WWASPS stated that it was an umbrella organization of independent institutions for education and treatment of troubled teenagers.
Many outside observers believe, however, that the WWASPS-affiliated institutions were actually owned through limited partnerships , many of which have used the same street address by WWASPS or its principal officials or their close relatives. In , there were 2, students enrolled in its facilities and programs.
Schools and programs currently or formerly associated with the organization include the following:. Some personnel formerly associated with WWASP schools and programs have gone on to establish or work at other similar institutions. Randall Hinton later tried to resurrect the WWASP format with a similar "chain" of schools called Right Directions, but the effort never got past the planning stages. Most likely, this was meant to allow WWASP to retain many of its former properties under a new name with a clean slate, but ostensibly it would have been an entirely new entity.
Ken Kay was superintendent of Browning Distance Learning Academy , a provider of homeschooling curriculum. Browning Distance Learning Academy does not seem to be up and running at this time. A WebWire report on October 16, , stated that children housed in WWASP programs were denied adequate food, denied access to toilets, forced to drink their own vomit, chained to dog cages, and emotionally and sexually abused.
Most have been settled out of court or dismissed for procedural reasons. For example, a lawsuit filed in California on behalf of more than 20 plaintiffs was dismissed because the judge found that California lacked jurisdiction. In June , Utah attorney Thomas M. Burton told a reporter that six suits he had filed against WWASPS on behalf of his clients had been dismissed on procedural grounds.
