Thousands of children are sent away to Utah for treatment at troubled-teen centers and wilderness programs. We are continuing to ask for your help. The amount of food we ate was larger than what I was used to and I was very small. Our daughter attended Moonridge Academy and graduated in 2022. Moonridge Academy believes that younger girls should be treated in a loving and nurturing setting that recognizes the unique age and maturity level of girls this age. Moonridge Academy has been a NATSAP member since 2012. I only actually rode a horse there maybe 4 times. She said sex abuse in group care settings is staggeringly high in both the United States and Canada. I remember crying a little while telling someone about how I felt once, and the next day, I learned I did not have free time because my daily grade had been too low from crying. They made me believe that I deserved all of this. So please for me and every other kid that was hurt by this place, never send your kids here . One girl tried running away and one of the staff members (a very large Samoan guy) sat on her for over an hour in the dirt. Teen vomited for days before dying of infection at Diamond I was not allowed to go to the bathroom without being watched. (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Teen treatment registry. Researchers must ask permission before submitting their surveys or interview requests. I still cannot trust myself. (BCS Database), HEAL Program Information - Moonridge Academy, State of Maine Investigation into Moonridge Academy (2/12/2007), Moonridge Academy Critical Incident Reports. He said they are working on setting up a phone so students can have immediate access to call authorities if they feel unsafe. This is not an exaggeration. 0:53. That information should be easy to get. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, Moonridge Academy (2003-present) Cedar City, UT, 9450 West 2400 South, Cedar City, UT 84721, State of Maine Investigation into Moonridge Academy, Must ask permission to enter/exit any room including bathroom, Must eat at least 50% of large portions or receive consequence, "Silence"/"No-Talk" where they are not allowed to speak to anybody. For Robert, a 24-year-old who grew up in Utah, it didnt register when he was young that what was happening to him at youth facilities was abuse. control - CERTS Group The next year, the facility nearly lost its license after state officials say Cedar Ridge managers knew of sexual abuse involving two boys but didnt report it. This is not an exaggeration. It was abusive, one 15-year-old girl told The Tribune. If I had not eaten that much, I would have been put on safety and a female staff member would have watched me in the bathroom for the next three days. Ross is 33 years old now. I was not allowed to go to the bathroom without being watched. The only good thing about this place is they dont have bars on the windows so you can smash them. The food they serve is fattening and unhealthy, and they force the girls to eat it. Have hated that song since. So it simply doesnt get reported by kids.. Reports can come from parents, former staff members and also directly from facilities, which are required to report any time a student is injured or seriously ill. It felt like a lie. One of the therapies they promoted was horseback riding. One girl almost died because she had anemia and was told she was faking it when she told staff she was sick. Some of these rules include: If residents break a rule, they are given a punishment. Sometimes his punishment would be sitting on the floor, legs crossed for hours. Communication with family is considered a privilege which must be earned by the teenager. No, she was not at risk of hitting someone, and no, she was not hurting herself. - Grace (BreakingCodeSilence), 6/20/2020: (SURVIVOR) "I went to Moonridge Academy and it was traumatizing. And when we finally come out and express what happened, no one believes us. They hang onto these kids much longer than they should to keep enrollment up. Students past traumas were used against them until they cried; they were then physically restrained. An investigation is underway after a possible incident between a worker and student at a school in Springfield Township. I was forced to eat until I threw up. TeenLife is passionate about teen success. They do not allow girls to explore their gender identity and if you happen to be trans they will either ignore it completely or try to convince you youre not. WebThere have also been reports made by survivors of sexual abuse occurring at the hands of RCA staff members. Facilities can apply for an exception. Read The Violation Reports And Inspections For Utahs - KUER I was once again demoted to level 1 and lost my privileges of privacy in the bathroom and social interaction for several weeks. The doctor told her she would have died if she had come in even half a day later. WebThere was strong evidence that Geary Oakes had sexually abused four boys on the campus located at the end of a remote road in rural Utah. I felt suffocated and trapped and hopeless. She only said she was worried I still felt that way. I threw up from eating too much. Together we can make a difference! Is any of this actually true? Private Schools in Cedar City These are lies. These notices are published on the states website, and facilities are required to inform their clients of the action and post it on their own website. Provo Canyon Schools boys campus had a rate of reported sex crimes that is 4.4 times higher than the average Utah facility, according to The Tribunes analysis. Family therapy usually meant I got blamed for everything that went wrong and my therapist nodded a bunch. The program is located at 9450 West 2400 South, Cedar City, UT 84721. Do yourself a favor. She was also restrained for saying she did not want to do a chore. At capacity, the treatment center can house nearly 50 students, but on a recent December day, 10 teenagers were staying there. Dominate search results. Communication with family is considered a privilege which must be earned by the teenager. Many of the girls there had severe mental illnesses (schizophrenia, bipolar, etc) and the staff were completely untrained in dealing with them. WebFBI cracks down on major ransomware gang. Just let her use the bathroom. They need deep treatment