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Inspired by Paris Hilton, woman says Utah ranch punished her for reporting assaults
By Annie Knox, Deseret News, February 21 - 2021

SALT LAKE CITY — Motivated to come forward after Paris Hilton’s allegations of abuse at a Provo center for troubled teens, a Colorado woman is suing a different Utah program.

Turn-About Ranch in Escalante punished Hannah Archuleta after she reported sexual assaults by an employee, she alleges in her lawsuit filed Wednesday in Garfield County’s 6th District Court.

Archuleta joins Hilton and several others now advocating for better state oversight of the centers where they say employees victimized them, but they couldn’t get help because they didn’t have access to the outside world.

“There appears to be a major problem in Utah,” Archuleta’s attorney, Gloria Allred, said in reference to the residential rehab facilities for teens.

Turn-About Executive Director Michelle Lindsay did not immediately return a phone message left Wednesday for comment.

Archuleta said she was inspired by Hilton to come forward. She and Allred urged Utah lawmakers to pass the same bill Hilton endorsed earlier this month in at-times tearful testimony at the state Capitol.

“I am here today to spread the message to every parent in America: Do not send your children to these places or endorse them,” Archuleta said.

SB127, which awaits a vote in the House, would require the treatment centers to submit monthly reports to the Utah Office of Licensing, among other changes.

Archuleta alleges she was whisked to the ranch in southern Utah in 2019 when she was 17, just after appearing on a TV segment of “Dr. Phil.” He’s a proponent of Turn-About who recommended the program to her family, the lawsuit says.

At the time, Archuleta had recently learned her mother was terminally ill with liver failure, she said Wednesday.

She says she was too scared to tell anyone the first time the man groped her in a kitchen about a week and a half after she arrived.

But after the same employee “aggressively” and inappropriately touched her in late November or early December 2019 while she was retrieving a dish from a cabinet, Archuleta told three female employees about the incident. She was told to write a detailed letter describing the assaults, according to the lawsuit.

She provided the letter to someone in management that described what happened, but claims in the lawsuit that the man she identified as her aggressor didn’t face meaningful discipline and the ranch didn’t notify police.

Rather, its staffers forced her to sleep on a wooden plank with no pillow, verbally abused her, threatened violence and forced her to work outside in below-freezing temperatures, the lawsuit says.

She claims she was denied access to the bathroom and was assigned her “reflection” time, which consisted of picking up horse manure, walking in circles around a horse corral for hours, or staying at a desk facing a wall for hours.

One employee, a “residential coach,” accused Archuleta of lying “because you’re crying so much” and “only liars cry,” the suit says.

After writing home to describe the abuse, her father, Tony Archuleta, retrieved her from the ranch in December 2019. Although he filed a report with the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, the case isn’t moving forward, he said.

“I had sent her there because I was told she would receive the education and therapy that would help her,” he said.

The man remained at work and had one-on-one interactions with other girls, despite another also reporting that he sexually assaulted her, Archuleta alleges in the suit.

She’s suing for negligent hiring and supervision, assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and she’s seeking damages to be awarded at trial.

The ranch is facing an earlier lawsuit from the widow of a counselor who was beaten to death by a teenager who was suicidal and addicted to drugs in 2016. The suit alleges the ranch wasn’t equipped to handle someone with those issues.

I wish I could rate this place ZERO! I was sent here by my therapist and school because I was TERRIFIED to go to school after a girl that I thought was my friend brought a knife to school and threatened to kill me.
So they had a meeting and decided I needed bootcamp since I was terrified to go to school. This was absolutely the WORST experience of MY LIFE! I was yelled at, cused at, kicked, pushed, made to go out in the freezing cold in January with no shoes, socks, coat or hat on, to do "Cal's" because we didn't say goodnight to the corrections officer.
I got so sick after I left that HELL, I was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia for almost 2 weeks!
Parents please for the love of God don't ever send your kids here! Look into other places, but don't ever send them here. I wanted to die the whole time I was there, and I didn't even belong there, I should've NEVER been sent there in the first place, so please don't put your kids through the same hell I had to endure!

