2023 Discovery Ranch Residential Treatment Center for Teen Boys |. I will never forgive Discovery Ranch for the damage they did to me, and the damage they continue to do to future generations. When Jack Stuef found a chest of gold and jewels in a Wyoming forest last year, he felt giddy. Sure, we said all the things our parents wanted to hear once we got out, it was certainly drilled into us every single day, but that faded into a deep anger/depression that raised months, sometimes even years later, & you find yourself in worse condition than you were before entering DR; battling a demon 98% of people will never know. Therapy was more like brainwashing than therapy. Countless amounts of times seeing staff restrain kids in inhumane ways. He previously worked at the confirmedly abusive, organization. They dont let parents talk freely to their own child. I had never done drugs, drank, or even smoked a cigarette at this point in my life. The average stay is OVER a year not under like they love to say. Teenagers can be punished for infractions as small as making an inappropriate facial expression, meaning they can be punished for crying or raising their eyebrows without permission. He will receive consistent feedback. These programs are money makers. They will dream about it years after, waking up in the middle of the night from nightmares about being back there. The protocols here suck, and do absolutely nothing in the way of help. 54A District Court 124 W. Michigan Ave., #54A Lansing, MI 48933 (517) 483-4433 Court Website. , family visits, and Parent Day Seminars. The trauma Ive witnessed, and seen other kids witness was unbearable. I will never forgive Discovery Ranch for the damage they did to me, and the damage they continue to do to future generations. Discovery Ranch is reported by many survivors to be an extremely abusive program. The last few years of my life have felt unreal, Ive had migraines with frustration wondering how places like this exist, and how theyve gotten away with so much deceit. The pain doesnt just stop, they dont forget what you did to them, regardless of your intentions. Brent Hall is reported by survivors to have run the facility. Discovery ranch was hell on earth for me. 8 9 comments Best Add a Comment dsholliday 7 yr. ago This website uses cookies and third party services. Discovery Ranch combines the power of traditional and experiential therapies to create a clinically sophisticated, relationship-based residential treatment center for boys ages 13-18. Even when I started feeling feelings again I realized on Wednesday that I had been experiencing emotions with maybe 50-75% of the intensity that I normally should, which was put into perspective when I finally accepted that these things truly happened to me and felt for the first time in my life the appropriate pain and humiliation that corresponds to being treated in such a way for such an extended period of time. You get used to the screaming and pleading for help, it becomes background noise. 0. ), I witnessed a 15 year old boy be sodomized by a broom handle and have the living shit beat out of him because he tried to run away and watched a girl punch a window and slit her wrists in front of me because she couldnt take it anymore. Staff care about one another and take a genuine interest in the girls. I have maintained very close friendships with a handful of other patients that were there during my time (for a wide range of different reasons) and we even make it appoint to see each other each year. If they mention these sorts of things to parents (over heavily monitored phone calls and letters in the mail), contact between student and parent would be cut off. Your attorney should explain each step, but here you can learn basics on Complaints, Answers, and other motions involved at the beginning of a lawsuit. These programs are money makers. The website is misleading. He also worked for a time as the Director of NATSAP. If you are at all struggling and/or would like to talk to someone who can relate, please do not hesitate to contact me through this post and Id be happy to exchange information so we can talk. The entire facility is designed to create a rich therapeutic and healing environment. Listen to your child, what do they think they need? Allegations of abuse that have been reported by survivors include malnutrition/food deprivation, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and solitary confinement used as punishment. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. It began with a lawsuit filed by Hannah Archuleta, who appeared on Dr. Phil in 2019 and then went to the Turn-About Ranch. Discovery Ranch a Utah corporation doing business as Discovery Ranch, Discovery Connections Attorney/Law Firm Details Plaintiff Attorneys Kathryn J. Steffey Attorney at SMITH HARTVIGSEN PLLC 257 E 200 S Ste 500 Salt Lake City, UT 84111 Clayton H. Preece Attorney at SMITH HARTVIGSEN PLLC 257 E 200 S Ste 500 Salt Lake City, UT 84111 Court Documents Its heart wrenching to see how many families were deeply financially destroyed as well as personal connections being permanently damaged. The civil lawsuit seeks a minimum of $350,000. Throughout your sons experience at Discovery Ranch he will have the support of caring, educated, experienced professionals. able to inform their parents of abuse, their parents are manipulated by DR into believing that their child is lying and being manipulative in an attempt to be pulled from the program. Staff members are chosen at random, as the turnover rate is insanely high. I felt like i somehow deserved to be treated like this and I think a part of me knew I could never stand living in the real world after all this happened. Also a staff there named Matt polson threatened to restrain me several times. 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. Discovery Ranch for Girls is a well run industry leader in residential treatment for adolescent girls. Staff unresponsive, administration unresponsive and kept to company line to detriment of my son. In fact, the administration at discovery ranch intentionally delayed my high school graduation by refuting me the right to do my classes in order to keep me there longer. 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. Before you would consider sending your son away, you need to know that he is going to a place you can trust. First, let me begin by stating that sending your kid anywhere is a traumatic experience they will have for the rest of their life. A court has maintained a number of claims the Granby Ranch Metropolitan District has made in a lawsuit against the owners of Granby Ranch. They are very abusive and they will lie to you. These experiences will teach your son values like Responsibility, Grit, Honesty, Respect, Courage, Kindness, and Accountability. Its heart wrenching to see how many families were deeply financially destroyed as well as personal connections being permanently damaged. Isnt that tax evasion? DR also advertises their calf program heavily, where each new resident is given a baby calf to care for and raise. Anyone is free to fact check this, and contact me with further questions [redacted]. You will also be able to observe your sons progress through our secure, password-protected parent portal. The moment I stepped foot on campus, I was treated like some sort of criminal. 