Testimonials

Shut Down Logan River Academy's testimonials are from named sources, who spoke on the record on specific dates.

Additional testimonials are welcomed.  Please contact Shut Down Logan River Academy for details.

Video Testimonials

  • Max Rosenberg (May 8, 2024)

    • Also I want to call this place out for something horrible they did right before I was released. I will respectfully leave out all names. Around June 2007, a 17-year-old-girl who had previously been released was readmitted. Apparently before she was readmitted she started talking to one of the staff members on MySpace.

      They talked for months and when she was readmitted they reportedly decided to have sexual relations.

      I don't like to get in other people business, but the response from LRA was so disgusting I have to share it. Soon after it reportedly happened, everyone at LRA found out.

      I guess the therapist and staff members wanted to keep it on the hush because we were told if we talked about it we would receive class-IV for program corruption. It was terrible. We couldn’t even tell our parents.

      The most appalling part of this whole ordeal though, was how they dealt with the staff member. Instead of firing him and apparently risking the story leaking. They allowed him to continue working there under the promise that he wouldn't go on the girls floors.

      Not only is that really messed up, but it proves that they really don't care about anything, but their own asses.

      –Max Rosenberg (2013)
  • Samantha Gerson (July 22, 2014)

More

Logan River Academy Parents and Other Adults

  • "The reason I signed this six years ago is because my son was at Logan River Academy and I had first hand experience dealing with the personnel.  I personally was deceived whenever I visited.  I was unaware he would be housed with felons, some of whom had committed serious crimes injurious to their fellow humans.  At one point a fellow student took advantage of him, yet my son was the person held accountable, punished in isolation, and reviled by others.  The guilty person (female) was allowed back into the general 'student' population.  After this incident (in which outside police were involved), we got our son the h*ll out of there ASAP, because it was clear there was some politics going on that we had no knowledge of.  He is fine now—a productive member of society, close to and supported by his family and mostly happy.  It took some intense therapy time, however, to get to this point.  LRA sucked for us."  –Cathy N., Scotsdale, AZ (Mar. 27, 2020, via Change.org)

  • "My son was there twice.  LRA needs closer scrutiny, lacks ANY follow-up after discharge, and apparently does more harm than good."  –Don Yaeger, Los Angeles, CA (Mar. 15, 2017, via Change.org)

  • "My brother is at this institution and has told me about the abuse that goes on and how he has been injected many times."  –Max Sales, Westlake, OH (Mar. 26, 2014, via Change.org)

  • "We actually chose to send our son to Logan River Academy, after paying an experienced Educational Consultant who highly recommended it…  The decision was the worst we have ever made, as our intention was to HELP our son, NOT punish him.  We very quickly learned that the living environment at LRA was negative and hateful.  There were only a couple of staff members who seemed to care at all (one has since left); but the rest—especially the dorm staff—used their size (frustrated ex-athletes) and authority to intimidate and emotionally torture the boys who actually NEEDED understanding and emotional support more than anything else.  —Plus, for a place that calls itself a 'residential treatment center', there was very little actual therapy or 'treatment' at all.  We pulled our son after only five months, the last three of which were spent primarily in 'devo' (solitary).  Unbelievably, when he/we told them he was leaving at the end of the month, they put him directly into 'devo' because of what they labeled as 'discharge attitude'!  —Thankfully, he is now thriving at home, attending a small high school that treats students with respect and dignity—something Logan River Academy knows little about.  —But he bears permanent emotional scars that I/we will not forgive LRA for."  –P. J. Jobin, Fairfax, VA (Nov. 1, 2013)

  • "My best friend was imprisoned in this facility for two years over a decade ago.  Due to the 'care' received he is still haunted by the memories and plagued with an anxiety disorder.  How this has been allowed to continue is a failure on many parts and needs to be remedied."  –Ashley Toland, Lakewood, WA (July 3, 2014 via Change.org)

  • "My son was sent to that facility by Los Angeles Superior Court order.  He told me he witnessed terrible things happening at Logan [River] Academy." –Nathalie Polakoff, Los Angeles, CA (Nov. 6, 2013 via Change.org)

