Janet Farnsworth, the executive director of West Ridge Academy, said she couldnt speak specifically about Kirstas death, but said the facility sends heartfelt concern to her grieving family. Police say a 15-year-old boy at West Ridge Academy, 5500 W. Bagley Park Road, was being disruptive in class on Jan. 4. [1]. West Ridge Academy is a good place to work at, it's very rewarding to help the struggling kids and be a part of their healing process. West Ridge Academy Executive Director Bob Stubbs said Feinga has since been fired. The Bermuda government wrote in a public statement in December that sending a youth overseas is not a decision taken lightly and is only done after all other resources locally are exhausted. Local resources, they say, include family, counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists and other family intervention programs. Phone. (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) West Ridge Academy in West Jordan, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. Until 2005, the Utah Boys Ranch was male-only. Your youth doesnt need to struggle another minute. WEST JORDAN An employee at a school for troubled teens has been charged with child abuse and accused of breaking the wrist of a boy who was acting out. (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) West Ridge Academy in West Jordan, on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. Utah will pay you to do it, Gwyneth Paltrow wont recoup attorney fees in Utah ski crash lawsuit, How a Utah TV reporter ended up in Israel to learn about helping the Great Salt Lake, The stigma around opioid abuse is more than individual. Guitars, ukuleles, and drums are available giving our residents newfound outlets to develop exciting interests. The school has been open since 1964. The 17-year-old girl had been sent to the facility by Bermudas child welfare system. It seeks to provide clinical services, education, and other programs for teens, both girls and boys, that are identified as at-risk. Residents receive a hot meal at breakfast, lunch, and dinner two snacks per day are also provided. Care, concern, compassion, and competence are four words that guide staff in achieving that goal through the utilization of safe, proven, reliable, and evidenced-based treatment protocols. Therapeutic goals address personal issues and mental health issues, and will aid in helping the client gain and maintain healing interpersonal connections. Copyright 2023 royalgazette.com. Kirsta had been in the foster care system, and Bermudian child welfare officials made the choice. rules, Utes seeing transfer portals impact on college gymnastics, after a teen girl from Bermuda died by suicide, threatened to yank the license for Red Rock Canyon School, ultimately opted to close Red Rock Canyon School. Learn about addiction treatment services at West Ridge Academy. Pat Reavy is a longtime police and courts reporter. Our clinical staff consists of specialists in a wide variety of areas allowing us to match services to client needs. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Away from friends, family, her culture. We understand overcoming addiction is not easy. During that time, Kirsta is the only teen to have died in a Utah center though other deaths were reported in similar facilities across the country, including in Michigan, where 16-year-old Cornelius Fredericks died while staff restrained him. Those were known issues. To date, the 68 people who left reviews on its Facebook page, which it has the ability to manage, gave an average of 3.9 out of five stars. The recording equipment for the security cameras had been unplugged since September, staff told police.. Suite E. Salt Lake City, UT 84123. The academy was established in 1964 with the assistance of a $10,000 donation from David O. McKay, then president of the LDS Church. Summarize this article for a 10 years old, West Ridge Academy (known as the Utah Boys Ranch until 2005), is a youth residential treatment center based in West Jordan, Utah, USA. Her daughter didnt know anyone in Utah and had never left Bermuda before. Questions/Comments. West Ridge Academy offers hope and healing to youth and their families in mental health crisis Your youth doesn't need to struggle another minute. It seeks to provide clinical services, education, and other programs for teens, both girls and boys, that are identified as at-risk. Theres not a day that goes by that my heart doesnt ache. The program addresses postpartum depression, anxiety, scary thoughts you might be afraid to share, intrusive thoughts, feeling irritable, worthless, coping, and thoughts of harming yourself or feeling like family is better off without you. The litigation, filed last month in a Salt Lake City courtroom, alleges West Ridge Academy owed a heightened duty of care to ensure kids are kept safe, but failed to protect Kirsta from herself. The treatment team has experience helping individuals struggling with problems surrounding adoption, addiction, depression, anxiety, family problems, and other mental health disorders. In early 2005, it opened new, separate facilities for girls and changed its name to West Ridge Academy. Thats when she hanged herself. [9], West Ridge also provides a day program called Sunshine Solutions for underprivileged local kids, age five and up which provides "summer