Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => Facility Question and Answers => Topic started by: mel0731 on February 12, 2007, 08:48:21 PM
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If anyone has any information about this school in Utah, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you in advance...
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My former husband is wanting to send our 16 year old son there. I need real info, not website jargon...
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As discussed in the other Discovery Academy thread, a boy was raped with a broom handle there. Here's more information about that particular facility.
http://www.isaccorp.org/discoveryacadem ... 03.06.html (http://www.isaccorp.org/discoveryacademy/discovery-academy.09.03.06.html)
http://www.isaccorp.org/discoveryacadem ... 29.06.html (http://www.isaccorp.org/discoveryacademy/discovery-academy.03.29.06.html)
http://www.isaccorp.org/discoveryacadem ... 09.02.html (http://www.isaccorp.org/discoveryacademy/discovery-academy.10.09.02.html)
Mel: It generally takes people a long time to understand the underlying philosophy behind these places, and you don't want any jargon, so I'll give it to you straight.
You do not, under any circumstances whatsoever, want your son in this facility or any other "behavior modification" facility, particularly in Utah. It is an absolute guarantee that he will be humiliated and made to think less of himself. The entire underlying structure of this place, particularly since it's in NATSAP (a network of abusive camps- perhaps Deborah or TSW can give you more information about that), is built around breaking wills and destroying hopes.
I strongly recommend that you direct his father to www.isaccorp.org (http://www.isaccorp.org) , www.helpatanycost.com (http://www.helpatanycost.com) , or this forum. Despite your differences, he may be just as shocked as you are.
I'm also sending you a Private Message with additional contact information.
I'm very glad you've come to this board and I hope that your husband doesn't do something irrevocable that he might regret.
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My son is in a rehab facility at present. His counselors keep praising NATSAP. The only places they recommend are from their website. This industry, besides being unregulated, seems to pray upon those whose emotions are high and hopes are low. The industry hopes to be a rainmaker, and yet is concerned with $$ and power...
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Yes, if PSYBORGUE is out there, I would love to here from him. As I mentioned in my prior missive, my former husband is believing, without question, everything that is being said in the rehab facility. I question everything - not sure if that is just being curious or obnoxious.....At any rate, this information has been so very helpful. My plan would be to utilize community resources and learn to be the best parent I can be to my son. That plan has been met with limited, if no success, as you may well imagine.
Where has common sense gone???
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I guess I spoke too soon....Common sense everywhere....And no, not smoking here, just eating ice cream....
It just seems to me that people have accepted the practice of oursourcing parenting, much like house cleaning. I still think of it as a duty to be the best parent I can be.
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Yes, if PSYBORGUE is out there, I would love to here from him. As I mentioned in my prior missive, my former husband is believing, without question, everything that is being said in the rehab facility. I question everything - not sure if that is just being curious or obnoxious.....At any rate, this information has been so very helpful. My plan would be to utilize community resources and learn to be the best parent I can be to my son. That plan has been met with limited, if no success, as you may well imagine.
Where has common sense gone???
Whoa... Did i hear my name being called. Yes.. i am here. Questions galore i am here to answer..
First of all. You are most definately not insane or obnoxious. You are right to question everything.
hold on a sec and let me read the thread.
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Thanks for hopping on....What do you know about the Discovery Academy? My understanding is that the owners were once with Provo Canyon. Any truth to that? Is it true that the main facility is a run-down Holiday Inn?? Why do you have to sign up for six months? Sorry, I was a bit on a roll...
Mel
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Have a good night....
mel
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Yeah.. Okey dokey. You don't want to send your kid away from home... and most DEFINATELY not to a NATSAP school..
Some dirt on natsap from my own website (http://http://homepage.mac.com/psyborgue/faq.html#natsap)
Please look at this information on discovery (http://http://isaccorp.org/documentsam.asp#da). And i urge you not to hesitate in hitting your husband over the head with a suitably heavy object...
Oh dear... so what is your kid doing now? smoking pot? having sex? drinking? wearing black nail-polish? Listening to Marilyn Manson? Serious questions actually. Lots of kids get sent away for these reasons...
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My son is in a rehab facility at present. His counselors keep praising NATSAP. The only places they recommend are from their website.
They get paid to refer. Advertising dollars at the very least.