  • "My cousin's son is there.  He is not getting the care and help he truly needs."  –Roslynn Martin, Westborough, MA (Nov. 19, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "Abuses to friend' son at this facility.  Solitary confinement is cruel torture!"  –Tania Dangtran, Sparks, NV (Nov. 7, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "I know someone close to me who experienced the terrible abuse at this institution."  –Sabrina Vigil, CA (Dec. 13, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "I know a guy that went here and this is terrible."  –David Kretzer, Midlothian, VA (Nov. 13, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "A friend of mine tells of the horrible abuse she suffered here.  PLEASE PLEASE sign and repost!"  –Sharon Tipton, Irvine, CA (Nov. 13, 2013, via Change.org)

Professionals

  • "I am a mother and a child psychiatrist.  These practices are cruel and must be brought to light.  There is no place for them in any institution."  –J. Christine Schneider, Los Angeles, CA (Nov. 6, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "Because Utah is a haven for greedy men who set up these prisons for adolescents where they are allowed to be abused mentally and physically and it's called therapy.  NOTHING ABOUT WHAT GOES ON AT LOGAN RIVER AS DESCRIBED BY THE YOUNG MAN ON THE VIDEO IS THERAPEUTIC!  These 'therapists' need to be investigated by DOPL and these schools, institutions, etc. need to be investigated often and randomly by the state to be sure that no abuses are occurring.  Including abuses of power, which is what these people are doing.  Every person involved in tormenting, torturing, physically assaulting or in all other ways subjecting these kids to emotional and physical abuse needs to be charged with those crimes.  They also need to be reported to and excommunicated from the LDS church.  These adults and students are the complete opposite of what someone who allegedly follows Christ. They are sadistic and obviously have huge anger issues of their own.  Places like this need to be shut down now!  Has this place been reported to the state for abuse? No parent has the right to pay people to abuse their child.  I'm a therapist and have been for 32 years.  What this young man is describing is like a POW camp and is as traumatic as one." –Michele Miller, Salt Lake City, UT (Mar. 13, 2014, via Change.org)

  • "'The measure of a society is found in how they treat their weakest and most helpless citizens.'  –Jimmy Carter

    "As a Psychiatric RN and member of this society, I firmly believe that Logan River Academy must not only be shut down, but must also be held accountable for the human rights abuses of the vulnerable youth who have suffered in its facility.

    "My heartfelt wishes for the healing and recovery of its survivors."  –Jenny Powers, RN, BSN, BA-Psychology (Nov. 20, 2013)

  • "This is important to me because I worked in human services for 25+ years, in a variety of positions, serving children and adults with a variety of labels.  Institutions and group homes are not the answer, even under the best of circumstances.  They are real-life Zimbardo studies without end." –Troy Burnett, Kelseyville, CA (Nov. 22, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "I worked at a residential treatment facility for children for four years in in Texas and this place is ridiculous.  Shut them down." –Melody Dunn, Dale, TX (Nov. 14, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "Speaking from personal experience as an enlisted member of the US navy and as a program survivor from 1997–1999, this woman is right on about these being just like POW camps!" –Julie Delgado, U.S. Navy (Mar. 13, 2014)

  • "These are extreme human rights violations and the offenders should be tried with Crimes Against Humanity.  These violations of moral decency are beyond reproach!  The cowardly 'men' guilty of this mass child abuse operation lack all decent moral conviction and thus deserve every ounce of wrath the courts can muster against them."  –Quintero, Eric, Sgt / U.S.M.C., Glenview, IL (Nov. 14, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "As an employee working in residential treatment I understand the challenges.  However, children entrusted in our care deserve dignity and respect we would give our own kids.  Keep the standard high." –April Morrow, Indianapolis, IN (Nov. 2, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "As a social worker who works with children who often have cognitive and emotional difficulties I find that this is certainly not a therapeutic environment for a youth in need of help." –Gregory Sacca, MSW, LCSW, Somerville, MA (Oct. 6, 2013)

