YELP "filtered" reviews of DRA:
http://www.yelp.com/filtered_reviews/4i ... Y0n0Z9bF0QColton S.
Los Gatos, CA
3/16/2012
With going to this school I was able to first hand witness the physical abuse of a mentally challenged 12 year old. The staff would "restrain" him for not doing as they told him to. They rubbed his face in gravel. He was a tiny kid, and calmed down easily when talked to by another student. Ricky Diaz, one of the officials, uses his power to intimidate kids into doing whatever he wants them to. You should not send your troubled teen here. I have been to three different treatment centers. This program as well as Cross Creek Program, are two programs to make an effort to avoid.
Flag this review
0 friends
3 reviews
Kate B.
Seattle, WA
3/15/2012
Institutions such as these are known for their use of manipulation, intimidation and verbal/physical abuse and their overreliance on isolation and restraint. These institutions have never been found to reduce the criminality of troubled young people. In fact, studies have been published that report higher rates of recidivism in teens who attend residential facilities. Reports of pervasive systemic violence and abuse have been regularly emerging from these unregulated facilities.
Despite their exorbitant daily costs, many long-term residential facilities are also ill-prepared to address the many needs of confined youth. Often, they fail to provide even the minimum services appropriate for the care and rehabilitation of youth in confinement. For example, the staff may be made up of young high school graduates who lack proper training, discipline and maturity to deal with the unique needs of this population.
In the academic world, these treatment facilities are now considered obsolete. Scholars have identified a number of interventions and treatment strategies that consistently reduce recidivism among juvenile offenders. None require - and many are inconsistent with - incarceration in correctional facilities like Diamond Ranch Academy. Multidimensional, family-focused, non-residential substance abuse treatment has been proven to be effective. Wraparound services that include intensive mentor/advocate programs, vocational training and family treatment have also shown been proven to be effective.
You can learn about these local programs in your community by contacting 211 (a community referral line available in the US). There are other options to residential treatment that are more effective and less expensive.
Flag this review
0 friends
1 review
Ricky L.
Colorado Springs, CO
3/3/2012
Scary place! I am constantly hearing tales of harrowing abuse. It seems like just another Utah facility aimed at getting as much money as possible for minimal return. These places often by their very nature breed abuse (for examples google World Wide Association of Specialty Programs, Straight inc, or watch the PBS Montana documentary "Who's watching the kids").
Here's one of the tails of abuse at this place:
http://www.fornits.com...
Flag this review
0 friends
3 reviews
James H.
Scranton, PA
12/30/2011
My daughter Jodi just returned from school at Diamond Ranch Academy a month ago. Last Christmas she was at Diamond Ranch Academy and she was struggling and we were separated, but this Christmas we were all together again and it was amazing! The contrast between this year's Christmas and last year's Christmas was incredible. She has changed so much, it's almost as if she's a new person. I can't thank Diamond Ranch Academy enough!
Flag this review
0 friends
1 review
Ben D.
Broadview Heights, OH
6/26/2011
Ill say this all programs are the same. What I mean by this statement is they all go by the same guidelines. Some are more terrible then others. As someone who has been to a program I will tell you that it does change you. You are a changed person for the first month after that most of us fall back into our own ways and begin to build up rage towards the program. All a program is a facility ran by the SS built and designed around to look and be like a concentration camp. While In the program you feel as if your In Communist Russia. You loose so many freedoms most importantly freedom of speach.
Flag this review
0 friends
1 review
Angie R.
Riverview, FL
6/23/2011
Our son is doing GREAT. I can't get over the transformation. All of his teachers that knew him last year are also very impressed. He is respectful and kind to Sam and I, actually to everyone. He is also had a good football year. He played TB, FS, kick off receiving and return. He was a team captain and his coach says that he motivated the whole team.
Flag this review
0 friends
1 review
mike a.
Hewett, WV
6/15/2011
There isn't a day that goes by that we don't think of you and say a prayer to God for bringing you and DRA into our lives. Austin is doing sensationally. He just recently got his license and is driving himself to school in Ft Worth. His grades are superb, he just finished finals and most of his tests were in the 90s.
Diane and I were just talking about you guys this past weekend and how we have had our miracle. Austin is a delight to be around...which is not a phrase we would have used prior to DRA. He has had opportunities to make wrong choices, and as far as we can tell, he has made the right choices.
Life is good. Thank you for all that you have done for our family.
So things are good!
