TEEN-HELP OPERATORS HAVE CLOUT

Family Behind Schools With Checkered Record Calls In Political
Favors, Critics Say

A bill permitting state regulation of boarding schools for troubled
teens was quietly smothered in the Utah Capitol this year after the
founder of a chain of controversial schools, who is a major
Republican donor, lobbied key lawmakers.

Powerful legislators, including House Speaker Marty Stephens, held
back the measure until the Legislature's clock ran out at midnight on
March 3 - the final day of the session.

Six days later, the bill's biggest opponent, World Wide Association
of Specialty Programs and Schools founder Robert Lichfield, presented
a $30,000 check to Stephens' campaign for governor.

Since then, one of the handful of Utah boarding schools, which would
have been regulated under the bill, Majestic Ranch, near Randolph,
Utah, has been investigated three separate times for alleged abuse,
according to state Human Service officials. Only one ended in a
criminal charge and conviction when a staffer - no longer employed
there - pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault.

Majestic Ranch is owned by Lichfield's brother-in-law, Dan Peart, who
donated $500 to Stephens. The ranch is among seven troubled-teen
schools affiliated with World Wide in four states and two foreign countries.

Several others have been shut down amid allegations of abuse or
squalid living conditions, including the Casa by the Sea facility
near Ensenada, Mexico, closed last weekend by government officials.
More than 500 students were returned to the United States from the program.

Ken Stettler, director of the Utah Office of Licensing, remains
convinced he had the votes to pass Senate Bill 140, giving his office
regulatory authority over Majestic Ranch, if only Stephens and others
had allowed it to come up for a vote.

"It still goes back to the old deal that, you know, if you are giving
political contributions, then when the time comes and you need to
call in your chips, you're going to have a listening ear, which is
more than a lot of the citizenry has," says Stettler.

If cash is the secret to opening political doors, Lichfield and his
profitable network of schools are well on their way to securing the master key.

The La Verkin entrepreneur, his family members and business
associates have poured more than million into political campaigns
during the 2002 election and so far this year. The contributions -
all to Republican candidates, and many to Utah politicians - have
come like a desert downpour: fierce and sudden.

The family donated no more than a couple of thousand dollars prior to
Jan. 1, 2001.

Lichfield told The Tribune there was nothing nefarious about his
sudden plunge into the political arena.

"We've been abundantly blessed, and when you're blessed, we feel you
have a responsibility to bless others," he said, confirming that
World Wide member schools gross more than $70 million annually.

The family's charitable contributions dwarf political donations,
Lichfield added, putting the former donations at $3 million last year.

Utah politicians who were among the biggest benefactors of the
Lichfield election-year largesse insisted they never had discussed
issues with their patron.

U.S. House candidate John Swallow has received 18,000 from Lichfield
and his associates, more than any other candidate.

Swallow's campaign manager, Tim Garon, said Swallow had not met
Lichfield until 2002, when the Lichfield family handed over 30 checks
on a single day totaling $30,000 to Swallow's campaign.

"John and I are close friends," said Lichfield. "We just connected as
families."

After his 2002 election loss, Swallow did legal work for a Lichfield
company in Nevada. As a state representative, Swallow had twice
sponsored legislation that would have allowed parents to get a tax
break for enrolling their children in a private school.

Lichfield said he has "mixed emotions" about tuition-tax credits,
although "you obviously see I have an incentive to be for them."
Although such tax breaks would benefit private schools, including
World Wide members, he said he has reservations about hurting public
schools by draining resources.

As with Swallow, Sen. Bob Bennett met Lichfield just a few years ago,
but has become a friend. They don't discuss policy, said Bennett's
spokeswoman, Mary Jane Collipriest.

Last year, Lichfield sent Bennett a form letter supporting a Medicare
reform bill, according to Collipriest. The bill expanded Health
Savings Accounts, which allow parents to make tax-free contributions
to an account that can be used for medical costs, including the type
of residential treatment provided by schools affiliated with World Wide.

Lichfield said he doesn't remember the letter or the issue.

He said he hasn't pressed his issues on Bennett nor any of the Utah
gubernatorial candidates who have received 40,000 so far this year
from the Lichfield family and business associates.

"I don't think I've ever sat down and given them a litmus test,"
Lichfield said. "There were so many good candidates."

Republican gubernatorial nominee Jon Huntsman Jr. concurs.

"We have not talked about any of his issues. I do not know a whole
lot about his business," said Huntsman, who accepted $60,000 from
Lichfield and $5,000 from Majestic Ranch. "What business is he in?"

Former U.S. Rep. Jim Hansen took more than $45,000 from Lichfield for
his unsuccessful campaign for governor this year.

"Bob Lichfield is a great American," said Hansen. "I don't know a
thing about" the string of schools for troubled youth.

Stephens, the outgoing House speaker whose bid for governor ended
unsuccessfully in the May 8 Republican State Convention, did not
return eight messages for comment over a period of more than two weeks.

"Believe me, the check had nothing to do with SB140," said Lichfield.
"Marty Stephens was going to get a donation from me no matter what
happened to SB140. Marty Stephens is a quality guy."

Lichfield shrugs off any suggestion he has, in just two years, become
a political power broker.

"I'd like to use my means and resources to bless peoples' lives. Does
that also imply influencing policy-makers to make good policies that
support good family values, quality education and the things I
believe in? Definitely. I'd like to have some influence in that," he said.