  • "As a special educator I know there are better ways to teach children. NO CHILD should be hurt emotionally in the name of education, EVER." –Minki Kleinman, Brooklyn, NY (Nov. 4, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "I'm actually working on a documentary about the troubled teen industry, and [expletive] like this makes me sick.  These centers are almost totally unregulated, and abuse runs rampant.  And I'm gonna sign damn near anything that advocates redress of these hellholes." –John Parton, Culver City, CA (Oct. 12, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "Really shocked to learn of these practices, and of the involvement of a major public school district in them…  'Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases.  Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants…'  I hope this Petition brings attention to the methods of LRA and similar institutions, so the public can decide if they should be allowed to continue." –Benjamin Brown, Esq., Pleasantville, NY (Oct. 15, 2013)

  • "Children learn behavior from adults.  Adults… empower youth so they take full responsibility for their behavior.  I wrote a book on this topic: www.safekidsnow.com/streetsafekids" –Stephanie Mann, Alameda, CA (Nov. 5, 2013, via Change.org)

More Logan River Academy Survivors

  • "I went to LRA and suffered abuse in DEVO many times, and abuse outside of DEVO too.  It was horrible and I would not wish that on any child."  –Sarra Voskeritchian, Los Angeles, CA (Mar. 11, 2024, via Change.org)

  • "Hi, this is hard to finally talk about, to open up to.  Logan River Academy was a nice place, at first.  I was bullied in there for being different.  They never let me stand up, or they wouldn’t get the other person into questioning.  But when I acted upon it, they restrained my neck, arms and legs on the floor.  Sometimes they put my legs up over my head.  And if I decided to wanna cut, they told me to give them my clothes and belongings.  I was only allowed a bed and blanket and sweats.  They never gave me socks for my feet.  They took shoes, that you have to earn back.  So I would attend the school without shoes, and was put into a dorm they called dorm nine.  I never was fond of it.  It was like an asylum room and made me freak out.  I was thrown to the floor one time from trying to leave the room.  They busted my lip.  My parents had Hooke. Pictures of my lips, and it was numb and  i still can’t feel it today.  I was also diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder shortly after that caused me to keep running away from home to not stay in x room for long or to not be left alone or to not sleep and eat certain things.  I never wish to have that happen.  I’m glad someone is doing something.  Thank you."  –Emily Caracas, Panorama City, CA (June 12, 2023, via Change.org)

  • "Logan River is a institution full of physical, verbal and mental abuse.  I am suffering from the trauma that I had to undergo during my stay there.  Being there made me feel weak, because I couldn't do anything, so I felt helpless.  They need to be reported to the Health Department immediately!"  –Lexi Benz, Atlanta, GA (May 22, 2023, via Change.org)

  • "This corrupt excuse for a 'treatment center' hires unqualified staff and implements isolation as punishment for kids who need compassion and understanding.  From my own experience, I can tell you I discharged with more issues than I came in with."  –Elizabeth Oakley, North Ridge, CA (Sept. 4, 2022, via Change.org)

  • "I wasn’t allowed to contact my mom for the first two months of my stay here.  When I finally was, she was pre-warned how I’d use 'manipulation' tactics to try and tell her how things (really) were there.  My family lived in VA.  Finally, when my mom and sister visited, they met with my therapist and came out crying because they finally saw for themselves how twisted she was.  It took another month for my mom to refuse sending me back when I had a home visit (per my mom’s request).  There is no way in hell this place is legal.  The dreams to this day (over 10 years later) that I still have some times are un-real.  It’s a freaking cult.  So glad I found this and someone spoke out!"  –Jordan Hennessey, Midlothian, VA (Sept. 4, 2018, via Change.org)

  • "I was a patient here.  I am here to say that most staff are terrible.  One or two staff were okay.  But 95% of them are not good.  I remember one day, they dragged me across concrete just to lock me up in a dorm with all the sick or violent kids.  And those violent kids did have appropriate reasons to be upset.  LRA is abusive and mean.  #shutdownloganriver"  –Luke S., Frisco, TX (May 29, 2017, via Change.org)

  • "I felt lost, I felt trapped there.  They didn't teach me anything, Worst time of my life.  My parents are still paying for this and it's been 10 years.  One time I accidentally farted and received devo hours.  I was convinced they were going to extend my stay due to this infraction of accidental flatulence.  Logan River needs to be shut down, or at the very least Devo needs to be removed."  –Andrew Gurney, Santa Clarita, CA (May 29, 2017, via Change.org)

