Justice & Education for Troubled Teen Industry Survivor

I’m writing on behalf of Finn Pool. Finn is kind, intelligent, funny and he is a survivor of the Troubled Teen Industry.

For years, Finn endured terrible physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his father. When he was 15, his father paid to have him legally kidnapped in the middle of the night and sent to Elevations, an isolated facility in Utah where teens endure psychological and physical abuse disguised as “treatment”.

He spent seven months there where he was subject to verbal & emotional abuse by his therapist, denied access to his mother, to an education and to freedom.

The day Finn turned 18 this past January, at a press conference in Salt Lake City, Finn and his legal counsel announced their lawsuit against Elevations also naming his therapist and his father.

As they await a trial date, Finn and his mother continue to work tirelessly as advocates for others who have been deceived and abused by this industry. Throughout this process they have exhausted their resources. While Finn is seeking justice for his mistreatment, he is also focused on protecting others from experiencing the same trauma he endured.

Returning to high school and “normal” life after being sent away is very difficult. It’s challenging socially, emotionally & academically. Finn worked very hard at living his life, being a teenager and hoping to fulfill his dream of attending college one day. He was able to successfully complete high school this month and earn acceptance to UC Berkeley with a plan to major in Linguistics. Incredible!

While Finn ultimately was able to leave Elevations and return home, he is aware of the thousands of other teenagers who are trapped in these programs, who continue to suffer abuse each day. There are currently 120,000 to 200,000 minors in treatment facilities just like Elevations across the United States, where children, just like Finn, are subjected to forced medication, beatings, confinement and starvation, with no regulatory bodies supervising or monitoring their treatment in this billion-dollar industry. There are bills that have been presented to law makers like the Stop Institution Child Act (SICAA), which seeks to establish best practices and transparency in youth residential care programs, and put an end to this unregulated, government-funded child abuse. Passing these bills takes time and while there are many organizations and individuals doing great work to ensure change, the damage from these programs has been done to countless teenagers who will never get their childhood back.

To add insult to injury, as retribution for standing up for himself, Finn’s father has taken all his college savings, leaving him with no way to pay for school. Stripping away his joy and robbing him of this incredible achievement that he is so proud of, that he earned is just plain cruel.

There is much that Finn hopes to contribute to this world and his education is a critical component to his future success. Our hope is to raise awareness and raise money so that Finn can attend college this fall. If you can help, it would be more meaningful than you can imagine. Each dollar counts and helps get him closer to fulfilling that goal.

If you can’t donate, we understand as life is hard for so many people. If you could share this story, that would be a great contribution as well!

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide to get Finn on his way!

-With gratitude, Finn’s friends

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