This industry, besides being unregulated, seems to pray upon those whose emotions are high and hopes are low. The industry hopes to be a rainmaker, and yet is concerned with $$ and power...
It's called "snake oil"
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What facility is your son in at the moment?
(In all likelihood, there's going to be a loud chorus of "Get him out NOW", and I intend for the chorus to be adequately informed.)
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First, let's remember this is my FORMER husband. Hitting is not allowed....
My son is classified as an addict. He used weed, alcohol, Rx drugs and mushrooms. No nail polish or Marilyn. In fact, he is a very compliant kid.
Snake oil is a good term. And they sell it by the gallons...
mel
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Thanks for hopping on....What do you know about the Discovery Academy? My understanding is that the owners were once with Provo Canyon. Any truth to that? Is it true that the main facility is a run-down Holiday Inn?? Why do you have to sign up for six months?
Two questions... then i expect you will be able to answer your own:
When does the refund period expire? im guessing a week max..
How long after placement can't you talk to your son? i'm guessing a month or so.
now: Why do you have to sign up for six months?
clear yet?
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My son is at the Sundown Ranch in TX. It is a residential treatment facility for teens and young adults....
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First, let's remember this is my FORMER husband. Hitting is not allowed....
My son is classified as an addict. He used weed, alcohol, Rx drugs and mushrooms. No nail polish or Marilyn. In fact, he is a very compliant kid.
Snake oil is a good term. And they sell it by the gallons...
mel
Classified an addict by whom? Himself? Because nobody else can say so. Even AA holds to that doctrine.
Is he religious? If he hates that aspect of AA, and doesn't want to become some Twelve Stepping thrall, you could recommend Rational Recovery... AA has a horrible sucess rate (3%)...
Does he think he has a problem? Because if he has a problem, and you want him to get help, he has to believe that... and if you try to force it, it will backfire.
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Yes, I am clear. It is the other side I need to convince. The period before you can talk to you child is between three and six weeks, depending on their level. Here is one thing I just don't get. Let's just say you have a child with a brian tumor. You find the best hospital in the country which is miles from home. You are prepared to deplete much of your live savings to help your child. Then, the doctor says that you cannot see you sick child, miles from home in a strange city, for six weeks. No one would put up with that, but yet, in this industry, parents are willing to say OK.
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Mel,
I sent you a Private Message: and you may want to try and talk to Deborah who usually post on the Hidden Lake section.
Deborah is very familiar with facilities in Texas.
Joyce
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He does believe he is an addict. His problem got to be quite severe. In fact, he overdosed in December. Maybe classified was not the right word...
He is buying into the 12 steps, although, he has found something more Biblically based that he has embraced.
He is telling me that is wants to be clean and sober. I want to believe he is telling me the truth. He has not enjoyed rehab. Well, who does? But, it has given him some good time to reflect and I do believe he wants his life back...
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Yes, I am clear. It is the other side I need to convince. The period before you can talk to you child is between three and six weeks, depending on their level. Here is one thing I just don't get. Let's just say you have a child with a brian tumor. You find the best hospital in the country which is miles from home. You are prepared to deplete much of your live savings to help your child. Then, the doctor says that you cannot see you sick child, miles from home in a strange city, for six weeks. No one would put up with that, but yet, in this industry, parents are willing to say OK.
The parents, stricken by fear, nod and say "ok! you know best"
I don't get it either.
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Mel: there is NO GUARANTEE that the parents have contact with their children in SIX WEEKS---it depends on when the program decides that the child has reached this level.
It could take a LOT LONGER THAN 6 weeks for your son to get to the "level for parental contact."
My daughter was at Whitmore Academy--and we were never told about "no contact for a month" until after we had left her there. When I was told about this "no contact" after we returned home, after enrolling her: I said, "Absolutely not. PUT MY DAUGHTER ON THE PHONE RIGHT NOW, or I will be there to pick her up immediately!" We were allowed telephone contact--but other parents did not exert this "right."
But: we removed our daughter after 2 months, when an investigation of child abuse against the owners began.
It probably depends on what is agreed to in the enrollment contract. We NEVER agreed to "no contact with our daughter" for any specified time.
Good luck.
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I am off for the night. Wish me the best as I am going to visit a couple of community resources tomorrow for my son.
