Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Facility Question and Answers

Discovery Academy (Provo, UT)

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OZint:
The review itself is recent enough, but the events it references occur sometime before it was written.  While close, that is of no use to me.  I am now running very slim on time, and it appears as though I must plan around their being no information on DA recent enough to build a solid case around.  This dramatically complicates things, but no amount of searching will turn up information that isn't there.  Thank you all for your help.

Ursus:
Well... here's a short article that is not at all recent, but which may suggest a strategy and/or additional resources for more recent info.

Does the child you are trying to keep out of Discovery Academy have a disability of some sort, OZint? I'm guessing this would probably mean a psychiatric or behavioral disability. Regardless, DA contends in the below piece that "it does not treat youths with disabilities."

Also, given that the Disability Law Center has seen fit to go so far as to file a lawsuit, chances are quite good that they have a file on DA which may include particulars re. various kinds of abuses that have gone on there, which may possibly be pertinent to your current situation.

At any rate, here's that short article:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

Deseret News
Suit targets Discovery Academy

Published: Sunday, July 15, 2007 12:32 a.m. MDT

The Disability Law Center has filed a federal lawsuit against Provo-based Discovery Academy in an attempt to gain better access to records for an investigation into abuse allegations.

The suit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court, asks for patient records surrounding a 2005 complaint against the academy. The DLC claims in the suit that it is the federally mandated agency designated to protect disabled people in Utah.

Discovery Academy has refused attempts by the DLC to access the records because it claims that, because it does not treat youths with disabilities, the DLC has no legal authority. Discovery Academy is a youth residential treatment facility.


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Ursus:
The latter two comments clearly sound like programmie spam to me, lol. They even put in a plug for another of their programs. You'd think if Discovery Academy really was what it claims to be, they wouldn't be engaging in this type of "public relations work," eh?

Comments left for the above article, "Suit targets Discovery Academy" (July 15, 2007; Deseret News):


AKMUSTANG | 6:23 p.m. April 14, 2009
This is a horrible school, beware of sending your kids there. I attended that school 3 years ago and it was the worst experience of my life.Mikey | 1:03 a.m. May 6, 2009
Hey, what was so bad? I'm considering sending my kid there soon. He has really been helped at Red Cliff.Big | 5:53 p.m. Nov. 2, 2009
We are considering sending our son there. It seems people are quick to bash a school without stating why? What was so bad???

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Ursus:
Here's another article which goes into a lil more detail... From that below article, emphasis added:

The Disability Law Center in Salt Lake City is funded by the federal government and charged with monitoring various facilities that service disabled people.

DLC has said that they have received credible allegations about "potentially abusive practices being used against a youth who was a resident of Discovery Academy."

The center further asserts that "over the years, the DLC has received a number of complaints from residents and parents alleging improper or abusive treatment at these facilities."[/list][/size]
-------------- • -------------- • --------------

The Daily Herald
Provo youth facility sued

NATHAN JOHNSON - Daily Herald | Posted: Friday, July 13, 2007 11:00 pm

A Provo youth residential treatment facility is being sued in federal court for refusing to release patient records related to an investigation into abusive practices.

The Disability Law Center, a nonprofit advocacy group, filed the suit against Discovery Academy, which has operated in Provo since 1989. Robert Jeffs, legal council for Discovery, describes the facility as a boarding school where students who have various issues can come.

The Disability Law Center in Salt Lake City is funded by the federal government and charged with monitoring various facilities that service disabled people.

DLC has said that they have received credible allegations about "potentially abusive practices being used against a youth who was a resident of Discovery Academy."

The center further asserts that "over the years, the DLC has received a number of complaints from residents and parents alleging improper or abusive treatment at these facilities."

The lawsuit centers, however, not on the allegations of abuse, but on alleged refusal to open up Discovery Academy facilities for investigation.

"Discovery Academy allowed only limited access to its facility but refused the DLC sufficient access to complete its investigation -- alleging that the disability advocates did not have the authority to investigate because Discovery Academy does not treat youth with disabilities," reads a statement from Disability Law Center managing attorney Kerry Chlarson.

Jeffs, however, said that he is startled by the DLC accusations.

Jeffs said he and his clients have provided advocates with reams of records and access on numerous occasions. Further, Jeffs said, Discovery Academy has fully cooperated with DLC when they have asked for records.

But what really surprised the Discovery Academy legal council was that neither he, nor Executive Director Brent Hall, had heard about the lawsuit before the Daily Herald contacted them.

"We haven't heard from them in months," Jeffs said.

And he said his suspicions are on high alert. He speculated about the fact he didn't receive a copy of the complaint.

"It makes me believe it is for publicity purposes only," he said.

As for the alleged abuse, Jeffs acknowledged that there have been inquires into one or two cases involving residents at Discovery, but given that he had not been apprised of the lawsuit nor seen copies of the complaint, he was unable to comment.

Chlarson said that the DLC also did not know for certain whether abuse was taking place.

"We have no way to know the merit or lack of merit of these charges," he said.

The DLC generally does not work to seek punitive damages, instead seeking to monitor facilities and correct problems.

"Our role would be to remedy any abuse we find," said Chlarson.

They did not, however strictly rule out seeking damages if it could be used as a "tool for change."

Nathan Johnson can be reached at 344-2543 or at [email protected].

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.


Copyright 2011 Daily Herald.

kiki5454:
Discovery Academy is still a hideous facility that abuses children physically & emotionally, brainwashes parents to get 10's of thousands of dollars out of them. they will tell parents anything to have them believe that theit kid needs to be there to get "better" meanwhile, this place will give them lifelong PTSD and much more. Utah has the worst laws for protecting kids and their parents. Any place that cuts off communication with your kid is a RED FLAG in itself. kids have no way of reporting whats really going on and if you do get your supervised phone call, your kid is going to be too scared to tell you the truth because they get threatend, put in solitarly confinement and worse. DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD TO THESE TYPES OF PROGRAMS NO MATTER WHAT THEY HAVE DONE!!!! All you need to do is spend an hour or 2 researching the abuse claims, lawsuits and message boards like this one.

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