It seems that a new revision of the
Fornits Wiki page is overdue
First there is
this testimony on reddit:
Throughout my "treatment experience" which consists of one wilderness program (TRAILS) and two RTCs (Waypoint and Ashcreek) Ashcreek was by far the worst thing I had to go through. Every single aspect of the program is centered around money (it costs 10k a month), they will take as many shortcuts as they can and keep you there as long as possible just to ensure they're getting what they want. The owners and therapists have no interest in the lives of the students at all, and they act completely different around parents and tours that come to make sure nobody gets pulled, and to try to get as many new kids as possible, even though it was horribly overcrowded when I was there. There were barely enough beds to fit everyone, and people were forced to stand since there weren't enough seats. This also had a large effect on the food, as we got served small portions of pre-cooked or frozen food. We rarely ever went on activities, and when we did they were usually free hikes that lasted for around half an hour. We had little free time, but the majority of it consisted of sitting on worn down couches and talking (not to mention our conversations were monitored closely by the staff). You weren't allowed to talk poorly about the program, otherwise the staff and therapists would get mad at you, and if you complained about it to your parents in a letter or a phone call, the therapists would convince your parents that you were trying to manipulate them. Most of our time was spent working on a ranch, which was supposed to build responsibility and improve your relationship skills with "equine therapy". In reality we rarely ever interacted with horses, and when we did it just involved cleaning up their shit. We spent 4-6 hours during the weekdays at the ranch, and 8 on the weekends, and nearly all of this time consisted of doing chores around the ranch for the owner. But of course, when the parents came around, or it was time to send photos of us, we would all of a sudden get to ride the horses or do fun things. This is completely unacceptable on their part, straight up lying to the parents and making them think we're actually changing is horrible. The education was also very poor. School was 4-6 hours a day, and all we would do was read out of outdated textbooks and complete quizzes after finishing a chapter. Some of the teachers are incompetent, there's no way they would actually be able to teach at a real boarding school, or even a public school. On the other hand, some of the teachers tried to do the best with what they had, and tried to make things good for us. The same can be said with a lot of the staff, many of them genuinely cared and were actually good people. Unfortunately, the therapists and administration were not, which is why the program is so ineffective and wrong. One of the worst things I saw happen to a kid (who happened to be my best friend there) was after he tried to give himself a tattoo. After hearing this from another student (students would often snitch on each other to get the therapists and staff to like them, since it meant they could level up and leave faster) his therapist and one of the lead staff kept him locked up in a room in the basement for a week straight. During this time, he was not allowed to talk to anybody, he couldn't do anything besides sit there (not even sleep), and he could only leave the room to go to the bathroom. Keep in mind, he had no intentions of hurting himself, anybody else, or doing anything really wrong. I consider that level or isolation abuse, and it shouldn't be allowed anywhere (but of course it is in Utah). The students operate in a level system that consists of four levels. The therapists decide when you're "ready" to level up, but in reality you're "ready" when you've been there a certain amount of time. After all, they can't let kids leave too soon or they won't get enough money! The level privileges and stuff are pretty basic: off-campus visits at level two, overnight visits at level three, and home visits at level four. Most people are there for 10-16 months, I luckily got out in four months, but only because I did not return from a home visit. The worst part about this place is how they advertise and portray themselves; it's despicable. They feel the need to constantly remind you about how great Ashcreek is, and how it's so different from all the other programs (WHEN IN REALITY IT'S LITERALLY THE EXACT SAME THING AS EVERY OTHER RTC). They pretend like they do nothing wrong. They act as if they're a gift from god. Under this mask, however, is just another horrible place run by unqualified businessmen that see a chance for a lot of money. Hopefully this helps, if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me.
Could be formatted better but that is another story.
But the Google reviews are not that much better.