Inside forced reunification camps: A court-ordered program for kids who have been abused by a parent, which involves them being held against their will until they admit that they made it all up and ultimately sent back to their abusers

A new documentary has laid bare the horrific trauma that children have claimed to have endured at the hands of forced reunification camps. 

The court-ordered program is designed to 'safely' and 'timely' help kids who have accused a parent of abusing them return to their homes without having to go into foster care.

But a series of teens and children who spent time at reunification camps claimed that the program lead to them being taken away and completely isolated from the people they trust, held against their will until they admitted that they made it all up, and ultimately sent back to the parents who they had accused of abuse.

In October 2022, a video that showed two kids being dragged into a car as they sobbed and pleaded for help while police officers watched on silently made its way around the web.

The devastating footage featured a group of men surrounding and carrying the visibly terrified children into a waiting vehicle, as they kicked, screamed, and begged not to be sent back to their 'child molester' mother.

In October 2022, a video that showed two kids being dragged into a car as they sobbed and pleaded for help while police officers watched on silently made its way around the web

The footage featured a group of men surrounding and carrying the visibly terrified children into a waiting vehicle, as they begged not to be sent back to their 'child molester' mother

The two kids were then 15-year-old Maya and then-11-year-old Sebastian Liang, from Santa Cruz, who were being sent to a reunification camp after they accused their mother of abuse

In a documentary by Insider, kids who attended reunification camps like Maya and Sebastian (seen) claimed they were held against their will until they said they made the abuse up

The two kids were then 15-year-old Maya and then-11-year-old Sebastian Liang, from Santa Cruz, California, who were being sent to a reunification program after a judge gave their mom full custody of them - despite Maya claiming that she and her brother had been abused by her. 

Maya and Sebastian's harrowing story quickly went viral, and it left many people wondering how the system had failed them. 

 Now Insider News has taken a look into not only Maya and Sebastian's devastating journey, but some of the other kids who have claimed to have been put through similar situations as the result of the reunification camps.

The programs are based off of a controversial theory known as 'parental alienation' - the idea that one parent has manipulated a child into believing they were abused by the other.

Insider took a look into not only Maya and Sebastian's devastating story, but some of the other kids who claimed to have been put through similar situations due to reunification programs

'Parental alienation is when one parent turns the children against the other parent following a divorce or separation,' Lynn Steinberg, a licensed therapist based in Los Angeles who runs one of the reunification programs, told Insider in its new documentary.

'I get the most severe cases. The children always come to my program with false allegations of abuse. Their stories are pretty... I'd hate to say it, but laughable.'

Two of Lynn's patients were Maya and Sebastian, who were sent to her program against their will on October 20, 2022, where they alleged that they were called 'liars' repeatedly, threatened, and told they wouldn't be allowed to talk to any of their friends and family, leaving them absolutely terrified.

Three days before they were forcefully taken to the program, Maya uploaded a video to Instagram asking her followers for help.

She explained that she and her younger brother, Sebastian, had been abused by their mother for 'over a year' and that despite her telling the police, CPS, and the lawyer overseeing her parents' custody battle about it, nothing had been done to stop it.

'Hi, my name is Maya and I really want to talk about what's going on with me and my family right now because we really need help,' she said. 

The programs are based off of a controversial theory known as 'parental alienation.' Lynn Steinberg, a licensed therapist who runs one of the reunification programs, is seen above

'For about over a year now, me and my brother have been trying to escape our mother because of the abusive behavior she has done towards us. 

'We have talked to the police and CPS and tried to get our lawyer to do something about it and none of them have. I just wanted to ask that if anyone can do anything to help out.'

She explained that her parents were in the midst of fighting for custody of her and Sebastian - and that she was terrified that their mom might get full custody despite their continued allegations of abuse against her. 

Maya added that she and her brother had been seeing a court-ordered reunification therapist. She said the therapist called them 'liars' and 'crazy' when they opened up about the abuse, and told them 'that their mother's behavior was not wrong.'