Mike
Flag this review
0 friends
1 review
Alex W.Las Vegas, NV
3/8/2011
Ok let me start out by saying this place was HELL for me and everyone else i know that went there. If anything it made things worse then better. I got sent there on April 15, 2008 and graduated May 15, 2009. I was there exactly 13 months. As people said that a kid died there. That kid was my best friend. His name was Jim. now i dont know exactly how he died or any of the details. All i do know is how the staff there treated him. It was exactly a week after he got back to the ranch from a home visit. My ENTIRE dorm woke up around 4 am thinking someone was showering. We found out that Jim was puking over the side of his bed so much it sounded like a shower running! So obviously he was sick. The staff then made him sit there for over 45 minutes cleaning up his own vomit with nothing other then paper towel. no mop no cleaning supplies just a paper towel. In the morning when we all went to breakfast he was sent to sick bay and that was the last time any of the students saw him. Now it wasnt DRAs fault that he died. but he was sick and they treated him so horribly! making him clean up his own vomit at 4 in the morning, while he was moaning and groaning and throwing up some more! Thats that story. Let me get into more of my story now. When i went there i had long hair. I got an extra week in homeless (the beginning part of the program where you can eat nothing but rice, and arent allowed to talk for at least 2 weeks) just because i didnt want to cut my hair! does that sound reasonable?! Also i was on run watch. That is where they take your shoes and give you flip flops so it is harder to run away. The reason they put me on run watch? well which one do u want? The reason they told me, the reason they told my mom, or the truth??? So they told me that my mom requested it. Later on in my program i found out that they told my mom it was because i tried to run away! When i went there i was a little fat chubby kid. even if i wanted to run away i knew i couldnt so why would i even try?! Now for the real reason. When i found out what they had told my mom i asked Ricky (program director and son of the owner) why i was on run watch in homeless. His answer? "You were on run watch because we felt like putting you on run watch"...... DRA is also physically and mentally abusive. One time i got thrown face first into the rocks and restrained because i said "screw you" to a kid. i didnt touch him, i didnt threaten him, all i said was screw you. The only reason they stopped restraining me was because my arm made a snapping noise and they were afraid they would break it. They were mentally abusive in the fact that i STILL have nightmares about that place!!! anyway let me talk about it in general and not about my story. I saw kids there that were not there for drug issues but when left got addicted to hardcore drugs because other kids there were talking about how great they were. I do not know i single person that went to dra that HASNT relapsed on what ever they were there for. Whether it was drugs or a certain behavior. DO NOT send your kids to DRA. all it will do is making them worse. It is a TERRIBLE place and i wouldnt even go back for all of bill gates money
Flag this review
0 friends
1 review
Chris M.
Ojai, CA
3/7/2011
Please, do not send your child to Diamond Ranch. It's a scam--all the nicely edited videos, all the fake testimonials, everything on their website, it's all one big organized lie. They abuse kids at this facility. I was abused there, and so were countless others. I personally knew a kid that died there as a direct result of shameful neglect; his name was James Shirey, may he rest in peace. Please don't let another human being be victimized by these people.
There are numerous ongoing lawsuits against this place, and calls to the local police do nothing due to the level of corruption in Southern Utah. PARENTS, PLEASE CALL ME on the phone number below and I will be more than happy to give you my full honest testimonial of what happens at this place, and what the truth behind the fancy lie really is. I am sharing my personal phone number publicly on the internet and will most likely get attacked by the owners of DRA as a result, so please understand how serious this is.
Desperate parents do desperate things, and that's how this place makes its money. I was there for 11 months, and I know the truth. My name is Chris, please call me at any time.
-Chris, (805)272-5005
Flag this review
0 friends
1 review
Naomi H.
Huntington Beach, CA
2/21/2011
Save your child and money by not sending them to this hell hole. Spend actual quality time with your children and LISTEN to them. There is nothing natural about sending your child away to become "a better person." If only life were that easy. Be the parent, step up and take responsibility for your child. They scare the occupants into not saying anything negative and the looming fear of being sent back, not to mention the brainwashing. They lie and manipulate the parents while they brainwash the children. Protect your child from this dreadful place.
Flag this review
Alex W.
