Chelsea (Kapela) Maldonado is a writer/blogger and survivor of well-known WWASP facility Tranquility Bay.  Since her release shortly before her 18th birthday in 2001, Chelsea has been dedicated to the cause of advocating for survivors and ending abusive practices in residential treatment facilities.  Over the past year her blog, WWASP Diaries, has received over 10,000 hits - helping greatly to spread awareness of the industry.  Outside of her personal writing, Ms. Maldonado will be featured in an upcoming interview for Highbrow Magazine and will be appearing on Susan Schofield's Bi-Polar Nation Radio to help share her experiences and insight into the political connections within the industry.

Chelsea is inspired to continue her advocacy work following the birth of her daughter, Mirabella, in 2009.  It is her sincere hope that, no matter what struggles she may face, Mirabella will never be subjected to the abuse and injustice that Chelsea experienced as a young adult.

Samantha Fein is an interdisciplinary visual artist who is currently a Master of Fine Arts candidate at the Mount Royal School of Art, Maryland Institute College of Art.  She also has extensive experience working with high-risk populations, with a specific interest in working with high-risk juveniles.  In 2009 she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to the Philippines, and she spent a year in Manila researching the substance abuse behavior of adolescents on the streets and confined to detention centers.  Ms. Fein is of the belief that young people can overcome their troubling behavior if they receive the appropriate interventions and social support.

Bio coming soon.

Laura spent six months in a WWASP program in Thompson Falls Montana.  While this experience was brief, it was enough to  compel her to advocate youth rights and create awareness concerning institutionalized child abuse. Laura received her B.S. in Accounting and currently works as a Nonprofit Finance Director for the YWCA.  She lives in Selah WA with her son and their dog.

Bill Boyles is a founding CAFETY member from Orlando, FL. At 14, he was forcibly escorted to WWASP's Brightway Adolescent Hospital in St. George, UT, where he stayed briefly before being sent to another WWASP facility, Paradise Cove in Western Samoa. After spending 22 months in Paradise Cove, he was transferred to yet another WWASP program, Casa By The Sea in Ensenada, Mexico. He spent 8 more months in Casa By The Sea before graduating shortly before his 17th birthday. He discovered CAFETY one night after deciding to try and find old friends from his WWASP days and has never looked back. He currently lives in West Palm Beach, FL.

Shain Neumeier,  J.D. 2012, is a third year law student at Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts.  Shain became very interested in the subject of private residential programs for youth during college, in no small part because of personal experience with involuntary medical and mental health treatment.  Shain is pursuing a career in law and public policy in order to ensure youth in residential placement are able to exercise their right to decision-making in accordance with their own capacity and services be provided to support autonomy as well as force the residential treatment industry as a whole to stop using abusive and coercive practices against those it claims to treat.

Download Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Kathryn Whitehead, founder and executive director, is a law student (J.D. expected 2012) currently working for Disability Rights International in Washington, D.C. and a survivor of a therapeutic boarding school called Mission Mountain School. Ms. Whitehead formed CAFETY in an effort to give voice to residential care alumni and survivors concerned with disempowering and dehumanizing practices in residential programs for youth. This 3 prong approach to achieving systems change includes: empowerment, public education and strategic advocacy.