Joined by the president of the Elan School Survivors, Mark Babitz, we look into the dark history of a Maine reformatory school. The facility was closed down on April 1, 2011, due to reports of abuse, many from former students, dating back to its opening in 1970. Throughout its history, the school was faced with numerous allegations of student maltreatment. In 2001, Details magazine cited Élan as "among the most controversial of the nation's residential therapeutic communities." In 1975, Illinois state officials removed eleven children from the Élan program, alleging mistreatment. In the late-1970s, Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Max Ashburn visited the school after repeatedly hearing rumors of abuse, but the staff did not allow him entry into the school past the lobby. Following this, he began keeping a file in which he documented names and phone numbers related to Élan, as well as reported abuses.
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