First statement was made april 8, 2010:
I am on the fence with this one right now.
My ex-wife and parents wanted to send our son to DRA. I was not 100% on board. As, time went on I have seen a change in our son, during the parent calls he never says anything bad about DRA and seems to be improving.
At first he was very rebellious about being there, then changed his whole attitude. Well he just went back after a home visit. Seems he is afraid to say anything bad about DRA so as not to be 'Owned' That is taken down physically by staff. Also, seems he has learned to accept and go along with the program after realizing it was the only real way to fight and get out of there. Resisting and they fail your weeks and you stay there longer, go along even through the motions and you get to go home sooner. All the Mentors who are students tell the new arrivals just go along with it, it is the way out. He actually seems a bit scared to go back.
He has 6 weeks to go, yet got in a lot of trouble when he went back for not having the same shoes on when he left. The shoes he was wearing were wore out with holes in them so he got a new pair while at home. Really questioning finishing or not. What else is he not supossed to tell us? all calls and letters are monitored.
The next statement was given on december 13, 2010:
Son is home now.. I will change my review from 1 star to 2. It was quite an experience for him and for us. The first months back he was a new person. I got the feeling he was afraid to not be. Now he has settled in. He has relasped a bit here and there. Not sure if this was the best thing for him or not. Next time I think we will save the boat load of cash and instead send him off to some cult in the desert to be brainwashed... oh wait maybe that is what happened...
In fact most special boarding schools and programs which have something to hide use monitoring of all communication. If any facility suggests limiting the communication with your child due to therapeutic reasons, then pull your child. The hiring process is based on the potential of qualified workers found in the often dense populated areas facilities like Diamond Ranch Academy is located in. Similar facilities have experienced sexual abuse of the teenagers by counselors. In other cases the staff had no license to work in the particular state.
Second: If you cannot keep a changed environment once your child return home, then don't send your child. 99 percent of the problems the child will show you are based on learned behaviors and the inspiration is you. You are the parent and human children are not born blind like most animals. Their problems are learned behaviors. You might not be an addict or practice the inappropriate behavior, but at some point you didn't pick up the important signal you child was trying to communicate to you. Fact is: You can change it by starting a therapeutic process for you. If you don't change before you try to change your child you will experience what the professionals call a honeymoon period. Your childs behavior will be fine for 3-6 months - in some cases even up to two years before the old behaviors will return.
Work with yourself. Then your child will be helped for a fraction of the price a residential placement will set you back.
Source:
The original review on Yelp.com
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