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Pathway Family Center
BREAKING NEWS
According to John Wilhelmsen of the Michigan Department of Community Health, the Indianapolis PFC office has announced its intention to close the Southfield, Michigan facility on Friday, January 30, 2009. Formal documentation should be made available for public inspection within the next 14 days.
ISAC will post updates as they become available.
Pathway Family Center currently has drug treatment facilities in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.
The Pathway programs are direct descendants of Straight, Inc.
Straight, Inc. is considered to be one of the most abusive programs in United States history and
has been classified as a cult.
Straight, Inc. Michigan closed in 1993, not long after the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that "Michigan regulators plan to inspect the facility weekly, after finding the program had twice inappropriately restrained clients, injuring one. Michigan has ordered the program to get a residential license, entailing more stringent inspection of host home arrangements."
Helen Gowanny, the director of Straight, Inc. Michigan, along with the parents of some graduates, then opened Pathway Family Center.
Terri Nissley, the current director of Pathway Family Center, was one of those parents. Her daughter is a graduate of Straight, Inc. Michigan.
The after-care coordinator at the Indiana facility is reported to be a Straight, Inc. graduate as well.
A relative of Ambassador Mel Sembler - the founder of Straight, Inc. - was a client at Pathway and ISAC has received reports
that the child was allowed to fly to Florida for the weekends.
Other children in the facility are not offered such privileges.
Former clients have told ISAC that Mel and Betty Sembler were named on the "host home list" even though they live in Florida and Pathway is located in
Michgan and Indiana.
According to survivors, the program is still very much like Straight, Inc.
Contrary to the claims of parents, this news footage shows that first phase clients weren't allowed to wear shoes in the building in 2003.
One survivor has reported being forced to wear wet socks
and pants all day after a toilet overflowed in the facility.
He requested permission to change his soiled clothing, and was refused.
A 2003 investigation by ISAC revealed that Pathway was placing children in host/foster homes even though they are not licensed by the state to do so.
As a result of our investigation and subsequent report, Pathway Family Center was placed on probation by the Council on Accreditation (COA) in 2003.
Pathway director Terri Nissley, then sent these letters to representatives of various state agencies.
In the letters, Nissley deliberately directed people to the wrong website, said ISAC is "fighting on behalf of the disease," and accused us of using "unethical and inappropriate methods" to discredit the program when in FACT, we filed formal complaints with the appropriate state agencies and the Council on Accreditation.
In March 2006, Pathway Family Center acquired control of Kids Helping Kids (details located below).
Kids Helping Kids was formerly known as Straight Midwest.
Please visit our Kids Helping Kids page for more information.
In 2007, Pathway was again put on probation by the Council on Accreditation. Instead of fixing the problems that led to probation, Pathway applied for, and was granted accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF).
Community Action Drug Coalition of Porter County
ISAC Corporation has learned that the Community Action Drug Coalition of Porter County reported $0 as its income on the IRS Form 990 it filed for the tax year of 2007. The registered agent of this organization, Mann Spitler, III, proclaimed at a public meeting held in Valparaiso Indiana on January 30, 2007 that it had pledged $100,000 to Pathway Family Center in 2006 to help with start-up costs associated with the anticipated opening of a new facility in Porter County in the summer of 2007.
This claim was published in the Northwest Indiana Times at the following URL: http://nwi.com/articles/2007/01/16/news/porter_county/
The CADC of Porter County was formerly known as the Community Action Drug Coalition, Inc. It was administratively dissolved in February of 2005. The CADC of Porter County was incorporated on August 13, 2007. This was nearly 6 months after the January public meeting.
The CADC of Porter County, prior to its incorporation in August of 2007, hosted the "Walk Away From Drugs" fundraiser in Valparaiso on May 19, 2007. This event is documented at the following URL: http://nwi.com/articles/2007/04/06/community/porter_county/
ISAC Corporation continues to investigate this matter and will provide updates as they become available.
Those Wackos at ISAC
Additional Information from Shelby Earnshaw
Director of ISAC
In January 2007, the Northwest Indiana Times ran a series of articles exposing Pathway Family Center as a spin-off of Straight, Inc.
ISAC supplied the reporter with substantial documentation showing that Pathway Family Center is Straight, Inc. Michigan renamed.
Pathway Family Center even used the same office equipment and internal documents. In some cases, Pathway executives neglected to remove "STRAIGHT" from the documents or just crossed it out.
The reporter for the Northwest Indiana Times asked Pathway's director, Terri Nissley, about us, the International Survivors Action Committee.
Her response?
Nissley said we're "wackos."
It made me wonder what she calls her daughter.
You see, I, like Nissley's daughter, am a graduate of Straight, Inc.
And so is my husband William, who happens to be the President of ISAC.
We're graduates of the same program that "saved" Nissley's daughter.
We're graduates of the same program Nissley copied back in 1993 and still runs to this very day.
Yet, we're "wackos."
Nissley also went so far as to tell a blatant lie. She told the reporter we want to "legalize drugs" when in fact, we simply want to ensure that children in treatment aren't abused - the way we were in the very program Nissley copied.
Cockroaches
Instead of offering evidence to counter our claims, most of those involved with Straight spin-off programs use the same approach.
Loretta Parrish was the marketing director of Straight, Inc. Orlando when the facility changed its name to SAFE, Inc.
Following a protest outside the facility, Parrish was asked about Straight Inc. survivor's claims that SAFE was Straight, Inc. renamed, she called us "cockroaches."
Parrish NEVER offered any evidence that SAFE wasn't Straight. She just called us "cockroaches."