Las Vegas, NV
11/11/2010
Ok let me start out by saying this place was HELL for me and everyone else i know that went there. If anything it made things worse then better. I got sent there on April 15, 2008 and graduated May 15, 2009. I was there exactly 13 months. As people said that a kid died there. That kid was my best friend. His name was Jim. now i dont know exactly how he died or any of the details. All i do know is how the staff there treated him. It was exactly a week after he got back to the ranch from a home visit. My ENTIRE dorm woke up around 4 am thinking someone was showering. We found out that Jim was puking over the side of his bed so much it sounded like a shower running! So obviously he was sick. The staff then made him sit there for over 45 minutes cleaning up his own vomit with nothing other then paper towel. no mop no cleaning supplies just a paper towel. In the morning when we all went to breakfast he was sent to sick bay and that was the last time any of the students saw him. Now it wasnt DRAs fault that he died. but he was sick and they treated him so horribly! making him clean up his own vomit at 4 in the morning, while he was moaning and groaning and throwing up some more! Thats that story. Let me get into more of my story now. When i went there i had long hair. I got an extra week in homeless (the beginning part of the program where you can eat nothing but rice, and arent allowed to talk for at least 2 weeks) just because i didnt want to cut my hair! does that sound reasonable?! Also i was on run watch. That is where they take your shoes and give you flip flops so it is harder to run away. The reason they put me on run watch? well which one do u want? The reason they told me, the reason they told my mom, or the truth??? So they told me that my mom requested it. Later on in my program i found out that they told my mom it was because i tried to run away! When i went there i was a little fat chubby kid. even if i wanted to run away i knew i couldnt so why would i even try?! Now for the real reason. When i found out what they had told my mom i asked Ricky (program director and son of the owner) why i was on run watch in homeless. His answer? "You were on run watch because we felt like putting you on run watch"...... DRA is also physically and mentally abusive. One time i got thrown face first into the rocks and restrained because i said "screw you" to a kid. i didnt touch him, i didnt threaten him, all i said was screw you. The only reason they stopped restraining me was because my arm made a snapping noise and they were afraid they would break it. They were mentally abusive in the fact that i STILL have nightmares about that place!!! anyway let me talk about it in general and not about my story. I saw kids there that were not there for drug issues but when left got addicted to hardcore drugs because other kids there were talking about how great they were. I do not know i single person that went to dra that HASNT relapsed on what ever they were there for. Whether it was drugs or a certain behavior. DO NOT send your kids to DRA. all it will do is making them worse. It is a TERRIBLE place and i wouldnt even go back for all of bill gates money
Flag this review
0 friends
1 review
Richard B.
Angels Camp, CA
10/26/2010
Ok, this isn't me complaining about how bad DRA is, how manipulative and abusive it is, or how unsanitary it is. This is for any parents who are considering sending their kids to DRA. So, should you send your kid to DRA?
Short answer: NO
Long answer: DRA claims to be a "therapeutic" boarding school, but it's basically a prison with an independent study education program. Students are not allowed to go outside the line of sight of a staff, so there is 24/7 supervision. DRA got kicked out of Idaho about a decade ago, and so they moved over to southern Utah in the middle of nowhere where they can do anything they want to your kid. Examples of abusive things that the DRA staff do, speaking 100% from experience, include: physically restraining for hours at a time for simply not wanting to work, manipulating the students to keep quiet about DRA, making students sometimes shower with the door open while they watch, and making the students pull around an old fashioned ox cart. Sound like a place where you want your kid? Honestly, your child would be better off in juvenile hall. And hey, at least that doesn't cost $60,000. Also, if you send your child away for relationship issues, they will only hate you more, so don't even think about it. Also, DRA is very unsanitary. The water there comes from a small pond that is awkwardly warm and filled with algae. A student has actually DIED at DRA, and all he needed was a cortizone shot and he would have been fine. Why did this happen? Because the "medical staff" at DRA are incompetent and you should not trust your child with them. After reading this, you would be a complete idiot to send your kid to DRA. If all else fails, try a wilderness program perhaps... but not Diamond Ranch Academy.
Flag this review
0 friends
1 review
Emma G.
Blaine, WA
2/15/2010
We sent our daughter here after she got expelled from high school. She absolutely hated it but it was exactly what she needed. Even now 5 years later she gripes about it but she now has a GED and is taking some college courses.
I read a few "reviews" which seemed like they were written by former students and as you can image they hated it ... but from a parents perspective the school was exactly what our daughter needed and for that we are grateful.
Flag this review
0 friends
2 reviews
Johnathan L.
Draper, UT
2/9/2010
My son, at the age of 14, got into drugs. My wife and I really tried everything we could to help, church, counseling, therapy, tough love, nothing really worked. He just didnt see how drugs were affecting his life ... or ours.
We did some research and found Diamond Ranch Academy and are grateful we did. It took almost 2 years but he made some amazing progress and we really appreciated being a part of the process. That was really important for us.
I honestly cant say enough good things about DRA and all they did for our family.
Flag this review
56 friends
79 reviews
Angela C.
San Jose, CA
9/23/2009
My parents sent me here for a year. I hated being here. But of course, when you get sent away from home, who wouldnt? Diamond Ranch Academy is located in Hurricane, UT, and it is placed right in the middle of the dessert. When I was there, it felt like I was placed in a crater. Yet this is a coed program, the girls and the boys are not allowed to have any communication with eachother, which seems pretty stupid to me because when your younger, interacting with the opposite sex is how you learn and grow. Not interacting sexually, but at least being able to talk to them. THey served good food, that was all that I looked forward to being here, but because of the portion size, most of the kids here got fat. I dont think that we got enough exercise. Alot of the parents, including mine complained. I did like how we had to work to put money in our ledgers, so we would pay rent, which was 100 a month. If you did something bad, the staff cites you, and just like in real life, you go to court for it. You could appeal a site if you wanted. It taught me that there are consequences for every action you make, whether it be good or bad. This place is expensive, and even though i was sent there over five years ago, my parents are still paying debt for sending me here. I made some true friendships here, and I have some very good memories and good times that I will never forget. Of course, I would never want to come back, unless they would give me a job there.
Flag this review