Thank you all so very much. I am sure you have not heard the last of me. Hope to give you good reports and I will be back on the site.
Good night....
mel
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Yes, I am clear. It is the other side I need to convince.
Mel: Bring the other side here. Or a few people here can get into contact with him. Either way.
Your ex-husband isn't actually evil or sadistic, is he?
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He does believe he is an addict. His problem got to be quite severe. In fact, he overdosed in December. Maybe classified was not the right word...
overdosed on what?
He is buying into the 12 steps, although, he has found something more Biblically based that he has embraced.
He is telling me that is wants to be clean and sober. I want to believe he is telling me the truth. He has not enjoyed rehab. Well, who does? But, it has given him some good time to reflect and I do believe he wants his life back...
Did he believe he was an addict before going to the rehab? This is relatively important, since i've heard that particular 30 day rehab can be very confrontational. Some people believe things that are not true about himself and/or create self-fulfilling prophecies.
If he is an addict, and he is at a point where he wants to help himself, if he likes AA... Fine. great. I would recommend Rational Recovery instead (does not require changing life around, sponsors, etc.) But why send him to an TBS?
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No, his father is not sadistic. He believes what the therapists are telling him hook, line and sinker. He is quite intelligent, but I think wants to take all precautions he can. Or I should say, the precautions being recommended by the rehab place.
You raise an interesting point about being an addict before admission. Yes, he thought and knew he had a problem and admitted that to me. He was seeing a therapist here at home and she told me that he truly needed help.
As far as the OD, he had three times the legal amount of alcohol in his system, opiates, benzos and he had taken mushrooms. Not a great combination...
As far as why a TBS, the therapsits at rehab think that this will give him a better chance at recovery than coming home or attending a small boarding school about 80 miles from my home. I am pushing for option #2 for a variety of reasons. My son believes he can be successful there. He is scared to death to go to Discovery and has cried when it has been discussed. He saw the DA Forum website with comments from former students before it was pulled.
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Mel:
Please read a new topic that is posted under:
TROUBLED TEEN INDUSTRY
"New Program"
This topic was posted yesterday about a new facility that was opened in Utah in January 2007.
This facility, Oxbow Academy is also connected to Discovery Academy.
This will provide you with more information.
Joyce Harris
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Looks like you've found info on Discovery. I'm curious about Sundown Ranch/ Ranch Academy
The facility was founded by Irving lawyer Robert Power.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 99b00.html (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/colleges/topstories/stories/070606dnsponcaalist.1799b00.html)
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p= ... f7fe#71316 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=71316&sid=4529530fed2f9ba13a9449b21bd1f7fe#71316)
Red Flag. They aren't licensed by the Tx Dept of Family and Protective Services as a Residential Treatment Facility. And they "faith-based", therefore, exempt? Or does their classification as a "charter school" exempt them?
http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Care/ ... ential.asp (http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Care/Search_Texas_Child_Care/ppFacilitySearchResidential.asp)
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That is interesting they are listed as faith-based. I have seen no evidence of that when I have been there....
I did call DA today to find out who is on their board of directors. No return phone call....
I cannot fully express my gratitude at the out pouring of support and information. This is all new territory to me and I appreciate everyone's information and insights.
Please let me know if I can help anyone. My knowledge is only of Sundown Ranch as that is where my son is now.
I hope I can bring him home soon...
-mel
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I was at DA for 1 year and I can look back and say that sending me there was the best decision my parents ever made. I was hooked on drugs and I was struggling with bipolar (but didn't know it) - I was on my way down a road with no positive future. Nothing bad ever happened to me there, I had a wonderful therapist that made me feel good about myself. I did get in trouble on occasion and was punished but never to any extreme or that I didn't deserve.
No having said that, I do not believe that the owners now are the same as when I was there - all this info may not pertain. I was there 1993-1994.
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I was at DA for 1 year and I can look back and say that sending me there was the best decision my parents ever made. I was hooked on drugs and I was struggling with bipolar (but didn't know it) - I was on my way down a road with no positive future. Nothing bad ever happened to me there, I had a wonderful therapist that made me feel good about myself. I did get in trouble on occasion and was punished but never to any extreme or that I didn't deserve.
No having said that, I do not believe that the owners now are the same as when I was there - all this info may not pertain. I was there 1993-1994.
