By Stephen C. Schultz
The sky was blue and the air was dry. There was a faint
smell of pinion pines and cedar in the air. The girls, in their early teens,
rushed down to the water’s edge. There were the usual joyful screeches and high
pitched screams as they hopped and danced into the chilly water. With life
jackets secured, they swam and splashed like every normal teenage girl swimming
at the local lake.
With three daughters of my own, it’s easy to see these teens
at Discovery Ranch for Girls
as simply friends and neighbors that my own kids hang out with. It’s only when
you have knowledge of some of their very personal issues and poignant concerns that you
start to understand just how different their life experience has been. Having
struggled with adoption, self harm, depression, anxiety, eating disorders and substance
experimentation, these teens have found themselves in an emotional state of
mind and exibiting behaviors that warrants being placed with a residential treatment center
like Discovery Ranch for Girls.
Because of the care and concern of their parents, these
girls have been privately placed in an exclusive, personalized caring environment.
An enviornment where they can discover their strengths and develop resilience around
those issues they struggle with.
Please allow me to share some insight with you about
Discovery Ranch for Girls. The precipitating factor for this post has simply
been conversations with educational consultants and other allied health
professionals as we tour DRG.
Over the last couple of months we have had numerous
questions about why we expanded the Discovery Ranch therapeutic program. I
think it’s important to share that our organization doesn’t “Grow” or look for
additional “Market Share” like many of the large corporate organizations or
those who are funded by venture capital money.
As you look at the growth of our organization over the last
ten years, it has been Discovery
Connections growing out of Discovery
Academy to serve the “rough around the edges” student and provide career
exploration and internships. The East Campus at Oxbow Academy was created to serve students
with ASD and other developmental concerns as well as sexual issues. Years
ago, Medicine Wheel at RedCliff Ascent was established to
meet the needs of young adults, many of whom would transition from the
adolescent program once they turned 18 yrs old. This allows families and
students to make a seamless transition. All of our growth has been the result
of recognizing a need within our current system of care and refining the
services we provide to better meet the needs of our clientele.
As you may or may not be aware, Discovery Ranch started with a Boys
program and a Girls program. They were in two separate homes on the same
campus. Their academics were separate,
their meal time was separate and even their off campus activities were
separate. The time spent with the calves and chores were also separate. They
did come together when clinically indicated by the clinical team, but other
than that, it was two programs. We coined the term, “Single Gender Hybrid” to
wrap a context around the innovative services we provided.
We ended up with a waiting list and were unable to reliably
accept referrals from educational consultants and allied health professionals
when they called. (98% of students are referred by educational consultants) So,
we expanded to create dormitory space above the Cafeteria and we expanded once
more to create an academic center. In less than a year we eventually reached
the capacity of the Mapleton location again. We were faced with a decision to
continue to grow that location and reduce the therapeutic effectiveness of the
campus or turn away referrals from sources we had developed trusting
relationships with. Neither was a desirable option. We had an opportunity to
acquire the property in Cedar City.
The Discovery Ranch therapeutic model has been very
effective with students and families over the years. We did not want to mess
with that. By simply transitioning the girls as well as the Discovery Ranch
model to the Cedar City location, we are able to maintain the quality of
service provided and alleviate the organizational stresses that accompany a
start up with one or two students. The Cedar City location hit the ground
running with 28 students this last month.
As I have toured Discovery Ranch for Girls with consultants,
allied professionals and clinicians, there is understandable amazement at the
beauty of the campus. It truly is a wonderful location with some stunning facilities.
There have also been many questions about our organization and the involvement
of the leadership and administration. Simply stated, we are owner operated. With
the economy still at a tenuous place and the recent closing of programs around
the country, there is heightened interest in the financial stability of treatment
programs in general. There is not much worse than for a referring professional
to refer a family to a program, only to have that program close down soon
after. It is important to know that we are wise stewards of our organizational
resources and we make sure our business decisions are financially sound.
Not every teenage girl who struggles with an issue or
concern needs Discovery Ranch for Girls. Most teens are able to navigate the
adolescent stages of development just fine. However, there is a certain
percentage of teens that need a caring and supporting environment with
individualized and personalized treatment options; a place where families heal.
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