'I've been seeing her for the past year, she was the first person me and my brother told about our mother's abuse,' she continued.

'Her first response to us telling her and trusting her with that information was to go and directly tell our mother, our abuser, about what we had reported to her. Before even calling CPS or anything like that. 

'She then proceeded to send us back to our mother with no form of protection at all. She threw us back in there with our mother, who knew that we had reported her abuse.'

Despite her cries for help, Maya and Sebastian's worst nightmares came true when their mother was given full custody of them two days after her initial video was posted.

Then, on October 20, 2022, a group of 'transporters' came to her house to take her and her brother to a reunification camp. 

It's unclear if any official police investigation into Maya and Sebastian's claims of abuse was ever started, but according to reports, the judge overseeing their custody case 'rejected their claims that their mother abused them.'

It was also reported that Maya had requested a temporary restraining order against her mom that was still in the process of being granted when she and Sebastian were sent to the reunification camp. 

'Me and my brother are trapped inside our grandma's house. Please, anyone who sees this, come help us,' Maya frantically said in a video shared to her Instagram that night. 

'There's people outside who are trying to get us, so anyone who can, please come. We're really scared.

'They're gonna send us to a reunification camp where I won't be able to see any of my family. Please help us.'

In a video of the confrontation between Maya, Sebastian, and the transporters, which was taken by a bystander, the teen could be heard desperately pleading with the men to not make her and her brother go.

Maya and Sebastian (seen with their dad) were brought to Lynn's program, and they claimed they were called 'liars,' threatened, and isolated from their family during their time there

In a video shared days before, Maya explained that they had been abused by their mother for 'over a year' 

'My mom will likely murder us,' she said, as she started sobbing. 'We're not going no matter what. We will fight, screaming and kicking and yelling as much as we can. 

'We'd rather go to jail than go with you. Please arrest us if it will get us out of this situation. Take me down to the police station.'

'The court order is final, it's sealed for the moment. Unfortunately, we have paperwork that says that you have to come with us. We will get you there safely,' one of the transporters told her. 

Then, on October 20, 2022, she posted another video and revealed her mother had been given full custody of her and her brother, despite her allegations of abuse

'We all know that you don't want to go but unfortunately this is something that's going to happen. It's final.' 

'My mother has done horrendous things to me. If she's there, we're not safe,' an emotional Maya continued. 

'You're putting us into an unsafe situation. You're putting us in danger, that's what you're all doing right now.

'It doesn't matter if it's a court order, you're putting children in danger. An 11 and 15-year-old.

'You're hurting us by putting us back with a child molester. There's literally a sex abuse case happening right now with us and our mother.

'You're supporting child molestation and rape of children by their mother. That's what you're doing. We have rights as human beings to not have to be placed back with our abuser.'

Eventually, the transporters grabbed Maya and Sebastian, and forcefully dragged them into the car, as the two kids flailed around and tried to escape.

The altercation got so intense that Maya's pants started to fall down, exposing her underwear. 

She also got her head slammed against the car door in the process, which split her lip open. 

The video of the horrific incident was shared to TikTok by a woman named Tina Swithin, and it quickly went viral - gaining millions of views and leaving many people on the internet disgusted by what happened and terrified for Maya and Sebastian's wellbeing.

She said transporters had come to her house to bring her and Sebastian to the camp and begged for help. She said frantically: 'Please, anyone who sees this, come help us'

In a video of the confrontation between Maya, Sebastian, and the transporters, which was taken by a bystander, the men were seen forcefully dragging them into the car

For seven months, their whereabouts and whether or not they were safe was unknown, but on May 30, 2023, Maya and Sebastian returned to social media to let people know they were 'OK'

For seven months, their whereabouts and whether or not they were safe was unknown, but on May 30, 2023, Maya and Sebastian returned to social media and uploaded a video to let people know that they were 'OK.'

