Pubdate: Wed, 19 Feb 2014
Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/5NyOACet
Website: http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531
Author: Don Plant

RECOVERY CENTRE SHUT DOWN HERE MAY REOPEN IN CAYMAN ISLANDS

The couple whose unlicensed youth centre was shut down in Kelowna are
now soliciting clients to join them in the Caribbean.

Emails written by Susan Kenney last month suggest NeurVana Recovery
and Wellness Inc. is setting up a new treatment centre in the Cayman
Islands. The two letters read by The Daily Courier invite an Okanagan
parent to consider sending his or her daughter to Grand Cayman for
treatment.

"It sounds like your daughter is a perfect fit for our very unique
program.

It's quite something that you are asking about a warm destination, as
right now we are in the Cayman Islands . . . completing final plans to
open a location here in Grand Cayman in the spring," Kenney wrote in a
Jan. 15 email.

Kenney signed off as NeurVana's director of wellness. She and her
husband, David Kenney, left Kelowna after Interior Health closed their
residential treatment facility for troubled teens in early December.
The health authority is demanding they get a licence under the
Community Care and Assisted Living Act.

Three families have since sued the couple for breach of contract,
negligence and fraud for operating the overnight centre without a
business licence. A fourth family is now filing a similar claim, said
lawyer Marco Francesco Lilliu of Francesco Grayer in Vancouver.

"It's quite unfortunate that (the Kenneys) left the jurisdiction," he
said Tuesday. "I'm angered that they're continuing, and I'm barely
connected with them compared to how my clients must feel - devastated
that they're continuing to practise."

The latest family claims their addicted daughter ran away from the
Kelowna home on the fifth day of her four-week stay. She said the
Kenneys verbally abused her and forced her to eat meat when she's
vegetarian, said Lilliu.

After going to hospital with a stomach ache, she hitch-hiked to UBC
Okanagan where a student let her use her cellphone so she could call
her mother to pick her up, he said.

The mother of a 16-year-old boy getting treatment for a marijuana
addiction claims he was bullied and ridiculed by the couple, and lost
20 pounds during his three-week stay. The family spent $18,300 for an
experience he's still recovering from, said Sandra Colquhoun of Burnaby.

Another girl whose family paid $25,280 said the facility was like a
prison, according to the statement of claim. She alleged a director
locked her outside the building in freezing weather without socks and
withheld her medication for anxiety.

The accusations represent one side of the story and have not been
proven in court. Despite email requests for an interview, the Kenneys
have not responded to this newspaper.

Castanet reported the Kenneys sent them a statement through their
lawyer saying they deny all allegations of wrongdoing. The statement
said Neurvana has received "an outpouring of support" from families
who thank staff for saving their children's lives.

The couple were in Kelowna for a few days in late January to arrange
the move to Grand Cayman, according to an email sent by Susan Kenney
to the same prospective parent.

"We are targeting to be operational for April and are on our way back
to the island Sunday (Feb. 2) to finalize set up there," she wrote.
"If you can, fill out the application for admission that is on our
website."

The Kenneys' lawyer has confirmed he's representing the couple and
Neurvana as a corporation. They must respond to the civil claim by
mid-March or the plaintiffs will seek a default judgment, Lilliu said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt