Logan River Academy - Logan, Utah

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you will be scarred for life both mentally and physically. save yourself the trouble and avoid this place at all costs. the staff are not there to help you they are there to hurt you.
"let's find a random word, add 'therapeutic' or the letter S, and turn it into a punishment!" is basically how the policies operate. we'd joke around sometimes about the dumb policies but we all know we hate it to the core. the staff only exist to find small or nonexistent problems and try to nuke us, only making more problems in the process. they would say we were walking out of bounds when we were literally sleeping in our beds like it's supposed to be a biggee problem than if someone actually died. or how some people ruin things for everyone, like how someone abused the already dysfunctional "phase" system to make it literally useless. They can't even run their own dictatorship properly. lra is just about an anarchy at this point minus the staff who care about the small details but completely ignore the big and fundamental problems. Like literally being paid 600k to be the world's most useless teacher. surprise, the 10-20k EACH of us spend monthly goes directly to embezzlement and NOT to quality of life. the fact is, all the nice and caring people who DO exist leave because it's too dysfunctional for them to actually fix children. isn't that the whole point rotting away confined at lra for 2 years did nothing but waste critical years of my life and replace it with scars and trauma. If anyone thinks I'm exaggerating, go see for yourself - but be warned, you don't. they definitely have changed their policies over the past few years, but that doesn't mean it's gone better. Luckily it seems lra is on the brink of collapse, so we'll never have to worry about it again. Hopefully.

Valerie A.

This is to all the staff who have helped me while I was there. I'm sorry for not giving you guys discharge letters. I just felt that with me improving and me getting better was enough to say thank you because now I am better and a lot of people say that LRA is such a terrible place or its basically hell, but for me, it's like my home. Ive' had so many ups and downs while I was there but in the end, you guys were always there for me. Huge shout-out to Sariah. Thank you for all those times we would go on walks and talk about life. To Chris Johns. Thank you for believing in me and for your "hip" dance moves. To Paige. Thank you for all the fun activities such as Dodgebll. Those were fun. To Josh. YIKES. Margaret. Thank you for understanding me and talking about chickens. Braden. Thank you for being my favorite staff. And for making me laugh. And to all the staff who helped me. You guys are the best:)))

A W.

Logan River Academy has been a life saver for our son. Their clinical program has provided the much needed support our kiddo needed when he demonstrated he was beyond the scope of what the outpatient community could offer at that time. We tried all sorts of wrap around services coupled with a small school special education setting here at home. He continued to decline, so we made the difficult decision to explore residential options. After repeated hospitalizations, our son went through a comprehensive evaluation for 6-weeks at the Menninger Clinic in Houston and Logan River was 1 of 2 programs they recommended for longer term treatment.

Logan River has a skilled clinical team along with a well supported school-based program that is small in size with a varied curriculum and special education staff to provide support for neurodiverse learners. Their adventure learning program is also a wonderful addition exposing the kids to all sorts of outdoor activities and increasing their skills. Things that may have been or felt challenging like mountain biking, skiing, rock climbing, backpacking and camping trips, etc—staff help them build inner resilience and take the time to support them as they gain confidence in their ability to participate in these types of activities.

We have seen the program go through some changes that include increased structure and group work for the kids. In addition to their individual therapist, Special Education case workers are assigned for additional supports. They work hard as a team to align messaging across the organization so that each kiddo's individualized needs are celebrated.

Our son is really beginning to thrive. It’s unlikely he would be here today. It was a bumpy road getting here, but we’re here and forever grateful to the bright, caring and dedicated staff at Logan River! Thank you.

Amanda K.

Went here as a kid (2009-2011) where I spent almost all of my 18 months at LRA in DEVO. Anyone who's been to LRA knows what I'm talking about. My group was actually situated in an off-site house away from the main campus and we came back to the main location to go to school. The DEVO room was a windowless room with no heat in the basement of the house we lived in. Months and months went by on "talk restriction" where I was paraded around in a bright pink jumpsuit and told that I wasn't allowed to talk to any students or staff if the conversation was anything but school-related. The isolation and mental abuse was so intense I still struggle with being in certain spaces and am very very Closter phobic from the MONTHS I spent in that tiny, freezing DEVO room.

I was placed in DEVO or had my time extended for simply talking back or refusing to do something stupid, like my homework. You had school desks in a small off-white room that you sat in for days on end "to teach you a lesson." I think the longest I spent in DEVO at one time was 3 months. It was absolute torture and similar to solitary confinement in the most literal sense, which is even questionable practice for adults in prison.

To treat a child like a prisoner simply because they have behavioral challenges or truancy issues, etc. is completely against our individual rights as humans. We were treated like slaves and forced to deep clean the 6 bedroom house we lived in every Sunday for hours on top of regular daily chores. The school was a joke, but it offered a reprieve from the endless time I spent in DEVO. Anything on Earth is better than siting in DEVO. I still have memories of the place and dream that I'm trying to escape from that unbelievably small, freezing basement room I was forced into for the majority of my time in this hell hole.

Educational consultants receive kickbacks for each child sent to these places, they are not "your friend" or even trying to help your child. It's a paycheck for each consultant, and your kids are the ultimate victims. As a parent now, I can safely say you don't give a crap about your child if you send them to the for-profit "school" who slams them against walls, isolates them for months, and threatens them with longer treatment stays if they talk. By allowing your child to go here, you are personally responsible for the continuation of programs like these after generations of trauma. You know what happens in places like these, just look at the other reviews.

