West Ridge Academy


Contributors to Wikimedia projects

Article Images

West Ridge Academy, formerly called the Utah Boys Ranch, is "an early-intervention residential program that deals with boys at risk" in West Jordan, Utah, USA.

West Ridge Academy
Location
Map
Information
School typeprivate
DirectorKenneth Allen
Age range9 - 17[1]
Websitehttp://westridgeacademy.com/

West Ridge Academy, formerly called the Utah Boys Ranch, is "an early-intervention residential program that serves young men and young women and their families West Jordan, Utah, USA.

History

Since 1964, West Ridge Academy has been offering 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.

Our 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. We are here to help. Our 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.

Our Therapeutic Program is holistic in approach, treating the mental, physical and spiritual problems. At the foundation of our program, we use natural and logical consequences to teach and tutor our students. If we can teach a student that keeping their agreements in life matters and is important, life will really begin to open up and work for them. Accountability is a must and all of our staff: home parents, live-in counselors, therapists, teachers and administrators are engaged in the process of teaching your child what works.

Our Therapeutic Team consists of 16 licensed professionals that are here to serve you and your family's needs. Upon arriving at West Ridge, your family will be assisgned a full time therapist that will work with your son or daughter for the duration of their stay and after.

Therapy: Our therapeutic team provides Individual, Family and Group therapy on a weekly basis. It is the goal of our team to work past the presenting symptoms to get to the core of what is really running your child's behavior. Therapy will focus on these core issues. Once these issues are addressed, a new individual with a different perspective on life emerges. They are 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, it has become necessary to offer 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: Our parent seminars are held quarterly on campus. These are typically all day events and a variety of parenting subjects are addressed and presented. Parents come away with 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.

On January 2, 2009, journalist Eric Norwood, a former Boys Ranch resident, published an article detailing abuses and controversial ranch practices.[2] On January 9, 2009, Salt Lake City radio station KRCL 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.[3]

Notes