A kid was put in isolation for about 4 weeks before being moved to a different treatment center. At Discovery Ranch for Boys, we hold ourselves to the highest professional standards. Discovery Ranch is accredited by the, Northwest Association of Accredited Schools (NAAS), , but it is important to note that neither the United States Department of Education nor the Council for Higher Education Accreditation recognizes NAAS as an accrediting agency for institutions of higher education. You can find much better treatment for a better price. The representative will help connect you with resources that can help your family--even if that help is not from us. There are over 600 people in 2 different groups put together, and we are all in contact with many kids that just left. If Im in the car with someone and they make a wrong turn or something I will flip out and start having a panic attack because all I can think about it oh my god where are they taking me theyre locking me up again. They dont let parents talk freely to their own child. Its sick and I hope in the future these places will be illegal and I will NEVER send my kids to one of these places. Parents have no clue what they are getting themselves into by sending their children there. He will receive consistent feedback. I would estimate their rate of rehabilitation around 20%. First, let me begin by stating that sending your kid anywhere is a traumatic experience they will have for the rest of their life. Please reach out to me for questions, I will do my best to educate you on what is happening and get you current information. . (only the higher rank kids would be allowed to do this). discovery ranch lawsuit. At one point during my stay, I saw my friend stab his arm repeatedly with a pencil, spraying blood all over me and the windowsill we were sitting on. If you are LGBTQ and need support, call the Trevor Project Hotline 1-866-488-7386, If you are having suicidal thoughts, call toll free 1-800-273-8255 or text HOME to 741741, If you are a child being abused or know of a child being abused call toll free 1-800-422-4453. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in 6th District Court on behalf of Brenda Woolsey, claims Clay Brewer, then 17, should have never been at Turn-About Ranch on Dec. 6, 2016, when he woke up "feeling. In comparison, most of the other residents had serious drug problems, were in gangs, were extremely violent, etc. Once a lawsuit gets underway, parties to the lawsuit or their lawyers start gathering information related to the lawsuit. I was forced to do the most humiliating and degrading things possibly conceivable; I was forced to eat a girls used tampon, lick cow shit off a girls boots, unclog a toilet with my bare hands adult male staff would masturbate to me showering, changing, and using the toilet while masturbating (keep in mind I was 15. They dont give the children any hope of getting out whatsoever. The boat bought with funds by Discovery Ranch was not once used for the kids, the owners just use it for personal use. Parents have no clue what they are getting themselves into by sending their children there. This is not just a couple of resentful people. This place did not save my life it scared me to have problems. , I attended Discovery Ranch 5 years ago when I was 15 years old. Until now I had remembered my experience there as a happy one- I literally only remembered what went on during the day. The Clinical, Academic, Residential, and Experiential departments all work together. My mind sometimes uncontrollably cradles and turns to static when I hear the same radio noise as the staff used at DR. I had never done drugs, drank, or even smoked a cigarette at this point in my life. They strip you of everything, even contact with your own parents, and dangle it in front of you as motivation to do/act how they want. When you try to induct real truths into the once a week, 1/2 hour, monitored phone call, the therapist redirects you to la la land. Their motto is apparently Strength in the Struggle. I would estimate their rate of rehabilitation around 20%. They would restrain kids to the point the kids arm was almost broken. Listen to your child, what do they think they need? Seek other avenues for your child. , This is the worst place to send your child. The average stay is OVER a year not under like they love to say. Isnt that tax evasion? For a year I was put down and felt stupid and inadequate and my opinion didnt matter and if I decided to express it I would be put on some protocol that restricted me from doing anything but sitting at a fucking desk and staring at the god damn wall. There are over 600 people in 2 different groups put together, and we are all in contact with many kids that just left. Also MAY I NOTE THAT THEY ARE SO DESPERATE THAT THEY NEED THEIR OWN STAFF MEMEBERS TO WRITE REVIEWS. While at Discovery Ranch, your son will participate in a variety of outdoor activities. I can still hear the screams of kids being restrained and having their arms pinned behind them and blood flow cut off because they didnt follow simple orders. ! Jack (Yelp), 5/28/2020: (SIBLING) A family member of mine attended this school so everything I have heard is 2nd hand. Its not just the kids too, sometimes there are good staff, but whenever there is that person never lasts long at all, they all literally quit because this place is so horrible. Staff refusing to let kid use the bathroom, and making him pee/poop himself. I am not the only victim. We would act like we loved the treatment center, and that there wasnt any abuse going on. Any minor infraction is punished severely. I suggest seeking different options for your child. Therapy was more like brainwashing than therapy. Your teen is struggling. If Im in the car with someone and