placesthatchangedpeople

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Just a summer camp. Supposed to be fun. It was not. It sound very awful and people tried to keep it secret.

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Lilian F at the Midwest Center For Youth & Families

I spent a month at the South Shore Academy branch of MCYF and I deeply regret choosing this facility over other residential treatment centers. The environment was much more restrictive than an acute crisis stabilization unit(inpatient) and we were often made to feel more like prisoners than patients. There was only one or two groups about actually learning DBT skills each week and they were rarely productive. I ended up having to learn all the skills on my own during free time and school. We were afraid to admit when we were struggling because of the looming threat of being put on degrading precautions(only crayons to write, someone standing in the doorway when you shower/pee, etc.). We weren't allowed to talk about our problems outside of group and we were given very little time on the unit to socialize, giving us few chances to actually apply the skills we were supposed to be learning. The patients themselves are also a huge factor in why you should NOT send your daughter there; many of them have histories of violence and aggression, and would repeatedly start fights and threaten staff members and other patients. If your daughter struggles with mental illness, South Shore is not the place for her. Look into less restrictive RTCs where she can receive attentive treatment in an environment more like the "real world" to practice her skills. I'm even considering going to residential again after wasting a month of my life doing pages from a workbook.

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Nova O at the Midwest Center For Youth & Families

Absolutely the worst place I've ever seen. They have bugs everywhere. The staff will swear at the teens right back. I witnessed two fist fights while there, my roommate cut herself in front of me, and they only serve canned food. This place was absolutely disgusting. I had to stay there for relocation purposes while I was waiting to turn 18 and be on my own and I was treated with so much disrespect. Porcea, a staff member, is absolutely biased in which teens she likes and which teens get treated well and which don't. I was nothing but respectful during my stay and this staff member would pick me out to yell at me for things I was allowed to do and would take my points (in the point system) even when I earned them. She made it so I didn't get incentives for playing a game too hard??? Also Shaney, another staff member, bragged about how she hangs from meat hooks in her free time, brags about how she does her nails so they're pointed for when she has to put a child in a therapeutic hold she can dig her nails in them, and had no problem swearing at the teens and telling them they were worthless. I did not have a personal problem with her, I just feel that this should be noted. The staff member I would to thank is Mary, the recreational therapist. She made my stay bearable by offering music and treating me like an actual human being. Also Peggy the teacher was kind as to bring candy for us. Other than that, the place was hell.

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Gwen U. at the Midwest Center For Youth & Families

DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILDREN HERE! I was here for a little over a month and i dont think ill ever forget it... And i dont mean that in a good way! I was prompted to write this review upon waking up from another nightmare about this place. Easily the worst month of my entire life. Let me begin:

*abusive staff: i was transported here against my will. Upon arrival they forcefully cut my nails really short and it was painful. I was resistant and so i was put in a hold, which gave me huge bruises all over my body. To be fair, i wasnt being obedient, but i definitely didnt deserve those bruises. They also gave me 3 shots back to back which i dont think was safe. This was only the BHW's.

*awful peers: i was mocked because i said a hail mary prayer. Residents came into my room threatening to physical hurt me because i was praying. I quote one girl "Dear jesus give me the strength not to kill this annoying religious b****" that was not all, fights broke out all the time, and there was a major bullying issue!

*bad environment: it was dirty and the food was awful. They punished you by taking away your "points" if you didnt finish and if you did they would still not serve seconds. (did i mention the point system? Its biased and unfair) i had to shower and use the bathroom with the door open and other residents can definitely see you, its humiliating. Also one girl brought lice into the unit... and they dont let you have multiple blankets or pillows and it was really cold in the winter... And once they put me on a liquid diet for 3 days because i threw up... And i was so hungry i was only fed 250 calories a day during that. I ended up losing 15lbs in my 1 month stay from the lack of food. They also wouldnt let me take my schoolbooks back to the unit to do homework after the alotted school time... Learning was my coping skill and i got punished for sneaking a history book back to my room. Punishing a kid for TRYING TO LEARN is absolutely awful.

*lifelong memories of the awful place will really damage your child. I cried almost every night and i know i wasnt the only one. Also it doesn't work. I left feeling worse than i did before treatment and returned to other hospitals less than a month after discharge.

Please dont send your child here...