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I think its time for me to jump in here, as I graduated discovery academy in 2005. All the staff their thought I was trustworthy, believed in the program, and was 'cured' from depression, which in of itself is a dubious claim. None of that is true of course.
Side Note: The Facility is ran by a Brent R. Hall, and is owned by the ASCENT CORPORTATION which also owns 'RED-CLIFF ASCENT' wilderness program.
I have recently learned that i am a manic-depressive, and I do have a better hold on it now, almost three years later.
I truly hate that place, I faked my recovery from depression. They tried to slow down the rate at which I blowing through their school curriculum. They initially made it so that I had to get a 96% to pass a test or I had to retake it. I will personally testify, in court if need be, that they are actively defrauding the accrediation system. but enough about that.
I graduated as a level 4, the highest 'level', which is a measure of trust, in their 'program' their was only one other 'level 4' after I and a few others, graduated. So I have been Through the program, faked it, and know its ins and outs. Not only that, but because of my level, I was privy to information, discussions, and general musings of some of the staff.
I am a highly intelligent individual, no boasting; IQ, memory, psyche, and standard tests continually back that up. Some of the more intelligent staff, being a majority college students, were eager to engage me in conversation. I learned a lot.
Below is part of an e-mail i sent to someone in regards to their son's plight at discovery academy. I tried to make it as factual as possible. And include much about the inner workings as possible.
Well, I can tell you that it won't actually help the kid if he has actual problems. Most of the kids their when I was their were kids with drug problems or problems with the law. Its essentially a lockdown school, cant leave campus by yourself, alarms on all the doors, daily chores, it a like a step up from a military school. The environment their is controlled by 'therapists' and two people in charge of the boys and girls divisions respectively, Alan is the guys, guys and girls cannot normally interact at the school. You get punished with 'reflection points' which are similer to demerits. A reflection point is an hour of work. kissing a girl is 75 reflection points for example. Running away is 150. Saying a racial slur is 10. Cursing is one.
I particularly found the place unhelpful, and sometimes hostile. The staff is mainly college students. The therapists see students once a week for an hour, some even less than that. There are strong religious (mormon) overtones, all community service benefits the LDS in some way or form. All media, books and tv is regulated, cd players and mp3 players are not allowed, though students can own a radio. You cannot send letters without permission of a therapist, nor call anyone. They reccomend everyone stay their a year or more, it is not a non-profit organization as far as I can tell. While I was there (9 months) I saw three students return with more severe drug problems.
Failing to Follow the rules results in PHYSICAL RESTRAINT
The school there is all self taught they have four teachers a day for the whole school and everyone works independently. Thus students who are depressed about being there or are not good self-teachers tend to fall behind.
I personally graduated from there with a full highschool diploma and completeion of 'the program'. To complete the program you must show yourself progressing in 'therapy' and trustworthy and hardworking their are 12 'levels' representing level of trust and responsibility, level changes happen every two weeks or 4 weeks I cannot remember, and rarely do students progress that fast.
Perhaps I should mention that I absolutly hate discovery academy. If your kid has actual problems their are better places to send him, if he doesn't, the therapists will make one up.
The people who run the place are unreasonable, they are for the most part fundamentalists, and you will hear such rehtoric and beleifs coming from their mouths often.
I have considered filing legal action against them, but I really do not have the time, with college, and the money, being that I am in college.
If he is a good kid, he should not be there, end of story.
If you are looking for a legal challenge, perhaps you take up the actual existence of these schools. Think about this for a second.
If you lock your kid up and never let him go out into the world, social services will come after you. If you physically restrain your child from leaving the house to go outside and play, Social Services will come after you.
Judicial Oversight needs to be in place to represent a neutral third party in determining whether it is proper to send a child to one of these places.
I got a little carried away there, food for thought I guess.
Best of Luck,
Andrew
___________________________
Anyway, its 3:38 am where I am so i am off for now.
[/b]
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I think its time for me to jump in here, as I graduated discovery academy in 2005. All the staff their thought I was trustworthy, believed in the program, and was 'cured' from depression, which in of itself is a dubious claim. None of that is true of course.
Side Note: The Facility is ran by a Brent R. Hall, and is owned by the ASCENT CORPORTATION which also owns 'RED-CLIFF ASCENT' wilderness program.
