Stephen Anthony Cartisano | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 15, 1955 [1] |
| Died | May 4, 2019 (aged 63) [1] Durant, Oklahoma, USA [1] |
| Burial place | Tishomingo City Cemetery [1] |
| Known for | Founding Challenger Foundation |
Stephen Cartisano was an American military veteran and the founder of multiple troubled teen programs programs during the 1980s and 1990s. He is best known for creating multiple programs which were part of the early "tough love" movement in behavior modification and outdoor therapy.
Cartisano served in the United States Air Force and later worked in juvenile rehabilitation. Drawing on his military background, he founded wilderness-based behavioral programs that aimed to reform troubled adolescents through rigorous outdoor challenges and strict discipline.
In 1988, Cartisano launched the Challenger Foundation, one of the first private wilderness therapy programs. [2] [3] The program operated primarily in Utah and other parts of the American West. Challenger was marketed as a way for parents to intervene in the lives of at-risk teens through an immersive, outdoor behavioral boot camp.
On 27 June 1990, a sixteen-year-old girl named Kristen Chase collapsed during a hike in 90°F heat [4] on the Kaiparowits Plateau [5] after being enrolled in the Challenger Foundation by her mother without her father's knowledge. [6]
Stephen Cartisano and his field director Lance Jagger were charged with negligent homicide and multiple counts of child abuse. [7] Lance Jagger entered into a diversion agreement with Kane County Prosecutor Jim Scarth where he would testify for the prosecution against Cartisano. [8] Kane County Sheriff Max Jackson testified that there was not enough medical staff, and that it took two hours for a helicopter and nurse to reach Kirsten. [9] On 28 May 1992, Cartisano was acquitted on the charges including the negligent homicide charge. [4]
Challenger V was based in Hawaii on the island of Molokai. [10] Deputy Attorney General Thomas D. Farrell got a state court order to perform a raid on the camp due to multiple violations of Hawaii state laws such as mandatory school attendance where nine participants were taken by helicopter to the police station and examined by a doctor, but no serious injuries were found. [10] [11]
In the early 1990s, Cartisano set up HealthCare America in the U.S. Virgin Islands which was operating without a license. [11] Two boys tried to escape this program by swimming 1.5 miles from Hans Lollik to St. Thomas aided by fellow enrollee Winthrop Paul Rockefeller III who gave them his bank details and a watch. [12]
In 1994, five boys were found with their hands tied and ropes round their necks, tied to a car which prompted an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and New York Human services officials. [13]
The Challenger program was born in 1988
Challenger founder Stephen Cartisano