West Ridge Academy

"I was at West Ridge 3 years ago. It is the worst facility I have ever been too. I know how desperate parents can get, but this is not an option. West Ridge will leave you worse than before. A place where kids go to get help become traumatized and abused. If your kid is at risk, try Huntsman Mental Heath, their residential treatment program saved my life, Wasatch Canyons, McKay Dee Hospital, New Haven, Embark, Falcon Ridge, blueFire, Anasazi or Lava Heights are also good options. If none of these work for you, your kid is better off to stay at home, don't send them to West Ridge."

"If your child has behavioral issues, this place may help them. But if your child has mental health issues, don't believe this place will help them. Our son was suffering from severe depression and anxiety and had tried to take his own life several times. After hospitalization he was recommended to attend West Ridge Academy for further treatment. We toured the campus and were impressed with what appeared to be the kindness and effectiveness of the staff. Then we saw the cost. Our insurance would only cover 60 days of treatment, and West Ridge was planning to take 9-18 months to treat our son. They off-handedly suggested we take a second mortgage out on our house. Their callousness was disturbing, but they still seemed so kind. When we read the rules we were concerned, because they seemed to be geared toward kids with major attitude problems, and were very discipline driven. Our son was suffering, not rebelling. We discussed this with them and they said they would make accommodations for him to help in his healing. They lied. They assumed we were naive and that our son just had us wrapped around his finger. Why would he even let us put him in treatment if that was the case? He went willingly, and they treated him like a delinquent every day. He called us the first night (he had to get special permission to even call us--after we had made it clear to them that one of his major coping mechanisms was family involvement) and begged us to take him out. The house parent assured us that it was normal for him to be homesick and that they would take special care of him. Their special care was to make him sleep out in the living room while two night guards chatted all night long, keeping our son awake. He dealt with it for about a week, then he accepted some Tylenol some kids were passing out and overdosed. He was obviously depressed, and being in the hospital helped, but they couldn't keep him long-term, and we didn't know where else to place him (he was not ready to be safe at home). So he agreed to go back to West Ridge to keep getting treatment. They put him back to the highest discipline level (yellow) and took away all his privileges, "because he violated our trust." A week later he was getting violent and trying every way he could to harm himself. At a family therapy session he was more angry than we had ever seen him, and kept telling us he wanted to leave, that they weren't helping him, and afterward I told the therapist this was not my son, and she told us it was classic drug addiction behavior and that he was pulling our strings to get him drugs. He had only ever tried marijuana and had been off that for over two months. The next day they called us to say he had tried to cut himself again and they had checked him into the hospital. Their aggressive and punitive approach had pushed him over the edge. We decided then and there to never let West Ridge touch him again. It was the best decision we ever made. We learned about Wasatch Canyons Mental Health and put him in there. Their approach was truly caring and sympathetic, with the strictness reserved for the routine. He quickly improved and healed enough in two months to come home safely, and he is very healthy today. If your child needs intense mental health therapy, don't put them into West Ridge. They don't know how to treat that. Check out Wasatch Canyons instead."

"This place changes things up quite often but I personally would NEVER send my kid to westridge. I lived in westridge for about 5 months. Before being sent here I had never watched an 11 year old girl choke a 12 year old girl. I had also never had a doctor laugh at me when I told them I wanted to die. Don't get me wrong, most of the staff at westridge care a lot.. But then again some don't. I didn't get into much trouble when I was in here but after the doctor laughed at me telling her I wanted to die I drank some cleaning supplies ( probably making myself sound crazy) but get this. My punishment for trying to kill myself was being isolated. They isolated me by myself in a room with just me and 3 bigger guys. They did this because I told them bigger males were my trigger. Please do not send your children to westridge academy"

"I spent 15 months in this West Ridge Academy 6 years ago. This place is not all bad. If you behave and mind your manners at worst you will be dealt with unfairly.There are many good staff within the Academy and I'm sure West Ridge has good intentions but they do not deal with troubled youth professionally. I do have good memories of this place but the trauma that has come from here outweighs any good opinion. Those who act out learn through punishment.There are some fundamental things that should never happen that do happen there. My unwanted stay in this place has scarred me and I do have some trauma. They restrain kids for valid, if you can ever justify restraining upset youth, and very invalid reasons. I watched a person that got there 2 days after me restrained and put in a chair by two big men and held on to him so a barber could shave his head, He didn't want to be touched and he certainly didn't want anyone to shave his head, but what can you really do when you are isolated from anyone that knows this is wrong and then invalidated by people in charge because you are under 18 and a problematic child? I watched a 9 year old boy run out of a room screaming because he missed his home during lunch, he was chased across the grass and tackled and restrained until he promised he wouldn't run. This is the place where, usually Mormon, parents will send kids they can't or won't manage. People don't grow here, they survive. People that really need help here are treated harshly. 85% success rate is NOT accurate. I can make up numbers as well and say they are calculated statistics. People tend to fake change and "see the light' so they can get out. I would Highly recommend sending your child elsewhere if they really need help solving internal problems. This place has the potential to do more harm than good."

"Fantastic Residential Treatment Facility with an 85% success rate! They have helped over 26,000 troubled teens and their families. Very spacious. 75 acres. Newly remodeled homes with new teaching staff, therapists, and a very positive vibe."