member when she was showering at the age of 13. Another graduate claimed that male staff members performed rape re-enactment on girls who have been sexually abused, stating that other students were instructed to yell insults at the victim during the re-enactment. Executives from the school have denied these allegations, saying the accusers just "didn't like their parents trying to help them". In 2006, a lawsuit was filed against Cross Creek and other defendants, alleging widespread physical and psychological abuse of the teenagers sent into their programs.Troubled Teen Programs - 25 Plaintiffs Join in Lawsuit Against WWASPS, Cross Creek Manor, Robert Lichfield, and Associates – More Expected to Join In
press release by Coalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse, Webwire, October 16, 2006

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{{authority control Boarding schools in Utah Youth rights in the United States Therapeutic boarding schools in the United States Schools in Washington County, Utah Private middle schools in Utah Private high schools in Utah World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools Troubled teen programs