Remembering Mia Fontana: Unveiling Injustice at the Deadliest Program in the Troubled Teen Industry

Podcast explores the troubled teen industry through survivor Dylan's story and the tragic death of Mia Fontana at The Grove School.

Key Takeaways

The troubled teen industry often fails to provide adequate mental health care and protection for vulnerable youth.
Survivors face long-lasting trauma from harsh treatment methods and systemic neglect.
Programs like The Grove School have complex structures but still exhibit critical failures in care and safety.
Legal transport and restrictive environments contribute to the trauma experienced by teens in these programs.
Advocacy and survivor voices are essential for exposing injustices and pushing for reform in the industry.

What the video covers

The podcast 'Surviving the Troubled Teen Industry' is hosted by Nora, a survivor and activist advocating for reform.
Dylan, a survivor of multiple troubled teen programs, shares his experiences, focusing on The Grove School in Connecticut.
The episode discusses the tragic death of Mia Gabrielle Fontana at The Grove School and the failures in her care.
Dylan recounts his journey through various programs including Windgate Wilderness Therapy and Discovery Ranch.
The troubled teen industry is critiqued for harsh treatment methods and lack of proper mental health care.
The Grove School offers residential, transitional, and day programs with different levels of structure and therapy.
The episode highlights systemic issues such as legal transport practices, restrictive environments, and inadequate oversight.
Survivors describe the psychological impact of these programs, including the pressure to conform and 'fake it till you make it'.
The podcast aims to provide a platform for survivors, raise awareness, and advocate for industry reform.
The episode references ongoing lawsuits and calls for justice and closure for victims like Mia Fontana.

Chapters

Who is Mia Fontana and what happened to her?

Mia Gabrielle Fontana was a student at The Grove School who tragically died after the program failed to protect her and provide appropriate mental health care.

What types of programs does The Grove School offer?

The Grove School offers residential, transitional, and day programs, each providing different levels of structure, therapy, and education for youth in crisis.

What is the main goal of this podcast episode?

The episode aims to expose the hidden truths and injustices of the troubled teen industry through survivor stories, advocate for reform, and support the survivor community.

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

Welcome to Surviving the Troubled Teen Industry, the podcast where survival becomes a voice and healing becomes a journey. Join me, Nora, a survivor of the troubled teen industry and an activist working for industry reform while supporting the survivor community.

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this podcast we'll unveil the Hidden Truths expose the pain and suffering and confront the system that has left lasting scars on so many lives through the voices of survivors experts and Advocates we aim to shed light on an

Speaker A

In this podcast, we'll unveil the hidden truths, expose the pain and suffering, and confront the system that has left lasting scars on so many lives. Through the voices of survivors, experts, and advocates, we aim to shed light on an industry shrouded in darkness for far too long.

Speaker A

the harsh truths and confront the injustices that have persisted for decades our goal is clear to provide a platform for survivors to share their experiences offer support to those who have endured similar ordeals and advocate for change join me on this journey as we

Speaker A

Having survived this industry myself, I understand the trauma, the secrets, and the struggle that come with it. In this podcast, we'll dive deep into the stories of survivors, uncover the harsh truths, and confront the injustices that have persisted for decades. Our goal is clear: to provide a platform for survivors to share their experiences, offer support to those who have endured similar ordeals, and advocate for change. Join me on this journey as we

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2022 um Dylan is a survivor of three programs of the over the course of four years today we'll be focusing on his last most recent program The Grove School located in Madison Connecticut The Grove School Prides itself on

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transform pain into strength and aim to create a safer, more compassionate world for those who've walked this challenging path. Welcome to Surviving the Troubled Teen Industry. I'm here with Dylan. He is a survivor from May 2018 to August of

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The Grove School from January 2020 until August 2022 during his time in the program he befriended a new student named Mia Gabrielle Fontana today Dylan and I will be discussing the case of her death at the Grove School just weeks

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2022. Dylan is a survivor of three programs over the course of four years. Today, we'll be focusing on his last, most recent program, The Grove School, located in Madison, Connecticut. The Grove School prides itself on

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available lawsuit filed by her parents to recount the details of Mia's case so Dylan could you start by telling us a little bit about your experience what programs did you go to before the Grove School um so I started um I was taken