I have recently learned that i am a manic-depressive, and I do have a better hold on it now, almost three years later.
I truly hate that place, I faked my recovery from depression. They tried to slow down the rate at which I blowing through their school curriculum. They initially made it so that I had to get a 96% to pass a test or I had to retake it. I will personally testify, in court if need be, that they are actively defrauding the accrediation system. but enough about that.
I graduated as a level 4, the highest 'level', which is a measure of trust, in their 'program' their was only one other 'level 4' after I and a few others, graduated. So I have been Through the program, faked it, and know its ins and outs. Not only that, but because of my level, I was privy to information, discussions, and general musings of some of the staff.
I am a highly intelligent individual, no boasting; IQ, memory, psyche, and standard tests continually back that up. Some of the more intelligent staff, being a majority college students, were eager to engage me in conversation. I learned a lot.
Below is part of an e-mail i sent to someone in regards to their son's plight at discovery academy. I tried to make it as factual as possible. And include much about the inner workings as possible.
Well, I can tell you that it won't actually help the kid if he has actual problems. Most of the kids their when I was their were kids with drug problems or problems with the law. Its essentially a lockdown school, cant leave campus by yourself, alarms on all the doors, daily chores, it a like a step up from a military school. The environment their is controlled by 'therapists' and two people in charge of the boys and girls divisions respectively, Alan is the guys, guys and girls cannot normally interact at the school. You get punished with 'reflection points' which are similer to demerits. A reflection point is an hour of work. kissing a girl is 75 reflection points for example. Running away is 150. Saying a racial slur is 10. Cursing is one.
I particularly found the place unhelpful, and sometimes hostile. The staff is mainly college students. The therapists see students once a week for an hour, some even less than that. There are strong religious (mormon) overtones, all community service benefits the LDS in some way or form. All media, books and tv is regulated, cd players and mp3 players are not allowed, though students can own a radio. You cannot send letters without permission of a therapist, nor call anyone. They reccomend everyone stay their a year or more, it is not a non-profit organization as far as I can tell. While I was there (9 months) I saw three students return with more severe drug problems.
Failing to Follow the rules results in PHYSICAL RESTRAINT
The school there is all self taught they have four teachers a day for the whole school and everyone works independently. Thus students who are depressed about being there or are not good self-teachers tend to fall behind.
I personally graduated from there with a full highschool diploma and completeion of 'the program'. To complete the program you must show yourself progressing in 'therapy' and trustworthy and hardworking their are 12 'levels' representing level of trust and responsibility, level changes happen every two weeks or 4 weeks I cannot remember, and rarely do students progress that fast.
Perhaps I should mention that I absolutly hate discovery academy. If your kid has actual problems their are better places to send him, if he doesn't, the therapists will make one up.
The people who run the place are unreasonable, they are for the most part fundamentalists, and you will hear such rehtoric and beleifs coming from their mouths often.
I have considered filing legal action against them, but I really do not have the time, with college, and the money, being that I am in college.
If he is a good kid, he should not be there, end of story.
If you are looking for a legal challenge, perhaps you take up the actual existence of these schools. Think about this for a second.
If you lock your kid up and never let him go out into the world, social services will come after you. If you physically restrain your child from leaving the house to go outside and play, Social Services will come after you.
Judicial Oversight needs to be in place to represent a neutral third party in determining whether it is proper to send a child to one of these places.
I got a little carried away there, food for thought I guess.
Best of Luck,
Andrew
___________________________
Anyway, its 3:38 am where I am so i am off for now.
[/b]
Thank you very much for posting this.
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A voice from nowhere
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 1:02 pm Post subject:
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I was at DA for 1 year and I can look back and say that sending me there was the best decision my parents ever made. I was hooked on drugs and I was struggling with bipolar (but didn't know it) - I was on my way down a road with no positive future. Nothing bad ever happened to me there, I had a wonderful therapist that made me feel good about myself. I did get in trouble on occasion and was punished but never to any extreme or that I didn't deserve.
No having said that, I do not believe that the owners now are the same as when I was there - all this info may not pertain. I was there 1993-1994.
