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). He reportedly began working in the TTI because his brothers have worked at various other treatment centers. Also, I would sit there and talk to my therapist while he takes notes and this is a direct quote is that it? Then the session was over. 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. The protocols here suck, and do absolutely nothing in the way of help. Its another long, tough, painful battle after you leave DR and I havent known one other person who didnt suffer after getting out. Chad Ollinger and his brother, Duane, are gold prospectors in the Uintah Mountains of Utah. We were treated like we were in prison, and if we stepped out of line, we had our privileges taken away. Its heart wrenching to see how many families were deeply financially destroyed as well as personal connections being permanently damaged. Discovery ranch was hell on earth for me. the licensed substance abuse counselor has obviously never touched a substance in her life. There are over 600 people in 2 different groups put together, and we are all in contact with many kids that just left. Your son will have the opportunity to build the strength and resilience he needs to thrive at home. If anything, kids got worse from being here. 8 9 comments Best Add a Comment dsholliday 7 yr. ago I will never forgive Discovery Ranch for the damage they did to me, and the damage they continue to do to future generations. I will never forgive Discovery Ranch for the damage they did to me, and the damage they continue to do to future generations. My Mom says she wishes she had heard of that school at the time. Listen to your child, and dont fall into the traps that programs make which lead parents to think their child is untrustworthy, a liar, manipulator, etc. They will dream about it years after, waking up in the middle of the night from nightmares about being back there. They will do everything to keep themselves looking like the best option at all costs just for money. This type of environment makes reporting abuse and neglect impossible for teenagers. Privilege to them is being able to sit on a couch, to be able to speak out loud, to be able to eat a single apple. 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. My parents (his Mom and step-father) note sending him away added to his sense of rejection started by peer abuse even though they were desperate due to his issues at home and school. I posted this exact review several times spacing itself out several months. You have tried community resources or other programs. As part of the therapeutic learning process, all boys participate in weekly ropes activities that build character and help develop lifelong skills. The reason I am writing this now is because I ended up becoming an alcoholic and drug addict once I went to college and had finally had complete freedom. In this, experiential, safe, and supportive environment. 9/17/2020: (SURVIVOR) Please do not send your child to this horrific and abusive program. The program has a maxmimum enrollment of 60 boys, and the average length of stay is reported to be around 10 months, but this can be substantially longer if the boy is deemed resistant. . The ranch horse manager Jerry put a phone in my face showing horses having sex. I still hear screams from my friends being restrained in the back of my mind. He began his career working in Admissions at Provo Canyon School, which is widely regarded as the birthplace of the WWASP organization. The program has a maxmimum enrollment of 60 boys, and the average length of stay is reported to be around 10 months, but this can be substantially longer if the boy is deemed resistant. 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. We have created this bond because unless you went through a detention center such as DR, you will not understand. 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). Paris Hilton just came out with a documentary on her experience at another abusive program just down the street from DR. Listen to your child, what do they think they need? Also if you notice, a large majority of the 5 star ratings are from former staff as opposed to parents/students. , Through my stay I personally witnessed: Two suicide attempts. For many parents, this focus on parental participation is the reason they choose our program. With the help of a REAL rehab and AA, I had achieved 14 months sober. Also MAY I NOTE THAT THEY ARE SO DESPERATE THAT THEY NEED THEIR OWN STAFF MEMEBERS TO WRITE REVIEWS. It makes me fucking sick that this place, along with HUNDREDS of others, still exists, quietly protected under the umbrella of the state government of Utah, and that parents are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for their children to be tortured and driven insane or into obedient, soulless sociopaths. Anonymous (Tales from the Black School), 7/8/2013: (SURVIVOR) DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD TO DISCOVERY RANCH IF YOU CARE ABOUT THEM! Your community does not have the resources to help. This isnt how we should treat precious children The staff have no idea how much damage theyre doing as theyre just following orders This is a mess it needs to be shut down.. No one deserves what they really do to people. Staff unresponsive, administration unresponsive and kept to company line to detriment of my son. Discovery Ranch is reported by many survivors to be an extremely abusive program. First, let me begin by stating that sending your kid anywhere is a traumatic experience they will have for the rest of their life. Duane and his son, Chad Ollinger, are trying to finish a goal set by Duane's own father. Terrible place dont send your child here. They only allow astonishing ones to pass. They do a terrific job at keeping kids quiet. The pain doesnt just stop, they dont forget what you did to them, regardless of your intentions. Staff care about one another and take a genuine interest in the girls. To them, there is one way that every kid learns, and if you have learning disabilities thats too fucking bad and ask the doctor to raise your meds the next time he comes. Kids are constantly getting restrained and put on drugs to keep them under control. The ranch has the best of both worlds: a small-town atmosphere with access to world-class skiing, outdoor activities, surrounded by beautiful mountains, and close to two major universities and hospitals. 2:14-CV-751-TC. While some people purchase land for views or for the prospect of building a property, Duane Ollinger 's family bought the massive 160-acre Utah plot known as Blind Frog Ranch to search for buried treasure. Staff members are chosen at random, as the turnover rate is insanely high. I had been raped when i was 12 and was unable to tell my male therapist or parents about this happening because my family is very Catholic. We have all suffered enough, its time to heal and create a system that works. , This place is horrible. 