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offering three types of programs: residential, transition, and day. Each offers a different level of structure, therapy, and education for youth in mental, educational, and/or family crisis. Dylan attended the transitional program at The Grove School from January 2020

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on my birthday on my 15th birthday in May 22nd of 2018 where I was sent to Windgate Wilderness therapy for about 10 weeks and that was really my first introduction to the trouble team industry and one thing I do want to say

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until August 2022. During his time in the program, he befriended a new student named Mia Gabrielle Fontana. Today, Dylan and I will be discussing the case of her death at The Grove School just weeks

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to Wilderness in 2018 I would not be alive today and I truly mean that I do also think I think I personally think that residential treatment is going to be something that parents always look for and that the industry needs reform

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after her arrival, when the program failed to protect her and provide her appropriate mental health care for her diagnosed conditions. Dylan is still in close contact with me as family and will be referring to portions of the publicly

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Utah and Discovery Ranch is is I guess the best way I would describe it is their goal is to break you down till you are nothing and to build you back up in their image correct that's that's very

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available lawsuit filed by her parents to recount the details of Mia's case. So, Dylan, could you start by telling us a little bit about your experience? What programs did you go to before The Grove School?

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of there unless you choose to change fundamentally who you are right and you got to just fake it till you make it and I was there for 13 months and the schooling system was like very different than normal school we had school from 3:

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Um, so I started, um, I was taken through what's known as legal transport, or by the kids who went through it, is often referred to as gooning, which is where two people kind of basically legally kidnap you and bring you to a program. That happened from a psych

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heading back to school which was the Grove School which is a therapeutic boarding school in Madison Connecticut can you tell us a little bit about the Grove School and their transitional program because I understand they have residential um transitional and then a

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on my birthday, on my 15th birthday, in May 22nd of 2018, where I was sent to Windgate Wilderness Therapy for about 10 weeks. That was really my first introduction to the troubled teen industry. And one thing I do want to say

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what I can speak for they also had day students which would be people who were just dropped off daily like a normal school more so but um the biggest difference between Grove School and a normal high school is

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for sure is before I even start any of this, I do not believe that all troubled teens, that the entire troubled teen industry is a bad idea. I think that the idea is there because if I were not sent

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idea and there's also some restrictions for example like Wi-Fi turns off at 10 but compared to say Discovery Ranch my sole source of Technology was an amfm radio and I only got that after about six months in so that compared to having my phone

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to Wilderness in 2018, I would not be alive today, and I truly mean that. I do also think, I think I personally think that residential treatment is going to be something that parents always look for and that the industry needs reform,

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that I've been to not Wilderness but Discovery Ranch for sure and uh the Grove School for sure have a leveling system so as you do better in the program and gain more trust with the staff you level up more get more

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not abolishment. I agree, and it was very helpful, but I started very quickly going back into old ways, and then I agreed with my parents that I needed to be sent to a different residential and was sent to Discovery Ranch for boys in Mapleton,

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place so you'd head there immediately and B that and then once you're there for two weeks you are able to put in a form that basically says that you would like to go for your 15minute check-ins which means that I could say talk to my

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Utah. And Discovery Ranch is, I guess the best way I would describe it is their goal is to break you down till you are nothing and to build you back up in their image. Correct? That's, that's very

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there an evaluations required for that yeah so like I said with the form what that basically means is uh we have people called aods there which stands for administrator on duty your academic adviser for example my academic adviser was John

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common tactic with troubled teen programs. Except they don't build you back up. I mean, one phrase that was said by every kid there, never by the adults, but every single kid is fake AIA makeup, which basically means you don't get out

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look like what happens after 15s so after 15s I believe that it you have to wait at least four weeks and then have another evaluation type thing then you have 30s which is you can check in for 30 minutes at a time and then

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of there unless you choose to change fundamentally who you are, right? And you got to just fake it till you make it. I was there for 13 months, and the schooling system was very different than normal school. We had school from 3:

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evaluation for hours and then six more weeks another evaluation for downtowns and for downtowns you can check in with the main office and head downtown for up to 3 hours okay so so with this program you're allowed off campus yes and once

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to 7 and it was all what I describe as workbook work, so very different from normal high school. And, because of that, I was sent to a step-down program that was supposed to readjust me back to life before

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normal life if you will let's talk some about Mia um why was she sent to the Grove School and why was she PL why was she placed in the program that she was um so she was sent there for

