User:DoonRay/Sample Article for West Ridge Academy/Sample Article for West Ridge Academy

/Sample Article for West Ridge Academy

West Ridge Academy, formerly called the Utah Boys Ranch, is a residential treatment program that serves young men and young women and their families West Jordan, Utah, USA.

General Information
Since 1964, West Ridge Academy has been offering clinical services in a residential treatment facility. West Ridge Academy's stated mission is to "Offer hope and healing to young men, young women and their families by providing quality clinical services, education, and experiences which promote spiritual awareness, personal accountability and change of heart."

The Stated Goal and Mission at West Ridge Academy is to offer hope and healing to families. A young person spiraling out of control can be devastating to even the healthiest of families. Sometimes normal parenting skills simply aren't enough. West Ridge states its passion is to build trusting relationships with "your son or daughter that will hopefully help facilitate a lifelong change in heart. They will learn new coping skills and moral and spiritual values that will propel them into a more functional and peaceful way of life. Thees changes are miraculous to see and the reason why we love what we do at West Ridge Academy."

West Ridge is governed by the Utah Department of Human Services and are reviewed annually and during the year without notice for compliance to its general standards and specific standards for such facilities ). West Ridge Academy has no license infractions on file and is current with all licensure requirements.

Therapeutic Information
The Therapeutic Program is holistic in approach, treating the mental, physical and spiritual problems. At the foundation of the program is the use of natural and logical consequences to teach and tutor the students. If a student can learn that keeping their agreements in life matters and is important, West Ridge claims that life will really begin to open up and work for them.

The Therapeutic Team consists of licensed professionals.. Upon arriving at West Ridge, the family will be assigned a full time therapist that will work with their son or daughter for the duration of their stay and after.

Therapy: The therapeutic team provides Individual, Family and Group therapy on a weekly basis. It is the goal of the team to work past the presenting symptoms to get to the core of what is really running the child's behavior. Therapy will focus on these core issues. Once these issues are addressed, a new individual with a different perspective on life usually emerges. They are typically healthier, happier and more equipped to problem solve and communincate with everyone. The once combative and oppositional attitude is replaced with cooperation and insight. Problems simply become an opportunity to learn.

Specialty Groups: Along with the normal weekly group offered on campus, West Ridge offers a variety of specialized groups to meet the unique problems that our clients are facing. Adoption, character development, bereavement, sibs and drug and alcohol groups are available to our youth with these specific needs. These groups are held weekly and facilitated by licensed therapists. They are impactful and highly effective tools used in the therapeutic process on our campus.

Parenting Seminars: Parent seminars are held quarterly on campus. These are typically all day events and a variety of parenting subjects are addressed and presented. Parents are given new tools to complement what their child is learning in their residential treatment program. This will assist the parent with better understanding and can continue to aide the parent/child communication long after the child has left our program. As a part of our parenting seminars, parents are given the opportunity to visit our Hanna property for a mid year parent retreat. The Hanna property is set on the edge of the High Uintas; this gives parents the opportunity to participate in a variety of therapeutic recreational activities and to spend some quality time with their child along with our recreation and clinical staff. It is time well spent for everyone involved.

Media coverage - Unbiased
Some third-party, disinterested reviews of West Ridge Academy include the following from organizations that review facilities like West Ridge around the nation:

Private School Review:

Woodbury Reports:

College Bound Network:

Media coverage - Biased
Other parties that have bias, both positive and negative towards the Academy have posted reviews as follows:

On January 2, 2009, Eric Norwood, a former Boys Ranch resident who refuses to make public his record and files from his attendance at West Ridge Academy and who is actively seeking to recruit others who did not successfully complete the program at West Ridge, published an article detailing alleged abuses and alleged controversial ranch practices. On January 9, 2009, Salt Lake City radio station KRCL under the direction of Mr. Norwood, invited Senator Buttars, West Ridge staff, and Eric Norwood on their talk show RadioActive! to discuss the article, but Buttars and West Ridge Academy declined. Article from the Local Paper (Deseret News)