Do not send your child here unless you want to mentally destroy them and forever scar them. Most people here reviewing five stars are people who worked there and niéve parents who think this worked and fixed their children for them. These people degrade you and make you feel worthless and you carry that as a weight on your shoulder for the rest of your life. I was a young, beautiful girl and now I am depressed and burdened. They made us do things that were frankly unsanitary. We were forced to roll in mud and then not allowed to change our clothes and had to sleep in them. On the final day we were "granted" our one and only two minute shower under freezing water whereby all ten of us girls were forced to get naked and stand on a tarp waiting our turn. I don't know when the last time it was legal to force ten minors to get naked and stand on a tarp, but it certainly wasn't in 2016! I don't know how one could possibly fathom that you can send your child somewhere for 46 hours and think that they're going to come back a new person, almost as if they're just going to give you a different child, not your own. If you think your child is having issues you as a parent need to step up to your parental duties and speak to your child, not ditch them on someone else and expect them to fix it, it will just create a further divide between you and your child. Everything in my life has lost absolute feeling to it and I frankly care about absolutely nothing. I don't hate my parents for doing this to me, not the first time they've tried to ditch their problems with me on someone else.

It's been 3 years and I wake up after having dreams of the inhumane, brutal, and insane memories of the actions put upon me at this camp. There are nights I am still traumatized of the three hours of sleep while being woken up by screams. There are times when I am reminded by the entrance and the way the workers introduce my self. They are intimidating and evil. Though some teens are troubled, they need help. But not the help where their life's are altered and they are forever, emotionally terrified. A teen should not act a certain way out of fear of anything. Waking up in the middle of the night remembering such a place is not the way I wanted to assure that I always behaved. No matter how troubled your teen is, I encourage you, with a full heart, to choose better and wiser options. You do not want your child to spend their years sufferening from the PTSD Midcourse Correction makes them leave with. The teens who walk out the door are changed only in one way. They will never sleep the same. They will always and only have the traumatic memories that Midcourse Correction forces them to carry around for years and years on end. Thank you .

My experience was very traumatic. To this day i am still struggling to cope with the PTSD this camp gave me. I’ve been through a number of different places that help me get reduce this trauma, but so far none of them have worked. I don’t think it is possible to get rid of the trauma from this camp, which is why I would never consider sending your child here. This trauma affects my everyday life and everything I do- all I get is flashbacks. No more good grades, no boyfriends, just flashbacks. I’ve never experienced something worse in my life.

My 15 year old sister went to the Otisville location this past weekend. We were called from the camp on Sunday morning at 7 to let us know she was vomiting blood and that we should probably come get her. They did not allow her to take a drink of water or anything. We proceeded to take her to the hospital, she was swollen from head to toe could not walk because her joints were so swollen. The doctors are saying that this happened in the span of TWO days of intense shock to her body. I know it was our choice to send her here but we thought they would teach her how to handle her anger, not to put her straight to the hospital...she will never be going back there, and you can bet I will do everything I can to let others know they are not what they say they are.

READ FIRST !!!! Hi my name is Jack and I went to bed course when I was only 15. you guys want an honest review I'm not going to give you some saying it was great were everything to give me the full on Spectrum. To understand why I went there I was actually pretty good it's just I just use tobacco  and Mild disrespect.  which I wouldn't think it's that bad.
Mid-course Corrections is basically a legal way to abuse your child your kid will get hurt and some way if that guy broke his arm there and had to be sent home I see with my own eyes. your kid will get mentally scarred and verbally abused and physically abused if you want your child to get hurt abused have nightmares after 2 weeks after it then I think it's a great place to send them I'm being sarcastic you don't want your kid to be hurt abused or any kind of discomfort you go to bed at 2 a.m. and wake up at 4:30 I mean seriously .Sleep deprivation and constant pain I was sore  so bad took me a week to recover I couldn't even stand up out of my chair after it I had to get assistance with my parents just to get out of my chair. if you love your child and you want your child back get a psychologist to help them understand why are they doing that instead of yelling at them it's a lot cheaper. If your child has to get sent back there they have to wear a backpack full of lead it's at least 50 lb I never wore the backpack but this one kid had it was sleep with it and go wherever he went I feel bad I feel so bad for him.
in conclusion don't send your kid here if you wanted to get hurt cuz they will get hurt

i went here back in december and i still struggle with depression and ptsd from it. you go to bed at 2:30 and wake up at 4:30 and barely get to eat. you don’t get to change your clothes the whole time and now i don’t ever wanna do hard work again bc of the mental abuse i went through. if your a parent reading this DONT SEND YOUR KIDS HERE PLEASE.

