Deceptive Marketing, Then and Now

The toll-free help lines that sold troubled teen programs in the 1990s and 2000s, what Congress heard about them in 2008, and the same pitch online today.

6 min read Updated

Contents
  1. What we found
  2. Then: the help lines
  3. WWASP and Teen Help
  4. A “public service” booklet
  5. PURE, the paid “parent advocate”
  6. What the GAO heard when it called
  7. Now: the same pitch, online
  8. “Free” to families, paid per enrollment
  9. Separate names, one business
  10. The owner behind the “resource”
  11. What changed: the reader
  12. Adult rehab has rules. Teen programs do not.
  13. Before you call a help line
  14. Sources

In 2008 Congress held a hearing called “Child Abuse and Deceptive Marketing by Residential Programs for Teens.” The deceptive marketing it heard about was mostly on the phone: toll-free help lines and referral services that presented themselves as neutral and were paid by the programs they recommended. The magazine ads and phone scripts have moved online. The arrangement has not changed.

What we found #

  • In 2008 GAO investigators posing as parents called a referral service about three different children. For all three it recommended the same Missouri boot camp, owned by the wife of the service’s owner.
  • A “public service” booklet on teen drug use ended with a toll-free number. The same number was printed on the ad for one of the WWASP schools the booklet linked to.
  • A “parent advocate” was paid “a substantial sum” for every enrollment and, a federal court found, posted under made-up names about competing schools.
  • Today a “free” admissions help line has told parents it was “a contracted agent of institutions” paid “a flat fee” per enrollment.
  • Adult rehab referral services now face Google certification and an FTC law. Nothing equivalent covers programs that take children.

Part of our series How the Troubled Teen Industry Manages Its Reputation. Every example comes from a court record, a government report, the company’s own words or published reporting, and each is linked in the sources at the end.

Then: the help lines #

WWASP and Teen Help #

The World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASP) was, in the words of a federal appeals court, an organization that “does not own or operate schools; rather, it markets its members’ schools to parents.” Its marketing arm, Teen Help, advertised to parents in magazines and online.

Forbes reported in 1999 that an attorney suing the network called its corporate structure “extremely complex and convoluted — deliberately so.” A parent who called Teen Help was talking to the sales department of the schools it recommended.

A “public service” booklet #

In 2001 the Parent Resources Hotline offered a “free booklet,” How To Tell If Your Teen Is Using Drugs. Its “Thirty Four WARNING Signs Of Drug Use” include “Depression,” “Grades dropping” and “Disrespectful to parents” (Wayback Machine, our copy).

“This free booklet is offered as a Public Service,” the last page says, above a toll-free number and links to Tranquility Bay, Casa by the Sea, Carolina Springs Academy, Spring Creek Lodge and Cross Creek Manor, all WWASP programs. The same number, 800-793-5156, is printed as “PARENT RESOURCES” on Spring Creek Lodge’s ad (our copy).

PURE, the paid “parent advocate” #

Sue Scheff founded Parents Universal Resource Experts (PURE) less than a year after removing her daughter from a WWASP school, offering families information about programs; the schools it recommended competed with WWASP’s.

The Tenth Circuit’s opinion in the case WWASP later brought against her sets out that “PURE schools pay Ms. Scheff a substantial sum whenever a child enrolls in its program based on her recommendation,” and that “Ms. Scheff used various fictitious names to post negative messages about schools for at-risk teenagers on an internet forum.” That is a referral broker paid per enrollment, presenting as a fellow parent, posting under made-up names to steer parents away from competitors.

Scheff later co-wrote Google Bomb, a 2009 book about online reputation, with a foreword by the head of the reputation management company ReputationDefender. WWASP’s lawsuit against her is covered in Silencing Critics and Survivors.

What the GAO heard when it called #

“While referral services purport to offer independent advice to parents about which programs would be best for their children,” Rep. George Miller said as he opened the 2008 hearing, “the truth is that at least some of the referral services operate with significant conflicts of interest.” For that hearing GAO investigators posed as parents and called programs and referral services.

One referral service’s website promised, “We will look at your special situation and help you select the best school for your teen with individual attention.” For three different fictional children with three different problems, it recommended the same Missouri boot camp.

GAO found that “the referral service is owned by the husband of the woman who owns the Missouri boot camp,” and the callers were never told. Two other services presented themselves as separate businesses, “with separate names, Web sites, phone numbers, and magazine advertisements,” but the receptionist at one answered the phone with the other’s name.

One referral agent advised the fictional father on what to tell his daughter about where she was going: “tell her it’s a college prep boarding school.” The referral services in GAO’s cases were Teen Path and Parent Help, GAO’s Gregory Kutz told the committee.

Now: the same pitch, online #

The help lines did not go away. They moved behind search results, directories and “resources for parents.” Our article Free to Parents, Paid by the Programs sets out each of these in full; here is how they line up with what Congress heard in 2008.

“Free” to families, paid per enrollment #

Best Choice Admissions answers the phone for a set of program directories. Its home page says, in capitals, that “BEST CHOICE IS SPONSORED BY SCHOOLS AND PROGRAMS, THEREFORE OUR HELP IS OFFERED AT NO CHARGE TO FAMILIES” (our copy). In 2023 its contact page read: “We are a contracted agent of institutions that allow us to represent them. We receive a flat fee (regardless of the cost of the school/program or the services provided) for any enrollment that is the result of our assistance” (Wayback Machine, our copy).

Unlike PURE, Best Choice says it is paid. The wording parents see today is softer than in 2023: “Best Choice Admissions does not prioritize one program over another based on financial incentives” (our copy).

Separate names, one business #

In 2008 it was two referral services with separate names and phone numbers and one receptionist. Today it is “independent” directories run by Exceed Marketing Solutions, whose clients are the programs they recommend. The directories tell parents that their owners have “no ownership, investment, equity interest, or controlling interest in any program featured or listed on this website” (our copy). Exceed’s site, the directories and the Best Choice sites were registered with Microsoft’s search tools through the same account. Both companies trace to one family, as Free to Parents shows.

The owner behind the “resource” #

GAO’s referral service was owned by the boot camp owner’s husband. TroubledTeens.com, an “online resource for parents,” says it is “owned and operated by Family Solutions Network, Inc., based in Idaho” (our copy), a name the Better Business Bureau lists for Turning Winds Academic Institute (our copy). Its phone number is Turning Winds’ own.

What changed: the reader #

The 2001 booklet was written for a frightened parent. Today’s directories also write for the AI chatbots that parents ask. One of the Exceed directories tells them: “Avoid negative reviews from other sources” (our copy). Our article Telling the Chatbots What to Say covers those files.

Adult rehab has rules. Teen programs do not. #

Adult addiction treatment had the same problem, and regulators acted. After The Verge exposed rehab “help lines” and review sites that were secretly marketing operations, Google restricted rehab advertising in 2017 and began requiring treatment advertisers to be certified by LegitScript.

In 2022 the Federal Trade Commission brought its first case under a new law against a rehab referral service, R360, which claimed to match people to centers “selected through a rigorous evaluation process conducted by an expert.” No equivalent rule exists for programs that take children. We could find no Google advertising policy, certification or federal law that applies specifically to troubled teen referral sites.

Before you call a help line #

  • Ask who pays. In writing: does any program pay you, per enrollment, per month or by trading leads?
  • Ask who owns it. Look up the business in the state’s corporate register.
  • Check the record yourself. Look for state inspection reports and news coverage, not reviews on the program’s own sites.

Sources #