Attorneys Encourage Former Residents of Teen Challenge Facility to Speak Out

On April 8, 2026, CohenMalad, LLP filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of former residents who, as minors, were placed in Central Indiana Teen Challenge (now operating as Refuge Girls Academy), a faith-based residential program for teen girls located in Lebanon, Indiana.

Attorney Statement re: Central Indiana Teen Challenge Federal Lawsuit

Central Indiana Teen Challenge is part of what’s commonly referred to as the “troubled teen industry.” Serious questions have been raised about the predatory nature and financial motivation of institutions in this sector. The allegations in this lawsuit, brought by nine brave young women, reflect those concerns through experiences they suffered firsthand.

Our clients and their parents trusted Central Indiana Teen Challenge to provide them with proper, skilled, faith-based residential care. They were brought here from other states, some from as far away as Texas. Some were brought against their will. Instead of receiving proper care and education, they found themselves in a hostile, abusive environment that was designed to control every aspect of their lives, isolate them from their families and the outside world, exhaust them physically and emotionally, and keep them in a constant state of confusion and fear.

We believe the evidence will show that Teen Challenge – in keeping with patterns uncovered in similar faith-based facilities all over the country – carried out its abusive practices in part for the financial gain of the facility and its leadership.

Families trusted Central Indiana Teen Challenge. They paid a significant monthly fee to keep their child in the program, while churches and other donors provided free food and supplies, all with the belief that these children were being properly cared for and guided. We allege our clients’ treatment had little or nothing to do with providing proper education, welfare, therapy and growth. Instead, the program was designed merely to profit the organization while adhering to narrow, dogmatic and unproven practices under the guise of Christian principles.

We allege the leadership of Central Indiana Teen Challenge kept these minors at the facility for as long as possible, randomly and arbitrarily moving the goal post of “graduation.” During their tenure at Central Indiana Teen Challenge, the minors – some as young as 13 – were expected to perform virtually all of the physical labor to operate the facility, including cleaning, meal preparation and outdoor maintenance, to provide free labor to nearby churches and businesses, to solicit donations through embarrassing public testimonials, and to perform long hours of labor-intensive outdoor maintenance for its director and others.

We know our clients’ experiences at this facility are not unique or isolated. A quick internet search returns forum after forum with stories from former residents of Teen Challenge facilities throughout the country, where numerous former residents share their trauma and support one another as they continue to work toward healing.

The damage done to our clients through this program affects how they interact with the world and how they see themselves, their futures, their families, and their faith. They want their voices to be heard. We are privileged to help them, to seek to hold Central Indiana Teen Challenge and its leadership accountable, and to take steps to end the abuse they and hundreds of other teen girls endured.

Gregory L. Laker, Lead Attorney for Plaintiffs
Partner & Chair | Personal Injury Practice Group

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