I too went to Copper Canyon and I was there for 2 1/2 years.
First off, I would like to point out that I read the testimony that Melanie Lenihan (former staff) wrote...I never met the woman just recently read her post, I would like to point out that the so-called "restricted" communication with parents, was valid. The program is made up of 4 levels, Level 1's can only communicate with their parents through letters. No! The letters are not opened like she claims, they do however check the address because on level one you are only allowed to write to your parents, no friend communication whatsoever. Once you arrived to level 2, your parents could come on campus and visit you and you communicated with them through letter writing and once a month phone calls. Level 3 consisted of more priveleges, ie...going off campus with your parents within the state of Arizona for a few days...letter writing, and more frequent phone calls, level 4's got to go home for up to a week, once a month I believe, letter writing, and of course, phone calls, and parents could come visit as well, and you could be off campus with them for up to a week.
The part where it states "physically prevented from leaving facility" um...depends on how you see that....students were restrained, yes, if they tried to runaway, but was used appropriately and very rare. (Most girls got the hint that once your there, theres really no place else to go) And level 2's and up could go off campus for activities and or church. Thats another point I wanted to make, I dont know where the hell this lady got all this mixed up shit from especially from being a staff there or,whatever, but we had freedom of religion. Depending on the religion you were...Catholic, Jewish, Christian, LDS, Twice a month if you were level 2 or higher, you were allowed to go to the church of your choice...Also, they took girls to the doctor appointments they had, even level 1's.
In the Academic part of the program they also took the students off campus for SAT, ACT testing and other educational fieldtrips.
The "Physical Punishment" that was stated, I dont know what exactly that meant, though when I was there we had what was called Work Hours, which consist of cleaning or gardening, for an hour. Depending on how many "Work Hours" you got that week, lets say you got one the whole week, you were not allowed to have movie night on Friday Night, instead you had to do Homework. If you got two, no movie night Saturday night either and if you got three you missed out on both movie nights, and beuaty night on sunday night.
The food restriction, I too agree with the first post, David was an amazing cook!!!! And the food was awesome!!! i've also read posts where girls were disatisfied with the food and were always hungry, I question how much food these fat fucks eat overall....because we were ALWAYS allowed to get seconds and even thirds at times, and EVERY Dinner time Meal we had, we ALWAYS got dessert.
There was never any withholding of medicine, in fact, its the first thing they do in the mornings, at lunch time, and before bed. IF you refused to take your meds you got work hours. If you felt sick, they always had tylenol and or whatever was appropriate for pain, all you had to do was let the staff know!
The no talking to new girls part is fairly accurate. When you first arrive as a level one, you are prohibited from talking to other level 1's for obvious reasons, usually level ones, have just got there and are usually negative about the place and or just want to tell their "war" stories about what they did back home, how are these girls ever gonna make it to level 2, if all theyre doing is focusing on all the negative aspects of their lives? think about it.
The school part of the program was great, in my opinion, when I first got there we had PSP which is what was mentioned above about the Phoenix Special Programs, but they changed it about a month later and got accredited and hired teachers to give real classes. When I got there, I had failed the 9th grade and ended up graduating as a Junior. That should show you how much it progressed.
Im not gonna lie, when I first got there I thought the program was bullshit and thought I would be out of there fairly quickly, because, well, cmon! Its a house! there were no dorms! and it looked like a fairly easy stay, bed and breakfast, with a bunch of other girls.
That didnt come to be the case of course, when I heard it was a 12 month stay minimum I freaked out!!!
I couldnt see why my parents had sent me there and just put me in the hands of random strangers. I guess when our parents have done everything they possibly could, they have nowhere else to turn to and enough! is enough!!!
The staff was extremely nice, made me feel welcome, and they were easy to talk to. My therapist was very caring and helpful in many areas of my stay there, let me just say, I would definitely recommend this program to parents, I made many friends there that I still keep in touch with up to this day, and everytime I get a message from one of them on myspace or phone call, it is the most amazing feeling ever knowing that someone got out of there and made something out of their life. I definitely give props to Tammy and to the staff there because they truly care about these kids, I've read comments that these programs are just for the money, I can honestly say, without a doubt, that CCA doesnt do it for the money, there have been occasions where parents cant pay the program and believe me, they work with them....if it was about the money, these girls there would be neglected, and that is definitely not the case.
I appreciate the fact that my parents sent me to copper canyon, I am now married, with kids, and happier than ever!!!
I am actually looking at moving out there to work at the place. Thats how much I love the place!!!!
Everything on the Copper Canyon Website is the absolute Truth!!!
Before I end this I would just like to say, that most of the people that right down these "negative" things about the place, werent there for a very long time...ie...longer then 6 months, therefore, didnt graduate the program, ran away, were transferred to another program, were defiant, fought the program, and or even manipulated their parents to pull them out of the program....consider this because thats usually the case. Dont let these "negative" posts fool you!!!!