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. The decision you make for your child will stay with them forever. Paris Hilton just came out with a documentary on her experience at another abusive program just down the street from DR. I was there almost ten years ago, and it feels like yesterday because of my PTSD. the villa pacific palisades, ca. In addition, your son will experience many opportunities to explore Utah. I would estimate their rate of rehabilitation around 20%. My brother was at the Ranch over a decade ago. John (Yelp), 10/28/2019: (SURVIVOR) There are plenty of articles that prove why Discovery Ranch is dangerous for the mental development of children. We all cope in our own ways, but if we can help by sharing our experiences and what we learned, theres not a single one of us that would turn down a younger DR peer that is currently battling our same battles. 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. Your Call is Confidential. Your job as parents is to help your child, you guys are the problem not your kids. My Mom says she wishes she had heard of that school at the time. Also they lie to the kids about the effects of marijuana, such as the claim that you can withdrawal from it, but I know that isnt true. I felt meaningless, worthless, like a pawn used to control my dads emotions, fishing out hundreds of thousands of dollars from him. They tear children apart, and they come out broken. The amounts of times I screamed out loud in physical/mental exhaustion from being undermined and unheard is uncountable. The amounts of times I screamed out loud in physical/mental exhaustion from being undermined and unheard is uncountable. Are they just being a teenager? My first treatment center was Redcliffe ascent, and I did really well there. My parents sent me there because I was depressed, doing poorly in school instead of getting straight As, got caught shoplifting a pack of gum from 7-11, spent too much time on the computer, and was too angry and defiant. We were treated like we were in prison, and if we stepped out of line, we had our privileges taken away. We found a traditional therapist that proved to be far more effective. We respect your privacy. But, the couple was later outspoken on social media about the extent to which they were helped by the Raney family. It is run like a prison. They love tossing kids emotional and mental state around for worse, or they will lie about problems that a kid doesnt have just to keep kids there longer.They will try to keep kids from telling you from what is really going on, the use their security measures as a punishment Instead of safety and they can, have, and will threaten kids. It is NOT your fault and youre NOT a lesser being despite what DR drilled into you. It brought everything back because I lived that experience, except for ten months and it was real. discovery ranch lawsuit. They often cause way more harm than good. There are over 600 people in 2 different groups put together, and we are all in contact with many kids that just left. And before you tell me that was a long time ago, I am a part of multiple survivor groups online for former students from DR and other abusive programs in Utah. Overpriced, over rateddo not send your child there if you care about them. However, in 2013 DR moved their girls program to Cedar City, UT and began makerting theis program as, member since 2005. And the horrible part? Every part of Discovery Ranch, from the amazing campus to the nationally accredited Academic Program, helps to promote growth and healing. They report that in January 2104, the boy was placed in a dorm at Discovery Ranch with three other boys, one who began grooming him and another resident for sexual victimization until he was violently sodomized. The attacker used threats of violence, coercion, guilt, and the merit system of Discovery Ranch to manipulate (the boy) to avoid reporting increasingly deviant sexual behaviors, including discussions about sex, pornography, masturbation, and sexual violence. According to the complaint, Discovery Ranchs merit system also prevented (him) from reporting the assaults because he believed that his inferior status and past interactions with Discovery Ranch staff and administrators would result in him being punished if he attempted to disclose the assaults. The family claims the sexual assaults went undiscovered and unchecked throughout the months of January and February and were only revealed when he [the assailant] was transferred from Discovery Ranch after being discovered engaging in bestiality with a horse. The family says that Discovery Ranch failed to adequately investigate the assailant for psychosexually deviant and violent tendencies before admitting him to Discovery Ranch and placing him in the dorm. Additional Information: Discovery ranch seems to actively try to remove as many negative reviews as they can, many were mine being removed over and over. If you are at all struggling and/or would like to talk to someone who can relate, please do not hesitate to contact me through this post and Id be happy to exchange information so we can talk. My parents spent over $200,000 here before they realized I was not getting the help I needed. We were victims of abuse. I am at a loss for what to do at this point. I ended up running away from this program and deciding on a much better program that actually wanted to help people. please if you are thinking of sending anyone or know anyone who is considering to send someone here, keep the kid far away from them. He said that he was abused by a staff member while there. There is not enough research of the negative effects places like DR have on a young person, people dont like to talk or hear about places like DR, the system is extremely flawed, its a corporation that works very hard to keep you there as long as possible for obvious financial reasons while hiring unqualified staff. I didnt ask to see that.. Renewed Hope Ranch seeks "to provide unsurpassed residential care to troubled teenage girls who significantly struggle to overcome their mental, emotional, behavioral and educational challenges," according to its website. I highly suggest people look it up, one of the most disgusting things Ive ever read in my life: Link. They emotionally and mentally compromise kids for fun. Kids are constantly getting restrained and put on drugs to keep them under control. Those goals are helping your son learn, grow, and heal so that your family can be a family again. You Have Questions, We Have Answers.