Founder Ted Earl, Gayle Earl Founded 2000 | Defunct 2012 | |
Industry drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility Headquarters (Wickenburg, Arizona
Saratoga Springs, NY
Canada (Thunder Bay, Ontario Key people Kent Sherman (former CEO) Services young people rehabilitation | ||
Interview with long term drug rehab gatehouse academy graduate
Gatehouse Academy was a long term residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility for young adults age 17-25 with locations in the USA (Wickenburg, Arizona and Saratoga Springs, NY) and Canada (Thunder Bay, Ontario). It closed in 2012.
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Interview with gatehouse academy staff
Treatment style
Gatehouse Academy was founded by Edgar "Ted" Earl and Gayle Earl in 2000. Gayle left the program in 2004.
The foundation of the program is in the 12 Steps, work ethic, and horses. Many residents spend their first three months (the program lasts for at least 12 months) at the Hassaymapa River Ranch, located twenty miles outside of Wickenburg, AZ The facility, which is an active cattle ranch is meant to emphasize the first three steps. Residents maintain the landscape, feed the horses and cows, paint, do construction, and clean all of the property.
Residents learn life skills, attend therapy, take on-line classes, engage in daily physical labor, and recover from the effects of alcoholism and drug abuse through focused 12 Step Recovery.
After three months, residents transition to the main property in Wickenburg, AZ. They live in residential houses, cook their own meals every night, clean, do work ethic, ride horses, and shop for themselves.
Closure of Gatehouse Academy
Gatehouse Academy closed in March 2012. In a statement released on the company website, the closure was due to the fact that "we are faced with the inability to continue to meet our financial obligations and continue operations." There are no other details as to the reasons for the failure cited in the statement.
An article by Janet Deltufo, a writer for the "Wickenburg Sun," reported that the company's CEO, Kent Sherman, had been charged with several crimes, including dangerous drugs, narcotics, misconduct involving a weapon, and money laundering. Sherman was given three years probation for his crimes, and in a letter signed by the Gatehouse executive team, Sherman took a sabbatical from his duties as Gatehouse's CEO to undergo outpatient treatment. However, the relationship between Sherman's charges to the business failure of Gatehouse Academy is unclear.
Gatehouse Academy legal issues
Between 2008-2010, Gatehouse was cited with a number of violations by Arizona officials. These citations/violations included: failure of keep proper records, non-compliance with licensing standards (multiple counts), and failure to protect client safety.
Gatehouse CEO Kent Sherman, founder Ted Earl, Jim Hanley, and Stephan Cole found themselves in another legal battle after attempting to purchase an additional treatment center in New Mexico. The plaintiff filed claims against the defendants for a breach of contract, fraud and fraudulent inducement, conspiracy, negligence, and tortious interference with existing and prospective contractual relations.