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heading back to school, which was The Grove School, which is a therapeutic boarding school in Madison, Connecticut. Can you tell us a little bit about The Grove School and their transitional program? Because I understand they have residential,

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discharge her and she needed a step down program because I would rate Newport as somewhere not as LAX as Grove but also not as strict as Discovery range from what I've heard about I've not been there so I cannot

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transitional, and then a day program. What exactly is a transitional program, and how are they different from like strict residential treatment programs or therapeutic boarding schools? So, I would consider it as a therapeutic boarding school. I personally was a residential student, so that's really

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suicidal ideation and what did the school claim to offer for kids like Mia who was a traumatized 15-year-old kid in severe enough Mental Health crisis that it caused suicidal ideation did she meet the requirements to be in the program

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what I can speak for. They also had day students, which would be people who were just dropped off daily like a normal school more so, but the biggest difference between Grove School and a normal high school is

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that describes everything that should be happening or that should be required for example they say they have a list of things of like people who they will take for example addadhd non-verbal learning disability attachment disorders anxiety autism uh borderline personality

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that you have a therapist who you have a team with three people, which is a therapist, an academic adviser, and a med doctor, psychiatrist, and you have those three people there when you need them, at least that's the

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self-injurious as well as a chronic runaway she never should have been at the grow School according their requirements according to Grove's requirements as to what they allow she should not have been there what were Mia's demeanor and behavior like in the

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idea. And there's also some restrictions, for example, like Wi-Fi turns off at 10, but compared to, say, Discovery Ranch, my sole source of technology was an AM/FM radio, and I only got that after about six months in. So that, compared to having my phone

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was about four weeks and I only knew her for probably about three of those weeks because personally whenever a new person came I always gave them a week to just kind of adjust before introducing myself but um one thing that I did notice was a

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as I did at Grove School, having technology was a huge difference. So these step-down or transitional programs, they offer, I guess I would say, a little bit of a higher level of freedom and independence. Absolutely. Most places

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didn't really see just because from what you've described I would definitely agree with that um I remember you saying something about her feeling a strong urge to be in physical contact with an animal yeah um there was one day when she described

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that I've been to, not Wilderness, but Discovery Ranch for sure, and The Grove School for sure, have a leveling system. So as you do better in the program and gain more trust with the staff, you level up, get more

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have to ask specifically to take one out of the hobby Farm one day she just went in picked one up and started walking around so without permission no permission whatsoever she just walked right in so she was able to go in and

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freedoms. And yeah, so with Grove School, they had a check-in system. When you got there, you were placed on what's known as supervision, which means you're with staff at all times. They had radios and they'd call you from place to

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you get to know people MH and one thing I notic is staff were severely underpaid the conditions for their living I mean there was one building that was in bad enough shape that the ceiling due to water fell down on her

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place, so you'd head there immediately and be at that. And then once you're there for two weeks, you are able to put in a form that basically says that you would like to go for your 15-minute check-ins, which means that I could say, talk to my

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they didn't always do an amazing job right they're not being paid enough to care yeah I mean they're also given way more responsibilities than they're really capable of doing tell us about Mia's last day did anything specific happen that triggered

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staff and say, "I'm checking in." She knows I'm on 15s, or they know I'm on 15s, and then I just have to be back and check in again 15 minutes later. With the transition from supervision to 15s,

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to a club together and all the text was was just I'm not going to club today which I thought okay um we're at a therapeutic boarding school most likely something came up whether it's with parents or whatever and I gave her her

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is there an evaluation required for that? Yeah, so like I said, with the form, what that basically means is we have people called AODs there, which stands for Administrator on Duty. Your academic adviser, for example, my academic adviser was John

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right and I've spent a lot of time thinking if she meant it the same way or not well that goes along with the the mentality that was seemed like it was pretty rampant at the school where suicide wasn't taken seriously not at

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Ansley, and he was also an AOD, and they would basically meet all together, talk about how your progress has been so far, and determine whether or not you were eligible for 15s. Okay, and then what does the rest of the leveling system

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attention like so here's a question um aside from just the attention why would somebody uh fake a disorder like that at a program because sometimes seeing that sometimes creating your own problems is easier than dealing with the problems in front of you I think that's

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look like? What happens after 15s? So after 15s, I believe that you have to wait at least four weeks and then have another evaluation type thing. Then you have 30s, which is you can check in for 30 minutes at a time, and then

