The Sins of Refuge: Inside the Central Indiana Teen Challenge Lawsuit Part 3
- Johnette Cruz
- Aug 3
- 11 min read
Behind The Filter Podcast
Inside the "Troubled Teen Industry": Isabella & Haven’s Testimony (Part 3)
The "troubled teen industry" (TTI) relies on a carefully maintained illusion: rehabilitation, character building, and structured discipline. Beneath that facade, however, lies a system of psychological breaking, medical neglect, extreme isolation, and relational destruction.
In Part 3 of this investigative series on Behind the Filter, survivor Isabella Poche, her mother Kim, and fellow survivor Haven Murdock expose the realities inside Central Indiana Teen Challenge; now known as Refuge Girls Academy located in Lebanon, Indiana. These women, along with 33 more are part of the expanded federal lawsuit filed by Indianapolis-based law firm Cohen Malad, LLP. What was once advertised as a safe, faith-based residential facility for struggling youth is now facing accusations of abuse, human trafficking, and forced labor.
Monitored Communications & Intercepted Cries for Help
When a teenager enters a program like CITC, the facility's first objective is to dismantle their external safety nets and control every flow of information. Upon entering the general population, Isabella quickly learned the extreme nature of facility compliance. Simple human gestures, such as waving to peers, were immediately penalized. Seeing a peer forced to sit in an orange jumpsuit in the corner of the dining room after an escape attempt set the tone for her stay. Early in her stay, Isabella attempted to write a desperate letter to her mother:
"I remember sitting at my school desk writing a letter to my mom being like, 'Please believe me. I know you're not going to believe me when I say this, but this place is horrifically terrifying. Please, please come get me.' And of course they saw me writing it and threw it away."
Staff enforced obedience through nitpicking. During weekly cleaning inspections, staff donned white latex gloves to sweep surfaces for microscopic dust. Accumulating five write-ups in a week—a near certainty under such harsh scrutiny—revoked phone privileges and denied access to basic treats like the weekly "sweet box".
For her first two months, Isabella was barred from speaking to her mother. When calls were eventually granted—rarely exceeding 15 minutes once a month—staff wiretapped the conversations using secondary landline extensions throughout the building. Even during rare earned passes, parents were instructed to enforce CITC's strict house rules, speech prohibitions, and dress codes. Younger siblings—including Isabella’s elementary-aged sister—were strictly forbidden from visiting the facility.
Pre-Conditioned Parents & The Christmas Breakdown
To maintain absolute authority, facilities condition parents to dismiss their children’s accounts of abuse as "manipulative behavior" typical of rebellious teens.
In December 2017, six months into her stay, Isabella was granted a two-week home visit for Christmas. Away from facility surveillance, she tried to explain the reality of CITC to her parents. However, facility staff had already prepared them to shut down her claims. Isabella saif she tried to talk to her family but was immediately shut down which caused her to go into a mental breakdown.
Weaponized Medical Secrets & Personal Trauma
Authority figures inside CITC frequently used personal and family trauma as leverage to maintain emotional dominance over residents.
In October 2017, Isabella’s mother, Kim, was diagnosed with breast cancer requiring a double mastectomy. Grieving the loss of her husband years prior, Kim explicitly instructed Director Dawn Rose not to tell Isabella until after the surgery and initial recovery, wanting to spare her daughter further shock. Instead, Director Dawn Rose ignored Kimberly's explicit directive. She summoned Isabella to her office during quiet reading and prayer time. Rather than breaking the news gently, Rose brought up past arguments Isabella had with her mother, lecturing her on past behavioral flaws:
"She basically asked me about all these times I was so awful to my mom... 'Do you remember this that you said to your mom?' ... And she looks at me and says basically, 'I hope you feel bad for that because what if something happened to her? Your mom's on the table right now undergoing a double mastectomy for breast cancer.' ... I can't call. I have no way to contact [her]." — Isabella Poche
Isabella was given just a few minutes in her room to collect herself and instructed strictly not to share the news with other residents. She was left in complete isolation without any way of knowing if her mother survived the operation.