In it, they opened up about the moments after the video ended when they were put into the car.

'They were holding me down on the floor. They were holding me in a full body lock. It wasn't until we were on the freeway 10 minutes later that they even let me pull up my pants and get up off the floor of the car,' Maya shared. 

'My back was hurt, at some point I got my lip split open, my braces cut my lip when I was shoved against the car door and that was bleeding everywhere. 

'They drove us for like five, six hours to LA. We were in the back of the car the whole time just sobbing and asking them not to do it. 

'But they didn't care they were just sitting there listening to their music. They didn't care.' 

Sebastian added: 'They pushed me in my throat and put me in the back seat and buckled my seatbelt. I was just so scared I didn't move at all.' 

When asked if she thought the transporters had done anything wrong after watching the video of Maya and Sebastian, Lynn told Insider that she believed it had been handled perfectly.

'They did nothing wrong. This was a court order and everybody had to obey court orders,' she said. 

'The court ordered the children to be in my four-day therapy program. The children rejected their mother because they were brainwashed into rejecting their mother.' 

Back in 2017, ChildWelfare.gov issued a brochure highlighting some of the benefits of reunification camps.

'If a child has been removed from the care of his or her parents, safe and timely family reunification is the preferred permanency option for most children,' it explained.

The organization said that 'caseworkers' should 'give careful consideration to assessing' each family and it's 'capacity keeping children safe' and 'their readiness to reunify.'

It explained that the goal is to 'safely reduce' the number of children who are sent to foster care, stating, 'Achieving timely reunification while preventing reentry into foster care has benefits at multiple levels.

'When fewer children reenter foster care, it indicates that families have made adjustments that improve family functioning and keep children safe in the long term.'

It also pointed out that there are 'cost benefits to the program,' adding, 'In 2014, federal, state, and local government agencies spent $13.5 billion for out-of-home care, which accounts for nearly half of all of their child welfare expenditures.

'By increasing the rate of successful reunifications, states and localities can reinvest funds otherwise targeted for out-of-home care to other areas of the child welfare system, such as prevention or in-home services.'

Camelot, a Tennessee-based program that offers 'family counseling and foster care services,' described reunification camps as a 'pathway to healing and growth.'

'It is estimated that between 2011 and 2020, an average of 50 per cent of children in the United States exited foster care to be reunited with a parent or primary caretaker,' it said.

'Reunification involves more than simply returning a child to the care of their parent(s). 

'It includes a range of services to provide support, such as keeping family connections intact during the child's stay in temporary care, creating flexible plans that respond to the family's needs, and providing ongoing help after the child returns home.'

In it, Maya said that once their time at the program was complete, they were sent back to their mother, who moved them to Washington and told them they weren't allowed to contact anyone

After seven months with their mother, Maya said she and Sebastian 'ran away' from in the middle of the night. At the time, she said they were 'in hiding' but still felt 'unsafe'

On July 28, 2023, a judge finally ruled that Maya and Sebastian could return to their dad

But when Maya and Sebastian described what they went through at the reunification camp, it was a very different story.

They claimed that they were forced to attend 'six-hour sessions' and were told repeatedly that they had made up the abuse.

'They were like, "You're lying, you're sociopaths. How could you do this to your mother?"' Sebastian recalled.

'[Lynn] was like, "If you keep lying like this we're gonna put you in an institution where you have to work to get your blanket and food." You won't see each other or your other family.'

'Lynn told me, "You're overreacting, you're faking it" because I was hyperventilating and sobbing,' Maya added. 'She was laughing at us when we were crying and saying, "Stop pretending."

'They called us liars over and over again, they kept threatening us and telling stories about other kids.

'Lynn was bragging about how she had "broken" the other children, she talked about all the kids she had "broken."' 