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attention would be off of the stuff that was hard for me and onto stuff that I know how to deal with right right you'd create something to essentially be punished for rather than being punished for things that you can't help exactly

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after that is another four weeks, I believe, and then you get 45s, again 45-minute check-ins. Then you have to wait six weeks, I believe, I'm not certain on that, but I believe that is the amount, and then you get another

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yeah yeah that's understandable um I think I think that's a common coping mechanism for anybody who's experienced trauma deflecting the the attention away from the real issues um yeah because it's something you can deal with so back to

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evaluation for hours and then six more weeks, another evaluation for downtowns. And for downtowns, you can check in with the main office and head downtown for up to 3 hours. Okay, so with this program, you're allowed off campus? Yes, and once

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at 510 a.m. in which then Amtrak police or amtr called the Madison police department and according to them they so they were called for a report of a person struck by a train and they and then based on the age of the

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you've also hit downtowns, like you're allowed to, again trying to get people back to normal life, like you're allowed to have an on-campus job, for example. So, okay.

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which keep in mind is 50 minutes after she was announced dead um they arrived at Grove School and Grove School had no idea that they had the student missing so they did a quick check and then realized oh wait a

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minute we have a student missing we should do something yeah and um they notified M as dad who the first thing that he said was did you check the railroad tracks she had expressed to her therapist previously that if she were to

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ever commit suicide she always knows how she would do it and had mentioned something along the lines of railroad tracks okay so it had been mentioned before that that was her plan yep and Grove School knew that she had a plan

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yes and chose not to put a safety plan in place correct if somebody expresses suicidal ideation the first thing you do is take it seriously and the second thing you do is put together a safety plan yeah and one thing that like even

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going back to when she first got to Grove she had mentioned she and her parents in her intake meeting had mentioned that a safety plan had worked really well at Newport Academy and then after that bunny incident that I went

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over briefly she had expressed to her advisor academic advisers more so just not just for academics more so for everyday type stuff she had expressed to her that she was surprised she didn't have a safety plan and was surprised the Grove didn't

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care enough and and her safety plan at Newport was um something that she wanted to have right and was accepting of oh as far as I'm aware yes she felt it was working yeah as far as I'm aware yes and Grove School decided

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not only not to carry that over but also not to give her a new one correct um this lawsuit also outlines some of the ways the Grove School that Grove School failed to protect Mia um and these include some falsified

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documentation could you share some more detail on what that was and how it was falsified who was responsible for falsifying that so um there were two instances one with her therapist and one with the night shift who is on duty so

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I'll start with the second one okay gr school has a third shift of night staff which their job is to check in on the kids um checking on the kids I believe it's every 30 minutes yes so it's 30 minutes from

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11:00 p.m. till 3:00 am and then 45 minute bed checks from 3:00 am until 6:00 am okay and from my experience of being there that did not happen we were lucky if like as someone who has insomnia was up late a lot of times

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there were nights when a staff would never come by even once there were nights when a staff would come by like once or twice but the biggest issue was I mean I'm pretty sure there's so there's six boys dorms and I want to say

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six girls dorms as well and they have like four people doing all of it if that there are nights where there's even less than that there was even a night when uh a staff that was supposed to be our night shift staff

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was sleeping on our like sleeping on the couch and then me and my friend tucked him in because we felt bad for him like they're completely overworked and it's crazy but um back to those falsified documents so on her B bed check she was

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accounted for at 4:00 a.m. 4:45 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. and one was after she was dead had had an S for sleeping next to every bed check for all seven students which I'll tell you right now I was never the only

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one enough there were always people awake long before that time and um they uh there was a detective with the um police who his last name was Hansen detective Hansen and he had looked at the cameras and saw that she left her dorm

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through the window at about 4:09 a.m. on May 20th and was captured on at least three other security cameras as she walked off Grove School campus towards the train tracks staff did nothing what there is supposed to be is a staff in every dorm

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and then one on cameras constantly the staff who was supposed to be on cameras was also assigned to the six boys dorms it is impossible for her to be in six boys dorms checking every 30 to 45 minutes as well as staying on cameras

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constantly it is not possible she cannot be in seven places at once right um let me read this from the the lawsuit um it says the Amtrak police department conducted the lead investigation on May 20th 2021 which is the date of Mia's