• Pilgrims Rest Boarding School for Troubled Youth?? Help please, concerned a kid is being sent to a bad place (Reddit Troubled Teens)
• Pilgrims Rest Boarding School for Troubled Youth?? Help please, concerned a kid is being sent to a bad place (Reddit r/Louisville)

17-year-old Canyon State Academy student dies after being found unresponsive
Arizona Republic, by Chelsea Curtis, January 23 - 2020

A 17-year-old student at Canyon State Academy died Tuesday after he was found unresponsive, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said Thursday.

The teenager was found unresponsive about 11:30 p.m. when emergency personal responded to the academy at 20061 E. Rittenhouse Road in Queen Creek, the sheriff's office said.

He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the sheriff's office. His name was not released.

Details about the events leading up to the teenager's death were not provided by the sheriff's office.

His cause of death has not yet been determined by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office and the investigation is ongoing.

For more stories that matter, subscribe to azcentral.com.

A spokesperson for the academy did not immediately respond to The Arizona Republic's requests for comment.

Canyon State Academy was founded in 1948 for at-risk children and adolescents, according to the academy's website. It has a residential program with academic, career and technical training, athletics and more.

It is now operated by Rite of Passage, which is a national provider of therapeutic and educational programs for youth, the website states.

The academy was previously called the Arizona Boys Ranch before it was changed to Canyon State Academy in April 2000, the Republic reported.

The change was meant to signify a fresh start for the organization after years of scrutiny after the death of Nicholaus Contreraz, a 16-year-old boy who collapsed while being punished in May 1998.

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Stay clear. This place is nothing close to what the website presents. Communication is horrible, staff ratios are low, therapeutic approach shifted with the wind during the two months my son attended and was never clearly defined. Emotional & physical safety are not a priority. Boundaries are loosely enforced (at best). Weekend activities include an hour or two of rec time and a bunch of sitting around. Promises are made to the boys and never followed through, with no explanations. Academically the teachers don't communicate and when pushed provide only bear bones feedback. After endless complaining the food did improve over the Fall but the amount of sugar and processed foods provided showed the level of disregard to overall health and wellness. My son made amazing progress at Wilderness and Ashcreek not only failed to build and leverage that growth but set him back. Fortunately we pulled him from the program and he is now thriving in a new environment.

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Ashcreek Ranch Academy is truly the worst experience of my 17 years on this planet. Worse than when I was bullied and suicidal, worse than when I wasn't allowed in my own home because my family was afraid of me. It is run by greedy power-hungry pigs absorbed in their own wealth. Darren Prince is NOTHING but a good salesman. He manipulates any parent that takes a tour of ARA. The amount of lies that are told by the administration is repulsive and shameful. I was bullied while at Ashcreek by students AND staff. I admit that I did feed the fire at some points. But when a group of students urinated on my bed and clothes the staff did nothing to find out who it was or punish them. I have been verbally abused at times and berated by staff. There have been times where staff have restrained me and used excessive force when none was necessary. Those times remind me of the videos where a police officer shoots someone because he was "resisting" when the suspect was not, the officer was looking for an excuse to use that force. The staff are highly unprofessional, I have personally heard a 21 year old staff make sexual remarks about a students 15 year old sister. This same man also sexually harassed female staff and glorified drugs and sex. He has said that he wanted to hit his wife and talked about his sexual encounters with her. I strongly encourage parents to find another program. Your son will be emotionally traumatized and will NOT make therapeutic progress. I have seen many kids leave or graduate this place and only know of two that are sober. Parents, when you talk to a student of Ashcreek and they say positives about the program that is because they a scared of the consequences of saying negative things. There have been staff that would intentionally humiliate students. I was forced against a wall and made to stand nose to the corner because I didn't want to vacuum. The program is built upon a mountain of lies. Darren Prince constantly tells us and parents about projects that will be finished with in a month, and they never get finished. For example, the transitional living home, we were supposed to have kids living there in mid February, but that never happened. There are numerous examples of discrimination of students, or rude comments made about a student's sexual orientation or race. The residential director, Dave Saldana, has made derogatory comments about gay students, calling them sexual predators. I asked Dave if a student with a turban would be allowed to wear it inside, and Dave responded by saying "Hell no! I wouldn't even let and of them in here! Freaking terrorists!" I was being questioned by Dave Saldana at one point about personal stuff. He asked a question I was not comfortable answering, so I told him "I don't have to tell you that, you're not my therapist." He promptly escorted me to the basement and forced me to sit in a chair and stare at a wall for about 2 hours while he used his iPad. This program emotionally traumatized me and did not help. When I was pulled I told my parents about the injustice and they were enraged. Ashcreek will milk every penny they can out of you, the parent. They will lie to you about your son's progress and tell you he needs to stay longer. Parents, I STRONGLY encourage you to find another program, I do believe treatment can help, but I don't believe Ashcreek is the right place for anybody. Please email me if you have any more questions about the multitudes of injustices Ashcreek does.