Maya said they removed all of the door handles so they couldn't escape. And once their time at the program was complete, they were sent back to their mother, who moved them to Olympia, Washington, and told them they weren't allowed to contact anyone from their old life.

'We weren't allowed to talk about what had happened and we kept having sessions. We weren't allowed to contact or dad or any of our friends from Santa Cruz,' Maya revealed.

After seven months with their mother, Maya said she and Sebastian 'ran away' in the middle of the night. 

At the time, she said they were 'in hiding,' adding: 'We finally got away. We're doing OK now that we got away.'

But she said they still weren't allowed to live with their father and that they didn't feel 'safe' because they knew their mom 'was still out there' and still technically 'had custody of them' according to the courts.

On July 28, 2023, a judge finally ruled that Maya and Sebastian could return to their dad. 

However, according to Insider, the judge 'maintained that the children's abuse allegations against their mother were "false."'

Olivia Gentile, an Insider reporter, said in the documentary that more than 600 kids had been sent to these forced reunification camps since the program was first created by child psychiatrist Richard Gardner in the '70s. 

Olivia Gentile, an Insider reporter, said in the documentary that more than 600 kids had been sent to these forced reunification camps

The program was first created by child psychiatrist Richard Gardner (seen) in the '70s. 'He was an adviser to judges deciding custody cases,' Olivia shared

Jean Mercer, a developmental psychologist from New Jersey, told Insider that there was 'no major medical, psychological, or scientific organization' that backed reunification programs

'He was an adviser to judges deciding custody cases. He thought that a lot of angry, mentally unstable women were brainwashing their children against their fathers,' Olivia shared. 'But judges didn't really know that the theory hadn't been scientifically validated.'

Jean Mercer, a developmental psychologist from New Jersey, told Insider that there was 'no major medical, psychiatric, psychological, or scientific organization' that backed reunification programs or listed 'parental alienation as a valid scientific concept.'

'The treatment program is not a proven, effective, or a safe treatment,' she added. 'I'm still not convinced the judges understand what they're ordering.' 

Tina, the woman who uploaded the original video of Maya and Sebastian being taken, explained in a TikTok video that the court system treated children like 'they're property.' 

'Parental rights trump a child's right to safety. So when a child doesn't want to have a relationship with their abuser - shocking I know, hard to grasp - the healthy parent is accused of "alienating them,"' she explained.

'For a court, it's easier to believe that the parent is turning the child against the other parent, than it is for them to believe the child is being abused.

'A lot of times, [the judges] have no or very little training on domestic violence, coercive control, childhood trauma.

'We're dealing with a court system that is very uneducated on these issues and they don't understand the reason why a child would reject a parent.'

She said that kids 'don't have a voice' in family court, and that when a child 'doesn't want to go with their unsafe or abusive parent,' the 'healthy parent' is labeled as an 'alienator.' 

One woman who was sent to a reunification program when she was 16, named Ally Toyors (seen), recalled being forced to watch YouTube videos for hours on end while she was there

'They made us not believe our own experiences,' Ally (seen as a kid) explained. 'It was all, "Oh, you didn't experience abuse. It was all made up. Your mom told you to say these things"

She continued, 'At that point, they can be sent to reunification therapy, where the child is told, "The abuse didn't happen," or, "This is an overreaction." Sometimes they're told, "Your healthy parent is lying to you and made this all up."

'Children are removed forcibly, sometimes kicking and screaming by scary people, strangers called transporters, they are taken to these camps, and until they admit that they're lying and the abuse didn't happen, they are subjected to [extreme] regimens and exercises. It is truly barbaric.' 

One woman who was sent to a reunification program called Family Bridges when she was 16, named Ally Toyors, from Kansas, claimed that she was forced to watch YouTube videos for hours on end while she was there.

She told Insider that she was told the videos would 'cure' her and fix her relationship with her father, who she said had abused her.

'They made us not believe our own experiences,' she explained. 'It was all, "Oh, you didn't experience abuse. It was all made up. Your mom told you to say these things."