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death Robert Hansen detective Hansen for the APD met with Peter Andor Richard chorney at Grove School um detective Hansen asked about the account ability practices for students overnight and Peter Andor Richard chy stated that residential staff checked on students

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every 45 minutes Peter Andor Richard chy also stated Grove School staff accounted for Mia at 4 a.m. 4:45 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. Grove School security camera shows Mia leaving her dorm at or around 4:09 a.m. on May 20th

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2021 and as you said issues cap captured on at least so that be four cameras uh as she walked off the campus toward the train tracks not a single stop stopped her the entire way it also goes on to say as such Grove

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School staff specifically Mrs zacharelli Miss zacharelli who marked Mia as asleep and in bed at 4:45 a.m. claimed to have accounted for her over 35 minutes after she had left the dorm yeah not only did Miss zacharelli falsely Mark Mia as sleeping after she

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left the dorm but also marked her as sleeping after she had been tragically struck by a train and killed yeah and the day before you said she was put on escort or supervision believe it was the day before it might

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have been two days I'm not certain I'd have to it says here the 19th so the day before then yeah the day before so she snuck out the window and left yeah okay and the and the lawsuit also

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outlines the fact that she had a plan in the Grove School was aware of that and also in addition to the falsified night reports that I can I can understand more so being falsified purely based off of the fact that this is a

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who had no training really on what to do was just told be here check the people every 30 minutes what to write down right and as you said that was training and not very good pay yeah what's harder

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for me to believe is Amy or I believe it's Amy Stevens one second let me just one sec it's no it's not Amy I know that much give me sah hwood yeah sah hallwood was her assigned therapist and and she tried to

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falsify the records that were on um for me as intake meeting there were no notes there and she tried adding them a week after she had died which was over a month later so it says here the Grove School staff raised

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concern about Mia's ability to be safe at Grove as soon as her first day on campus April 20 or April 19th 2021 that day Mia and Mrs Fontana her mother met with Grove School staff for an intake meeting following the intake

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meeting miss hallwood this is Sarah hallwood her uh therapist you said um M as therapist at Grove noticed M as passed homicidal ideation and suicidal ideation and passed self harm as recently as 21 days ago and further noted that Mia had four previous suicide

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attempts three of which occurred during her stay at Newport Academy Miss hwood notes for the April 19th 2021 intake meeting were created over a month later on May 31st 2021 11 days after Mia's death and are incorrect with respect to

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Mia's suicide attempts while at Newport so they were aware of that but they did not document that you document everything um yeah and and just the the fact that she didn't even acknowledge the fact that she had prior suicide attempts

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at a program yep and one thing that I do want to touch on briefly my guess as to the reason why she was admitted even though frankly she shouldn't have been would be the price of the school because Grove School for a

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residential student annual tuition is 144,00 ,000 a year that's as of last I checked in or that would have been when I got in the papers I have are from 2020 it could have gone up since then when I

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was at Discovery range I remember the tuition was 13,000 a month meaning in total 12,000 less a year but you could see where the money was going you could see they had a fully functioning range setem they were raising cattle you could

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see where that was going with Grove School it was clearly wasn't going to the staff it wasn't going to the housing either considering the roof falling down on people so I just pulled up a little bit information about The Grove School um it

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says here incidental expenses include but are not limited to Transportation medical and dental fees clothing purchases school supplies books laundry special instruction and special recreational event events including international travel skiing and the schooner sailing program I will say

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though based off of that information laundry is a great example laundry was not part of that tuition laundry was paid separately $100 a week wow even like during covid when we were getting covid tests it costs $100 a week for

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every single covid test because we're getting tested every week right and that was an addition they also require a $1,000 down payment for any funds that come up such as getting food or snacks or anything like that that comes from

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your parents in addition to tuition right it says here the deposit required upon a mission will be the first and last month's tuition payment of $1,150 um and then it goes on to say that partial funding may be covered by

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parents school districts or social services or a combination um but yeah it looks like the the down payment is 12 over $112,000 yeah it's crazy and like considering how many students does Grove hold I believe that their Max was about

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a 100 and that includes day students so I'm not entirely certain you said about 100 about that that's almost and half million dollars in deposits alone yep in one month wow that's that's I mean that that's one thing that I always like to discuss when