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DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILDREN TO ASHCREEK RANCH ACADEMY.

I had a 2 month stay at ARA (May-June 2015) and it was the absolute worst period of my life. I was pulled from the program by my parents because I was being discriminated upon for my sexuality, not by students, but surprisingly by STAFF.
Please note that the majority of the staff at ARA are Mormon (nothing is wrong with that) but they push their beliefs on the students.

In my 2 month stay, I observed horrific things.

• staff broke a kid's wrist while restraining him (when the kid was NOT fighting against the restraint).The issue was put down-low and no staff were fired or suspended for any time.
• Horse mistreatment/cruelty
• Ranch staff aggressively hitting, kicking, elbowing horses when the horses were of no harm. Horses are never cleaned, brushed, washed, etc.
  
• Staff cussing at students.
• I was personally called a dumb-ass several times by staff at the ranch. I also heard terrible vulgar words being thrown at students in the house by house staff.
• When ARA was being visited, the staff forced all of us students to pretend to be happy and go out and do activities around the house to make the program look good.
• I was told by many staff of ARA that my sexuality was wrong and I should not be who I am. I was laughed at, joked about, and yelled at by staff.
• Staff teaching about natural psychedelic plants around the house which resulted in an epidemic of several students taking the plants and getting high off of them to a very dangerous extent. The natural psychedelic plant was poisonous to the liver.
• Staff taking belongings from students and hiding them away and never giving them back such as shoes, clothing, books, etc.
• All food is from the freezer (completely unhealthy)
• Staff yelling at students harshly which creates a negative vibe around the house

All students at ARA are miserable. When I was there, the only thing that got us all through the program was each other. The staff were terrible to us so we ONLY had each other.

ARA was a horrible and awful experience for me. After being transported out of ARA, I was put in a treatment program in Puerto Rico called Surfhouse, where I am doing great and have created a better relationships my family and friends and my life is headed in the right direction.

Don't make a mistake and send your child to ARA. Your family and your son deserve much better.

Best wishes to all of you on your journey.

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I am a former student of ashcreek. I first came there in the beginning of 2013 and was there for 15 months. I hated it, and I loved it. But as far as treatment, I learned most of my knowledge of drugs just living there. I was sent for a minor drug issue and walked away from there with the mind of a pharmacist. Upon graduation, I did not go directly home and instead attended school at the local high school and lived with associates of Ashcreek. After another year of living a semi free life in the local town, I returned back to my hometown. After being gone for 3-4 years, I basically had to jump back into normal life, without warning, resulting in a methamphetamine addiction along side with other "hard" drugs that I had never used prior to Ashcreek. I will say that I graduated the program, and learned a lot about horses. But where has it left me? A high school drop out and Junkie? You know it! Just some advise to parents who want to send their kids to a residential home, UNLESS you're kid is so messed up that his life is in danger, don't. Because you might end up turning your kid into the 100lb tweaker on "COPS." ID SUGGEST A PARENT SHOULD SEE A THERAPIST OFFICE before casting their kid out to some program for a year against their will. That causes more damage than good. I have used a different name to conceal my identity due in part because of my drug addiction. I never would have expected to be doing crystal meth and cocaine in high school, therefore, the 7steps had failed and I can't think of any other student besides one who is sober. Kudos to the one, but the rest of us never benefitted from it.