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. Staff unresponsive, administration unresponsive and kept to company line to detriment of my son. There is overmedicating (including putting kids to sleep for doing nothing wrong. 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. Abuse at its finest.. we were totally and utterly underfed, one morning we were fed one mini bagel and one cream cheese. I suggest seeking different options for your child. We maintain professional memberships in research organizations, such as The Joint Commission and NATSAP. In February of 2015, a former resident at DR and his family filed a lawsuit against the school reporting that the boy was violently and repeatedly sexually assaulted by another resident at the program. Case No. Youre parents will love that, Ha!). Yes, we have an amazing ranch!! He will receive consistent feedback. The chidren cant even have open discussions with other inmates there for fear of being punished and losing privileges. 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. (Blood sprayed on me). 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. They gave all the kids the same level of trust, none. The pain doesnt just stop, they dont forget what you did to them, regardless of your intentions. I thought I was actually crazy, but it was all real. In addition, your son will experience many opportunities to explore Utah. The parents believe discovery ranch and most kids have no hope of anyone listening to them because they think no one believes them and they wont talk and they lie about it. 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. ORDER AND MEMORANDUM DECISION. The reason for posting this is that this is cathartic for me and nice to have a group of people who have at least a basic They left me more broken than they found me. , Please do not send your child to this horrific and abusive program. 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. I had to raise a baby cow for the slaughter to learn to deal with loss, exercise until I threw up blood, pick up cow shit every day, I could go on and on. Also a staff there named Matt polson threatened to restrain me several times. We support & vent to each other about how difficult and lonely it was for us to get back to normal life after we left, how it shaped us into the adults we are today, and what steps we took to try and heal from this horrible experience. The school uses research to help create an individualized treatment plan for each teen. 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. 0. Also if you notice, a large majority of the 5 star ratings are from former staff as opposed to parents/students. William (Google Reviews), 6/1/2020: (SURVIVOR) Through my stay I personally witnessed: Two suicide attempts. The website is misleading. 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. 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. They often cause way more harm than good. After essentially being re-traumatized after remembering all this, I recently went on a five day bender started Wednesday where I got high and or drunk every waking moment, which culminated with me waking up on my bathroom floor on Monday morning covered in blood and vomit next to two empty bottles of wine and Xanax spilled across the floor with a five page suicide note on my computer that Id written in a blackout. Plaintiff Diamond Ranch Academy, Inc. (DRA) operates a residential youth treatment facility in Hurricane, Utah. 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. We were victims of abuse. 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. Your Participation Is Key To Success If you are like most parents of Discovery Ranch students, you have been looking for help for a long time. 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. May their souls rest in peace. You have been warned and I still have ptsd and Ive been going to therapy for 2 and a half years and more to come. We Have Helped Struggling Teens To Learn The Skills They Needed To Heal, Thrive, And Reunite With Their Families. 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. The reviews on their website are COMPLETELY weeded before theyre posted. the licensed substance abuse counselor has obviously never touched a substance in her life. ), 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. (Check glassdoor reviews) In return, we have lots of untrained, unequipped young adults who arent prepared to deal with seriously mentally ill children. Parents have no clue what they are getting themselves into by sending their children there. Listen to your child, what do they think they need? Regardless of what they were there for, NO ONE SHOULD EVER BE TREATED AS INHUMANELY AS CHILDREN SUCH AS MYSELF WERE. Parents have no clue what they are getting themselves into by sending their children there. Although the system failed us, my peers and I have created somewhat of a little support group to cope and its helped us tremendously. In addition, survivors have reported that on the off-chance that they are 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. There thieves taking advantage of parents dispositions and they should be shut down , After my daughter was here for here for 2 months her condition worsened and she started having suicidal thoughts which had never happened before.When I met with her Dr. I still have insomnia and night terrors of being at that place. 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 (Google Reviews). Last year, Granby Ranch Metropolitan District, a homeowner-controlled metro district, filed suit against the group of entities associated with the Granby Ranch development. While enrolled at Discovery Ranch, your son will experience a safe and structured environment. Grand Ledge Courts. 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. 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. BE CAREFUL OF THEM. James (Yelp), 2019: (SURVIVOR) This place is sickening. We also understand that every teen and every family is unique. 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. 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 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. Im in therapy, on medication, have been to three AA meetings in the past three days, and just feel like I am out of options and suicide or getting constantly fucked up is my only option at this point. I will never forgive Discovery Ranch for the damage they did to me, and the damage they continue to do to future generations.
