The Last Stop

As someone who was sent away to a similar program I think everyone should watch this to educated in an attempt to put an end to the "troubled teen" industry.

"What's a life worth?"

Roughly 54k plus a year. The élan one corporation charged scared parents, fed up DCF workers, this exorbitant amount per child, per year.

Despite the fact élan received roughly 54K a year, per child, there were weeks without running water, heat, or electricity, children with ill fitting clothing and shoes, etc.

*Please note I am sharing experiences from the 1990 through 1993 era. *

Upon hearing that "The Last Stop" would (finally) be made, I met the news with joy, uncertainty, and hope. Hope that it was for real, this time.

That warm, beautiful, April night (of the premiere) I was filled with a palpable anxiety.

Walking into the movie theatre, seeing almost EVERY seat filled, filled my eyes with tears.

These were my fellow Elan brothers, sisters, friends, and supporters.

We were here for ourselves and for each other. This IS for real, this is going to happen.

TJ & Co. would be facing a Herculean task to tell all of our stories, represent both sides. I did not envy the job ahead..

That said, The documentary was refreshingly unbiased.

I knew it would be hard to walk that line.

TJ & Co. told the story with amazing accuracy and never once did you "feel" his personal feelings.

He allowed each individuals story to shine through on its own.

He did it in such a way that you could watch it and not feel forcibly swayed.

No matter your prior feelings about élan, you were allowed to consider all sides when each person shared their experience.

The blending of past and present was done seamlessly.

The integration of Joe Ricci's life outside of the élan one corporation did not cause any noticeable "hiccups" in the flow of the story.

The background on Mr. Ricci was eye opening.

We had been taught to revere this man like a "God among men".

Joe arriving on the ramshackle compound was met with noticeable glee and giddiness- amongst the staff and older residents that were "in the club".

People have jokingly compared this program to the "Lord of the Flies" , but there was no joke about it. It was sadly true.

No matter if you were a "golden child" or a "corner child" or fell somewhere in between, this program did eat a chunk of your soul.

Many of the "golden children" are no longer with us on this earth. Many of the "corner children" doomed to "die with a needle in their arms" as Mark Rosenberg so eloquently put it, are doing quite well with beautiful, enviable, lives.

I don't believe graduating the program as a "success story" meant a damn thing in the grand scheme of things.

If your success story came on the backs of verbally abusing and emotionally torturing others, then how successful were you really?

But again, that is my opinion and it is (probably) quite biased. (I feel the need to say not everyone falls under the aforementioned statement)

The one thing this documentary has taught me and will hopefully teach others, is that there is more than one way to handle "problem children" and that one size does not fit all when it comes to therapy.

Sadly many states and state workers and parents fed up with incorrigible children, overmedicated children , improperly diagnosed children , etc. allowed the élan one corporation to take the burden off of their hands.

While sticking them in a place like the élan one corporation may have eased their caseload/burden, all it did was further damage a young impressionable growing human.

Many say élan's tactics were a "necessary evil". I saw those tactics rip people to shreds, and destroy their lives- for years and decades.

Many of these people died before seeing that life was, and could be beautiful.

My trip to see the premiere of this documentary in Portland last April, allowed me to truly heal, truly forgive, and truly move on.

I suppose you could say I am FINALLY an élan success story.

PS: I just want to give much love to everybody involved with the creation of this film, with getting it out to the public, the film festivals, etc. for getting the message out there, for supporting all of us, and befriending us. Be kind to yourselves and each other.

The opening scene grabs you. You are never let go. The concept of Elan is an extremely difficult subject to communicate. I am very impressed with the way it was presented in The Last Stop. This film is wonderfully artistic and impeccably edited. The production as a whole is excellent. I think Director Todd Nilssen has real talent and I know we will be seeing more of his work in the future. I implore every one of you to watch this riveting documentary; it is just the tip of the iceberg. As a former Elan resident (1982-1983) it was extremely hard to watch. I can only imagine how hard this movie was to make by a former Elan Resident. It is a difficult story to tell, especially with the cult like language Elan used for programming. I was impressed with the way Todd was able to convey what a day in Elan was like. The animated parts were beautifully spliced into the film. Constant fear and anxiety was exposed to the audience in a very comprehensive manner. The interviews were brutally honest and although Tracy Hutchinson and I attended Elan a decade apart from each other the feelings and thoughts she expressed were exactly the same as mine. Life after Elan was a major adjustment. Many of my peers are dead. It would take hours to portray the horrific sadistic abuses I witnessed at Elan. I believe The Last Stop accomplished a certain amount of objectivity about Elan that I certainly would not have been able to achieve had I been creating the documentary. The Directors and staff at Elan honestly felt that they were helping us. "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." C.S. Lewis, Many of us tried to tell this story after leaving Elan; we felt the need to do something about the place. To see it closed. Nobody, (including myself pre Elan) could believe that Children were allowed to be so horribly abused under the guise of therapy. It was beyond cruel and unusual punishment. I still find it hard to believe Elan was allowed to operate unregulated for 40 years. I personally spent 10 of those years trying to close it down. When Elan finally closed their doors in 2011 it was a bittersweet moment because I realized just how huge the Troubled Teen Industry had grown over the decades. I felt the ending left something to be desired. I was left with an unresolved feeling of "now what?" Most documentaries in this genre are shown to motivate some type of change. I believe this was the intent of the film but it did not direct the viewer to any further course of action. The Troubled Teen Industry has expanded to out of control UNREGULATED proportions. This was touched upon several times throughout the documentary but in my opinion could have been expanded upon at the end of the film. The Last Stop is definitely a documentary you do not want to miss!