and staff and the counselors there, are not equipped to deliver what the girls need. As a result, Moonridge offers all of the clinical intensity of an outstanding residential treatment center (small clinical case loads, 2 individual therapy sessions weekly, weekly family therapy sessions via the telephone, deep family systems work, etc.) No, she was not at risk of hitting someone, and no, she was not hurting herself. He believes this was done to protect the facility. I would rather soil myself than be watched. Like other behavior-modification programs, Moonridge Academy uses a level system consisting of 6 levels. They will tell you all students pretend the program is abusive, they will tell you your kid will kill herself without Moonridge. We recommend that no parent send their child to a facility that is run by CERTS.. However that was just driving to Kolob Canyon (the equally bad sister school to Moonridge for older teen girls) and shoveling horse manure and moving hay bales for hours at a time. This level typically lasts 1-3 months. Based on their findings, the State of Maine decided that it would not pay for treatment at the facility. A team of journalists at The Salt Lake Tribune, KUER and APM Reports worked to bring you this database. It backfired, majorly. and our I was once again demoted to level 1 and lost my privileges of privacy in the bathroom and social interaction for several weeks. Moonridge Academy and the quality of its program. Youth should be believed about child sexual abuse, she said. The lawsuit states the boy had a propensity to engage in nonconsensual sexual activity, but the school put him in the same room with other boys anyway. Learn more about Birdeye, How to respond to negative reviews - business owners guide. A girl nearly died from neglect. I was there for a year and they constantly dropped me and others back to level one for simply stating our mind about the mistreatment/abuse. Moonridge Academy services younger teens who are struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma, attachment/adoption issues, emotional dysregulation, poor peer relationships, social withdrawal and school refusal. She did schoolwork in a different room, but she still ate meals with us. It is not considered a penalty. Indiana lawmakers are withdrawing a plan that would have given certain state contractors immunity from most lawsuits filed by abuse victims and their families. If I had not eaten that much, I would have been put on safety and a female staff member would have watched me in the bathroom for the next three days. as it creates an environment in which children are unable to report abuse and neglect. Students who come to Moonridge Academy are often beginning to experiment with high risk behaviors. She suggested lowering the number of kids in a facility, and increasing staff. After 2 months I can visit her any time and eventually take her for the wknd. Male staff members participated in female students strip searches. I was demoted from level 4 to level 1 for kissing another girl. If we didnt eat all of the food on our plates at every meal (which was mostly chunks of meat with large pieces of fat attached yes, we were forced to eat the fat too) we had to sign a food refusal form and lost privileges like free time and your weekly phone call. They would restrain us before accessing the situation and would use restraining as a punishment. As soon as I arrived, I was put on a cocktail of multiple medications at high dosages and because of this, there's full periods of time that I don't even remember. Utahs Office of Licensing inspects and regulates each facility, and sometimes finds neglect, child abuse or sexual misconduct. We were all given the same portion of food no matter if you were smaller or bigger, if you couldnt finish your plate they would give you a consequence (paper where you right how you were wrong)or drop your level. Corrective Action Plan (CAP): This requires facility administrators to submit a plan to correct the violations, and the Office of Licensing monitors. They used our coping skills as punishments. My friend was slapped across the face for not finishing her dinner. And her research has shown that the staff members in facilities often have their own history of traumatic events, which can affect their work. We recommend that no parent send their child to a facility that is run by CERTS., is the Executive Director of Moonridge Academy and, program. Other states have made similar databases public, but Utah requires people who want to see these records to pay for the cost of redacting private information, such as the names of children receiving treatment. Staff refuse to let students use the bathrooms until we peed our pants. I had to lie my way through the program because when I said I wanted to go to a different treatment center to get the help I needed, I was told I "wasn't progressing" and I was "making adults concerned". All he does is insist that you should never pull your daughter from the program before she graduates. That information should be easy to get. Those children that are being abused today, youre not going to hear from them until 10 to 15 years from now., Management at Provo Canyon School denies Ross allegation and told The Tribune in a statement that it considers his mischaracterizations to be detrimental to those seeking mental health care today.. Moonridge Academy states that it enrolls girls, including transgender girls, with a history of attachment issues, depression, anxiety, self-harm, school refusal, family conflict, sexual boundaries, computer addiction, attention issues and low-level substance abuse. These facilities have rules they are supposed to follow, such as having a staff ratio of one employee to every four kids. He was 13 years old then and kept getting into trouble. Safety is when you always have to stand next to a staff member and you are watched in the bathroom. 27 were here. The Salt Lake Tribune is making public thousands of inspections and critical incidents reports in this free, searchable database. (3) That any program that refers to troubled teens must be considered suspect. The Salt Lake Tribune) Cedar Ridge Academy has a new owner as of February and a new name as the Makana Leadership Academy, Dec. 16, 2020.

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