Info on Moonridge Academy or Kolob Canyon RTC?

[Anonymous]

I  know quite a bit about this program because it is located outside my town and I spent months fighting it's development.  The owner used to operate a taco stand here in Cedar City.  They got the money to buy a house on twenty acres, for about 100K.  They're hooked up with Kolab Canyon RTC, which is for the older girls.  Employees of both facilities report that both schools are disorganized, the staff is undertrained and at Moonridge particularly, burned out.  Many of the promised programs are not operative.  Let me point out that we do not even have adequate mental health facilities for those of us who live here.  The closest psychiatrist is 56 miles away.  There are supposed to be family weekends
every eight weeks but nobady knows anything about those occuring--Moonridge has only been open for about four months and they're already full. There has already been one escape from Moonridge, don't know how that turned out--just heard it from a staff person.  I could go on, but suffice to say that the owners are making $9,000.00 per month per each of the 16 residents and they are doing very well.

[Anonymous]

Let me clear a few things up here.  I was approached about 3 years ago by the "Taco stand guy", who just happens to be a good friend.  He was very interested in finding a way to help kids, in particular boys.  He wanted to be able to get them off the street or be able to help them before they got to the street.  Because I am familiar with the owners of Kolob Canyon, and very impressed with their honest and up front way of conducting business (with parents, students and referral sources. By the way they DO NOT pay for referrals!) I suggested that they meet and see what they could put together.  
Moonridge and Kolob Canyon are owned by the same company.  So they didn't just "hook up."  It was carfully planned. http://www.certsgroup.com  
Because you don't seem to understand, I will explain to you that Psychiatrists retained by a program go to the program for appointments.  The program does not take individual students to the DR.  So 56 miles is nothing.  I know of several programs where their Psychiatrist travels 200 miles one way once a week.  
Also an occassional AWOL is not uncommon.  I do not know of a program that has not experienced a missing student.  Personally I am suprised that it has only been one.  I give them kudos for being on top of things.
All in all, I give Kolob Canyon and Moonridge Academy two thumbs up.  If people ask, I have and will continue to suggests the appropriate program for them.
As for the money - both progams are well worth it!!

[Anonymous]

Just because someone "really wants to help kids" doesn't mean he or she is qualified to do so.

When my daughter was three, she really wanted to help Mommy with the dishes.  And she's a great kid.

But I wouldn't have trusted her to wash the crystal by herself.

Again, the *first* requirement for any lockdown facility to be quality care, IMO, is that they not accept inappropriate placements of children for that lockdown environment.

A lockdown is inappropriate *unless* the kid has been afforded full due process and convicted of a crime in court and court ordered to the facility, OR the kid is mentally ill and an immediate danger to himself or others and is only in the lockdown facility until he/she is stabilized on medication---or as long as she's dangerous, if the kid isn't a medication responder and *can't* be stabilized; OR the kid is severely retarded or autistic or has other severe cognitive disability and is a danger to themselves or others in a way medical science just can't fix or stabilize; OR the kid has ALL OF multiple positive drug tests for actually addictive drugs, refuses to attend meetings on an outpatients basis, presents actively intoxicated when taken to the evaluating physician AND is only held for the short period of time necessary to physically detox from the addiction in the same way that an adult rehab center would work and then is sent home for outpatient care.

Opposition and defiance are *NOT* adequate grounds for lockdown hospitalization absent one of the above four situations.  One of the above four situations is enough regardless of opposition or defiance.  

Opposition and defiance are absolutely irrelevant to whether or not the kid needs to be hospitalized in a lockdown facility.

If your friend's facility accepts innappropriate placements into a lockdown situation, his "help" isn't.

Timoclea

[maxima24]

As i said before i was a student at Kolob and like the previous posting said our therapists came to Kolob we didnt go there. we also had a runaway who was returned within a few hours. also i think the money was well worth it. i have been clean for 7 months now and am doing great with my life. if you ask my parents they will also tell you it was worth the money because they no longer check on me every morning to see if i have killed myself or overdosed on drugs. they see how happy i am and we are all grateful. and the owners of kolob are great they came and spent time with us even brought their families to see us. they both knew about us and took time to talk to us. if they were just in it for the money they wouldnt take time fromtheir lives to be involved in ours.

There's so much comedy on television.  Does that cause comedy in the streets?
-- Dick Cavett

[Anonymous]

Having the money to back a program and actually running the program are two different things.

"Hospitalized in a lockdown facility"?  You are misinformed.  Neither Kolob Canyon or Moonridge is a lockdown program.  The girls have run of 37 and 20 acres respectivly.  They are not locked in at any time.  They are treated with dignity and respect in cozy home like surroundings.

[Anonymous]

FOR SOME REASON YOU IDIOTS DONT SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THESE PEOPLE THAT OWN MOONRIDGE ACADEMY HAVE ESATBLISHED THIS PROGRAM BECAUSE
THEY CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO THESE KIDS WHEN THEY
GET OLDER.YOU PEOPLE DONT REALIZE THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD WITH KIND HEARTS.

[Anonymous]

I just came across this website again, and to recap the story that started this post, in the end it was over 2 months before my friend's 7th grade daughter was allowed to talk to her parents or get letters from her parents.  They told me that was true of several girls from Kolob Canyon too.  

The mom then found out there was no psychiatrist who visited, just a psychiatric nurse who came once during the 2 1/2 months her daugher was there.   Kid had side effects from her psychiatric medicine that the staff never told mom about - perhaps they did not know.

In the end, I did not need to say anything, as both parents got very concerned.  To my great relief, her parents decided to place her in a local treatment center and after a change in medication she is doing really well.

I have a 9th grade daughter, but I would NEVER send her to any program that would not allow me to keep in touch with her.  The owners of this program may be well intentioned, but is that enough?