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My name is Noah Seri.I am on my step brothers account. I just recently came home from a ten month stay at Ash creek. I have a lot to say about this place and the people who run it. First of all, I personally think Tammy Prince (aka Tammy Berhmann) and Darren Prince, the owners of the program, are manipulative, consumed in their own wealth, and deceitful to parents looking to send their kid to ash creek. I saw Darren come in and give tours all the time, making sure to choose the most well behaved students to come and glorify the program. The teachers every time would come and play like puppets when darren was giving tours. The only relationship i have seen Darren build with a student is one where he was taking him to LDS church services every sunday. I witnessed numerous accounts of misconduct during my time at Ash creek. A restraint that resulted in some sort of wrist injury ( the student had a cast for a few weeks), insensitive and religiously biased comments in group therapy about a homosexual student. There was nothing derogatory said, however the program director at the time said that he " didnt agree with the choice to be gay" . He emphasized several times that he believed it was a choice. I personally was shoved into a window by an employee at the ranch, and the glass broke. He did this in reaction to me shoving him in the shoulder ( i meant it playfully, however it was not appropriate on my end) . The staff was put on suspension, came back two weeks later and then left a few months after that and no longer works there. One of Ash creeks policy is that if a student is refusing to do something they are to be restrained physically by bending the wrist, even if that student was not in physical danger to himself or others. Garth Lasater, the clinical director, is a great man who invests personally in each student. He was always kind, proffesional, and respectful. Dave Saldana, the residential director, is also a very open minded man who supports and cares for every kid. Garth actually bought me a pair of sneakers because mine were in poor condition. Another thing is that the food is mostly frozen stuff warmed in an oven by our cook. At one time we were having frozen corn dogs once a week, we still have frozen orange chicken and rice every thursday (as of one week ago when i was there), and little ceasars pizza every friday. The lunch is usually cooked and of higher quality, except for fridays when we ate leftovers in the fridge for lunch. If you are considering sending your kid to ash creek, please be mindful of Darrens intentions, him being the owner of the program. Really investigate if this is the right place for your son. Ive seen this program send many kids home that seem improved, however they boast about their "success rate", which is based off of how many kids graduate the program, not off of their home behavior. I personally know many kids who are home from ash creek who still display similar behaviors, but that being said i think ash creek does teach a lot of good lessons about becoming a man, being less entitled, self sufficient, respectful, and taking accountability for their actions. Unfortunately, i cant say the program itself takes accountability for THEIR actions. I had a lot of struggles at ash creek and that was not the fault at ash creek at all. I relapsed several times and only made it to level 2 in their program. I have been home over a week, i have applied for 3 jobs, i have been attending school every day, communicating well with my family, and i havent touched drugs or cigarettes. Please listen to your kid about what is going on if they are at ash creek, or any other treatment center, and do them the favor of really looking into the place before you send them there. I will say that i have seen ash creek academy attempt to improve as a program. PS: i forgot to mention the academic portion of the program. I passed 9th grade with As and Bs there on time for when i was leaving. How far you progress iin your credits depends on how hard you work. I liked the way the school was run

I went here for about six months, and while I don't think it was as bad as some of the other reviews here say, it was still pretty bad. For one, before I went there I had never done drugs, never drank, never partied, but when I came back I felt the strongest urge to get into this stuff. I learned about piercings, tattoos, parties, alcohol, and all this other stuff I didn't really know about and being so restrained it seemed so fun! The turn over rate is very low, most girls can take 2+ years to graduate. Nobody had graduated in over a year when I was there Jan-Jul 2014. Most girls either "age out(turn 18, like I did)", or they get pulled out by their parents for whatever reason. Most girls parents don't let them go home when they turn 18, but my mom did because she had been planning on pulling me out soon anyways because she didn't like how regulated and censored the communication between us was, mostly letters.

The staff are pretty nice, but there is definite favoritism. I've talked to a lot of girls who went there, and the few of them who I've met said they had to kiss major butt to get anywhere. I was only comfortable actually talking to only 2 or 3 of the staff there, many of them are just either awkward or tend to make me feel like what I was saying was wrong. Now, maybe that was the case, but I thought they were supposed to help me open up and learn to see my mistakes instead of making me feel shut down and guilty. All I know is that I had a lot more self confidence going in than I did coming out.

Another thing was the horses. I LOVED the horses. One of the main reasons my mom said she sent me here was because she was really excited about the horses, but unless you are on horse chore you don't get to see or interact with them very often. You go riding maybe once every few weeks if you're lucky, though sometimes at random you'll go like three times in two weeks then not go again for a month. Not sure how that system works, but my mom wasn't very happy with it and neither was I.