  • "The solitary confinement abuse needs to come to a stop.  They brainwash you and I do believe that there was sexual abuse to others during my stay. "  –Kimberly Adams, Newhall, CA (May 29, 2017, via Change.org)

  • "I was at LRA.   And they did all that to me.  I want them shutdown."  –Gus Morrow, Thousand Oaks, CA (Sept. 5, 2016, via Change.org)

  • "I was a former resident and subjected to abuse. "  –Elizabeth Wolf, Culver City, CA (Aug. 4, 2016, via Change.org)

  • "I was a student at LRA and witnessed abuse."  –Max Kapp, Winchester, MA (Feb. 17, 2015, via Change.org)

  • "I was put on 'devo' for over six months and I wasn’t able to talk to anyone.  I claim that was not legal but they keep telling me that as long as I eat and shower all was legal.  I was on depression and no one did anything to help me I cried all day long, day and night.  I hated it.  I could talk to my parents and if I did they said it was bull [expletive] just to manipulate them to get me out of there.  They just put me on some meds.  Devo was HELL !!!!  Just a little white room more than six months while my parents paid thousands, and I couldn't do ANYTHING or they would RESTRAIN me.  The worst experience ever.  The saddest, worthless, meaningless.  I don’t wish anyone go through that.  I even developed a panic disorder in devo."  –Cristina L. Mota, Velasco (Nov. 12, 2013, via Change.org)

    • Date: October 7, 2013 at 11:19:09 PM EDT
      Subject: Re: First Hand Survivor of LRA

      I was admitted in to LRA on July 3, 2012, and discharged on August 27, 2013.  I am now in a boarding school.  I was not court ordered but my parents hired transporters to remove me from my home by force.  The transporters treated me well and drove me all the way from Houston, Texas to Logan, Utah.

      Upon entering LRA I was strip searched down to my boxers, and I was then ordered to use my fingers to outstretch all the waist band of my boxers outward to ensure there weren't any hidden contraband items.

      A staff named Darby Golden was extremely physically abusive when it came to [physical interventions] and would throw fists and slam kids heads onto the wooden floors, often causing blood and scarring.  Please do not use my name if investigating this (Darby Golden quit soon before I discharged).

      I got along with a staff named Chandler Olsen, he was one of the few staff who actually cared about the well being of his students.

      Staff like Andrew Burris had zero regard for our wellbeing and were emotionally abusive to the students they didn't like.

      I graduated the program by achieving the highest level…

      To do this I had to behave to LRA's expectations and achieve good feedback from my staff.  This was difficult for many but easy for me because I understood how to trick the staff into believing my progress was legitimate.  I did make legitimate progress towards sobriety (substance abuse was my reason for admission) however this progress did not affect my level progression, I had to act like I wanted to behave according to their standards.

      This was torturous at times because I was under constant judgement 24/7 and one mistake can set back a kid's ability to progress in the levels.

      Students had zero emotional safety at this school because the vast majority of staff did not care for the kids, and were aggressive if the kids did not behave as demanded.  I was never neglected for food or water however bathroom breaks in devo are limited and any more than one break for the bathroom every couple of hours was not tolerated.  I was not diagnosed with any disorder from this program.  My relationship with my parents is now very good but this is due to my own growth and had nothing to do with the program.  This program did not help me.  Me being sober helped me.

      I hated this program, and I believe almost nobody can benefit from it.  I have seen kids cry because of the staff's lack of regard for their emotions and they only get treated more poorly for showing such emotional instability and as a result stay in the program for longer periods of time.  Feel free to prompt me with more specific questions.

      –Max R. (a different Max R. from the video above) (via email, used with permission)

    • I was in Logan River Academy for 14 months.  The program itself is run horribly.  The staff are mostly college students who are paid next to minimum wage with zero experience in this area.

      The system called, "Devo," is one in which any student who partakes in infract-able behavior is sent to a small room where he is aggressively ordered to sit up straight with out looking or communicating with other students.  We were punished if our feet were visible outside the boundaries of the desk itself and the consequence for this was more torturous hours of Devo time.

      If anyone did anything that suggested running from the program, vaguely referenced suicide, or vaguely referenced violence, they would be sent to Devo on precaution for up to 30 days at a time.  This would be 24/7.  Sleeping, showering, and eating would even take place in devo.  The student would literally never leave this one room for a month other than walking a few feet to the bathroom (which staff must watch them do if they are on precaution).  Their clothes would be confiscated as well as their shoes, and in return flip flops and rugged, used sweats would be given to the student.