As a note: the only nice staff i can remember ... Sandy the nurse, Porcea, Peggy, and Bobitha.

Other than that most everyone else was unqualified and not working here for the right reasons.

:(

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Peyton P. at the Midwest Center For Youth & Families

This place was terrible while I was there it was freezing they wouldn't let you layer because they thought you would be trying to escape the staff would curse back at the children arguing they would constantly put the kids down and constantly be passive aggressive towards the kids they yell at us when we talk about past residents when they talk about them all the time and all the holds they put kids in the therapists would try and change the kids complete personalities there was very few staff that you could actually talk to and know you can trust that not every single word would be used against you there was very few good staff but the good ones there in my opinion was :Candi, Mery, Stashia and nurse Sam

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Gabriela S. at the Midwest Center For Youth & Families

Horrible, horrible place. It's the same as a military boot camp. I witnessed a ten year old being attacked by staff for having a nonviolent panic attack. One male staff member intentionally looked at a patient when she was half-dressed. I have PTSD from this "treatment facility". Well, if treatment is being physically and emotionally abused by staff and peers, then this is the definition of it. Girls were catcalled by male staff who were decades older than them. Staff were self-centered and didn't care if you died. I DEVELOPED an eating disorder here. I still have it. This place made me afraid to seek treatment. I had a panic attack a year and a half after being discharged, over a package of butter by the same brand they used at Midwest. Shantay is awful. Valeria, or "Mrs. V', is worse. Staff are really horrible. Please, please, please... find somewhere else. Anywhere else. Please.

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Yelp review of Falcon Ridge Ranch

if you're thinking of sending you're kid here. i'm just gonna kindly redirect you to learn how to talk to you're kid and understand them before sending them off to get physically and sexually abused by the staff that work there. kids got sexually abused when i was there a little over a year ago. i got restrained for going out into the hallway. my wrist is still not okay till this day. Falcon is NOT a place for teenage kids. It is owned by Sequence, which also owned Red Rock. which was recently shut down for many many many reports of physical assault and sexual assault. hmmm same thing happening at Falcon. so the same shit is happening at the other "Sequence" owned places, we could assume. If i had a gun pointed to my head, i would still not send my kid to any type of treatment like this. Scarred me for life. Staff falsely accuse you for situations and over exaggerated everything. You send you're kid here, get ready for them to come back 50 times worse as they were before they went there.

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Cameron Meeker at Turnaround Ranch, Missouri

Some of us made it out and became "better". Not my word for it, just one most would prefer. That is not credited to this establishment. Whilst there were good staff, for each one there was an abusive one. Such as allowing other children to see the charts of another. Playing favorites. Or simply tired of their job, allowing for rash or unsympathetic treatment. Were we, as children, easy to deal with? Hell no. But we were just that, children. Turnaround is built to break the will of the kids and find them easier to manage. Not help them with their issues.

If you want a real solution, send your child to Challenge & Change in Nevada Missouri. From personal experience, the staff are better trained as well supported by a system built on empathy and the goal of healing the children. One I am afraid I took for granted. As an adult, I urge you to be careful when reading into places like these. Please visit and look beyond the brochure.

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C. Clark at SUWS Carolinas

I have spent the last 15 years trying to heal from the emotional and physical trauma SUWS put me through. I’m now a registered nurse & have a background with young teens, & specializing in behavioral health.

First let’s talk about how two grown men pulled me out of my bed at 3am, not telling me where I was going, only that I wouldn’t be able to tell anyone goodbye and if I resisted they’d ‘tie me up’. As parents, your children will look to you for safety and stability, having them professionally kidnapped will forever harm that relationship.

The program itself is set up and founded on outdated and damaging psychology. There is now decades of research and thousands of former ‘campers’ like myself coming forward to talk about how traumatizing and harmful these programs are, and it blows my mind that people are desperate enough to pay over 30k to send their child away but not ACTUALLY DO THERAPY with them.

Your children will be at high risk of developing an eating disorder. Your child may develop PTSD from being kidnapped. Your child might become more isolated. Your child WILL learn they can not ever fully trust you again. Your child will resent you.

