Bradyn B. at Liahona Academy

This testimony was found on Yelp. All rights goes to the original author known as Bradyn B.

I went to Liahona from January 08 to March 09, and it is an absolutely dreadful place. A wolf masked in sheep's clothing. It is a horrible facility that lies to parents so Clay , the owner, can get as many kids in there to fill up his pockets.

They lie to parents about the disciplinary actions. Some of the disciplinary actions that I am certain are not relayed to parents include; being sat in a chair forced to stare at a wall for 10 hours+ a day, not being given proper nutrition, being forced to do excessive cardio activity (including carrying large rocks and sprints) with seemingly no regard to possible health problems/risks, grown men (the staff) getting physical with the kids simply for refusing to obey, etc. The kids letters are read and censored "if necessary." Any attempts to relay information of disciplinary actions by a student to his parents will result in the student's letter not being sent.

When the kids first arrive they are forced to act like animals in front of their peers. Refusal to do so will end up with punishments mentioned above.

The facility lies to the parents telling them they go on a weekly activity out into the surrounding area. That is not true. In order to go out on the activity the students have to earn it by displaying exemplary behavior (and I mean exemplary). Simply forgetting to push in their chair or to turn off the lights twice would result in a student missing the activity. They also mention on their website the statement that the students enjoy "daily recreational activity". Unless they consider forcing them to run miles on end, and punishing them even more severely for refusing to do so, recreational activity then that is also a lie. Recreational activity mostly only occurs on Saturday and Sunday.

Repeatedly the kids at the facility are used for FREE manual labor, and the staff have the audacity to tell the kids to be grateful for the opportunity to do so. Free manual labor I personally performed while there includes; helping staff members move multiple times (and once the family of the owner) , cleaning up a back yard of a staff members house, landscaping work at a staff members house, and landscaping work at the facility.

The program is set up in a brainwashing fashion that turns the students into obedient, mindless, drones by removing their identity and operating the facility in an authoritative like fashion. The rules are very strict and the punishments are very harsh. For example, writing essays and extra running being dished out to the students for things as small as forgetting to push in their chairs.

They force the kids to memorize meaningless quotes, that are pages long, week in and week out. Punishments for refusing, or failing, to do so are quite severe. The student would miss the weekly recreational activity, and weekend recreations. If a student never does the quote then essentially his stay at the facility is doubled, because advancement in the program would take twice as long.

To top it all off, the ineffectiveness. Behavior of kids returning home usually will recede to to how it was before in a matter of weeks. You hear about it all the time at the facility, kids parents calling and complaining of returned negative behaviors. Some parents still have not figured out the scam and actually send their kids back. I guess Clay is a good salesman.

A boy died at the facility January 19, 2010.

Sources:

• The original testimony (Yelp)
• Unknown - 2010 (Today a child died - memorial blog)
• Factsheet about the program (Fornits Wiki)