      I have witnessed what are called, P.I.s.  A P.I. stands for Physical Incident or Physical Intervention and is an excuse for irritable staff to physically bully students who they don't like.  They would yell, "DIAL 9" over the radio and restrain student's with other staff member.  It was over the top excessive."

      –Max R. (the same, second, Max R.) (via email, used with permission)

  • Well I was sent by my IEP, which meant my stay at Logan River Academy was funded by them, the transportation was arranged by them, and they determined how long I was enrolled at LRA.  Officially on paper, I had an IEP for diagnosed depression.  My psychiatrist at the time was the one who recommended getting an IEP so schools would accommodate to my needs and make it easier for me to attend school, because he found the depression to be debilitating.

    And it was.  I struggled with everyday life things, even attending class was extremely stressful for me.  Although I think he was trying to help, I didn't know know that having an IEP would eventually allow them to send me to Logan River Academy.

    Yes, escort services are common for kids being sent to residential treatment facilities.

    I was woken up at about four in the morning with two strangers in my room.  A female and a large male.  Escort agencies purposely hire physically intimating males to scare the kids into compliance.

    They didn't tell me where I was going, just that I was going to Utah.  I was only allowed to change.  Maybe it was because I was exhausted, or maybe it was because I understood I didn't have a choice, but I didn't resist.  I didn't speak on the way to the airport, just cried quietly.  They mostly acted like I didn't exist, gossiping and laughing with each other about past kids they escorted.

    When I arrived at Logan River I wasn't told why or where I was, just taken into a room to do the entrance exam. The entrance exam was essentially a list of all the rules that existed there, a test on them, and some papers you had to sign. You couldn't leave until you finished it, they could and would hold kids in that room indefinitely until you agreed and completed the paper work.

    Once I collected myself, I finished the test and they strip searched me.  At this point I still didn't really know what was happening and for the first week during school hours I was only allowed to sit in a library.

    My entire 11-month stay I wasn't ever directly told why I was there, but I assume the reasons were a mix of truancy, and not functioning due to my depression.  My mother agreed to send me there, but my father was never at any point informed of where I was.

    Worst things that happened to me there? I would say experiencing what happened to my friends, and living through that with them, all while not being able to do anything about it. I was lucky when it came to my stay, I didn't fight the program as much as the other kids did and managed to stay under the radar most of the time.

    If I had to talk about my own personal worst experiences at LRA, I would feel stupid comparing mine to the majority of others that attended.  But for the purpose of answering that question, thinking back my answers would be for the most part, expected.  Being verbally abused by some of the staff was hard to accept.  Name calling, yelling, and insults were at times, common.

    At one point during my stay, I was left in the woods on a mountain with another girl.  We were lost because our staff needed medical attention and left us there.

    The bad experience was not necessarily the event, but how they dealt with it.  There was no search party, they didn't even bother to inform my mother.

    The girl with me was sick, and we didn't have water.  Once several girls and myself were put on SOF (statement of facts), which was their form of interrogation for some specific event.  They thought someone had stolen money and wanted to know who.

    You can stay on SOF for weeks, and would until they got what they wanted.  You can't leave the room other than to go to the restroom when they allow it.  They would keep you from going to school for as long as they wanted, you couldn't communicate with anyone other than the staff interrogating you.

    A friend of mine was given a sleep medication and then put on SOF, where they wouldn't allow her to go to bed until they were done, because she couldn't go to sleep after the medication was given, she began to hallucinate.

    Anyways, this specific time a handful of girls and myself were put on SOF because of missing money it later turned out that the staff who reported the stolen money had simply counted the money incorrectly.

    Girls were kept from school and limited to sitting in a desk because of this incompetence, but mistakes like this were not rare because, to them, you were just a delinquent, so you were automatically guilty.

    The reality was that this wasn't the case for the girls that attended with me.  The oldest girls were 17, and the youngest 13.  Several were there for drug addictions, some eating disorders, others had never broken the law in their life.