This was a very generic post. I was there when you were, and doubt that anyone from that era could honestly make such statements about Discovery Academy....you obviously knew that the demerit system consisted of students standing, without moving, facing walls for 25 minutes at a time, often for hours daily. What is your name? Who was your therapist you rave about?
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Side Note: The Facility is ran by a Brent R. Hall, and is owned by the ASCENT CORPORTATION which also owns 'RED-CLIFF ASCENT' wilderness program.
I believe they also own Discovery Ranch (emphasis theirs):"Learning from the experience of Discovery Academy (Our boarding school that offers
teen residential treatment) and RedCliff Ascent (Our wilderness treatment center), Discovery Ranch is the first troubled teen treatment center in the industry to offer clinically intensive care with the foundation being experiential therapy. Like most wilderness treatment centers, the focus on experiential learning is what sets us apart."
http://www.discoveryranch.net/ (http://www.discoveryranch.net/)[/list]
RedCliff Ascent is where Hyde School sends errant types who resist change even through 2-4 (Work Crew), 5:30's, and Outpost. The student is kept waiting in the Dean's area (a bad place to be anyway), and escorts come to 'cuff the unfortunate one and haul them away.
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Hello everybody. I am new here. I am 27, married, and live in Salt Lake City. 10 days ago my Mom had my 17 year old brother taken into Discovery Academy. Well, yesterday he and another boy escaped. I guess the administrator's office door was broken by a different boy, so my brother went in the office, shut the broken door behind him, and walked right out the door in the office to the outside world. He made his way to my house, and told me of all the REAL things that go on there: mold in the kitchen areas and prep areas, uncooked meat served and when the kids get sick they say its the flu going around, out of the 6 boys in his sleeping room 2 have bronchitis and 1 has nemonia and they refuse to take them to the doctor or give them any medicine, the staff calls all the boys "Homo" or "Fag" regularly, they refuse to let my brother read the Bible, the other boy who broke out with my brother broke his arm at an activity in there and they did take him to the doctor but 2 weeks later when his hand was blue because the cast was restricting the blood they refused to take him back and he ended up having to bash the cast against the fireplace stones to break the cast off for relief.
My brother is now back at D.A., and I'm freaking out because even though I sent my Mom links to this forum and links about lawsuits and complaints, she refuses to accept the truth, and becomes more brainwashed by the minute as to how good D.A. is.
I just need some relief. There is absolutely NOTHING I can do, as my Mom is parent/guardian, and she refuses to hear/see the truth of D.A. I don't know what to do, and am sick worrying about my brother's safety and well-being. What can I do to get him out? I showed up to D.A. today, unannounced, to tour the place to try to verify anything of what my brother described. However, they of course denied me to see any of the facilities. I'm worried as ever, if any one knows anything I can do, or has some comfort they can impart, it's MUCH needed and appreciated!!!
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Hello everybody. I am new here. I am 27, married, and live in Salt Lake City. 10 days ago my Mom had my 17 year old brother taken into Discovery Academy. Well, yesterday he and another boy escaped. I guess the administrator's office door was broken by a different boy, so my brother went in the office, shut the broken door behind him, and walked right out the door in the office to the outside world. He made his way to my house, and told me of all the REAL things that go on there: mold in the kitchen areas and prep areas, uncooked meat served and when the kids get sick they say its the flu going around, out of the 6 boys in his sleeping room 2 have bronchitis and 1 has nemonia and they refuse to take them to the doctor or give them any medicine, the staff calls all the boys "Homo" or "Fag" regularly, they refuse to let my brother read the Bible, the other boy who broke out with my brother broke his arm at an activity in there and they did take him to the doctor but 2 weeks later when his hand was blue because the cast was restricting the blood they refused to take him back and he ended up having to bash the cast against the fireplace stones to break the cast off for relief.
My brother is now back at D.A., and I'm freaking out because even though I sent my Mom links to this forum and links about lawsuits and complaints, she refuses to accept the truth, and becomes more brainwashed by the minute as to how good D.A. is.
I just need some relief. There is absolutely NOTHING I can do, as my Mom is parent/guardian, and she refuses to hear/see the truth of D.A. I don't know what to do, and am sick worrying about my brother's safety and well-being. What can I do to get him out? I showed up to D.A. today, unannounced, to tour the place to try to verify anything of what my brother described. However, they of course denied me to see any of the facilities. I'm worried as ever, if any one knows anything I can do, or has some comfort they can impart, it's MUCH needed and appreciated!!!
