Stop Next Generation Academy from Putting Youth and Minors at Unnecessary Risk and Demand for Transparency

Next Generation Academy is a nonprofit that has been in operation for 9 years, serving as a youth leadership training program that claims safety is its number one priority. The majority of the participants are youth from the Unification Church. This program is not openly affiliated with the church (as is the case with STF, GPA, etc) so there is no higher authority checking in on them; its become obvious very few people have been following up on their safety practices for the past 9 years.

Issue of Transparency

When parents decide whether or not to send their minors and young adults on this program, they have little to no information on what the day to day schedule will be; youth on the program are also only able to communicate with their parents once a week.

With nothing in writing of what schedules and safety standards a parent can expect prior to sending their child on the program, parents and children are left at the whim of what NGA leadership decides at any moment. This also presents a dilemma for any parent that has a problem with the way the program is being run, because there is nothing in writing to reference back to.

My Connection to the Issue of Safety on NGA

My biggest concern and connection to this issue of safety for NGA is that my sister is currently now on the program and those in charge of the program deny that the practices they are enforcing are unsafe.

My second reason for further pursuing accountability, is that I do not want any other parent or child to be uninformed like our family was when we sent our sister to this program. Every family should have an informed choice of what they can expect and what the risks are. Transparency is in no way a luxury, it is the bare minimum.

What Risks Youth/ Minors are Exposed to This Year on NGA

Since there was nothing in writing, the only way I found out what was going on was through consistent phone calls with Jeff Adshead( the founder/ director of the program) and kids that are on the program.This is what I now know is occurring this year on NGA:

1.) There were absolutely no curfews for fund raising shifts that youth and minors were doing in bars at cities across the country. Jeff Adshead told me the curfew was 9 PM and I later found out from my sister's captain that there was no curfew and that kids were allowed out all night to fund raise if the captain chose to enforce that.
- Only after I brought up the inconsistency to Jeff did he instill an 11 PM curfew for all youth fundraising
- this curfew is brand new and never was enforced any year NGA has been in operation, the curfew occurred simply because of my phone call.
- No parents were told their youth/minor was going to be out all night raising funds for the program.

2.) One "leadership exercise" involved youth being dropped off by themselves in a city and being asked to go door to door to random strangers homes and exchange "service work" for a place to spend night( for 72 hours) in the name of "leadership training" or a "trust exercise". The program said they screened these individuals (on the same day), but really what would such a process look like? Was there a background check done?

The program justified this by saying the captains were 20 min. away and able to respond to a call if something went wrong.

The goal of the petition would be for NGA to have transparency. NGA can then decide to change their policies and put safety first OR continue to operate the way they have been, but have everything in writing so that the next group of parents and youth/minors can make an informed decision of the risks they are willing to take being on this program.

3.) This year the budget for food was: $4 for lunch and $5 for dinner, when I found this out from my sister I called Jeff Adshead. Mr. Adshead had said the budget was $5 for lunch and $7 for dinner, however he called the following day acknowledging that he had approved the lower,$4 and $5 budget without remembering, he then indicated to me that he would shift the budget to $5 and $7, which he did.

Team captains are currently enforcing where youth eat and usually opt for the fastest way to get food i.e. fast food McDonalds, Chipotle, etc. Many youth have gained a lot of weight and also are developing unhealthy eating habits due to the lack of health consciousness of this program. The long hours the participants are on their feet and active require a high standard of nutrition.

If NGA is setting youth up for leadership and healthy lifestyles , physical health should not ever be compromised.

4.) Captains as young as 19 years old are driving van loads of passengers at all hours of the night to cities that are hours away. This issue also relates to (2) for the need of a Fundraising Curfew, when minors/ youth are doing overnight fundraising and then being driven to a new location--- the lack of driving experience and the lack of sleep make it a highly risky situation.