'This is not a path that's healthy for any kid. To force kids into a relationship with any parent, whether they're abusive or not, is very traumatic.'

She spoke further about it on Instagram, and she recalled being dragged out of the courtroom, separated from her younger sister, and transported to a motel in a 'remote city in Montana.'

'When we were taken to the courthouse, all of our things, including our phones and our clothes, were confiscated from us,' she said. 

'We were shoved out the door by two transport agents. We weren't allowed to ask any questions about where we were going or what we were doing.'

At the reunification program, she said she was so 'terrified' that she 'couldn't eat or sleep' and 'could barely stop shaking.' 

'They completely isolated us from the world. We had to denounce our mom and say that we loved our abuser. We were then forced to share a hotel room with our abuser and we had no privacy,' she continued.

She spoke further about it on Instagram, and she recalled being so 'terrified' that she 'couldn't eat or sleep' and 'could barely stop shaking'

'They completely isolated us from the world. We had to denounce our mom and say that we loved our abuser. We were then forced to share a hotel room with our abuser,' she continued

'We weren't allowed to shut any doors including the bathroom door. We were coerced into saying that our mom had brainwashed us into believing that we were abused.

'The program leaders told us that if we didn't participate in the workshop, we'd be sent to a wilderness camp, a psychiatric facility, or foster care. 

'They told us we'd be separated and that we wouldn't see each other or our mom again until we each turned 18.' 

After they finished the program, she said the court put a 90-day no contact order in place that prevented her from speaking to her mom. 

'For months after the camp ended, we had no access to phones or the internet,' she revealed.

'We were completely isolated from our friends as well. They made us feel like if we told anyone, not only would be punished, but no one would believe us anyway.' 

She said the 90-day order was eventually extended to seven months, before Ally and her sister were finally allowed to reunite with their mother.

'It was never really about anything me, my sister, or my mom did. It was just about giving power to abusers and family court silencing our voices,' she concluded. 

Another boy who was put in the program at age 16, named Ashton Goff, told Insider that he told the judge that he was terrified to be around his dad because he would have violent outbursts when he was drinking.

But like Maya, Sebastian, and Ally, he claimed his pleas were ignored and he was forced to go to a reunification program and then sent back to his abusive father. 

'I told the judge that I was afraid to go back there. I'd get screamed and yelled at, locked in my room or locked outside, hit, pushed, thrown things at,' he shared. 

Another boy who was put in the program at age 16, named Ashton Goff, told Insider that he was sent to a reunification camp despite telling the judge that his dad became violent with him

He and his younger brother were returned to their father after the program ended, where they lived for six years before Ashton escaped

Unfortunately, he said he was forced to 'leave' his little brother 'behind,' and he hasn't heard from him since

'My dad also resorted to self-harm. He would slam his head on the table or beat himself up when he was screaming at me. 

'But the judge decided that we would do the parent reunification with my dad and that my mom had alienated us.'

Ashton, along with his little brother, was sent to a reunification program called Turning Points For Families, run by New Jersey-based therapist Linda Gottlieb.

After they finished the program they returned to their father, where they lived for six years before Ashton said he worked up the courage to run away - but unfortunately, he admitted that he was forced to 'leave' his little brother 'behind.'

'I have severe emotional trauma that I'm gonna have to live with for the rest of my life,' Ashton said to Insider. 

His mom, Kelly Davis, added: 'He struggles with that choice every day. They were supposed to be sequestered there for a weekend. But it's turned into six years.'

She said that neither of them have seen or heard from his brother, who was only nine when he was first sent to the program, ever since. 

'I hope I can see him before he turns 18. But do I think it's gonna happen? Honestly, probably not,' Kelly explained. 

In April 2023, a law that banned judges from sending kids to reunification camps was passed in Colorado. 

A similar bill was passed in California in October, but the 48 other states in the US are still using the programs.