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There is only one way - emancipation.
Unfortunately you missed one chance. You should have got his signature, when he was out on the run.
There is a link from a referral organization (http://http://www.caica.org/Estranged%20from%20parents%2012-20-06.htm) about another case where the family got a girl out of a terrible lockdown.
Contact a lawyer. Get the papers drafted and find a way to get his signature. Then he has to go to court and the mother also. It is a chance and it is buying time. When he is 18 and hopefully still alive by this process of delaying the mis-treatment the problem solves itself.
It is not fun to file a suit against your own family, but we are talking about the life of your brother.
Good luck!
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However I came to think about some other options:
It is very recent that he have been kidnapped, so he still most have a lot of friends, who remember him at his old school. You may team up with them, because this evil spread with gossip among the parents. If one can evade the responsibility of parenting, soon other of his friends could follow his path.
What can they do?
First they can organize a preaceful protest. The facility is located near a public road, so it should be legal to protest outside the school in the weekends.
Beside protesting they can work on this draft to a poster (http://http://lulzhost.com/~webdiva/missing.zip), which they can distribuate in the school. No student in his local school should be without knowledge that a co-student have been locked up without trial.
If you choose to protest outside the facility, please remember the media. Write to newspapers and TV-stations. Explain to them that you are protesting against him being detained because:
1) He has not been convicted in court
2) His visitation rights is worse than if he had been placed in juvies.
3) His status is equal to the status of terrorists detained on the base in Cuba - he does not know for how long he is detained, he has not the basic rights of a prisoner, he does even know what his crime is.
4) Mention all the things that has been in the media about the facility. The rape etc.
It seems a lot to involve other people in a family matter, but the only thing these facilies fear are headlines.
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bump
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I'm going to expand out the IsacCorp links, for what it's worth...
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Employee Pleads Guilty to Attempted Rape at Discovery Academy (http://http://isaccorp.org/discoveryacademy/discovery-academy.10.09.02.html)
Daily Herald, Utah
October 9, 2002
SENTENCING: A mental health worker who had sex with a 16-year-old female patient was sentenced Wednesday to a year in jail.
Orem resident Joseph J. Butler, 26, pleaded guilty July 25 to attempted rape, a second-degree felony, and making a written false statement, a class-A misdemeanor. A plea bargain reduced the original charge of first-degree felony rape.
Fourth District Judge Gary Stott ordered Butler taken into custody immediately. He said Butler could have work-release privileges after serving 180 days but also must enter the jail's sex offender therapy program and register with the state as a sex offender.
Butler had sex with the patient in the kitchen of the Discovery Academy, a private mental health clinic in Provo, said Sherry Ragan, chief of the criminal division in the Utah County Attorney's Office. The girl had gone to the kitchen for a drink.
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/53188/4/ (http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/53188/4/)
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Breaking the chains isn't easy (http://http://isaccorp.org/discoveryacademy/discovery-academy.03.29.06.html)
Keeping teens in line can rattle any family
Clive McFarlane
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
March 29, 2006
So what do you do when you think your teenager is slipping away -- skipping school, hanging with the wrong crowd, experimenting with illegal substances, falling further and further behind academically, and paying less and less attention to you?
For one Blackstone mother, the answer, when she caught her 15-year-old cutting class, was to buy a chain and two padlocks and shackle the daughter's ankles to keep track of her.
When the two went outside the house, the girl was shackled to the mother's wrist. At least that is how the police found them after making a routine traffic stop recently.
The Department of Social Services is looking into it, and who knows, if the parent's tactic passes muster, padlocks and chains will become the next can't-miss investment for those looking to corral troubled teenagers.
At the moment, of course, many parents and guardians are turning to the booming for-profit boot camps and behavior modification programs that have sprung up in this country and around the globe.
These programs, euphemistically called therapeutic boarding schools, wilderness programs and residential treatment centers, can cost from $2,000 to $8,000 a month. But what is cost when you are trying to save a kid's life?
A year ago, Paula Bryant, a Shrewsbury resident, returned home to find that her 16-year-old son had been sent away by his uncle, who had custody of the young man, to the Red Cliffs ASCENT School, a boot camp in Utah, and later to the Discovery Academy, a clinical boarding school and wilderness program, also in Utah.
