This the History of and Reporting Guide for Lighthouse Children's Home in Kosciusko/West, MS
(MS Location is Closed. Program Planning to Re-Open in Thailand)
|
Name |
Unit/Position |
Additional Information |
| Larry Neff | Founder | Neff appears to be opening a new program in Thailand. Source: http://lighthousechildren.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/MayJun15lchnews.pdf |
| Ron & Tara Black | Ministers | Currently (March, 2021) reportedly running the office in Kosciusko, MS which is just an office and there are no children there. It is where the organize for the program/facility they are operating or intend to operate in another country. |
| Terry & Sally Sanders | Directors | Costa Rica location |
| Matthew Henry | Director | India location |
| Jonathan & Laura Bryan | Directors | Mexico location |
| Alex & Mirta Taylor | Directors | Panama location |
| Paula Neff | Co-Founder | Wife of Larry Neff |
| Jack Earlenbaugh | Staff | We have received preliminary complaints of abuse involving this individual. The Earlenbaughs are reportedly no longer with this program and have reportedly moved to Ohio. |
| Maureen Earlenbaugh | Staff | Jack's wife. The Earlenbaughs are reportedly no longer with this program and have reportedly moved to Ohio. |
| Joseph (Joe) & Sarah Platt | Teachers/Preacher | Both were teachers, but, Joseph Platt was also reportedly a preacher as well as teacher. |
| Angela & Paul Platt | Directors | The Platt's reportedly relocated to Texas and are no longer with this program. |
| Farida Camacho | Cook | |
| Lina Marie White | Secretary | |
| Ken Holcomb | Dorm Parent | |
| Diane Holcomb | Dorm Parent | |
| Arnon Heyden | Teacher | |
| Kristina Heyden | Teacher | |
| Don Swonger | Director | Swonger, has reportedly moved out of maintenance and is now the program director. |
| Claudia Swonger | Maintenance | |
| Lotti Mayo | Staff | |
| Did Lighthouse allow a murderer to live on campus? According to court documents, yes! Click here and here for more information. | ||
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This program is a
Roloff Home...It
is on a list of affiliated programs that include:
Anchor Character Training Center(coed)
Calvary Boy’s Ranch, Boarding Academy, City of Refuge, Baptist Institute &
Seminary Joshua
Scott Boarding School (boys) Lighthouse
Children’s Home (girls)
Pearls of Promise Girls Academy
Reclamation Ranch (boys and girls12-17, young men 18-45)
Shenandoah Boys Ranch
Shining Light School for Boys
Victorious Valley Homes (coed)
William Seth Rochester Home for Children The Ark Youth Shelter (boys) |
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| This program reportedly closed its Mississippi location in 2014 and is now looking to re-open in Thailand. Thailand is notorious for human trafficking and child sex trafficking. Sources: http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2014/226649.htm, http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/20/us-usa-trafficking-sanctions-idUSKBN0EV19S20140620, and http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/20/world/asia/thailand-trafficking-report/. | ||
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THE TRUTH: All segregated congregate care providers, including those on our watch-list, are welcome to contact us to correct any information or provide additional data that may assist with delivering the whole truth to the public. The HEAL Mission of COPE (HEAL) found in many cases where this offer has been abused or resulted in revealing additional basis for our concerns. For some examples see feedback. Now, we are willing to look at the facts and may have questions or require documentation backing up any claims. We do verify licensing, academic backgrounds, and other qualifications when investigating and researching programs on our watch-lis/enrolled in the Conversion Program to assist consumers seeking additional information on such programs or victims requiring assistance with getting corroborating evidence of their claims. We do that in order to make sure the information we provide is accurate and verified and cite our sources. In the event any information we've posted is in error, we're happy to make a correction. HEAL does not support segregated congregate care for many reasons which include that many such facilities are abusive, exploitative, fraudulent, and lack effective oversight often as a result of fraudulent misrepresentation coupled with the ignorance of those seeking to enroll loved ones in such facilities, programs, schools, or centers without a valid court order and involuntarily. In the United States such involuntary placements done without a court order are apparently illegal as they either violate the Americans with Disabilities Act community integration requirement or due process rights of those involuntarily placed. Now, in regards to parents, in the United States parents have the right to waive their own rights, but, not the rights of their minor children. See https://www.cope.church/legalarguments.htm for more information. Now, most facilities on our watch list include waivers, indemnity clauses, and sworn statements legal guardians must sign assuring the program that the parents/legal guardians have the right to make the placement involuntarily and without due process in a segregated congregate care environment, however, California and federal prosecutors as well as settled law appears to suggest that is not the case. In fact, in the David Taylor case found at https://www.cope.church/provocases.htm , Taylor sued Provo Canyon School and his mother as co-defendants. His mother was found liable for 75% of the damages awarded to Taylor as a result of multiple complaints including false imprisonment, while the program was found only 25% liable because the mother owed a duty of due diligence to investigate anyone to which she would entrust care of her child and she failed to do so. Now, HEAL opposes segregated congregate care and we find most placements are happening illegally in the USA which if the youth understood their rights would result in unfortunate outcomes for the parents, particularly when they don't exercise good judgment and support the fraud and abuse rather than their own children when they need remedy and justice. And, HEAL supports all victims of fraud and abuse in seeking remedies at law for any crimes or torts committed against them. And, that's true whether or not the program or victims are in the USA. HEAL has a 5 point argument against segregated congregate