Campain: Save Victoria From Diamond Ranch Academy

[Oscar]

We have learned of a petition which is about a girl who is in danger of being send to Diamond Ranch Academy where James Richard Shirey died January 2010.

Your signature is needed:

Save Victoria From Diamond Ranch Academy

Today we heard a troubling story about a girl named Victoria, a sweet 16 year old girl from Louisiana who is in danger of being court ordered to be held at Diamond Ranch Academy, in Hurricane, Utah, a notoriously abusive behavior modification program for the next 2 years. Victoria does not deserve to be incarcerated, her father from whom she is estranged simply does not like the school she currently attends and is determined to dictate her education.

Apparently, in Louisiana, when divorced parents cannot agree on a school for their child they go to court, where a judge listens to both parties and then issues a court order deciding which school the child will attend. (This is what the mom has told me.) The father brought in glossy brochures about DRA, showing the horses, the beautiful grounds, ponds, classrooms, dormitories etc, and presented DRA to the judge like it was a boarding school.

Ultimately, the judge approved the Dad’s petition to send his daughter to DRA, and she is scheduled go there June 1.

Mom and daughter both recently visited DRA and were horrified. Neither of them want Victoria to attend this school, and are desperate to find a way to show the judge the truth about Diamond Ranch Academy, the abuse and the maltreatment that has been the cause of injury and death of at least one student in their care.

Please consider signing this petition in support of Victoria being saved from this fate, allowing her and her mother the freedom to choose the school that is best for her, not a program that will abuse her and rob her of the best years of her life.

If you were a student at DRA please share your story here, we will make sure each and every testimony is delivered to the judge presiding over this case.

Thank You
http://www.troubledprograms.com

[Oscar]

Selected comment from the Troubled programs website:

To whom it may concern –

Karen in KY - 10. May, 2012 at 5:10 pm

My family has had some experience with a program very similar to Dimond Ranch. Due to our terrible experience, I have been trying to advocate to get the truth out about such programs. I have learned a great deal in the last several years, and hope to help other families avoid the terrible mistake we made.

These program, while going by different names, and owned by different individuals and Limited Liability Corps, are never-the-less cut from the same cloth. Please understand the glossy advertising material is extremely deceptive. Also, please understand, they market their “schools” to many differing teens, with many differing situations, always claiming to be exactly what the child needs.

This is in fact never true; and can not possibly be true for such a wide range of problems, no matter what kind of program they operate. Teens who just need a little help with their grade point average find themselves housed with others who have serious mental health issues, substance abuse issues, criminal behaviors – and this one program has told the parents of each child their program is designed specifically to help kids just like theirs.

You can test this yourself by simply calling and describing a child with minor problems; and have an assistant call and describe a child with some much more serious issue. No matter what you describe, unless it is a child with pending criminal charges, you’ll find they will tell you their program is perfect for you.

Please don’t make the mistake of thinking this is because they provide a wide range of care and treatment options. Every teen follows the same very restrictive program.

Please understand there is no regulation or state oversight of these private, for profit “schools” and programs. There is none at all. Consequently, they have no standard of decency, honesty or professionalism they need adhere to – and I assure you self-regulating is woefully ineffective.

Consequently, this “teen-help” industry is rife with allegations of fraud, grossly inadequate care, serious physical abuse and psychological abuse. Occasionally the abuse and neglect is serious enough to cause death in horrific ways. This is not hyperbole. There is quit a long and very sad list of just such deaths. While it is true that a child’s death is statistically a rare event, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is nearly a universal result of even a short stay in such programs.

Also, please understand celebrity endorsement is by no means an assurance of superior service and care. Nothing could be further from the truth. You need only look at the very famous persons who thought they understood Straight Inc to be a good program – and how awfully wrong they all were. There are books written on the topic and numerous related court records.

Please make no decision without considering the mother and daughter’s feelings on this issue. I assure you their fears are by no means unfounded.

[Pile of Dead Kids]

Some girl is getting sent to fucking DRA on June 1, and your post here is to make people sign a fucking petition?

Who is she? Where does she live? Who is her father? Where does he work? How about the judge? Who is he? Is it possible for someone to file an amicus curiae in this and let the judge know what this shithole is really like?

Drop some dox and some of us might be able to do something. Before then, you can keep your worthless petitions which nobody gives a fuck about.

[Oscar]

The message has been repeated on a number of websites and outside in real life.

The anti-tti movement is no longer a question of debating the issue on isolated message boards. It is reposts on blogs, mainstream message boards, posters in your local supermarket etc. Now journalists know where to find a qood story. If you run an anti-tti website of some kind feel free to repost.

We can see that the text about Victoria and Diamond Ranch Academy is moving up the ranks on Google.

[Oscar]

Our Swedish partners have started an awareness campaign:

http://tales-from-the-black-school.blogspot.com/