Alex W at Diamond Ranch Academy

Ok let me start out by saying this place was HELL for me and everyone else i know that went there. If anything it made things worse then better. I got sent there on April 15, 2008 and graduated May 15, 2009. I was there exactly 13 months. As people said that a kid died there. That kid was my best friend. His name was Jim. now i dont know exactly how he died or any of the details. All i do know is how the staff there treated him. It was exactly a week after he got back to the ranch from a home visit. My ENTIRE dorm woke up around 4 am thinking someone was showering. We found out that Jim was puking over the side of his bed so much it sounded like a shower running! So obviously he was sick. The staff then made him sit there for over 45 minutes cleaning up his own vomit with nothing other then paper towel. No mop no cleaning supplies just a paper towel. In the morning when we all went to breakfast he was sent to sick bay and that was the last time any of the students saw him. Now it wasn't DRA's fault that he died. but he was sick and they treated him so horribly! making him clean up his own vomit at 4 in the morning, while he was moaning and groaning and throwing up some more! Thats that story. Let me get into more of my story now. When i went there i had long hair. I got an extra week in homeless (the beginning part of the program where you can eat nothing but rice, and arent allowed to talk for at least 2 weeks) just because i didnt want to cut my hair! Does that sound reasonable?! Also i was on run watch. That is where they take your shoes and give you flip flops so it is harder to run away. The reason they put me on run watch? well which one do u want? The reason they told me, the reason they told my mom, or the truth??? So they told me that my mom requested it. Later on in my program i found out that they told my mom it was because I tried to run away! When i went there i was a little fat chubby kid. Even if i wanted to run away i knew i couldnt so why would i even try?! Now for the real reason. When i found out what they had told my mom i asked Ricky (program director and son of the owner) why I was on run watch in homeless. His answer? "You were on run watch because we felt like putting you on run watch"...... DRA is also physically and mentally abusive. One time i got thrown face first into the rocks and restrained because i said "screw you" to a kid. i didnt touch him, i didnt threaten him, all i said was screw you. The only reason they stopped restraining me was because my arm made a snapping noise and they were afraid they would break it. They were mentally abusive in the fact that i STILL have nightmares about that place!!! anyway let me talk about it in general and not about my story. I saw kids there that were not there for drug issues but when left got addicted to hardcore drugs because other kids there were talking about how great they were. I do not know i single person that went to dra that HASNT relapsed on what ever they were there for. Whether it was drugs or a certain behavior. DO NOT send your kids to DRA. all it will do is making them worse. It is a TERRIBLE place and i wouldnt even go back for all of bill gates money Sources:

When a boy died at the ranch

January 10, 2009 should have been a day just like any other. At the ranch a 14 year old boy was in the final stages of his stay at the ranch, when he fell ill. The ranch located miles from the nearest town was not a place where you should fall ill.

Even ordinary illnesses could turn fatal and then of course the so-called counselors - the musclemen guarding the teenagers - have to be convinced that the complaints of one of the residents are not act planned to get them to transport the teenagers to a place where it is easier to escape. When the boy entered the hospital it was too late. His life was cut short and ended way too soon.

All that delay which is kind of ordinary when taken into the account that the victim lists of teenagers who have died while they were placed in such treatment programs are way too long. There is only one conclusion for parents thinking of sending their children to facilities like Diamond Ranch Academy: If you child have even the slightest health problems then keep them at home!

For the 14 year old James Richard "Jim" Shirey his stay at Diamond Ranch Academy ended with his death. Back in 2009 they tried to find the cause of his death several times. It is not clear whether the cause was found. Maybe the autopsy was performed locally under the stress of keeping jobs in a small community with few jobs and an economy under pressure. In fact it would not be the first time when the cause of death is altered to keep the facility out of the case. Just remember the Martin Lee Anderson case.

There is no reason to blame his parents. They fell for a very crafty marketing machine. How many websites are promoting to fix the problems of teenagers? Thousands!! A lot of the so-called educational consultants are paid by both the parents and the facilities when they recommend certain wilderness programs and facilities to the families. In fact most in the Ed-con industry would not be able to keep their business running if they were not small recruiting outlets for the wilderness programs and special boarding schools.

It is a business built on scams. Just look at the cases where parents have been made into believing that a certain boarding school is better than a local offer by a school district. Modern school district have experts. They know about the double payment educational consultants receive and they are no longer giving in. They take their day in court and they do often win.

But unfortunately parents are still being fooled. They don't have the knowledge professionals inside the education system have. They are easy pray, when parents in some cases are paid or given discount in exchange of praising a certain schools or wilderness programs.

It is easy to say that deaths can be accidental and fewer children dies at the ranch compared with other schools but when is a death one too much? We believe that every death is one too many and that even one death should result in an evaluation of the entire business.

The tragedy which took place on January 10, 2009 should have resulted in a suspension of the operations just as it has been the case with many other schools and wilderness programs. For reasons unknown to us it did not happen.

James Richard "Jim" Shirey got only 14 years in this world. May he rest in peace. We will pray that he is in a better place than the "hell ranch".

Sources:

• Victim list 2005 - 2009 (Fornits Wiki)
• James Richard "Jim" Shirey - memorial website