    However I remember two girls that were sent there because they didn't live by all the Mormon principles according to their parents.  About 98% of the staff employed at LRA were LDS members.  At one point we were told we were not to discuss religion or politics.

    One of the most disturbing things I would witness quite often were what they called "PI's."  This was supposed to be a physical restraint performed by staff members on dangerous kids, but it never was this simple.

    I won't ever forget a young boy named Nick.  He was severely autistic and refused to get in line structure (line up, shut up, face forward), so a staff called for a PI.  The boy was no more than 90 pounds, he was quite small.

    But the staff, who must of been 230 pounds and at least six feet was not restraining him.  No, it was more like a mad man beating up a small kid.  Which it was.

    Nick was thrown against a wall, his face was smashed against the floor, and he was dragged on the carpet.  The aftermath was horrifying.  When he showed up to school the next day his face was so swollen he had trouble opening one eye, and the majority of his face was just raw rug burns.

    I don't know if he received any sort of medical treatment.  I remember thinking to myself when I first saw him that he'd probably have to live with the mental and physical scars for the rest of his life.

    PI's could be done on kids who were swearing, yelling, or being excessively defiant.  You could be tackled by a man two times the size of you, running at full speed.  That was okay there.  A male staff infamous around the school for being excessively violent was Darby Golden, a large college football player, who almost seemed to enjoy that part of his job.

    PI's were one of the things that got to me the most in the program.  I didn't understand how adults could morally and legally do that to kids they were in charge of protecting.

    The female program was different from the boys program, in that it had a alternate set of rules, and females experienced a level of degradation and mortification separate from the boys.  We were more severally punished, and instilled to be ashamed of our bodies and fear anything that remotely represented sexuality.

    I am disgusted at the demeaning methods Logan River Academy employed to punish girls for suffering with eating disorders.  Instead of receiving therapy to target the eating disorder, the girls would be forced to wear a uniform of used sweats—the same tactic used by detention facilities to dehumanize individuals as shown in Zimbardo's experiment—and were watched while showering and using the restroom.  They were not treated like girls that needed love and counseling, no, they were treated like criminals.

    Girls that were known for acting on their eating disorders received devo points, which was detention where you weren't allowed to convey any form of communication (this included coughing), forced to sit a certain way, and you were even told where to look.  For the girls, you only had to lose weight to be accused of an eating disorder by staff.

    Devo started when you got out of school and didn't end until you went to bed.  You could be there for weeks on end.  We were put in devo for the smallest things, forgetting to turn off a light, closing the wrong door, giving your friend a packet of salt at dinner, leaving something out, you were expected to be this perfect individual that never made the slightest of mistakes.

    It was mentally exhausting trying to follow all their small, bizarre rules.  I was constantly fearful that an unintentional non-malicious act would get me harshly punished.

    There was one girl who I remember very clearly because I felt horrible for her.  She was put on precaution and isolation, where she sat devo all day in a secluded room in a wing that wasn't being used to house students anymore.  She never attended school, just sat in that room, with no communication for weeks.

    After a long time in there, I brought her some food once, and I can still see the image of her on the floor, eyes glazed over, open but not looking anywhere.  There wasn't anything behind those eyes, it was like she just wasn't there.  I later found out that she refused to sit devo anymore, and would just lay on the floor in that room the size of a coat closet.  All day.  No one would show her an ounce of humanity or mercy.  Eventually she was dropped or pulled from the program.

    None of the students really actually knew what happened, there were rumors that she was sent to a different program, but she basically just disappeared.  I hope that she's at a better place than Logan River and the way it treated her, wherever that may be.

    Most of the students that I knew had suffered some form of emotional or physical abuse in their lives prior to attending LRA, which they survived and escaped only to end up in the middle of it again at Logan River Academy.  The irony in that is unjust. Logan River Academy was supposed to help us, and it only made us more broken.

    Some possible rights violations that I experienced were:  The opening of our personal mail, every time we received any.  Being forced to work.  Not allowed any contact with your parents until you made the appropriate level, and even then they had to contact you at an allowed set time.  I was never at any point informed of my rights.  Searches were performed on our rooms and property whenever staff desired.

    We were censored constantly, and never remotely experienced any form of freedom of speech.  Our conversations were always monitored.  Not allowing kids to go to school in order to serve a punishment.  Forcing a child to strip.