they make a wrong turn or something I will flip out and start having a panic attack because all I can think about it oh my god where are they taking me theyre locking me up again. In addition to taking part in the equine therapy and horsemanship programs, he will have access to the fully-equipped music studio. However, the abuse overshadowed it. Phil McGraw is wrapped up in a new scandal after sending multiple young guests to a treatment facility that has been accused of abuse. The main issue I have with this place is that it literally fucked up my education so bad that Im 17 and still in freshman English. I have constant dreams where bugs are crawling all over my skin and I wake up screaming from anxiety. Discovery ranch was hell on earth for me. Throughout your sons experience at Discovery Ranch he will have the support of caring, educated, experienced professionals. They do a terrific job at keeping kids quiet. When she was given her home visit, her mom took her to the doctor and was diagnosed, although we have tried to find the outcome of the lawsuit, none of us have been able to track her family down to share our sympathy). Discovery Ranch strives to heal your family as a whole. Throughout your sons experience at Discovery Ranch he will have the support of caring, educated. My son, although he enjoyed his stay, refused to be brainwashed, and therefore got nothing therapeutical out of his stay; only resentment and anger, and he gained knowledge how to manipulate therapists to his benefit. the licensed substance abuse counselor has obviously never touched a substance in her life. Discovery Ranch only wants to know and talk about their truth which is nothing close to reality. The program is located at 1308 South 1600 West, Mapleton, Utah 84664. At Discovery Ranch for Boys, all the professional departments work together. departments all work together. Caring, experienced professionals are ready to help your son. They often cause way more harm than good. NAAS is an organization that has accredited many notoriously abusive behavior-modification programs, including many WWASP programs. Although there are no support groups for people like us and since the program is so small & were from all over the country, it feels and looks very real that you may be alone, YOU ARE NOT. 10 Discovery Ranch for Girls reviews. The lawsuit was filed in Eaton County Circuit Court more than four months after Hultberg initially "asked the district to provide mask exemptions that had been approved," in a Sept. 7, 2021, FOIA . When I came back to real life I had forgotten how to smile and had to train myself to make facial expressions that corresponded to the emotions I should have felt in various circumstances. Are they just being a teenager? The chidren cant even have open discussions with other inmates there for fear of being punished and losing privileges. When I came back to real life I had forgotten how to smile and had to train myself to make facial expressions that corresponded to the emotions I should have felt in various circumstances. We had a close friend that took her life during our time there, we lost a friend to drug addiction that spiraled after leaving DR, and we had another friend who lost her life to cancer, which could have been detected in the earlier stages if DR didnt fail to seek proper medical attention (she was actually punished quite often for complaining about the pain and was either made to do hard manual labor or the staff would put her in isolation for days on end. They left me more broken than they found me. Jackson (Yelp), September 2020: (SURVIVOR) Please do not send your child to this horrific and abusive program. Please reach out to me for questions, I will do my best to educate you on what is happening and get you current information. Sanoy (Yelp), August 2020: (SURVIVOR) Kinda like a prison that just focuses on external behavior. They picked favorites and we were treated like garbage. I didnt ask to see that.. It is degrading and disrespectful and I will forever hate this program as they manipulate people into spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to not help there kids. If you have a child with attention deficit disorder do not send your son here BECAUSE it is like water boarding to have a kid sit in a room for 7 hours straight and have them study all day even though they are trying. They only allow astonishing ones to pass. I posted this exact review several times spacing itself out several months. Your child will be put in with kids that are older than their age group, that were in gangs, that are addicted to drugs, etc. Learn about discovery -- the legal procedures used to gather evidence for a lawsuit. dont do this to your child We are all begging you. Their website lists the following conditions the program claims to treat: various mental illnesses including anxiety, depression, mood disorders, ADHD, and oppositional defiance the last of which is no longer listed in the DSM substance abuse and other addictions, eating disorders [] learning disorders and nonverbal learning disability [] social struggles, low self-esteem, adoption/attachment issues, and grief and loss The unadvertised conditions that I witnessed among detainees included being LGBT, Internet addiction, and one girl in particular was sent there for having a black boyfriend. If anything, kids got worse from being here. He also worked for a time as the Director of NATSAP. Find out more about the assessment. And it wasn't just because he was suddenly a millionaire . (During my stay, a kid in a different house was repeatedly raped by another kid for days until he was caught.) Its funny, almost all of the kids that left as a level 5 or 4 ARE DOING DRUGS AND ARE DOING WORSE AT HOME, goes to show how little the program works.