Denied Milestones, Weddings, & Severed Ties
CITC routinely cut residents off during major life events to sever family ties and enforce complete psychological dependence:
17th Birthday: Although her family sent flowers (delivered by staff member Miss Cody), staff refused to allow Isabella a single phone call with her mother to acknowledge her birthday.
Family Weddings: Four months into her stay, Isabella’s older sister got married. CITC refused to let Isabella attend the wedding or even place a quick phone call on the wedding day.
Funerals: Other residents were barred from attending funerals for primary caregivers, including grandparents who had raised them.
Her mother felt trapped, as staff repeatedly warned that pushing back would "jeopardize her getting better". When Kim’s cancer diagnosis prevented her from working her embroidery business, her brother stepped in to cover Isabella's monthly tuition so she would not be sent home. When Isabella visited home at Christmas, staff provided strict rules for the parents while withholding those expectations from Isabella. This deliberate gap in communication created immediate conflict. The institutional manipulation caused deep relational scars. Isabella shared that it has taken them years to get where they are in their relationship...
“I feel very excluded to this day out of the family because of all that I missed... When I got out, I got thrown into this world that I had no idea how to function in because my standards of functioning weren't realistic anymore." — Isabella Poche
By June—15 months after intake and six months after the Christmas breakdown—Kim realized the program was failing her daughter. Without notifying facility administrators, her family drove down to pull Isabella out. Isabella was taking out the trash with her friend when she spotted a Toyota Tacoma pulling into the parking lot. Recognizing the bright green Tennessee license plates, she realized her parents had arrived. As she broke down crying, her fellow residents gathered around in support.
Substandard Education & Educational Neglect
Despite promises of academic progress, CITC was unaccredited, and its credits failed to transfer between state lines. The academic program lacked certified teachers. Instead, residents sat in a room at partitioned desks with self-guided workbooks. Isabella mentioned that they had no actual teachers, with the old testing folders that went around desks. They would score their own schoolwork, and If it wasn't right the girls would go back, fix it and come back and rescore it. No actual learning was involved.
Because her workbooks yielded no valid Tennessee high school credits, Isabella returned home severely behind academically. Unable to re-enroll in a traditional high school for her senior year, she was placed in an accelerated online program for at-risk youth simply to graduate on time. She missed out on traditional senior experiences, including prom, sports games, and normal school routines.
Extreme Disciplines: "Talking Fasts," Forced Labor, & Public Shaming
Minor infractions inside CITC were met with harsh physical labor, public shaming, and psychological punishments:
The "Talking Fast": After staff caught Isabella exchanging a few words with a roommate after lights-out, she was put on a strict silence protocol. She was forced to hand-write CITC’s 36-page micro-printed manual five full times. For weeks, she carried a dry-erase board around her neck to write down basic needs (e.g., asking to use the bathroom) while carrying her manual, Bible, and notebook everywhere. All family contact was revoked during this period.
Forced Physical Labor: Isabella was repeatedly assigned to mow the facility’s entire yard despite having severe asthma and diagnosed grass allergies. Staff routinely refused her Benadryl or her inhaler after outdoor labor, with Director Dawn Rose dismissing her distress as "attention seeking".
Public Shaming & The "Safe Room": Forced to cook outside using an old grill without instruction, 17-year-old Isabella accidentally set a nearby bush on fire. Staff gathered the other residents to publicly shame her before locking her in the "safe room".
Medical Neglect, Denied Hygiene, & Physical Abuse
Everyday medical needs and basic hygiene were restricted inside the program:
Deprivation & Desperation: Over-the-counter allergy medications like Benadryl were treated as forbidden "drugs". Flavor was so scarce that residents would feign sore throats to receive a cough drop, suck on it briefly, wrap it up, and stick it under their mattresses to save for the next night.
Orthodontic Neglect: Broken wires or brackets on Isabella's braces went unaddressed for weeks, leaving her in continuous pain before staff scheduled appointments.
Hygiene Restrictions: Showers were strictly capped at 30 minutes for the entire bathroom routine. Razors were locked away in staff boxes and rarely handed out, leaving residents unable to shave or perform basic self-care for months.