    –Evelyn S., Newport Beach, CA (Dec. 26, 2013)

  • "I went to this so called school/jail and I was put in a solitary confinement, a.k.a development, for over three months at a time.  I'm now free from this school and feel amazing, but I don't think any person in the world deserves to go that place.  STOP LRA NOW!!!" –Troy Jobin, Fairfax, VA (Nov. 1, 2013)

  • "I was a LRA from Oct. 2011 to April 2013.  I was emotionally traumatized.  Let it be noted that the females at this facility suffer a different kind of shame and abuse.  We were always given harsher punishments, had to abide by different and more limiting rules, and were never allowed to have conversations without staff present.  I spent at least half of my time in DEVO." –Grace McGrade, Los Angeles, CA (Nov. 8, 2013)

  • "LRA is an awful place..  I'll do whatever I can to save Michael from the bs and mental and physical torment that he's in for.."  –Britton Danton

  • "I was a student there.  The things that I witnessed were damn near from a horror scene at times.  The staff members (BYU students) would pick out autistic students and physically and psychologically [expletive deleted] with them to the point where they would be in tears crying.  I spent seven months of my time in devo for trying to run from this pitiful excuse of a treatment facility."  –Lucas Conrad, Richmond, Virginia (Nov. 11, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "I was a victim of this program.  I was mentally tortured and still have a scar that will never go away."  –Brian Collins, Austin, TX (Oct. 23, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "I've been there.  It's awful.  Over 10 years ago. 2002"  –Allison Holleman, San Ramon, CA (Oct. 22, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "This program and place is a horrible excuse to destroy any chance of working on whatever you need to.  I saw kids getting abused, injected, and neglected at this horrible place.  Worst year of my life."  –Vlad I., San Jose, CA (Oct. 6, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "Oh cool, wish I had family that cared as much as you do.  Any ?  Ask me  Spent like two years in DEVO and one out.  I was there 9/2/07–10/31/09."  –Mary Elizabeth Grillo, Coalinga, CA (Nov. 6, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "I endured the abuses of this facility for 18 months the first time and two months the second time.  Please save our youth who are trapped in this ugly system from long-term damage."  –Meredith Cohen, Spokane, WA (Nov. 14, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "I was sent to Logan River as a teenager and have never gotten over what was done to me.  I'm so happy that others are trying to end this interment camp."  –Jeffrey Meyer, Pleasanton, CA (July 1, 2014, via Change.org)

  • "I went here for nine months of my childhood in 2008.  I will never forget the horible things they did to me and all my peers at the time.  Shut them down."  –Christian Hawker, Long Beach, CA (July 13, 2014, via Change.org)

  • "I've attended LRA for 361 days back around 2002–03, fully against their abuse and hope they are taken down and parents learn to deal with their kids instead of robbing them of their youth and institutionalizing them.  Thank you for giving us a voice."  –Mark Ham, Charleston, SC (July 8, 2014, via Change.org)

  • "I went to this place, I know this kid and he does not belong in there."  –Nate Durrett, Coronado, CA (Oct. 6, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "Because I completely agree with everything that they are trying to prove and exploit here and would be willing to do anything to help someone else that has to endure the suffering that they cause."  –Colin Caldart, Graham, WA (Oct. 25, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "LRA may be helpful for some but when I was there, all I needed and wanted was to come home.  Be parents and deal with your child, don't just ship him off for strangers to raise him!!"  –Mairn Simons, Newark, DE (Oct. 6, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "I am a survivor of Logan River Academy, as well as a former patient of Katie Behm.  This video really hit close to home and brought things to light that I buried so long ago.  I've had a plethora of issues since leaving there, and have always felt ashamed of who I am since Logan River Academy.  Thankfully I was able to work through my problems on my own, with no 'help' from the 'tools' they give you there.  Not all of the staff were bad people, though many were not good people.  I myself was not allowed to speak with anybody for three weeks, aside from asking a staff supervisor basic needs questions and therapy…"  –Kellie Bailey, Santa Rosa, CA (Dec. 10, 2013, via Change.org)

  • "Life long friend went to this hell hole."  –Taylor Butler, Chesterfield, VA (Nov. 11, 2013)

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