The parents weekend they have when you pick up your child is all a show. Your child will not have the opportunity to shower regularly (I went 28 days without being allowed to bathe) your girls will be at such a risk for UTIs, they give them supplements to prevent, but not actual hygiene. Your girls have 2 pairs of underwear to last over 21 days with no shower, think about that. No deodorant, no shaving, so if you’re queer or female presenting, you may also develop some dysphporia.

The real kicker? The staff watching your child are not qualified to do so. The counselors are often early 20s people who like hiking, no mental health experience. The one therapist they see happens once a week, for under 45 min.

Please just do some research. Don’t listen to google reviews from parents saying “my kid behaves better” because Of course that is what will happen, your child was legally in an outdoor prison for over over a month with no contact with friends, family, loved ones. TEENS. where socialization is detrimental part of development. Congratulations, your children don’t respect you, they’re just scared of you now.

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Sasuke R. at the Midwest Center For Youth & Families

Literally the worst facility I've ever been to in my life. The staff were cruel and abusive and the grievance procedure was crumby. The facility had a regulation where if a adolescent or child was only physically harmful/aggressive toward his or herself they would be put in a physical restraint, but the staff who were there when I was there misused the restraint procedure and used it as a punishment and a threat instead of to protect the child/adolescent. Also, Physical restraint in mental health facilities aren't supposed to painful. These sick people made a 17 year old young male cry and scream like a baby going through circumcision, while restraining him just because a staff member told him to stop singing. That's in no way shape or form acting out aggressively or unsafe.  I was never restrained but I was told that if I "act out aggressively toward staff" I would be restrained out of retaliation not for safety. Also the supervisors were no better. They would literally take the staff's side no matter what, I was even threatened by one of the supervisors. Also the co-founder barely pays any attention to how a client is being treated I've put in so many requests to speak to him because all of the supervisors here suck and throughout my entire time being there I've never gotten a single chance to speak to him. Also the therapists here are absolutely no better. Mine was ok, but I knew that he would never admit that he didn't want to work my case, but there was a female therapist that I've seen that works here who is very condescending and inconsiderate of anyone's feelings and she was a complete hot head who had literally no emotional navigation and wanted people to hear what she had to say more than anything ugh she was terrible. Just a horrible facility that no one should go to....it's so poorly ran and they will not help you or your child. It will only make them worse, I promise you! Please PLEASE do not place your child in this facility it is hell on earth.

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Sui Keoin at Turnaround Ranch, Missouri

I was placed here while waiting for foster care placement. The system is broken and sends trouble orphaned children to level 4 facilities where abuse and humiliation goes on. We weren’t allowed to wash our hands in the bathrooms. We had to count out toilet paper. I saw kids held down, denied family visits as punishment, bullied by staff etc. Huge amounts of abuse went on. Kids had been there for years with no chances of going home or living a normal life. There were times we didn’t go outside for days, weren’t allowed to attend school, etc. it was a horrifying and traumatizing experience. Any adult that can justify the treatment we went through is disgusting

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I attended SUWS in 2012 in the boys group. None of the staff that was working there at the time was still working there a few years later, not even the therapists. Their staff turnover rate is extremely high. That should tell you something. Also, their "field instructors" are college students being paid minimum wage to babysit. They aren't therapists, and they get very little training. We did have brief (maybe 30 minute) meetings with an actual therapist about once a week.

I didn't have any issues with not being fed or given enough water, but I can confirm the other reviews about the poor hygiene. In the 2 months I was there, I think they allowed us to shower 2-3 times in total. Even when we were back at the base camp, they usually didn't let us shower. Not being allowed to shower for 2 months is very unhealthy, and nearly caused me to get an infection. Guys know what can happen when you don't regularly clean down there. I was too embarrassed to bring it up to any of the staff, who I barely knew. Even without a full shower, they should have at least given us wet wipes or something to use daily to clean private areas.

There was essentially no privacy, except when using the bathroom or showering. Even when doing that, we had to yell out every few seconds so the staff knew we hadn't run away. We weren't allowed to have "private conversations" with each other. All conversations had to be within earshot of the staff, and they controlled what we were allowed to talk about. We weren't even allowed to know what time it was for some reason. They never really explained that one. Also, the letters we wrote to our parents weren't private either. They were first read by the staff before being sent to our parents.

