I was there for only 7 months and they treated us like were nothing. All they cared about was their breaks and leaving. The staff are pervs and you cannot trust them. Unsafe and i do not recommend anyone to be sent there.
I was there recently (discharged end of January) and unlike the reviews, it wasn't as horrid as you think. Sure, fights almost daily, but they separate by ages but also its a trauma and behavioral facility. You should expect this. The therapist I had there was AMAZING, a lot of the staff were better than maybe in the past,I don't know. Yes there were staff who weren't that great but the higher ups worked on that and really worked with us kids to help us get better and get what we need in order to function. If you couldn't stay there and were getting worse, yes you'd probably be sent to a higher level of care, but it was for your safety as well as others. I spent about 6 1/2 months at Mountain Youth Academy, and the first couple were very difficult but you have to work on yourself. Don't try and "fool the system" it doesn't work out well for anyone. I would recommend going there, it's improving, yes slowly but it takes time. With cleanliness, you yourself and your dormmates are expected to clean up after yourselves, sometimes a woman would come clean and stuff but us kids were expected to take care of our dorm and such because yes we do live there. There were other girls who wouldn't, but it's a facility. I've seen a lot of things going in and out of these places for psychiatric care and honestly it's one of the best places I've been. If your child needs to go somewhere like this, I recommend it.
With safety, they did remove any strings and such that were longer than 6 inches for safety. You could have your own shoes if not on Elopement Precaution and you could use shoe ties if needed. You could have i think like one jacket? For safety because some people might get very crafty! A lot of measures they go to might seem extreme if it doesn't apply to you, but it does apply to others. i had two girls on my dorm who shared a room and one got herself on suicide precaution and they have to take your clothes and stuff but the other girl wasnt, but they still had to take her items due to risk. seems unfair, but its totally just for safety. Please be considerate
A profit factory that creates suffering for all those who attend. They keep youth here not to help them, but to line their bank account. My girlfriend was placed here, and is still suffering the consequences. 17 girls would be kept in a room the size of a hotel room, with a tv, for the majority of the day. Locked in like animals. The education wasn't even middle school quality. Fighting was what she learned. She is struggling to get her GED now, because she wasn't even taught the basics. Most of her fellow prisoners have gone on to realize their only option afterwards was to get pregnant, and find a man to take care of them. Because they all are underdeveloped emotionally, educationally, and lack even the most basic adult skills. When our culture values money, over the development and prosperity of our youth, we are truly in a decline as a civilization. Thanks Mountain Youth Academy for your contribution towards the downfall of society.
as of right now they know a sexual predator works there and doesn't care.
Well I was there for 10 months and I got the help I needed and discharged and when I first got there I was scared to death because I read the reviews that said I would get hit by pillow cases filled with soap by other kids that never happened and i also read that the staff would malest you and that never happened while I was there I like how the staff would help you if you would be upset my favorite staffs were Ms.hammonds,Mr.chapman,Ms.winer,Mr.heath,my therapist,and my group therapist.i liked getting the help I needed and got it I wouldn't want to go back but if I needed to it really does help the kids learn self control and coping skills.
I am looking for reviews from 2018-current. As well as updated treatment & events the only I can seem to find is from 2016
Thank you
The staff is very rude and disrespectful. I would give them less than a one start. They will give out your personal information. They don't care about the kids. Don't send your child here.
I was there back in 2010-2011 a year and two months. When I left in 2011 I never got my stuff, my blanket, pictures, stuffed animals, clothes, etc... There was basically no heat for the girls dorm and we all had to huddle in the day room for warmth under adult supervision and the lights on. There would be times the hot water wasn't working or it was brown and they would bus us to one of the nearest hotels for showers. When I first got there for like a week they had to supervise you while using the bathroom and taking a shower. New patients also had to take their mattresses to the hallway to sleep. I like where I am in life now. I was there when I was not even a teenager and I'm 21 now, and this place still comes up in bad dreams. I enjoyed the library they had, and I had a few favorite staff members. But reading the reviews it seems that a lot has changed, good and bad.
this place is hell. the staff are rude, some have been fired for sleeping on the job or physically assaulting patients, the place is not run well and there is hardly any control over what happens, and the place is generally miserable. therapy meetings were NOT well done, we never had time outside except behind a literal cage, etc etc.
We did a parental placement for our 11 year old stepdaughter due to violent behavior, property damage, self injury, pathological lying, theft... the list goes on and on. She knows how to work the system as she s been in acute facilities 3 times. She lied her way through therapy and acted perfect the 3.5 months she was there so insurance stopped agreeing to pay. They re sending her home with no final diagnosis and no help for us- telling us that our only other option is to sign over our rights and put her in the system. The therapists are not willing to communicate with parents and are unwilling to hear the truth. The two therapists I communicated with made excuses for her behavior. They only documented half of what was being said, typically the half that my stepdaughter communicated most of which was not the truth to begin with. I even contacted and communicated with the CEO and even that didn t help. He told me all of our concerns would be addressed and they were not. If I could give this place 0 stars I would. This is a sorry excuse for help, especially if it s your last option. If anything they showed her that no matter what she does there will be no consequences and she doesn t have to listen to anyone and doesn t have to participate in treatment.
