Remy M:

screw that. you’re not taking away my drugs!

raysny:

Do not trust their success rates. They claim an 86% success rate, but that is for the people who successfully complete the course. They do not count the high percentage of people who drop out or are kicked out.

“Social scientists have pointed out that the 86 percent success rate of Teen Challenge is misleading. It does not count the people who dropped out during the program. And like many religious and private charities, Teen Challenge picks its clients.

Before they are accepted, most of the addicts have already been through detoxification programs, said the Rev. John D. Castellani, president of Teen Challenge International U.S.A. In the program’s first four-month phase, Mr. Castellani said, 25 to 30 percent drop out, and in the next eight months, 10 percent more leave.

This raises questions for David Reingold, a researcher at the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs. A study Mr. Reingold has just completed of social services in Indiana found that religious programs are more likely than their secular counterparts to limit the clientele they serve. As a result, Mr. Reingold said, ”It’s an extreme exaggeration to say that religious organizations are more effective.” ” NYTimes 4/24/2001

You do realize that Teen Challenge is part of the Assemblies of God?

John Castellani, the former President of Teen Challenge USA, stated in front of a House Government Reform subcommittee, that Teen Challenge does not hire non-Christians as employees and, when asked if the group takes non-Christians as clients, he said yes, and boasted that some Jews who finish his Teen Challenge program become “completed Jews.” (Teen Challenge believes that Jews are “incomplete” unless they accept Jesus as their savior.)

Teen Challenge has gains some vocal critics:
“Investigating Teen Challenge”: