Rehab Scams — Cinefamily Accountability

Turns out scummy people flock to lightly-regulated industries -- like rehabilitation centers. The $35 billion rehab industry recently came under scrutiny -- and the findings may not surprise Harkham-watchers.

HBO's John Oliver and Gimlet's Reply All both released powerful exposes within days of each other. As Paste Magazine explained, "despite the proliferation of rehab centers, the definition of what a rehab center is and what it entails is disconcertingly foggy. Almost anyone can start a rehab center, create whatever rehabilitation process they want, and then, more or less, prey on people’s insurance money." Reply All's "Pain Funnel" exposed the confluence of technology and policy behind the scams. Oliver noted the problem is particularly bad in California.

The Harkhams have been in the rehab business in L.A. since at least 2016. CinefamilyAccountability has found no reason to believe the Harkham-affiliated facility to be anything other than legit.

Watch the complete John Oliver report below.

UPDATE 6/3/18: This industry appears to be having its moment in the sun: the Center for Investigative Journalism's Reveal also just released its expose.

UPDATE 6/3/18: Sammy Harkham writes to say "I have never been involved in the business mentioned, and Dan is no longer associated with it."

TL;DR

For the decade of Cinefamily’s existence, and for a certain sort of weirdo, the nonprofit single-screen cinematheque was the best thing about L.A.

In August 2017 we discovered Cinefamily was also a harmful place, especially for workers and for women. Reporting at the time focused on workplace sexual harassment, but when this website investigated we found a deeper rot. Former insiders told us of alleged assault, retaliation, wage theft, and embezzlement—as well as fraud against distributors, taxpayers, and regulators.

Cinefamily’s $2 million annual budget was subsidized by taxpayers and overseen by professionals. If the board of directors had done its job, damage may have been reduced, and Cinefamily might still exist. Instead, evidence indicates some directors were not only aware of problems, but were involved in covering them up.

This website provides original reporting as an ongoing call for institutional responsibility. We seek what the board promised: a credible and comprehensive accounting, victims heard and creditors paid, and a new approach to corporate governance and community accountability.

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