Red River Youth Academy of Norman

"The whole time I was there I was watching tv making fun of the other kids or hearing how racist the other kids are I did not like the place and will never go back but me Martin and me hardy I think that’s his name but they cool as hell"

"I wouldn't even give Red River Youth Academy 1 star. This facility is not for kids with depression, anxiety and self harm issues. I removed my child from here after 1 week. He never saw a Dr (only communicated via telephone), in my opinion this dr doesn't know these kids/patients. My child saw/witnessed sexual activity (more than 1x), was threated if he snitched he would be physically harmed, when it was brought to the attention of the faculty, it was pushed under the rug, Noone, including the ceo, didn't even reply to the therapists email. There is an employee named Mr. Martin that physically hits the boys hard in the back of the head if they do something he doesn't like. He alsp told my child that if he was lying about the sexual incidents that he would never talk to him again. No worries my chikd wont be back. If your child suffers from depression, anxiety or self harming, I don't recommend this place. I know beds are limited but your kids safety and mental health matters. This place is not the right place. The staff is nice and our therapist was great, however she gave her notice to quit before we even. checked out of there. There is an investigation in process over these sexual incidents and the staff not watching these children as they should. witnessed sexual a"

"Don’t send your kids here and here’s why let me I labórate Red River Youth “Academy” isn’t really an academy you want to send your kids and this is coming from a past employee let me start of by saying your kids aren’t getting help they just sit in a room all day and stare at green /grey walls they are given coloring pages to keep them “quiet “till they go to bed there’s no real therapist there at all they walk around saying “he isn’t my client so I don’t care ur kids only get 1-2 hours of “therapy” a week and sometimes no therapy cause therapist would quit “ supervisors” will make staff write up the kids for no reason so they can stay another 2 weeks and charge your child’s insurance another grand for their stay I heard supervisors always say well if they stay that’s more money for our facility when the whole facility is rundown management is a bunch of clowns specially 2nd shift management .You aren’t really allowed to do anything for the kids to like motivate them to do better they get bribed with oh, if you don’t hurt yourself or fight this week you’ll be able to play a PlayStation next week. the kids aren’t getting help, they go in bad and come out worse they sleep in bed bug infested mats they dont have real beds just a old green nasty mat that’s been peed on and pooped on they've been through like four different CEOs because nobody knows how to run a facility correctly they don’t that’s concrete plans to help your children you’re just sending them there to be babysat tell your insurance run out the food the food is disgusting. It will make them throw up and have diarrhea sometimes the food will have bugs so the kids would refuse to eat and they wouldn’t be given another option of food it’s just a nasty plate or an even nastier salad that sometimes have bugs in They are over medicating your kids to the point where they are zombies and they’re just sitting in their chairs drooling at themselves I’ve seen nurses drop pills on the floor and then put them in they pocket and keeps them for themselves some nurses would go to work higher then your kids and they would be allowed to work making all kinds of mistakes with your kids medications they get to talk to the “doctor “ once a week and that’s i phone cause they never get to see an actual doctor face to face and sometimes staff would talk for them to the doctor and lie to the doctor , staff really doesn’t care if ur kid gets his behind beat they would sit there and laugh and say “well ur deserved it” and that’s after a 400 pound black man got off your kids cause your child was restrained to the point his/her bones would crack and ur child would be screaming to get off them but they wouldn’t get off them till a nurse who was always higher then a kite would say it was okay to get off them. The moral of the story is if you love your kids like y’all say you do don’t send them here use ur money somewhere where they actually care about your kids and not just the money they are seen as"

"I am begging you please do not send your child here! I was twelve years old when I was sent here for suicidal ideations and a self harm addiction. As soon as I was admitted everything seemed calm, they gave me paperwork that explained the rules and expectations, and from what the paperwork said it seemed to be a nice facility. But as soon as my mother left everything changed. I was given a thin green mattress, one blanket, and a ripped up plastic covered pillow with duck tape to hold it together. All of us slept in the day room on the floor in rows. The lights were left on all night and their were two staff who watched us sleep all night long. We woke up at 7:00 am every morning and had 10 minutes to eat breakfast (which was always cold) and brush our teeth and hair. We got one five minute phone call a day, and Therapy once a week. We sat at a desk all day long grouped in rows, and we’re not aloud to talk without permission. We were only aloud to use the restroom every hour, and we had one 5 minute shower a day. Their were fights constantly and most of them got so bad the police got involved. The restraints were even worse, our arms were pulled all the way back and or we were Laid on by four people one person on each arm and leg and slammed to the ground if you tried to move. Please I beg you do not send your child or any loved one to this facility, this place caused permanent trauma that i will never recover from. Thank you for your time have a lovely day/night."

"I was here two times, and I can assure you both times were unpleasant and more so mentally draining. Here's how an average stay goes and I can most definitely assure you that you do not want to send your child here. To start, the first day you arrive you're immediately on precautions. Precautions mean that you have to be watched closely. But basically, you have to sleep in the common room, lights on and on the floor with a skinny mattress, a sheet and one blanket with a thin pillow. On weekdays, you wake up at 6-7 am (depending on your staffs mood). Then you go to med line. While transitioning, you have to have your hands behind your back and count off at the door. On an average day, you mainly sit and stare at the mint green walls and the people you're surrounded by. It slowly made me go insane. If your guardian or case worker does not bring you things to do, all day you will be stuck doing nothing. You sit at your desk, (btw those desks can be taken away) and do nothing. You aren't allowed to get up without permission, and there are scheduled bathroom times You aren't to go to the restroom if it is not the time. There was a bookshelf filled with torn books, written on books and just down right destroyed books. If you get a good therapist, they will provide you with a Notebook, and maybe some markers. (And trust me, there are therapists there that are awful. I had a family therapy session which I did not get to speak whatsoever, and afterwards I got to hear from my therapist how disgusting I was) The staff could honestly care less about you. You will be punished with LOS (learning opportunities) and it may be up to writing definitions from a dictionary to writing 100 sentences. You get to see your therapist once a week, and you shower up to 5 minutes. If you take longer, you can get an LO. Phone calls are 5 minutes. I've witnessed a whole lot of things from my peers here. I've seen people self harm, people try to kill themselves, and people try to run away. You get restrained here for the littlest things. In a restraint, you have a much bigger staff on top of you, and it is said to feel like your bones are breaking. They won't let you go until a nurse authorized it. Every day, as I sat in my desk against the wall (you have to be facing the direction you are sitting in) I would contemplate how to run away and how to kill myself because of how mentally draining it is. You don't get the correct amount of counseling here. You get punished for having an opinion. And fights that would gocto blood quickly broke out every day. Everytime I got a five minute phone call I would beg my mother to take me out, that i couldnt stand the mint green walls i was subjected to stare at everyday. I to this day still have nightmares that I'm still in that place. Please don't bring your child here. It will not help them, it is awful."