Among other things, the Discovery Academy sells parents and guardians on its higher-than-the-national-average SAT scores, and an equine-assisted therapy program that uses "the principles of natural horsemanship as a pattern for productive personal relationships."
Ms. Bryant, a single parent, had given up custody of her son to his uncle after the young man began having difficulties in school.
She had raised her son and his older sister mostly as a single parent. Her husband died when her son was 5 years old and her daughter was 7.
She guided her children through the early years, and her photo album shows mostly happy times: the son doing wheelies on his bike, the daughter excelling in tennis, both children in baseball and skiing poses.
Her son began struggling academically, and after being diagnosed with what she termed a "mild" learning disability, he was transferred into a program for special needs students during his middle school years. She pulled him out of the program because "he did not belong there."
As the years went on, her son began skipping school, getting suspended, sleeping late, not showing up for tutoring sessions and hanging with the wrong crowd.
Her brother had been asking for custody of the boy for a couple of years, and in April 2005, she relented, believing, she said, that her son would be placed in a school closer to home and that she would have full visitation rights.
It took her 30 days to learn the whereabouts of her son. She has seen him only twice since, and has not heard from him in the past four months.
The boy's therapist at the Discovery Academy has recommended that he be separated from the influences that created the behavior and academic problems, and he is allowed visits from family members only by arrangement as a reward.
The uncle did not want to talk in depth about the issue, but he assured me that he had done the necessary research on the school, and believes his nephew is benefiting from the program.
He noted that while his nephew entered the program with an eighth-grade education and was flunking every course, he has since completed ninth grade, is scheduled to complete the 10th grade and carries a B+ average.
It is hard to think that a man who, to date, has spent some $77,000 on his nephew's programs in Utah would not have the young man's best interest at heart.
But that is exactly what the mother thinks, and she is trying to reclaim custody of her son.
She has been asked to appoint a guardian ad litem, someone to assist the court in determining the circumstances of the case. Ms. Bryant would like to, but she is finding the cost somewhat steep, $2,500 for the first 12-1/2 hours, $200 per hour after that.
So she is doing the next best thing, talking anyone who will listen, showing her photo album of the kids, and displaying a mountain of clippings, some of which allege abuses at the Discovery Academy, some decrying boot camps and lock-down facilities as not being in the best interest of troubled teenagers.
"It is extreme to put him in Utah, to cut him off from his mother," she said. "He did not have a father, and was going through the typical adolescent stage. These behavior modification programs are dangerous. He has done nothing to warrant this drastic move."
If nothing else, Ms. Bryant's story put the Blackstone mother's padlocks and chains in a whole different light.
Contact Clive McFarlane by e-mail at [email protected].
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Mother sues school, says son was assaulted (http://http://isaccorp.org/discoveryacademy/discovery-academy.09.03.06.html)
By Laura Hancock
Deseret Morning News
September 3, 2006
PROVO — A mother of a former student of a boarding school for troubled youth is suing the school, claiming her son was sexually assaulted by other students.
The mother, from Aliso Viejo, Calif., seeks at least $200,000 in damages against the Discovery Academy, 105 N. 500 West, in Provo, and the parents of students identified as John and Jane Does 1-10, according to the suit filed Aug. 14 in 4th District Court.
Gregory Sanders, the attorney representing the school, said he barely was served with lawsuit papers, but he contested the allegations.
"I'm saying an assault didn't happen," he said. "What the position of the Discovery Academy is, it was horseplay among several youth and there was no sexual assault."
The boy was a minor on May 8, 2005, when two students jumped on him and physically restrained him while another student abused him with a broomstick, the suit states.
The boy was supposed to be under 24-hour supervision. The staff person responsible for monitoring him was outside the room talking on a cell phone, the suit states.
The boy did not tell school officials about the assault for two days and after school officials learned about it, they called his mother and took the boy to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center for an exam and treatment, the suit says.
After the boy returned to the school, he was placed in the same area with the students he claims assaulted him. The students asked him to not cooperate with prosecutors, the suit says.
The incident is being investigated by police, the suit says, but the Deseret Morning News was unable to confirm Friday whether Provo police were working on the case.
E-mail: [email protected]