Reps. Steve Urquhart and Dave Clark, both St. George Republicans,
helped stall SB140 in the Legislature's House Rules Committee after
consulting with Lichfield family members and their business
associates. Each received $2,500 in donations in 2002 from Lichfield.

Urquhart, who said he was representing a constituent and his
philosophy of limited government, acknowledged consulting with Stephens.

Stettler identified Stephens as a key player in the demise of SB140 -
a claim confirmed by bill-sponsoring Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan.

"He was determined it wasn't going to pass," said Buttars.

Buttars, who shepherded the bill through the Senate, came under
attack himself because he is the head of Utah Boys Ranch, which also
treats troubled youth.

"Mine is a full, licensed residential program and I think that makes
me a better facility," he said. "I'm prejudiced and I admit that. I
think every kid deserves to have his food, safety and shelter
guaranteed by oversight."

Buttars declined to comment on Lichfield or his affiliated companies directly.

"There are some huge forces that I took on there. . . . I really
don't want to talk much about that," he said. "This is a mean, ugly
game with money going in lots of directions."

Ken Kay, World Wide's president, questioned Buttars' sponsorship of a
bill that would affect his competitors.

"Personally, I found that dazzling that here's a guy that has
something to do with this Utah Boys Ranch in there trying to do
this," said Kay.

He dismisses as "baloney" the claim by Stettler and Buttars that the
bill simply would have allowed state licensing officials to inspect
Majestic Ranch twice a year - including once in an unannounced visit.

Kay said the legislation would have required professional diagnoses
of the 65 youngsters at Majestic Ranch and allowed regulators to pore
through "private financial records" and dictate "how you conduct
[operations] and train staff and who they are."

Kay said there is simply no need for the state to have such a strong
hand in the boarding schools' operations.

"We see certain bureaucrats that want more control. I think it has a
lot to do with power," said Kay. "I think we are every bit as
sensitive, if not more sensitive, to children's rights and safety. We
have a total anti-abuse stand - 100 percent."

But the Association-affiliated schools have a checkered record.
Government agencies in the Czech Republic, Costa Rica and, most
recently, Mexico have shut down schools.

In South Carolina, inspectors put Carolina Springs Academy's license
on probation after administrators failed to report child abuse. They
also found students sleeping on stained, torn mattresses in unfit
dormitories and problems with how students were restrained.

Regulators also banned Lichfield's brother, Narvin, from the facility
based on his operation of the Costa Rican school.

Congressman George Miller, D-Calif., has twice asked the Justice
Department to investigate the schools, and more recently Rep. Jack
Quinn, R-N.Y., made a similar request. The Bush administration has
said it lacks the authority to initiate such a probe.

The Justice Department said it has forwarded the complaints to the
U.S. Attorney for Utah and the FBI field office, but a spokeswoman
for the U.S. Attorney said nothing has come of the referral.

Meantime, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, whose office two years ago
unsuccessfully prosecuted the director of Majestic Ranch on abuse
charges, as recently as last week toured one of the affiliated
schools in St. George with Urquhart.

Shurtleff's campaign has received no Lichfield contributions, a
spokeswoman said.

Lichfield said in his two or three meetings with Shurtleff, he has
never attempted to get Shurtleff to rein in investigators or
prosecutors. He said he doesn't have that kind of influence and
wouldn't use it if he did.

Scott Simpson, a former executive director of the Utah Republican
Party, spoke with Lichfield often during the 2002 campaign.

"From my perspective, it seemed based on ideology," said Simpson.
"There are a few ways you can get involved in politics. You can run
for office, you can be the grass-roots guy pounding in the lawn signs
or you can be the guy who writes the check."

[Sidebar]

Lichfield donations

Campaign donations by Robert Lichfield and his family or business
associates during the 2002 and 2004 elections total
$1,016,607.

Top 10:

1. Republican National Committee...........................$255,600
2. Utah Republican Party........$165,900
3. Arizona Republican Party...$150,000
4. John Swallow*......................$118,000
5. Sen. Bob Bennett, R-UT........$68,500
6. Jon Huntsman, Jr.................$65,000
7. Jim Hansen..........................$47,433
8. New York Republican State Committee....................$32,000
9. Marty Stephens (Utah House Speaker)...........$31,500
10. Geoffrey Davis*....................$14,000

*Utah congressional candidate
Utah gubernatorial candidate
*Kentucky congressional candidate
Source: Federal Elections Commission. Utah State Elections Office.
New York State Elections Office.

The Salt Lake Tribune

[Sidebar #2]

Other Lichfield-related donation recipients

Bush-Chaney 2004..........................$12,600
National Republican Senatorial Committee.....................$10,790
Rep. Bob Bishop, R-UT..................$8,000
Rep. James Barrett, R-SC.............$7,550
New York Gov. George Pataki.......$5,000
Utah Rep. Richard Burr, R-N.C......$4,000
Utah Rep. Steve Urquart, R-St. George....................................$2,500
Utah Rep. David Clark, R-St. George....................................$2,500
National Republican Congressional Committee.............$2,500
Nolan Karras (Utah gubernatorial candidate)......$2, 384
Patricia Ritchie (New York state Assembly
candidate)......................$2,000
New York State Sen. Jim Wright, R-Watertown.......$1,500
Rick Clayburgh (North Dakota Congressional candidate)..............$1,000
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-UT...................$1,000
Utah Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George.....................................$750
Judge Stander, New York Supreme Court................$200

Source: Federal Elections Commission. Utah State Elections Office.
New York State Elections Office.

The Salt Lake Tribune