A lot of us who experienced "treatment" are just now able to talk about the things that happened to us, and we're expressing the truth about what goes on here. We're adults now and have no reason to lie to anyone about the trauma and lack of professionality from all programs like these, especially LRA. So I'm asking you from the bottom of my bruised and broken heart, if your child is struggling, please look into insurance-funded inpatient programs or residentials in your home state. These places are actually inspected by the state to insure practices are producing positive outcomes and are monitored by an independent party. These for-profit centers like LRA have no oversight or accountability to anyone outside of those walls. What a dangerous place to send your child..... we've warned you.

TTI W.

I went here 17 years ago and I'm shocked that they are still open and operating.

This place is incredibly damaging. When I went here, kids were getting thrown in Devo (a detention area on the 3rd floor where kids were forced to sit up and stay silent all day) for months at a time. While up there, kids were being thrown into Observation (a 4×8 cell with a wooden floor and white wall used as a solitary room) on the daily. They were also being unnecessarily restrained all the time. LRA claims they will only do restraints if a kid is a threat to themselves or others, but that is a lie. I witnessed kids get thrown through walls for offenses like talking back to staff. They were not a threat, maybe an annoyance, but not a threat.

Logan River also feels like a prison when you are stuck there. A prison with no sentence and no expected release date. You're stuck following their overly structured routine and you must abide by their sometimes draconian rules or you risk being treated like a prisoner of war in devo. Being in an environment like that is horrible for a kid's mental state. Every kid who walks through the doors of LRA has a feeling of helplessness because of that fact. I know I did. Also, when parents send their kids to a place like this, it leaves a feeling of being unwanted in the child. That causes lasting mental scars. I have C-PTSD from my time in treatment and it all stems from that feeling of helplessness and feeling of being unwanted.

My relationship with my family is permanently tarnished. I have never been able to trust them since being here. I also have never been able to trust the mental health industry either because anytime I try to seek help I just have flashbacks to my time here.

There were also issues of racism and antisemitism here. Every day other kids would call me "Judenberg" and "Jewcan Sam" and nothing was ever done about it. In fact, some staff encouraged it and would laugh with the kids as they would harass me for something that was completely out of my control.

This place is just extremely unethical. If you are considering sending your child here or any place like it, do your research. Do not blindly listen to your educational consultant. Talk to the people who actually went here and get their opinion. You are making a lasting desicion that could negativity effect your kid for the rest of their life. And negativity effect your relationship with them. I actually beg you not send your child here. It pains me every day to know kids are still going through this. It's like my suffering wasn't enough and more children must be traumatized so they can get their $$$$.

Oh yeah, 1 more thing, a staff member here got me hooked on cigarettes when I was 16. On my last day I was transported out, and halfway through the trip to the airport, the staff member who was transporting me handed me a cigarette and told me he wanted to "give me my first taste of freedom." Since that moment I have become pretty addicted to cigarettes.

Tasha F.

21 years ago I was released from this evil place. It took me 21 years to tell my story and of the horrific torture we suffered at the hands of this sadistic organization. I’m not a disgruntled teen. I’m a 38 year old mother and I urge anyone considering sending their troubled child to this Guantanamo for children to please do your research! This is not cognitive behavioral therapy this is behavior modification. Please just do your research. I hope this reached someone who needs it.

Charlotte M.

I went to LRA in 2012 to about late 2013 or early 2014, I can confirm the abuse accusations on this horrific place. I was punished rarely for severe offenses, like physical altercations with staff and students (either coz I was defending myself from abuse or bullying from the other residents) or intentional self harm (coz it was the only way to be isolated from the mistreatment). Surprisingly the only solace from the abuse is when you go to development or a.k.a DEVO for aclass 3(physical altercations for bullying) or class 4 (sexual harassment or racism and self harm) or a class 5 infraction (running away from the program) which helps me understand why some students did things like this to "escape the torture". In short freedom from development here is not free, it just puts you out in the wild horrific mess of a toxic abusive environment in the dorms. I've witnessed kids that were only in the dorms for maybe a day or two before going to Devo for the rest of their stay because it was the only sense of freedom they had because the staff there who supervised the Devo didn't care enough to interfere with anybody unless there was a physical altercation. I've even witnessed I can't get his head smashed open from being thrown to the ground so hard without any padding coz he was cutting, they just grab you and throw you up against the wall or on the ground without any precautions. The staff also talked lots of crap on the students who "escaped the clutches of their abuse" which was very few to the many, because some parents were actually smart enough to see through the manipulation both staff, therapists and admin poison the poor child's parent's minds with, more than likely because they wanted to toy with them more, kind of like a predator throwing a tantrum after it's pray escapes. I only rate this place two stars, because instead of damaging myself and letting my experiences from this place scar me, I've grown resilient and unashamed of who I am through the brutal experience this place provides. I used to believe I was hopeless and the staff certainly confirm that to every poor soul that enters this program, but I was better than that, in their torture I found strength and I beat each and every one of them without laying a finger on them. My name is Curtis Bliss, I was dorm 3 until bullying made me move down to dorm 8 because I felt unsafe because of the staff and students there, and they almost cut me in that dorm because if my parents wouldn't have demanded for me to be moved to a safer environment I would have had to endure. Do not send your pride and joys here, do not destroy them and the precious relationship you have with them.

Tiffany B.

They did not have paw patrol as one of the options to watch on the TV, so I'm very disappointed cuz its one of my favorite shows. Also, this is coming from a student