A headline from yesterday’s Kentucky Lantern:

“Former KY Gov. Matt Bevin’s adopted son reportedly removed from abusive facility in Jamaica.”

The article names “Matt Bevin, a conservative Christian and Republican who served as governor (of Kentucky) from 2015 through 2019” as the adoptive parent of “Noah” (a pseudonym). Noah was adopted from Ethiopia in 2012 by the former governor and his wife; they adopted 3 other Ethiopian children at that time. They also have five biological children.

News reports have said that Noah, now 17 years old, was placed in a Florida facility in 2019. In 2023, Noah was placed at the Atlantis Leadership Academy, a Jamaican treatment facility for teenage boys, several of whom were adoptees.

The Lantern article refers to Noah: “…now, one of those adopted children, a 17-year-old boy, is at the center of international attention after he and seven other boys were removed from the Atlantis Leadership Academy in Jamaica in February, where authorities found horrific conditions,” according to a lengthy article published July 13 in the Sunday Times of London.

The Sunday Times story, ” ‘I’d Rather Die Than Go Back:’ Jamaica’s school for troubled US boys,” says that Noah was among “three teens who were made wards of the Jamaican state…It’s not clear where the Bevins’ son is now.”

A Kentucky news station posted this article today: Report claims former Gov. Matt Bevin abandoned adopted son.

Noah’s story is one example of the complexity of the so-called “Troubled Teen Industry” (TTI), which has garnered a tremendous amount of publicity in recent years.

Paris Hilton was in the news in April regarding the Atlantis facility and her concern for the boys in Jamaica. In June, Hilton testified about her own experiences at similar facilities. Netflix is featuring a documentary called The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping.

Adoptees are disproportionately represented at some of these facilities, and that could be for a variety of reasons. I do not want to pathologize adoptees, nor do I want to minimize the need for specialized services by counselors and therapists with appropriate training in adoption.

Here is an excerpt from an article by the American Counseling Association, Adoption Complexities:

“Counselors who treat transracial and transnational adoptees and study the practice of adoption say it warrants scrutiny. People who are unfamiliar with these types of adoption may view them as an act of altruism to “rescue” a child from unfortunate circumstances, says Amanda Baden, PhD, a professor of counselor education at Montclair State University in New Jersey.  

“But if you ask the adoptee community, they would say there are a lot of abuses in transracial and transnational adoption and there needs to be much more careful and ethical oversight of the practice,” says Baden, a transracial and transnational adoptee from Hong Kong who works with transracial and transnational adoptees in her private practice in New York City.”

I hope that Noah is found to be safe, and that all adoptees and teens in therapeutic centers find the help that they deserve.

Additional Articles about the TTI in the U.S., including Adoptee Treatment

The Troubled Teen Industry and Its Effects: An Oral History

Five Facts About the Troubled Teen Industry (American Bar Association)

Troubled Teen Industry Statistics Revealed: Alarming Facts and Figures

Differences Between Adopted and Nonadopted Adolescents in Wilderness and Residential Treatment From the Abstract: “Adopted children are disproportionately represented in residential treatment programs in the United States. Adopted children in the United States constitute only 2% to 3% of the U.S population. Nevertheless, they comprise approximately 16.5% of the population in residential care. This descriptive study evaluated a sample of 473 psychological evaluations of adolescents in wilderness and residential treatment centers. Results indicated that, compared with nonadopted youth, adopted youth had greater histories of recent trauma, higher rates of suicidal tendency and biological parents’ mental illness, and poorer academic achievement. However, there were no significant differences between adopted and nonadopted youths in terms of defiant behaviors, IQ, substance use/abuse, reasons for referral, impulsivity, anxiety, or depression. Study results suggest that wilderness and residential programs may need to target programmatic elements specifically to meet the special needs of adopted adolescents who comprise a significant percentage of their client population.”

Adopted Youth in Residential Care: Prevalence Rate and Professional Training Needs