Physical Abuse: Isabella witnessed Director Dawn Rose physically assault residents, including putting girls in headlocks, throwing them into the safe room, and dragging a resident up the stairs by her hair.
Haven’s Testimony: Collective Trauma & Institutional Peer Pressure, and Deprivation
Haven Murdock’s account in Part 3 reinforces the pervasive culture of peer surveillance, forced compliance, and psychological conditioning that defined CITC. Haven was just 13 years old when she was sent to CITC, where she remained from 2011 to 2013. Before entering the facility, Haven was dealing with unresolved trauma, severe depression, anxiety, self-mutilation, an eating disorder, and suicidal ideation.
Immediate Red Flags & Stripping of Identity
Upon arriving at CITC, Haven was immediately thrust into a culture of paranoia, control, and forced identity stripping:
Bizarre Bathroom Rules & Bounded Doors: Immediately after arriving, staff assigned Haven a mentor. When she needed to use the restroom, she was ordered to sing aloud while inside the bathroom stall. She quickly noticed lock alarms on doors and windows that were strangely sealed shut.
Forced Diet Alteration: Having entered the program as a vegetarian, Haven hesitated over her first meal. A peer at her table warned her that she had to finish all her food. When Haven explained she was a vegetarian, the girl bluntly replied, "You're not anymore," hushing Haven so staff wouldn't hear her protest.
Erasing the Past: When Haven tried to break the ice by asking her peers about their lives or mentioning movies she enjoyed (like The Hangover), girls panicked and quietly shushed her. Staff strictly prohibited girls from speaking about their pasts, mentioning previous friends by name, or referencing secular media.
Baiting for Failure: Rather than explaining the thick student manual word-for-word to a 13-year-old, staff forced residents to learn the micro-rules "on the fly". Haven recognized this as a system designed to trap girls into breaking minor rules, racking up write-ups, and incurring severe punishments.
The "Safe Room," Month-Long Solitary, & Public Humiliation
Haven experienced some of the facility's most severe disciplinary measures, which staff used to break residents psychologically:
The Safe Room: CITC operated a solitary confinement unit called the "safe room"—a blank room with carpeted walls and scripture scribbled on the ceiling. Girls were locked inside for days or weeks, monitored via a ceiling camera. If a girl sat in a blind spot, staff forced her to move to the center of the room to sit and stare at blank walls continuously.
A Month in Isolation at Age 13: Haven was locked in the safe room multiple times, with her longest sentence lasting a full month at just 13 years old. Her only human contact was three daily meals delivered to her: warm milk, rotting fruit or vegetables, and a single dry peanut butter sandwich on stale bread—not even peanut butter and jelly.
The Orange Jumpsuit & Public Shaming: While in the safe room, Haven was forced to wear a bright orange jumpsuit. In one extreme act of public shaming, staff forced Haven to wear her orange jumpsuit to a local mega-church with over 1,000 members, making her sit in the very front row as a spectacle.
"Belongings Fasts": Girls labeled "too materialistic" by staff were stripped of all personal clothing and hygiene items, forced to wear orange jumpsuits, and restricted to travel-sized toiletries to force them to "appreciate" their items.
Medical Trauma: The Forced 13-Year-Old Pelvic Exam
Prior to entering CITC, the facility required parents to fulfill a strict list of medical stipulations, including mandatory vaccines and a full pelvic/gynecological exam—supposedly to rule out STDs and pregnancy.
At just 13 years old, Haven was forced onto an exam table for her very first gynecological exam:
"It was horrible, like borderline traumatic. I don't even like getting them to this day... I told my family, I told the doctors, the nurses, I didn't want to do it. I was uncomfortable. I mean, I was crying the entire time... [The nurse] kept on saying, 'Just relax, just relax.' I'm like, how am I supposed to relax?" — Haven
Despite her tears and vocal refusal, her stepmother and medical staff pushed her through the invasive procedure under the guise that it was "good for her in the long run". The traumatic experience left long-lasting medical anxiety that followed Haven into adulthood.
