Jodi Hobbs is a survivor of Victory Christian Academy and the founder of Survivors of Institutional Abuse (SIA-now.org). She started this non-profit organization as a means for other survivors to have a support system, become empowered and take action against child abuse in teen programs. The troubled teen industry is a billion dollar industry and many of these programs horrifyingly, operate TODAY.
At the age of seventeen-years old, Jodi was tricked into going to a locked down reform school. Staying out late and partying, her parents felt she was going down a wrong path. This Christian reform school was a recommended option from other parents who had their child in this tough love program. Located in Ramona, California, the 12-foot fence with barbed wire on top, enclosed Victory Christian Academy. Once the gate closed, girls were trapped in with no way out with hardly any windows. Surveillance cameras surrounded the premises making it difficult to runaway and staff would only tackle a girl for trying to escape. All forms of communication were cutoff including phones. Visitors were not allowed for the first three months. After that, it was once a month and solely parents/legal guardians. These visitations were regulated, of course. Incoming and outgoing mail were monitored and if you tried to explain what was going on behind closed doors, it was read in chapel and severe punishments followed.
Chapel... This demonic preacher from another world fed these children negative reinforcements twice a day for an hour or more. His name calling included: manipulators, liars, thieves, alcoholics, druggies, degenerates, sluts (using Biblical names such as Jezebel and Bathsheba, does not soften the blow), losers, bad decision makers, home wreckers, and the list was increasingly magnified hourly until... Jodi believed it.
This lunatic pastor made individual students stand up during church time while, he determined their spiritual faith. A prime example was the division of sheeps (followers of Christ) from the goats (Non-followers of Christ). He would appoint all the sheeps (girls) in one pile and then humiliated the other girls into the goat pile. He made them physically walk into their designated group for the visual.
These cult like sermons were nothing that she witnessed from her hometown congregation. This fire and brimstone method threw out any positive light of God and replaced it with something else... Chapel suddenly became a browbeating session for the girls of the program and this preacher from a darker side of another dimension, sadistically backed it up with scripture.
In this lockdown bootcamp, girls were punished frequently for the slightest mistake. These so called mistakes consisted of forgetting a pencil for school, misquoting Biblical scripture, singing a song on the radio, voicing an artist’s name, naming or talking about a TV show, discussing a friend from the outside world, going to the bathroom when it was unregulated or discussing any of the abuse going on. This ludicrous list of rules could go on without a manual for proper guidance. I regret to say, Jodi was locked into the room of isolation called, the Get Right Room for merely forgetting her pencil for school. This was a tiny closet that girls would be locked into while, sitting on the floor listening to preaching tapes for hours, days-weeks and months at a time. By now, you know what kind of feel good affirmations, this demonic preacher was feeding the wayward girls under his care. Jodi was locked into this isolation hole for weeks at a time. Another student would monitor her for days and eventually... weeks. While in this miniature room of torment, she tried to take her own life justifying it would only be a better solution. She found a paperclip and stuck it into her lower abdominal region hoping to hit an internal organ in order to escape this demented place of torture.
When a student first arrived at the program, they had to follow another student 3 feet behind them. It was called, the buddy system. If they broke this rule, they would be punished with demerits, isolation or standing in front of a pole for hours at a time. The buddy system was the biggest form of degradation especially, when one could have a 12-year old girl leading. The buddy system lasted one full month but if a student was disobedient, it could be for their entire stay (normally one year).
Demerits were another form of punishment. They were in essence a psychologically damaging tool to reinforce negative self worth. Here is an example: Let’s say a girl was not within a certain amount of feet away from another student they were on separation with. Separation is when students or staff feel that girls should be separated because a. they knew each other from the outside world or b. they were becoming close friends. For instance, breaking the rule meant they were accidentally too close in proximity. The demerit could consist of: “I will not be a game player and keep away from a student I am on separation with!” “I am a heathen!”, “I am a liar!”, “I am a backslider!”, “I have the devil inside of me and I continue to have a bad attitude!”, “I will not have a bad attitude!”, “I will not sing a secular song!”, “I will not wake up a helper to use the rest room in the middle of the night!” These could be 100X 500X 1,000X and they could double and triple while trying to do everything else in this program.
Students were timed when they ate and had to eat everything on their plate. Some were force fed if they did not eat the entirety. If they were fortunate enough to bypass a blended version of dinner fed through a funnel down their throat, their meal would sit there for days at a time until, there was an empty dish. If children were to vomit, the staff would make them eat it.
Hard labor was delegated without pay. This consisted of scrubbing the bathrooms, cooking, washing walls, digging ditches and helping build a church without a hard hat. Carey Dunn, another student was killed while doing forced labor. Carey Dunn
In this place of redemption, other students were encouraged by staff to emotionally, spiritually and physically abuse a student whom they deemed rebellious and incompliant. One example was orchestrated by staff. A redheaded 14-year old girl was handcuffed binding her to a chair with duck tape over her mouth. Other students were encouraged to robotically feed her negative slams: “You are a disgrace to God!”, “You are a puke!”, “God is puking down on you!”, “You bring shame to your family!” All of these taunts carried on for hours while, students had their Bibles opened. This helpless student could have suffocated because she was crying while duck tape was covering her mouth.
Students who participated in these acts of violence and emotional damaging other girls... were climbing up in ranks at this program. They were given privileges that other students did not have. This included trips outside the gate to get tacos and other “at-a-girl” pats on the back. At this point, the emotional beaten down wayward, were starving for any kind of positive reinforcements– even if it were dysfunctional. These so called inmates that followed the beat of this program’s twisted drum were respected by staff and usually, on their way to leaving. While locked up, it was easier to survive. Children were in survivor mode.
Students that participated in abusing other students are victims of abuse. A parent or legal guardian should encourage a safe environment. To orchestrate minors to inflict pain onto another child is child abuse. End of story.
Jodi Hobbs has turned her personal experience into a safe haven for survivors. She educates the public that the following programs: teen bootcamps, wilderness programs, reform schools, boarding schools for the wayward, conversion therapies, rehabilitation programs, and straight programs continue to be a billion dollar industry abusing our children.
By sharing this blog, you are taking the first step to spread the awareness. This could also save a child’s life by informing a parent contemplating sending their child to a program. What really goes on behind closed doors... is entirely different than a brochure or website.
Victory Christian Academy received a slap on the wrist due to not meeting up to fire-code standards and not having a license. Numerous survivors reported child abuse to Social Services and yet, there were no legal repercussions. This unorthodox pastor closed the school in Ramona and opened up another in Florida where he abused other girls for over two decades. Jodi, SIA-Now.org also participated in getting Lighthouse closed down along with Reporter, Alexandra Zayas from the Tampa Bay Times. This thorough investigation in the state of Florida managed to reach parents that had their child at this location. They pulled their teen out of the program and money could no longer feed this hellish tough love lockdown. Lighthouse finally closed it’s doors due to media exposure in 2013.
Click here for article 1: Tampa Bay Times -Article 1
Click here for article 2: Tampa Bay Times 2
–Jeneen Miller
Jodi’s Story - “The Doctors”
Jeneen Miller, Author
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