Also, I was there during Hurricane Sandy. They knew the storm was coming, and didn't take us inside to the dry, heated cabins. Instead, we had to sleep outside in the woods under a tarp (not even a fully enclosed tent), while we got several inches of snow and ice with strong winds all night. Most of us didn't get any sleep from the noise, and because we were afraid a tree would fall on us from the strong winds.

When our parents came to pick us up, they didn't have them come to the main location where we had been for 2 months. They moved us to the much nicer Wolf Creek cabins, and allowed us to shower to make it look like we were being treated nicely.

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Some parents send their children to self-help groups in order to get them back from possible alcohol or drug abuse. Instead they lose their children to the self-help group because while the group market itself as treatment, it is a disguise for a cult.

Can you research if this is the case? Sadly not. Some cults are simply too clever and it takes years for members and relatives to figure out what the true purpose of the self-help group is.

This is a video about one self-help group which turned out to be more like a cult.

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Daisy H. at the Midwest Center For Youth & Families

I went to South Shore Academy willingly, asking my family for help. This facility's staff uses force and threats to control the patients. On their website, it says from their patient surveys that over 90% of patients were satisfied with their care, understood their medications, etc. I too took this survey, here's the reality: a staff member handed it to me while I was crying and stood over my shoulder while I filled it out. She then guilted me about my answers and told me I was lying and had me either justify my answers or choose a better score. There was a section where "favorite staff" could be listed and she "suggested" to me who to list. These surveys do not represent patient experiences.

Staff would do whatever they wanted. Staff would routinely express their controversial political opinions against the wishes of some other staff and the residents. Staff members would express their physical attraction to underage characters and actors in movies residents would watch. Staff at one point threatened my whole unit with "cavity checks". (They did not go through with it.) Staff would use blatant judgment and call patient's families' parenting styles "horrible". The "patient advocate" was also the head therapist (essentially the boss of the program) so when grievances went to her, it was nothing she wasn't already aware of, nor would she address the issues. In her defense, she may not have had administrative power to do anything, which is a bureaucratic problem in itself. Staff even gave kids with severe allergies (noted in the patient's charts, which they routinely admitted they did not read) food that would send them into anaphylaxis against the child's request, saying things like "it won't kill you". Staff spent a large chunk of their time complaining about how little they get paid and making a point of it to express how unfair their jobs are, mentioning things like how they can't get through their shifts without multiple energy drinks. A staff at one point was heard late at night complaining about a "frequent flyer" patient at the Kouts facility saying "I wish he would have just got it [suicide] done already; he's the worst!" I routinely saw staff put children in holds, once with four different adults lying on top of a child, one on each limb, kid face-down on the ground, with the nurse onsite checking their pulse every five minutes.

The nurses did not have personal boundaries and would routinely touch/hug/grab patients without their consent. Nurses also routinely attempted to give patients the wrong type/dose of medications and refuse to administer PRN medications saying that "the patient was becoming reliant on drugs and not trying hard enough to use therapeutic skills" (to kids with no history of substance abuse.) The doctor was a whole different story. He also used the "not trying hard enough to use skills" line. He refused to address my rapidly worsening tic disorder, telling me "they aren't tics" which my pediatrician and neurologist at home adamantly disagreed with, and dismissing me and all of my concerns and complaints about side effects of my medication.  

Patients were only allowed to talk about their feelings, diagnoses, beliefs, religion, past experiences including trauma, etc. about three times a week: once in individual therapy, once in family therapy (if you were lucky enough to be invited), and once in process group (group therapy) (again, if you were lucky enough to be invited). I could write a whole book about my experiences and the things I saw there. To her credit, my therapist was pretty good, especially given the (judgment:) impossible position she was put in at this workplace. In conclusion, please don't send your kid here.

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Wilderness therapy programs are not treatment. It is hoax. Sadly they are marketed like such and entertainment shows like "Brat Camp" made them popular. For some, they avoid needing therapy for years due to abuse as many former participants do. The reason: They die!

Here is a clip from Youtube where a mother tells her story.

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Paradise Cove was shut down in the 1990's but today it is mostly known in connection with several murder cases where the traumatized children who came out, were unable to cope with real life.

The manager founded Midwest Academy in Keokuk. His replacement was convicted of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of a child by a counselor and child endangerment. The secrecy surrounding the program set up as with Paradise Cove endangered the police investigation.