The therapy was alright, I loved Bernadette! She made me feel like a normal person and a lot less guilty. Not everything bad is my fault, turns out! The staff though is a bit harsh. I know the point of the place is "tough love", but there's a point where it can go a bit overboard. You can try as hard as you can but it still will not be good enough, unless you meet these standards you feel awful about yourself. I did learn a lot, but I think the "trauma" kind of negated most of it. I have nightmares about the place and I wasn't even there that long compared to most. I was pretty well behaved, so I didn't get in too much trouble, but the punishments for things are very unbalanced. Once a girl freaked out and made us all leave the cabin and she just didn't get dinner, while once I accidentally ordered an extra box of soap and got a hill run. I understand that people need different punishments, but good golly. Some girls would act completely awful and so the staff would coddle them, while some of us got completely ignored. Now this is how I saw it. I don't know the whole story, but all I know is that it made me feel very insignificant and frustrated.

The religion was also kind of shoved down your throat. I am a christian, not catholic, but I still got shut down when I tried to give my opinion during group discussions. If they didn't agree with you, you were wrong. Another thing about the "group therapy", I didn't even know that was supposed to be "therapy". Most of the time we watch videos about a saint or how to react in different situations(videos that were made in the 80's may I add). Those videos are hilarious and none of us take them seriously, they are just too dang corny. They call it "group therapy", but its more just something to keep us occupied for an hour or two.

Now, in my opinion, if your daughter is close to turning 18, has never drank, partied, or done drugs, isn't very religious, or anything like that, this isnt the place. I cant speak for others, but when I came out I think I was worse than when I went. Also if you actually want her to graduate expect her to be there for at least two years. I did learn some stuff though, like that you can put anything on a tortilla! Also patience and people skills because the girls there can be nuts. I love them though and I can't wait until they get out so I can talk to them without being constantly monitored. So anywho, yep. That's my opinion.

I was sent to Trinity in October of 2011 and graduated the program in July of 2013. My struggles were with anxiety and depression primarily, as well as some behavioral issues. I won't downplay that I was having some very serious problems, but Trinity was NOT the solution. Trinity is a catholic based treatment center that uses a mixture of strict discipline and once a week therapy. Some of the "discipline" includes humiliating and degrading "challenges." For example, The Chair. The Chair is simple, you sit on a chair in the corner facing a wall for a minimum of two weeks without speaking to anyone, participating in any activities, or having any form of entertainment other than 3 hours of online classes a day. If you broke any of the chair rules, the punishment would be to eat a bowl of kidney beans and olives instead of a regular meal.
I got very behind in my school work at Trinity Teen Solutions, as did many of the other girls. Which is ironic, because we did school work 12 months out of the year, six days a week. We participated in online school, which served as a very poor education for two years. I had no physical teacher for TWO YEARS. When I finished my time at TTS, I struggled immensely during my last year of high school due to the poor education I received.
I could go on and on about the various things that I experienced at Trinity, but suffice it to say that I'm 23 years old and I still struggle with the memories that I have of this place, and I feel that if I spend too long ruminating over it, I'll end up in a very dark place. I have been diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which was something that I never struggled with before TTS. While I do understand that one needs a predisposition to exhibit this behavior, the expectation of perfection that was perpetuated at Trinity is what caused these symptoms to develop in me. I had to mentally ritualize in order to feel safe. In one particular instance while I was being assessed for their bi-weekly "Holy Cowgirl" assessments, I was so overcome with anxiety that I ended up vomiting.
Being there for so long, I obviously had a mixture of positive and negative experiences. In a way, I was forced to develop a positive attitude, because fighting the system would have gotten me no where. I feel that this review would be dishonest if I didn't at least mention some of the things that made my Wyoming experience more tolerable.
1. My therapist J.D. Although JD no longer works for TTS
2. The Animals
3. It is pretty there
4. We weren't allowed to be friends with the other patients while we were there, but afterwards I talked to these people over social media and have made some really great friendships
I felt that I did what I had to in order to survive this place. I became a different person while I was there, but not in a way that I liked. I hated the person that Trinity turned me into. And when I look back on my teenage self, I try to have some compassion for that girl, because I was doing the best that I could at that time. I needed to please the powers that be, we were constantly reminded that if we didn't behave and change, that we would be held there indefinitely. Before Trinity, I was very passionate about art and drawing, but that was stomped out of me. I was only allowed to draw on some Sundays, and given punishment if I was caught doodling during the week. None of our notebooks were private, so if I did doodle, I would inevitably be caught. So I had to stop. I only draw rarely these days out of some subconscious fear of wrongdoing or punishment. It just doesn't feel safe to me (OCD).
I supposed that I should mention the outcome. Trinity is a very controlled environment, you are not in any way exposed to the real world. We aren't even allowed to talk about our lives pre-TTS, not even in a therapy group. After Trinity, my relationship with my family was more broken than it was before. I had only seen my parents four times in my two years there. My former friends had moved on with their lives, and I've had a great deal of trouble establishing meaningful relationships with anyone. I was told to lie to people at school about where I was. So, within weeks, I had turned to alcohol. I've been struggling with alcoholism for the last five years. Again, I don't entirely blame Trinity for this, but they claim a high success rate, which is simply not true. I'm not sure how they are measuring their idea of a success rate, to be quite honest. I'm doing better now, I sought treatment as an adult at facilities that had a proper understanding of my mental illnesses and addictions, and were able to effectively treat these things. I am doing better now, it is in spite of Trinity Teen Solutions, not because of it.