In 2003, Betty Sembler, founder of Straight, Inc., now called the Drug Free America Foundation, said we "should all get jobs."
Sembler also falsely accused us of being critical of Straight, Inc. because we want to "legalize drugs."
However, I have reason to believe Terri Nissley went even farther in her attempts to discredit us.
Stuck in Their Own Drug Problem
Since the NWI Times articles were published, ISAC has received emails from parents of several Pathway graduates. Some of the emails mention our city of residence and could easily be classified as "hate" mail.
It's nothing new, really. I receive hate mail and death threats from militant program supporters on a regular basis.
But these emails were different.
They were different because they were the same.
The Pathway Family Center supporters conveyed the same message, word for word.
They described my husband and me as being "stuck in [y]our own drug problem."
Imagine that.
Five different people, whom we have never met, all convinced that we use drugs and using identical wording to say so.
Where would they get an idea like that?
What kind of person would look these parents in the eye and lie to them like that? Who would fabricate such a story in order to garner support for a Straight, Inc. spin-off?
Terri Nissley would and I believe she did.
As the Director of a nationally recognized charity, I would like to remind Terri Nissley that the civil penalties for slander and defamation of character can be severe.
As the mother of six teens and young adults, I would like to remind those who are considering Pathway Family Center that Terri Nissley will be in charge of your child's "rehabilitation" and I urge you to look elsewhere for help.
Documents
Contract between Pathway Family Center and the Indiana Department of Child Services
VIDEO: January 29, 2009 Report from WCPO
Pathway Family Center Could Reopen in Ohio
Pathway Family Center Client Handbook
*ISAC Note: There are many similarities between this handbook and the rules of Straight, Inc. Our Straight documents can be found on our Kids Helping Kids & Straight page.
Pathway Family Center Program Documents
Pathway Family Center Survivor Documents
Video: Monica Mertens, New Director of Kids Helping Kids, Steals a Protest Sign
Straight, Inc. and Kids Helping Kids Survivors Protest Milford, Ohio Facility
Video: Accreditation of Chesterton PFC is Disputed
Pathway Family Center is Straight, Inc. Michigan renamed.
Pathway Documents with STRAIGHT on them
Pathway Seeks Licensing Exceptions to Avoid Host Home Regulations
Name Changes for the Last Two Straight, Inc. Branches - Michigan and Georgia
Dire Straight Inc.? An Investigative Piece from the Atlanta Journal Constitution
Is it Straight or Pathway? Page 1
Is it Straight or Pathway? Page 2
ISAC's Preliminary Pathway Report
Gaming Commission Letter
Gaming Commission Page 2
Pathway Flyer
Interview With Pathway Parent
Indiana Mental Health Information
Terri Nissley, Director of Pathway, and her Troubles with the IRS
Kids Helping Kids - Ohio
Kids Helping Kids is located in Milford, Ohio and was previously known as Straight, Inc. - Cincinnati.
ISAC has received recent and credible complaints from former clients and/or their parents alleging physical abuse, unwarranted and brutal physical
restraint, intimidation, humiliation, brainwashing, and fraud.
The complaints specifically allege the following occurred in early 2004:
A male client suffered a broken leg during a particularly violent physical restraint performed by other clients.
A brand-new female client was dragged out of an Open Meeting by 2 staff members and 2 fellow clients.
The child was supposed to stand in
front of a room full of strangers, say her name, list off the drugs she had used, and tell a humiliating story from her "past."
Instead, the child said: "Let me tell you what really happens here..."
According to witnesses, the child was then tackled, dragged out of the open meeting and screamed for 15 minutes while being restrained.
With no instruction from the staff of Kids Helping Kids, parents attending the Open Meeting stood up, turned their backs to the struggle, and began
to loudly sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in an attempt to drown out the child's screams.
Witnesses describe the incident as "horrifying" and "traumatic."
Official police reports obtained by ISAC substantiate these complaints.
The records also reveal a disturbing number of calls for assistance with "suicide attempts."
ISAC has filed a welfare and whereabouts demand with Ohio officials and will follow-up on the condition of both of these children.
At a Kids Helping Kids "host" (foster) home, another child forgot to ask permission to pick up his fork. As punishment, the child
was not allowed to use silverware during dinner and had to eat spaghetti with his hands.
When the facility finally returned the child's belongings, this "letter of encouragement" was found in his suitcase.
This child has since been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Another child who spent just 2 weeks at Kids Helping Kids has also been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as
a result of his experience in the program.
According to parents of former clients, staff members at Kids Helping Kids deny any connection to Straight, Inc. during pre-intake interviews.
ISAC has collected corporate documents and other information that show a series of name and location changes, that prove Kids Helping Kids is indeed Straight, Inc. renamed.
More importantly, ISAC has obtained internal documents that show Kids Helping Kids currently employs policies and
treatment methods that are identical to Straight, Inc.
Straight, Inc. has been classified as a cult by leading
experts including Rick Ross, Steve Hassan, and FACTNet.org.
Documents
Protesters Demand Investigation of Kids Helping Kids
Protest at Kids Helping Kids
Inside Kids Helping Kids
Kids Helping Kids/Straight, Inc. Corporate Document History
Comparison of Kids Helping Kids and Straight, Inc. According to Program Documents
Additional Information
For more information about Straight, Inc., please see our archive page and visit these other web sites:
thestraights.com
A Survivor's View of Straight
Mel Sembler, founding member of Straight, Inc.
Survivors
One of the best ways you can help prevent abuse is to share your story.
If you would like to submit a statement about your experience,
use the form below.
 Federal Declaration Form
If you have documents and are willing to share them with us,
please contact us immediately.
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