What Sets Aspen Education Programs Apart from the Rest?

The main thing that sets Aspen Education Programs apart from the rest is a great public relations/damage control plan that is always in effect and always being worked on especially to help out when 'tragedies' strike the industry. In fact, it is this P.R. strategy that Sainer credits for his company's survival as is stated in Robina A. Gangemi's March 1996 Inc. Magazine article.

The example given by Sainer in the above mentioned article is when a teenager died while at a competitor's program in 1994, Aspen beefed up their PR efforts to combat the onslaught of bad press. Initially, they had a 20% drop in their incoming calls, but after Aspen began touting its safety record to those who refer business their way, as well as getting a glowing article written by a US NEWS & WORLD REPORT journalist (whom Sainer allowed to join one group near the end of the program when participants are at their 'happiest') the incoming call volume returned to normal and by 1995 Aspen was 'back on track' with $6million in revenues.

That boy to whom Sainer was referring to was Aaron Bacon. He was 16 years old and became very sick while in a program. As he became more and more ill, the camp counselors told Aaron to quit faking sickness to get out of hiking. Well, Aaron' faked' his illness for 30 days before finally succumbing to his horrible death. While Aaron's death was not the first in the teen 'help' industry, it certainly wasn't the last either. In fact, the death toll for these programs has been steadily increasing as the number of teen "help" companies increase. But Sainer hasn't let little things like children's deaths deter him from continuing to beef up PR efforts. As of June 28^th, 2007 Elliot Sainer was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young. In the company's press release they were sure to mention how the Aspen Education Group has been profiled by major news and television organizations around the world, and the syndicated television show Dr. Phil.

It's a good thing they have such a strong P.R. strategy because as there have been many deaths in the teen 'help' industry in the past, including programs owned by Aspen Education Group, yet another death occurred two days after Sainer received his award. In a program run by Aspen, called the Youth Care & Pine Ridge Academy on June 30, 2007, a 14 year old boy was complaining of stomach an bowel problems, much like 16 year old Aaron Bacon was in 1994. The next morning the boy was found dead.

While Aspen Education Group may appear on the surface to be far superior in quality of services offered to troubled teens, they simply are only superior in their public relations department. Teens die in programs run by Aspen Education Group, just as they do in most of the other companies that make up the troubled teen 'help' industry. The reason children are dying is because parents are being misled into believing that these companies really provide therapy, when in reality whatever "therapy" they claim to provide is based on nothing but junk science by people with improper or no credentials.