I'm a survivor of a school very similar to Diamond Ranch and i am so worried and concerned about Paris being sent to this place. I lost my mom when I was 14 so I understand what Paris is going through.
Real psychiatric facilities only stabilize patients and then want them to return home with their families in a normal environment and have out-patient treatment. The environment in these programs isn’t real life. These are programs designed to break-down so-called out of control teens so they can "build them back up". The problem is this doesn't work very well with depressed teens who already feel worthless and hopeless.
Diamond Ranch is a for-profit school. Like the rest of the trouble teen industry, they have a very flashy website and brochures designed to convince parents these programs can solve any and all problems. But they are not equiped to deal with mental illnesses.
There is a bill in the House, Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2013 (HR 1981), which would make the programs used by Diamond Ranch and similar schools, completely illegal. Already these programs are illegal in most states. Only a handful, especially Utah and Arizona, allows these programs to exist.
https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr1981/report#nation
I spent 15 months at the ‘therapeutic’ boarding school I was sent to and was finally transferred to a psychiatric hospital after they were forced to admit their program was making my condition worse. I was at Level 0. Level 0’s were not allowed to talk unless spoken to by staff, not allowed to do anything but be in their room and complete work hours and only allowed to eat rice and green beans.
Upon being hospitalized, I was diagnosed with severe anemia due to malnutrition.
At no point in those 15 months did I go hiking, ride horses, do any sort of equestrian therapy. The only time I was allowed outside was to do manual labor or forced running in flip flops that resulted in severe damage to my ankle ligaments. They didn’t care that my ankles hurt, they told me to keep running and I got more running time added on for being slow.
There’s no real accreditation for these places other than organizations the troubled teen industry has created. Any complaints are written off as coming from bad kids who lie. I was just a kid who was unwanted and dealing with major depression. My dad and stepmother lived in another country and I wasn't able to go to a regular boarding school. So, I was sent to a "therapeutic" one.
I spent 15 months at the ‘therapeutic’ boarding school until was finally transferred to a psychiatric hospital after they were forced to admit their program was making my condition worse. I was at Level 0. Level 0’s were not allowed to talk unless spoken to by staff, not allowed to do anything but be in their room and complete work hours and only allowed to eat rice and green beans.
Upon being hospitalized, I was diagnosed with severe anemia due to malnutrition.
At no point in those 15 months did I go hiking, ride horses, do any sort of equestrian therapy. The only time I was allowed outside was to do manual labor or forced running in flip flops that resulted in severe damage to my ankle ligaments. They didn’t care that my ankles hurt, they told me to keep running and I got more running time added on for being slow.
There is a one-size-fits all approach at these programs. it doesn't matter if kids are there because they are being treated for emotional eating or grief issues or are sent there after drug detox. The staff treats everyone the same. The emphasis on the program is utter and complete control. They are able to have 20 of "troubled" teen supervised by a early 20-something staffer
that they pay next to nothing. Compare that to an actual mental hospital which has a 2-1 staff to patient ratio.
Maybe this is all just a decoy and not where Paris is being sent. I'm just so concerned for her since I went through such hell and it has taken me years to recover. My dad isn't a bad guy. he thought he was helping me. he believed their sales pitch. He thought that place was something it was not.
If paris is going through intake right now. god please help her.