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I get the opportunity is the costs of these programs it's crazy I mean like one thing they always talked about how they're going to build a new building and then they had to wait because I guess um what was it what they

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say construction prices went up due to covid but looking at the math that makes no sense even like putting that probably the kids were probably required to do all the work too right not uh not that I'm aware not that I'm aware of her

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Grove at least okay but um like literally uh the middle house was one of the dorms and it had a noticeable lean that was the dorm where the roof fell down on a staff multiple times the whole building looked like it could come down

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at any moment one and a half million dollars in deposits alone in a month it's crazy that's ridiculous yeah um so a concept that we discussed when we were talking was [Music] um the fact that with me as death um

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that brought Grove School that placed Grove School as the deadliest program in the industry and introduced the concept of a deadliest program uh can you talk about that a little bit I mean it's weird for me to talk about

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because I was in the treat like I was in treatment for so long that that kind of thing almost became normal I mean even since Mia died like it was just I want to say last fall so it' be fall of

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2022 um I learned one of the staff had died in the car accident and one of my friends who had just died had been drinking fell asleep on his back and died and he had just graduated he was the smartest kid I

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ever knew like when you're in a place where bad things happen for for long enough those bad things become just part of normal life you've become it yeah so seeing it labeled as something like that I just for the longest time I

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just saw it as the school I go to and not really much more than that and what's also crazy to me is I believe it's four deaths is that correct yep so I don't like you have to do a lot of research to find any of them

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even like after Mia died for example they literally put I hope like I I know that this year's events have been hard but I hope we see it as water under the bridge because they cover these things up parents don't know what they're

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getting into parents are just struggling to find a place that can keep their kid alive right which the fact that that term even exists is insane to me I mean these places are meant to help people they're meant to save

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lives frankly but that's not what they are no they're not and I really wish that we could live in a perfect world where treatment was helpful but in this day and Agee the whole trouble teens industry they just cover

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it up and I mean the reason I'm on this podcast today is because they have tried so many times to cover it up and I need Mia's story to be heard because if it doesn't it's not an if

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it's going to happen it's a when absolutely and I mean it's happened four times you think someone didn't try to have this conversation before yeah like um the unfortunate truth that I have is this was not the first and if

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something drastic does not change it will not be the last it won't um and it's interesting that you uh you mentioned the buildings falling down because the first two deaths that happened at Grove were actually two of the first deaths in the troubled teen

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industry um there were two in 1971 one in 1976 and then two in 1979 that were at the Grove School um Peter Cooper and johathan lenoff 17 and 18 died in a fire um on April 23d 1979 it was ruled

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in Accidental Fire but it broke out in a pinewood building that was apparently up to code it was the redlick I I mean I'd heard stories and such about the redlick burning down there was even there was a

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staff that worked there who we know was kicked out but never learned who why and there was a rumor that was constantly floating around that he was the one who set the fire H so that wouldn't have that

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wouldn't have surprised me neither would it me and you were at that program um the the third death at Grove was uh February 24th 2005 Brendan John OSI 18 that that was ruled an accidental fall but they say that it may have been

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suicide and this was that um was that the one that was off the dining hall roof yes that was confirmed to Suicide while I was there oh wow okay not confirmed officially but hearing mutterings from staff and students

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alike I'm 99% sure that would that would make sense had even talked about climbing the dining hall at one point so she Wasing to Suicide the whole time she was there yeah crying for help yeah and they failed

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every yep um one one sad thing about about Brendan osi's case is that um you know how after people die people ask for donations to places in L of flowers yeah well his parents ask that donations be given to the Grove

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School because I mean that's what the Grove that's what these places just in general do is I can promise you right now I mean like even being in college like I am right now there was a staff member that

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I did not know because I was a freshman and she died and there were two grief counselors that were there for like two weeks for anyone who needed them at Grove you just had your normal therapy sessions and hope for the

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best right which is looking at it now crazy to me I mean like yeah it's crazy um speaking of the costs of these places um do you know or can you talk about um what M's family is asking for

Speaker A

in their lawsuit um I'm not certain to be honest okay um I just know from my research that um with deaths they when when lawsuits are awarded um monetary compensation for deaths um it very rarely covers the cost of

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tuition that the parents have paid they don't even get their money back what I believe the fontanas are truly looking for is not money it's change they want the publicity of this because otherwise like I said it will

