Our Narconon Nightmare A Chronology
On Friday, June 29, my husband and I found an empty bottle of vodka in our 19 year old daughter's bedroom. Our daughter has ADHD, along with depression and anxiety. As such, she is at risk for substance abuse, but she is not addicted. We decided that we would immediately find some type of treatment in our area in Maryland) before something dangerous might happen (e.G., she had a car accident while drinking, etc.)
I googled and I searched under addiction treatment Silver Spring MD. I went to several sites and called many people. We did not want to use a medical model but a holistic approach. Down the page results for our search, we found Narconon through this site: USnodrugs.com The phone number is 1-866-395-1680.
We spoke with the Narconon Southern California admissions counselor (Micki Allen) who sold us on the Newport Beach facility and it's small intimate residential setting: a nice neighborhood; holistic approach; no drugs involved; likely insurance reimbursement. We asked if the program was affiliated with Scientology since Ron Hubbard was mentioned on the web site. We were told repeatedly that it was not. We were also told this program is appropriate for students in college who were not yet addicted.
Ms. Allen e-mailed two documents to us: License - State of California Dept. Of Alcohol and Drug Programs and Explanation of Narconon Services and Fees. We were told that the full fee must be paid up front but that most insurance companies will reimburse at least part of these fees. We were referred to Gayle, the financial counselor for pre-authorization. We were referred to Intervention Services and Technologies to help us coerce our daughter to agree to enroll in Narconon. The interventionist told us that our daughter would have the use of her cell phone and could call us anytime.
Our daughter was enrolled on June 30th and she was told to sign the Admission's Agreement (which was not sent to us). She assumed that we knew what she was signing. We soon found out that our daughter could not speak to us for the first few days, after which she could call only on a phone at the facility. When we finally spoke to her, she informed us that most of the people under treatment were addicted to heroin and that she was the only one there who was not an addict.
On July 03, we received a letter from Blue Cross Blue Shield stating that the requested service was denied because it was a non-contracted Residential Treatment Center. We subsequently learned that insurance only pays for centers that are certified by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). Narconon knew they weren't certified by JCAHO.
A few days later we received in the mail a document titled Narconon Southern California Consumer Service Policy where we learned for the first time that there are NO REFUNDS; the only exception would be the case where Narconon Southern California deemed the student unable to do the program and routed the student out of the program. Unable is defined as medically or legally incapable of participating. This no refund policy was not mentioned in the documents sent to us prior to my daughter arriving at Narconon nor was it mentioned in the voluminous information on their web site. Fortunately, we did not sign the contract.
On July 19th while I was out, my daughter informed my husband, that a 50 something year old male member of the staff (Carmine) had been making inappropriate comments on many occasions which were sexual in nature.in addition, earlier that day, this staff member prevented my daughter from passing him on the stair case so he could touch the front of his body (including his pelvic area) to hers and rub her arms while repeating these inappropriate comments.
On July 20th I called Narconon at Newport Beach and spoke with Cosmo. He informed me that they were aware of the situation, and that they spoke with the staff member and told him not to do it again. This was the last straw! I told Cosmo that I wanted my daughter to come home that night. Following this, I received several phone calls from other staff (Amanda, Kia Lucarelli) informing me that Carmine was now fired and they rigorously attempted to change my mind, to no avail. My daughter left Narconon on the next flight from Longbeach CA on July 20th, after being there for 3 weeks. My daughter subsequently told us that she revealed the incident with Carmine to another male student (Matt S.) who was upset that she ratted on Carmine.
From July 21 until August 28 I made multiple phone calls (most of which were never returned) to the refund coordinator (June Rosenberry) in attempt to get a refund. She implied that a refund was possible but she would have to get more information. A week or two later Ms. Rosenberry called and informed me that there were inconsistencies in my daughter's records and she could not reveal them to me unless my daughter signed a release.
On July 30 I received a copy of the Admission Agreement that my daughter signed on admission for me to sign as the responsible party. I did not sign it. On July 31, I faxed the Consent for the Release of Confidential Information (signed by my daughter) to Ms. Rosenberry.
After multiple phone calls, Ms. Rosenberry finally sent a letter with an attached 'Knowledge Report on August 20. The "Knowledge Report" indicated that my daughter revealed the incident regarding Carmine to another student (Matt S) and it states that she essentially told Matt S. That she lied so that she could go home.
The problem with this story is that she did not need to do this to go home. She could have left and called my cousin in Los Angeles who would have assisted her to go home if she wished. Ms. Rosenberry's attached letter stated that my daughter's desire to leave the program prompted her to make a false accusation and resulted in an intern being removed and her departure from the program.
If Narconon thought my daughter lied, why didn't they reinstate this staff/intern? In addition, this letter contained some of the same poetry contained in letters sent to other parents that are posted on the internet. She also restated the no refund policy and said my daughter is welcome to return Narconon when ever she decides to.
On August 28th, I sent a certified letter to Ms. Rosenberry which summarized our issues, including the fact that we were not informed about the no refund policy in advance. My letter ended as follows: The purpose of this letter is to request a full refund of the $29,000 that I paid to Narconon. I have reviewed all paper work that was e-mailed to me and all information on the web site and there is no mention of a no refund policy. Please send me a certified check or money order for $29,000 by close of business on September 10th.
On Sept. 12, I received a letter from Ms Rosenberry stating my letter to you of August 20, explains Narconon's position on your refund request. There has been no change in that information.
As I pursue my claim for refund and continue filing complaints about what happened, I urge others to avoid this program! The major issues we have identified thus far are:
Narconon preys on parents/clients during a vulnerable period:
Narconon is networked through web sites all over the country to find "victims".
The admissions coordinator at Narconon called the staff "counselors" and claimed they were trained in addiction treatment. The truth is these "counselors are all former students/addicts with no formal training.
Narconon promotes that their Newport Beach program is a "welcomed part of the neighborhood" instead of the neighborhood nuisance that they really are.
Narconon lies to get and keep your money:
Narconon does not inform the financially responsible person about the "no refund policy'"until it is too late.
Narconon does not mention, or provide for signature, a "contract'"to the financially responsible persons prior to admission. Narconon did not provide our daughter with a copy of the "contract" that she signed.
Narconon misleads parents/the financially responsible that medical insurance pays for their services.
Narconon misleads people about their relationship with Scientology:
Narconon monitors all communication between students and family.
Other parents have revealed that their sons were removed from the program and dumped in a motel because of nattering' (talking about another student or staff). This looks like an attempt at mind control'.
Other issues:
Narconon claims they address all addictions but they allow, and even enable students to smoke cigarettes.
Narconon's facilities are too crowded.
When doing a Google search for a treatment facility, beware of websites that appear to be referral sites. There is a good chance that the site is being run by Narconon. I found that emails I'd received from the Narconon staff were writing me from a rehab referral site called www.drug-rehabs.org. That site states that they refer to all kinds of programs and is part of a 'social betterment organization' when in fact it is run by Narconon. This is quite a scam.
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