The Government Accountability Office investigated Residential treatment programs for teens and testified during the House Committee on Education and Labor on October 10th, 2007. After the G.A.O. Investigated Abuse in Residential Treatment Programs for Teens they needed a whole separate investigation into the Deceptive Marketing by Residential Programs for Teens. Both of these hearings can be watched on YouTube by searching Congressional "Hearing on Cases of Child Neglect and Abuse at Residential Treatment Facilities" and Congressional "Hearing on "Child Abuse and Deceptive Marketing by Residential Programs for Teens" Clips from these hearings are seamlessly woven into The Last Stop.

As mentioned in the documentary legislation to regulate the Troubled Teen Industry has passed the house several times and died in the Senate. Please help pass this legislation.

H.R.3024 - 115th Congress (2017-2018) Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2017

This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to require programs designed to modify behaviors of children in a residential environment (covered programs) to prohibit child abuse and neglect and meet other specified minimum standards. HHS shall: (1) Implement a review process for overseeing, investigating, and evaluating reports of child abuse and neglect at covered programs; and (2) Establish a process to assist states in the oversight and enforcement of this bill. HHS must refer any violation of minimum standards to the Department of Justice for appropriate action. The bill amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to establish additional eligibility requirements for grants to states to prevent child abuse and neglect at residential programs.

The text of the Original bill can be found at congress(dot)gov by searching "H.R.911 Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009 111th Congress (2009-2010)

Both shocking and enlightening, TJ Nilssen gives viewers both sides of the Élan story. Making the best of the desperate situation. Some students managed to gain valuable life lessons, friendship bonds and discipline despite the horrific experiences. Other's tried desperately and failed to escape the secluded rural school and were severely punished. Other's still capitulated and perpetuated abuse in order to survive.

The Last Stop is the most thorough visual documentation of the Élan School and the multi generational turmoil and mental scars saddled on the students left in it's wake. Witness shocking interviews, footage and first hand experiences of students and staff detailing the day to day, highly controversial "therapy" and rehabilitation techniques employed by both staff and students alike. Élan used systematic forms of divide & conquer, peer pressure, social engineering, public humiliation and forced indoctrination in order to create a self policing social environment were just another part of the 'curriculum' at Élan.

While the bad and worst aspects of human nature are shown to have been on full display at Élan. The Last Stop shows that the oppressive system couldn't completely squash the inherent good and positive aspects of humanity even at it's peak. From start to finish The Last Stop is a riveting experience that provides the viewer with closure where previous documentary attempts, and the actual shutdown of Élan, failed.

As a former resident of 'The Elan School' (1998-2000) I cant say that I didn't go into this Documentary without a certain element of bias. We all remember past events differently; and when they were tragic events, the lines blur even more. Enter 'The Last Stop'- A roller coaster of emotions, from the beginning scene, all the way to the ending. Capturing the fear, degradation, Stockholm syndrome, and psychological torture was no easy task for Todd(director). Each student involved in the story telling; had come from different backgrounds, with a different set of issues. The story was one of criminal enterprise, cult, and a sprinkle of playing God. At certain points throughout the Documentary, you find yourself asking, "maybe they truly thought they were helping kids". The power to tear someone down emotionally, and then "build" them back up, would make anyone think they are righteous. But, as with any business, money makes people do horrific things. What started out as a rehab for drug addicts,quickly turned into a money grab for the owner of the Elan School. There were many events in the Documentary that I wished were acted out. I think budget constraints ultimately hurt the potential impact this documentary could have made. However, Todd did an amazing job with what little budget he had to work with. Todd has put an exorbitant amount of effort into all the details of this documentary. I hope this is just the beginning, for there is more story to tell.