PARENTS MUST READ***
When I was sent to this place in 2005 I was terrified, dressed in rags, and broke my back as I exceeded the child labor laws times a million daily. Not saying it was a total negative experience, although most of it was due to MOST of the people running the program. I was there for about 8 months and I had only gotten 2 school credits (this is a fact). Kids and teens get hungry because they are constantly growing; my point is that the girls do not have access to the kitchen so if we are laboring in the heat or the freezing cold we only have water no Gatorade no gronola bars nothing to feed our energy, so now this is why some girls "steal" food (if you even want to call it that since the parents are paying the program more than enough money to feed an army, I shot you not) so anyways when they would do that they would give them ridiculous punishments, such as eating cold oatmeal for all 3 meals for 3 days in a row, yuk. There were all kinds of crazy stuff they did. I personally was told that I had to tie myself to this other girl with a rope and we had to be tied together with a rope connected to our belt loops all day long until bedtime. This went on for 5 months. Then at one time, I had to care for that Saint Bernard dog you see in the pictures, only when bedtime came along I was not allowed to sleep in my bed, they made me sleep on the floor with the dog without a pillow or a blanket. I did not get the sleep I needed during that time and I still had to labor all day, that is if I wanted to eat real food. They ALWAYS use food as a punishment even though it says right there in the cowgirl manual that they will NOT use food as a punishment. These people like to contradict themselves, and if you think for one minute that Angie and Jerry (the owners) don't know what's going on think again because they do know and they don't care. I was upset one night and so I just started running down the dirt road, they came after me in the truck and slammed me down On The ground. Now after this happens the staff preceded to tie up my entire body in a thick heavy rope and threw me in the back of the truck and drove back up to the cabins. I didn't know what the hell was going on and then I over heard them talking about locking me in the shed and they didn't do that because there were nails sticking out of the walls and so they thought I was going to kill myself ( and that's something I would never do, I was simply PISSED) but can you blame me? First of all I already had been traumatized before I went to this place and they just made things worse for me. I'll tell you all something, ANYBODY can go and get a job that's meant for helping people, just to go for the money, and OR to make others miserable because they are miserable. There are a lot of crooked COPS, and many other titles. I really hope I can get through to many parents out there. One more memory is about this thing they put us through called "Pig Shifts" which means; after the mother pig gives birth, the girls are paired up and every pair has a set time each day or night or early AM to watch the piglets to make sure the momma does not crush them. Each shift would run 3 hours at a time. My pig shift was from 2am to 5am mind you that us two girls had to walk across a huge field about a mile and a half long in the middle of the night in the pitch dark knowing that a mountain lion was spotted by the neighbor, and we heard this from staff. Now we were not allowed to go to sleep until 9:30pm each night we had the option to stay up a little later but I was always so exhausted I had wished I could have gone to sleep earlier, especially with pig shifts and then laboring all day. One more thing I forgot to mention is that they like to make us run everywhere on top of the pig shifts, the daily labor, and the lack of nutrition. Another important memory I must share; we went hiking in the mountains (very beautiful) anyways, once we had gotten to Deep lake we were to put our food up into the trees before we would camp for the night as there are REAL BEARS where they bring the girls. So I had put my food in the sack to go up into the tree and we were about to go to sleep and I had forgotten that I had a small Gatorade packet in my pocket ( yes the one time we actually got this type on stuff on hiking trips) so I was worried because I didn't want to get eaten by a bear so I told staff right away and it was a simple mistake but they got mad at me, so then I went to burry it away from the campsite to be safe. Then the next morning because of what happened with me and that Gatorade packet the night before the staff refused to let any of us eat breakfast, and this was the day after a very long and strenuous hike. Thank you God Bless