Extreme Isolation & Dawn Rose's Maternal Control
While most girls at CITC were allowed occasional passes based on their program "level," Director Dawn Rose targeted Haven with extreme, disproportionate isolation:
Restricted Family Contact: In her first 30 days, Haven could only write heavily edited, censored letters home. If she wrote anything critical, staff returned the letter and forced her to rewrite it to sound happy and rehabilitated. Over her three years at CITC, Haven could count the number of family visits she received on one hand.
Director Dawn Rose’s Fixation: Director Dawn Rose developed a bizarre personal obsession with Haven, actively working to sever her bond with her biological mother. When Haven graduated from the program and expressed extreme burnout, begging to go home, Dawn screamed at her in the facility kitchen:
"Why would you want to go home? You know, your birthday was not that long ago, and I did more for you on your birthday... I made you pancakes for lunch... I did more for you on your birthday than your mom. I'm more of your mom than she is." — Haven
Trapped Beyond Graduation: Even after Haven graduated high school at the facility at age 15, Dawn convinced her parents that she was "not ready" for the outside world, holding her captive until age 16 and transferring her to another facility instead of letting her return home.
Unpaid Child Labor & Exploitation
To fund the facility and maintain absolute physical control, CITC subjected residents to extensive unpaid labor:
Local Business Cleanups: Staff dispatched girls to clear out dirty, dusty, decaying inventory from local businesses, including a hoarder-like candle shop backroom.
Staff Property Maintenance: Residents routinely landscaped and cleaned the private homes of Director Dawn Rose, staff members, and their personal friends.
Event Catering & "Cupcake Wars": Girls were forced to set up, serve, and break down multi-day charity banquets, Christian concerts, and community events.
Symbolic Compensation: For long days of manual labor, the only reward girls received—if they were not on "restriction"—was a single chocolate Frosty from Wendy's. Those on restriction received nothing.
Weaponized Peer Surveillance & Mandatory "Snitching"
To police the facility, staff cultivated an atmosphere of paranoia where genuine friendship was strictly outlawed:
Weaponized Peer Reporting: Program protocols forced girls to report on one another for minor rule infractions. Failing to report a peer's infraction meant absorbing the punishment oneself, turning victims into secondary enforcers out of sheer self-preservation.
Shared Physical & Emotional Toll: Haven corroborated the harsh physical routines, loss of privacy, and complete denial of normal adolescent development. The institutional environment forced residents to suppress genuine emotions and perform compliance simply to survive daily inspections and staff scrutiny.
Enduring Community: Despite a system designed to pit girls against each other, the shared trauma created deep bonds between survivors like Isabella and Haven, who continue to support each other as they navigate life outside the facility.
Re-Entry Trauma & The Pursuit of Justice
Transitioning back to normal life was disorienting for both Isabella and Haven. Isabella compared her release to an inmate stepping out of prison after decades of incarceration. Conditioning from the facility persisted long after leaving; timed showering, involuntarily singing in the bathroom out of habit, hyper-defensiveness, severe anxiety around authority figures, and overstimulation in everyday social settings.
Following the filing of a legal complaint against CITC, a former staff member reached out to Isabella with an apology before deleting all her messages. For Isabella and Haven, participating in legal action is not about money. It is about shutting down predatory facilities and protecting youth from enduring similar trauma:
"I would rather the center get shut down than me get a single dime. Truly. Nobody needs to go through that... They always used to say something to us when we were there... 'What was done in the dark always comes to light. Jesus always shines a light on what you know.' ... The irony of that statement is crazy." — Isabella Poche
Part 3 of this series serves as a powerful testament to the resilience of survivors. By coming together on Behind the Filter, Isabella and Haven are demanding accountability for the troubled teen industry.
Central Indiana Teen Challenge is not an isolated anomaly; it operates under a broader national umbrella known as Teen Challenge Global, which oversees roughly 200 facilities across the United States. By scaling this lawsuit to 35 plaintiffs, Cohen Malad, LLP is looking to hold the systemic architecture of this entire operation accountable.
Below you'll find copies of the CITC Handbook:
Watch or listen to the full episode below:
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~J
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