UPDATE
We just received the rest of our stepdaughters things via mail because none the staff were told she was leaving so no one packed up her things.
TRASH EVERYWHERE! Wrappers, papers, her clothes STILL DIRTY. Property destruction, her violence toward people ALL DISPLAYED IN ONE BOX. All I can say is I hope someone better is watching those kids because apparently they let them do whatever they want.
My daughter was there for approx 15 months. She was treated great. She learned how to function appropriately in society.
This place helped me alot they have great staff who care about the residents and some of the therapists are amazing
I attended about a year ago for a few months it was unclean unsanitary and we were treated like animals if one person was bad they locked us all in a hallway for days you had to sit there and eat there and do school there. A young girl around the age of nine was molested by another girl and the head lady in charge said maybe she enjoyed it and the girl was never punished
I was there in2016. I hated it. The staff were mostly in there late twenties to mid thirties and they didn't even know who they were themselves. Staff gossipped in front of other kids about other staff hooking up in the facilities basement after hours. I was told I was a liar for how I felt and that I was just manipulating people to get my way. Yes the do you make you sleep on the floor. Yes people do fist fight daily, yes people do attempt to cut themselves or hang themselves daily. I was so scared because at the end of my stay my aunt and uncle could not come pick me up to discharge me so I had to beg them because I was so scared. The food is awful and they take away your shoelaces, and any string attached to your clothes that is over five inches. Some staff are homophobic and tell gay teens to "quit flaunting themselves" Some of the teenage girls passed sexual notes to the little boys. I hate it. DO NOT SEND YOUR KID THERE UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY HATE THEM.
My neighbors daughter is there right now. She has been there about a week and was taken to the hospital because she was jumped by other girls.. From what I understand these children are treated like inmates instead of troubled children.. The kids there need help in so many ways but what has happened to this 13 year old is tragic.. I would not recommend any child to be put here...
despite the children saying this facility is horrible it really isnt. there are some minor flaws in the system but overall i can honestly say ive watched multiple people change over the course of being at mountain youth academy. i was there for a whole year. i grew very fond of the place because i knew it was safe. and as a traumatized child thats all i really needed. with that being said if you dont want the hep then there is no need in going. they wont work the program for you although they will help guide you into the right steps. before mountain youth academy i was previously in another facility nd it did nothing for me i was still cutting myself and purging, doing drugs, and even car hopping and things like that. but as i worked my program i changed into the young woman i am today. no body had faith in me exept for the staff at mya who would tell me i was strong on a daily basis. the program is not hard unless you make it hard. i honestly wish i wouldnt have wasted my time in other facilities and would have just went there first. the staff can be trusted and i promise you will be safe. now im sober and healthy. and i couldnt have done it without mountain youth academy.
lots of love <3
I was treated poorly. You aren t allowed to look outside. Which made me more depressed. Thestaff does not care for you and the therapists there tried to tell me what what was wrong with me. I couldn t tell them what was going on they said I was overreacting and my anxiety and panic attacks were being faked. I think this place should be shut down. The sleeping areas are in sanitary and patients can get razor blades out of razors. The staff does not check them. THIS IS NOT A SAFE PLACE and they do not get you the help you need. I came out worse than when I went in.
I attended this place many years ago and all I have to say is if you enjoy seeing your loved kids being in pain both physical and mental this is the place for you! Every day I was there I seen someone self harming themselves. I was vegetarian then and I ate a peanut butter sandwich every day twice a day for 6 months! While I was there another staff member deducted my points because the didn't like me! And the education level is so low when I was a freshmen in high school I had classes that a first year middle school kid would have had! Worst place ever!!
The bad reviews are untrue. My son was treated very well there. The youth commenting must not be applying what they were taught.
My son was just there for 3 months and he was beat up by kids 3 different times and the last time it required Staples in his head and the bad part about it is staff will lie to you about what happened to your kid and they will make it sound like your kid is the one at fault I pray that any paren par has to send their child to a residential place it's not this one dnt get me wrong there is some good staff there but not all of them are I am trying to write this as calmly as I can they make ur kids feel like tlnobody wants them this place needs to be shut down my slson told me there for a while he didn't have sheets on his bed but yet if Dcs was to see that in a parents home you would get looked down on if you don't have sheets on bed even if they in the wash they still do it but it's ok for this place to bleed insurance and kids checks if they get them to make them self richer
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