care we'd like you to consider: a. Segregated care is unconstitutional and a civil rights violation. It is only permissible if a person is unable to survive independent of an institutional environment. For more on this, watch the HEAL Report at https://youtu.be/C4NzhZc4P0A. Or, see: http://www.ada.gov/olmstead/ which includes in part: "United States v. Florida – 1:12-cv-60460 – (S.D. Fla.) – On April 7, 2016, the United States filed an Opposition to the State of Florida’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. In the Motion, the State had asked the Court to rule, on a variety of grounds, that the United States could not recover damages for unnecessarily institutionalized children to whom the State had been deliberately indifferent." b. Institutionalization is always dehumanizing and coercive. Institutionalization always harms the institutionalized and deprives them of protected civil rights. Dr. David Straker, Psychiatry Professor at Columbia University's School of Medicine (Ivy League) explains this in detail at http://changingminds.org/disciplines/sociology/articles/institutionalization.htm. "Many institutions, from prisons to monasteries to asylums, deliberately want to control and manage their inmates such that they conform and do not cause problems. Even in less harsh environments, many of the institutionalization methods may be found, albeit in more moderated form (although the psychological effect can be equally devastating)." (See website linked in this paragraph for more info.) c. Institutionalization is not in the best interest of children. Institutions are not ever better for a child than living with a loving family. Source: http://www.unicef.org/cambodia/12681_23295.html d. Reform schools, residential treatment programs, and other segregated congregate care settings have been shown to be ineffective and harmful. Best source on this currently is: https://www.acgov.org/probation/documents/EndoftheReformSchoolbyVinny.doc e. Boarding Schools, even the "good ones", result in a form of social death, isolation, and cause both anxiety and depression. Therefore, it is clearly not in the best interest of the youth subjected to those environments. Sources: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/08/boarding-school-syndrome-joy-schaverien-review and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/11662001/The-truth-about-boarding-school-syndrome.html Beyond the above arguments against segregated congregate care, we have reports from the NIH, Surgeon General, Yale University Studies, and much more showing the methodologies of behavior modification are damaging, harmful, and ineffective. You can request these documents via e-mail. In addition, for such programs offering academic services or claiming to offer diplomas, certifications, or the like, it is important to check to see if it is a diploma mill with no accredited academic services. Please see article: "Avoiding Scams: What You Need To Know" for important information on how to avoid education/training scams. If you'd like to see what HEAL suggests rather than segregated congregate care (i.e. committing a crime or tort against your child if done against their will without a court order), please see articles: "Fix Your Family, Help Your Teen" and "Emancipation Guide". |
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REPORTING GUIDE FOR VICTIMS, SURVIVORS, AND WHISTLEBLOWERS: In Mississippi, the criminal statutes of limitation are 2 years on misdemeanors and no statute of limitation on felonies including fraud, rape, domestic violence, kidnapping, child abuse, child trafficking, manslaughter, and murder. For civil suits in Mississippi, the statute of limitations is 2 years on most suits and up to 7 years depending on cause of action. Here are your options: 1. Report crimes such as fraud, assault, battery, false imprisonment, rape, labor trafficking, and child abuse to law enforcement in Mississippi. You can call the West Police at (662) 967-2922 , Kosciusko Police at (662) 289-3131, and/or Attala County Sheriff at (662) 289-5556 to inquire about filing an official complaint which when filed may provide the probable cause needed to get a warrant for investigation and/or prosecution. If reporting crimes that occurred or are occurring in Thailand, contact the Police Clearance Service Center and ask for Tourist Police at +66 2 205 2168. 2. File a consumer complaint with your home state's attorney general against Lighthouse Children's Home and include your request for a refund/compensation for any harm done to you. If your home state is Mississippi or you'd like to file with the Mississippi State Attorney General as a non-resident, here is that link and form: https://www.ago.state.ms.us/divisions/consumer-protection/consumer-complaint-form/ 3. If you do not wish to file a consumer complaint, you can contact a private personal injury attorney and look into suing in tort/civil court. However, if you can't afford the retainer, you should expect to settle out of court with a non-disclosure agreement which may bar you from speaking publicly about the incident because you've agreed (even if with a grumbling assent) to the terms of the settlement. 4. You may send a new e-mail to rev@cope.church with subject "Post My Feedback" and we will post your feedback (e-mail printed to .pdf disclosing your name and e-mail address and any information in your e-mail with that subject) to https://www.cope.church/feedback.htm and add a direct link to those .pdf files to this page . 5. You may also wish to provide a guest sermon. Guest sermons are posted at https://www.cope.church/sermons.htm , under Progress Reports/Guest Sermons at https://www.cope.church/conversion.htm where appropriate, and on program info pages when applicable. So, one provided by you on your program would also be placed on this page . Guest sermons should be written into the body of an e-mail and sent to rev@cope.church . Your first and last name will be disclosed (contact info will not be unless you expressly request disclosure). For sermons available on our site see https://www.cope.church/sermons.htm (and sermon archives linked on that page). If you have questions about this option, please contact rev@cope.church. Please see https://www.cope.church/givetoday.pdf to get an idea what your sermon may be worth. |
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| 6/16/21: COPE Conversion Program Progress Report: Lighthouse Children's Home in MS. | ||
Return to https://www.cope.church/conversion.htm