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happen again it absolutely will um and living in Utah I already have a group of survivors and allies who are literally ready to go at the drop of a hat to go down and protest the next one it's crazy I

Speaker A

mean like the amount of [ __ ] that stuff that happens is just money can't solve all problems money can't bring her back you can't pay for like there is no amount of money that is worth me a soul

Speaker A

no and there never will be there never will be you could give me a trillion dollars like if someone literally gave me the choice of a trillion dollars or to have my best friend back I will take the second one any day

Speaker A

yeah um is there anything else in the lawsuit that you wanted to specifically touch on for any parents trying to send I guess say just any parents trying to send their kids to a place do your research any place you go to look up the

Speaker A

name of the place followed by lawsuit see what comes up that's that's really solid advice yeah I can I can somewhat understand it if there hasn't been an issue in say over 20 years because at that point there could

Speaker A

be new management you should look into that rebranding that is not the time I mean like when I went to Discovery Ranch I looked up Discovery Ranch lawsuit afterwards the first thing that came up I'm not going to go into details but

Speaker A

like it was bad and it was the year prior I've done that as year the year before I got there so that would be my biggest thing is to any parents who have kids who are struggling with this is do

Speaker A

your own research Ed Consultants are good can be good I should say but there are many times when they're paid by both parents and treatment centers and so you have to do your own research Mia was only she was 15 when

Speaker A

she died yeah which is when you're 15 I mean High School just trying to get through life you should be worrying about oh who's dating who not who's gonna die right that's I mean that's just crazy to me

Speaker A

like that's the reality of life in these programs is you're always in survival mode there's no getting out of um and one thing I also do want to mention quickly is if you want more information than what I've given and maybe um Nora you

Speaker A

could also link this is the Mia Fontana Foundation which is something her parents have set up does that have a website yep Mia I believe it's Mia Montana foundation.org tell us a little bit about your relationship with me as family I know

Speaker A

you stayed close with them how has that been so I actually had no contact with her family whatsoever while she was at Grove the way I got in contact with her was the little piece of her that I had

Speaker A

left was her voicemail which was her voice even if it was short it was short but it it was her yeah and after she died there were quite a few times where I'd send a voicemail to her knowing I would never reach her

Speaker A

but it just felt like maybe I don't know it's comfort and there's one and putting it into words helps get it out of your head yeah and there was one day when I got a response back and was

Speaker A

terrified it was was a response back from her number yeah it was her mom and that was when I really got in contact talked through it all cuz I mean at Grove she did not have a lot of

Speaker A

friends she had she was fairly close with her cabin um she had one person there who I would describe as a non-biological sister yeah and like me and her hung out daily and it was I miss those days one thing

Speaker A

that really threw me off after she died is Peter chy who is the um he's the executive director of the school came to me son of the father son of the father son son okay so he said so

Speaker A

Dylan did uh Mia have a lot of friends and my first thought is what the [ __ ] do you think yeah like he was clearly looking for his own closure but I couldn't I wouldn't I just I couldn't give him that

Speaker A

I mean truth was she didn't have a lot of friends a like 17-year-old kid who is grieving for his best friend and asking for that validation from a child who is under your care is totally inappropriate yeah I know losing a

Speaker A

friend is incredibly hard at any point but losing a friend that is so young while you're so young just something like that that was entirely preventable and then what what did what do these programs look like in the aftermath when

Speaker A

a student dies what is their attitude how do they approach kids do they provide things like grief counseling like public schools would I couldn't really tell you um so she died on a Thursday like early Thursday morning that the following Saturday

Speaker A

was my 18th birthday and then the Tuesday after that I was sent to a psych word against my will because my therapist had lied about something that I had said and every time previously that I've been to a psych I've known that I've

Speaker A

known deep down that I needed to be there because I was unsafe right that was a time when I truly feel that I did not need to be there and I remember that Friday or no that Saturday I watched the uh her parents

Speaker A

had live streamed the funeral to YouTube because they knew she had friends at Grove I remember watching that in a cold hospital room with a nurse leaning over my shoulder the entire time instead of with my friends where I was supposed to

Speaker A

be right and then I got back the following Monday and I uh they had taken down the memorial uh what they had said was due to the Rain so I asked hey when you guys going to put it back up I would love to go grieve

Speaker A

for my friend right and um they said don't worry we'll let you know and then they kept saying that for two weeks until I gave up asking yeah so they basically just covered it up just like all the other