activities, positive mentors and emotional growth to help them learn how to make good decisions". We offer Residential (RTC), Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) and an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) to help treat a wide range of mental health struggles. [10][11], the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. West Ridge Academy - Overview, News & Competitors - ZoomInfo The Caf chefs offer well-planned, nutritious meals, and provide dietary/allergen-sensitive options for those requiring a certain diet. The loved one surveyed by Best-rehabs.com to date provided mostly positive feedback and five out of five stars for counseling options, family participation, and indicated they would recommend the center. West Ridge Academy - Reviews, Rating, Cost & Price - West Jordan, UT In their 73-page lawsuit, they say West Ridge didnt communicate a treatment plan with Kirstas parents and did not sufficiently supervise Kirsta. All rights reserved. The treatment centers treatment groups include Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills groups for girls, sexual and pornography addiction group for boys, and support groups for teens struggling with self-esteem, mood disorders, and grief. Our students attend an accredited school, participate in various 1A sports, and engage in recreational therapy. Staff will be in the bathroom during these times and you will maintain frequent verbal check-ins with staff.. What we expect to find in the records is that this was a foreseeable event, said Thaddeus Wendt, the parents civil attorney. West Ridge Academy received nearly $850,000 of that money, according to data from Bermuda officials. Therapeutic Schools", "Utah Department of Human Services licensure records for West Ridge Academy", "Boys Ranch to dedicate spiritual center Thursday", "West Ridge Academy challenges accusations of abuse at state school board meeting", "A Utah facility for 'troubled teens' won't be disciplined after a girl from Bermuda died", "Employee at Utah school for troubled teens charged with child abuse", "Missionaries bring love into lives at West Ridge Academy", "Alex Boye performs at West Ridge Academy gala", Site critical of the facility, run by former students, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=West_Ridge_Academy&oldid=1140167492, Educational institutions established in 1964, Therapeutic boarding schools in the United States, Buildings and structures in West Jordan, Utah, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages, Articles lacking reliable references from May 2011, Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2014, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2011, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 18 February 2023, at 19:59. Staff Testimonials - West Ridge Academy Mr Wendt said: What we expect to find in the records is that this was a foreseeable event. Police reports show that Kirsta struggled while at West Ridge Academy and was on suicide watch in the days before her death. [24], In late 2015, an application was submitted Utah's Charter School Board. West Ridge Academy was under investigation with the states licensing agency for about four months before the Department of Human Services Office of Licensing closed its case in March. Family launch legal action over teenager's death in US treatment centre The state has more than 100 such centers and attracts students from all over the United States, and beyond. And, we think, preventable.. They further stated that removing a child from their home and placing them in DCFS care, like Kirsta was, is only done as a last resort., Donate to the newsroom now. We provide the highest quality and compassionate care that you can trust to each person we serve using research based proven therapies. How Utah became the nation's top place to send troubled teens, Thinking about getting rid of your lawn? West Ridge Academys website indicates the treatment team includes mental health professionals, therapists, psychiatrists, and medication managers. Education is an important component of our treatment. According to West Ridge Academys website, it accepts the majority of out-of-network insurance plans, but it doesnt accept Medicaid. [22] Later, leadership changed hands and Utah State Senator Chris Buttars became the executive director and remained so for more than fifteen years before retiring amid controversy. Located in West Jordan, Utah and founded in 1964, West Ridge Academy is a private nonprofit, which make up about 26 percent of all treatment facilities in Utah. Applied Scholastics Academy of Salt Lake City. Information in the story may be outdated "We take allegations of any type of abuse quite seriously and we'll wait for the results of the case before we take any further action," he said in a prepared statement. One EMDR session is equal to sixty normal therapy sessions and often gets to the root cause of addiction. [5][6][7][8] In 2016, the application to transition West Ridge Academy into a charter school, named Eagle Summit Academy, was approved by the Utah Board of Education after including caveats to keep public and private funding separate in the school's budgets and to ensure the safety of the new charter school's students. Our comprehensive approach lengthens the runway of support that our clients receive.