Two groups that fare worst under the Salvation Army in Alaska are pregnant women (click here) and Alaska Natives.
- Part of the reason Clitheroe gets so much money from the government ($4 million in 2007) is the high incidence of alcoholism and suicide (here) among Alaska Natives.
- Alaska Natives were responsible for none of the dozens of acts of serious misconduct at Clitheroe (Residential and Detox) during the period covered on the website, but most of those banned (or expelled) were Alaska Native.
[Serious misconduct means bringing drugs into Clitheroe, having sex with staff, etc.*]
The timid young woman here, expelled for wanting to eat a candy bar she had just purchased, was Native. She was one of the quietest clients at Clitheroe.
The pregnant young Native woman here was denied admittance at first, because the nurse was in a foul mood. When a complaint was made by the PNA, the "clearance form" denying her treatment was altered to make it look like she had been approved immediately. The Salvation Army receives special funding from the state for pregnant women, and would have problems if they got caught denying services to a pregnant woman (Click here).
The pregnant young woman whose confidentiality was violated here, (and who was then expelled), was part Native.
The young lady used as a pawn by one Director on the bottom of the page here was Native.
One of the most psychologically distressed clients at Clitheroe was a young Native woman admitted to Residential. She was given a bizarre public punishment that was funny to some people, but it did not help her. She did not complete treatment successfully.
There was one young Native woman who called Detox asking for a bed. She was told we were full, even though we had two empty beds. [That was done a lot (here).]
She drove to Clitheroe anyway and parked in front of the entrance (to wait for an "opening").
Eventually the police were called. The police asked the nurse on duty if the young lady could come in to Detox. He told the police that we did not have space. (We had 2 available beds.)
Eventually the woman was admitted. The same nurse who did not want to admit that client also refused to admit the pregnant young Native woman on the fafsa page.
[The Dual Diagnosis unit admits Native males at a more reasonably proportionate rate]. (There may have been other Native males in ICU/LTC that I did not recognize as Native, or that I don't recall.) [In the Detox unit, Natives were admitted at a normal rate, though they were banned and expelled much more easily than Caucasian or African American clients.]
Native women are admitted readily to the women's Residential unit, but Native women fare abysmally at Salvation Army Clitheroe. There is a clear pattern of disciplining them more harshly than others, even if it is not spoken. See the website.
African-American men are modestly represented at Clitheroe, but African-American women are extremely rare. I only remember one female African-American in all the units. She was admitted to Detox but was denied residential treatment. (She is the first client here.)
Among staff at Point Woronzof, there was only one Native, a night monitor.
*All of the clients whose drug use was "overlooked" by staff were Caucasian. The client who had sex with most of the Salvation Army's young nurses (as well as some other staff members) was African-American. All of the (other) clients who had sex with staff members in Detox and Residential were Caucasian.
The Salvation Army is an evangelical group.
Their priority seems to be to encourage "obedience" by Natives, and it appears to be that policy, rather than treatment considerations, that governs how Natives are treated.
--Added August, 2009--
The Salvation Army has hired a man (name deleted), who is part Native, to run Salvation Army Clitheroe. He is an evangelist, (including being the original registrant of the evangelical site deleted). Time will tell what kind of work he will do.