[Anonymous]

This is to inform the uninformed people who like to talk on subjects they know nothing about. Moonridge Academy main objective is to help teens put there lives back in order. there are three full time tharapist and one part time tharapist on the payroll. These tharapist are employed at Moonridge Academy.  This is a 6500 square foot house on 21 acres with 16 beautiful residents and 35 qualified and capable employees that truly care for each and every girl in this program.
        These girls are allowed contact with their parents on a regular basis after they get pass level 1 which can be anywhere from three weeks to three months depending on the person. It is done as a motivation so that these girls will accept the fact that they are here and need help. The average length of time is 1 month.
        Parents have made an educated decision to place their kids in a qualified program that can change their lives before it is to late. Parents are required to come and spend 1 weekend every two months on family weekend.
          The majority of the people that don't approve of these programs are the few parents who have had a bad experience with a poorly run program or in our case discruntled neighbores who have chosen to condem a program without knowing the facts or don't want these precious kids who deserve the help living close to them.

Sincerely,

The taco guy

[Anonymous]

You're involved with a program for young girls and you sign, 'the taco guy'? hummm

Is the program licensed? Do your state regulations allow programs to sever contact between minor and parent? Can the teen use the phone without being monitored? Is the number for Child Protective Services and the local law enforcement posted by the phone?

[Antigen]

On 2004-08-10 07:51:00, Anonymous wrote:

These girls are allowed contact with their parents on a regular basis after they get pass level 1 which can be anywhere from three weeks to three months depending on the person. It is done as a motivation so that these girls will accept the fact that they are here and need help. The average length of time is 1 month.

What about the girls who are placed there in error? The ones who don't need help or who don't need the particular type of program you offer? How do they go about making it known that they have been inproperly placed and getting out?

Homeschool is self regulating. The school board is not going to have illiterate useless people living in their homes forever if they don't have a working education policy.

--Sisterbluerose

[Anonymous]

I would really like to know who your "friends" daughter is who was at kolob. as i was a student there i would be interested in knowing if i had lived with her. all of you people bashing this program are just plain ignorant. the reason you can't talk to your parents until you accept that you have a problem is because you will whine and beg them to come home. i did it and so did every other girl i lived with. and also the program did not accept girls who didnt need to be there. every girl i met there needed to be there....unless you think a 14 year old girl who cuts herself every night or a 16 year old addicted to heroin. Or take myself...most people thought i was fine just a normal teenager with my little problems hre and there. most parents don't even know the extent of their kids problems. My parents thought i smoked a little pot here and there and was unhappy with my life. I had had a couple of suicide attempts which they knew about but they didn't think i would go through with it. but what they didn't know is i was doing about $350 of coke a week cutting school having sex with anyone who would have sex with me just to feel wanted. Did I not need help? You don't know what your friend's kid was going through that she kept hidden from the world. And yes some kids don't get help from programs because they refuse to admit they need help or they just don't want to change. It took me almost four months before i decided i wanted to change my life. you should really see how the programs work before you say all programs are bad. true there could be some programs out there that the people who run it just want money and don't careabout the kids but at kolob canyon i was cared for. they have an amazing staff who are passionate about what they do. so don't bash what you don't know.

[Deborah]

***the reason you can't talk to your parents until you accept that you have a problem is because you will whine and beg them to come home.

Sorry, that explanation won't fly. It's a violation of most state laws, unless the relationship with a parent is proven to be 'unhealthy'. It is punishment for the child, to let the kid know who is now in charge, and to relieve the parent of guilt. It has a postive effect on keeping withdrawals to a minimum. Unlawful.

***and also the program did not accept girls who didnt need to be there. every girl i met there needed to be there....unless you think a 14 year old girl who cuts herself every night or a 16 year old addicted to heroin.

When licensed, a program must prove that it is equiped to deal with the issues of the clients they are accepting. Too often, they are not.

***Did I not need help?

Did someone comment on your needs? What you don't understand, is that there is more than one way to skin a rabbit. Your parents chose the BM warehouse route. I'm sorry for you, and glad that you survived your drug of choice and your program.

***you should really see how the programs work before you say all programs are bad.

I've seen how the programs work, enough for two life times. I have no experience with this one, but they use some of the same techniques that the majority do. Same red flags. Same basic structure. Same justification for incarceration.

[Anonymous]

I am sick of you bashing what you don't know about!!!

Until you have worked in a program, been a student in a program or have had a child in a program just SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!!!

And NO... having a neighbor that died in a program DOES NOT COUNT. Honestly, you have NO idea what you are talking about. "Two lifetimes"?  PAHLEEZ!

Get on you soap box somewhere else!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :flame:  :flame:  :flame:

[Deborah]

No

[spots]

On 2004-08-12 19:42:00, Anonymous wrote:

"I am sick of you bashing what you don't know about!!!



Until you have worked in a program, been a student in a program or have had a child in a program just SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!!!



And NO... having a neighbor that died in a program DOES NOT COUNT. Honestly, you have NO idea what you are talking about. "Two lifetimes"?  PAHLEEZ!



Get on you soap box somewhere else!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :flame:  :flame:  :flame:  "

Such anger, from a young woman who has been "cured" for 7 months already!  I distrust any information from one who rants, flames, and sputters without thoughtful information to back up such rants.  And hiding behind Anonymous without even signing in with a fictitious name is a sign of weakness, IMO.

FYI, I have had a child in a program.  Deborah has had a child in a program (2, in fact).  There are many former employees on this forum who have worked in a program.  And the archives are stuffed with despairing messages from literally hundreds of former students of a program.  We all share a bond we wish we didn't have.  We all have the right to bash!  And we all will not shut the hell up, if our work can save a teen from such hell as a program.