Speaker A

ones yeah and now internally for the oneye anniversary I would think Grove would do something but the one thing that we did is we had these little like pieces of wish paper that just burned up quickly and we lit one of those and it was

Speaker A

entirely student Le everyone else just seemingly chose not to remember yeah all they said was like hey we know it's a rough time if you need a therapist go to them I mean does is it really all that surprised

Speaker A

because did they ever do anything for Peter or Jonathan or Brendan not that I know of exactly it's not surprising but it is deeply saddening and infuriating it is it absolutely is um well can you tell us can you just tell

Speaker A

us about Mia what made her special who was MIA so I mean Mia the way that I well first all I want to start by saying she wasn't perfect that's one thing that I struggled with a lot is I

Speaker A

idolized her but she wasn't perfect I mean but in a lot of ways the ways that she wasn't perfect is what made her perfect and I mean she was fun like she would anytime she walked in anywhere she

Speaker A

would light up the room with her smile laughing constantly just joking around um there was one day uh we had gone to a high ropes course for an activity and one of the people there was having a panic attack in our group and so she

Speaker A

went back and helped that person get all the way over and it was just like she just had such a kindness towards others I mean that's one thing you see a lot in treatment is just people who care more about others

Speaker A

than themselves and just some of the most hurt people are the best healers yeah absolutely and she just I don't know and she loved animals yeah right she yeah at the hobby farm at the time we had three

Speaker A

bunnies which were snap pop and Ralph when crackle crackle died oh my God crackle was dropped by a student so oh no I think her love whole another issue I think her love for Animals is shown just in in what she did in that crisis manic

Speaker A

mode the first thing she did was went straight to an animal yeah because the thing is animals they don't judge people they just are well it sounds like an incredible person she was she had a pure soul and I'm

Speaker A

sorry you had to lose her yeah and I just want to acknowledge her family her parents people who loved her I hope with everything that I have that you find Justice for her me too I just I don't

Speaker A

know kids don't get put in these programs because they're perfect and they have the perfect home life and they're a perfect student they get there because they've experienced trauma and they have no support system and Mia was one of those

Speaker A

kids that the entire industry failed she should be here now yeah if it weren't for the actions of the owners and the employees of the Grove School she would be here and I think it's important to acknowledge responsibility where it

Speaker A

needs to be taken and I really hope that this lawsuit brings some peace and closure to those who love me yeah and justice for her yeah one thing I definitely never understood before Mia was the importance of pictures I know David likes to end his

Speaker A

his episodes with like a fun little question um but I'm going to start doing the same thing um the question that I'm asking is if you had to assign a song to your time in the troubled teen industry what

Speaker A

would it be or your healing afterwards that's a good question I mean just find it it's called everything's all right by conscience I'll have to listen to that yes it's in my uh sad Boy Rap playlist you have one of those too oh pretty sure

Speaker A

every TTI Survivor has one of yeah yeah I think we do too so Dylan thank you for being our guest today um and thank you so much for sharing everything that you know about Mia and her Legacy and her story um I

Speaker A

think it's really important for us to get that information out to people and show them that these kids aren't just troubled kids their kids in crisis and they need help um and this is not help um so I just want to thank you I also

Speaker A

want to thank M as family and her parents um for just sharing Mia with us um just by filing that lawsuit gives us an incredible insight into who Mia was um and and exactly how the Grove School and the troubl Teen industry failed her

Speaker A

the last thing that I want to share is a quote so when she died there was no note or anything like you have in some cases but there was a quote on the wall and I just want to share that

Speaker A

okay when you go out into the woods and you look at trees you see all these different trees and some of them are bent and some of them are straight and some of them are evergreens and some of

Speaker A

them are whatever and you look at the tree and you allow it you see it is the way it is you sort of understand that it didn't get it get enough light and so it turned that way you and you don't get all emotional

Speaker A

by it you just allow it you appreciate the tree the minute you get in your humans you lose all that and you're constantly saying you're to this or I'm to this that judgment mind comes in and so I practice turning people into

Speaker A

dream into trees which means appreciating them just the way they [Music] [Music] [Music] are [Music] [Music] oh

Topics:troubled teen industryMia FontanaThe Grove Schoolsurvivor storywilderness therapyresidential treatmentmental health careindustry reformtraumaactivism

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