ABOUT YOUTH CARE
Youth Care is a behavior modification boarding school that provides residential treatment for adolescents aged 11 to 18 who are facing various mental and behavioral health disorders, including but not limited to depression, self-esteem issues, and substance abuse problems.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
Within an average week, clients receive 20 hours of clinical services, which focus on helping them recognize and understand their choices and the consequences that come with those choices. Treatment includes medication management services, individual, group, and family therapy (including dialectical behavior therapy), and recreational and experiential therapies.
The program is structured into levels based on a point system. Residents earn points hourly for positive behaviors such as good school performance and appropriate social interactions. This system aims to help students correct their negative behavior promptly.
The center has four primary levels: orientation, awareness, proficiency, and mastery. Additionally, there are three correctional levels that involve various punishments, including withheld privileges. If a client moves back a level, they must complete therapeutic assignments before returning to their previous level.
The center prioritizes family involvement and provides weekly family therapy sessions. Parent days are held every six to eight weeks and include conferences, therapy sessions, support groups, and student presentations.
Aftercare options include a seven-day-a-week partial hospitalization program (PHP) based at the residential treatment facility.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
The staff at Youth Care includes a psychiatrist, psychologist, nurses, social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, and advanced substance abuse counselors. The staff’s level of training and experience was given a two out of five star rating by a single individual polled by Best-rehabs.com.
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
The residents share bedrooms in a comfortable family-style home equipped with a computer room and a garden. Mandatory chores are assigned to clients, and the center also provides recreational activities such as cross-country skiing, indoor climbing, and snowshoeing. These activities aim to instill trust, honesty, good communication skills, and strong self-esteem. Additionally, clients engage in service-based activities every week, such as volunteering at the food bank or playing bingo with the elderly.
The center is a fully accredited academic institution with certified teachers.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
The single alum review submitted to Best-rehabs.com was highly critical. Julie gave Youth Care two out of five stars for family programming and one star for most other evaluated treatment metrics, including overall effectiveness, counseling options, and treatment for co-occurring disorders. Julie described feeling unsafe around other residents, uncared for by staff, and experiencing excessively severe restrictions. She also mentioned unwarranted punishments and the negative impact the experience had on her anxiety. “I had anxiety before but my anxiety became 10x worse because of this experience… I just recently recovered from the experience. I went when I was 16 and now I’m 24,” she wrote.
Secondary review sites yielded mixed feedback. On YellowPages.com, the center had an almost perfect average rating based on 24 reviews. However, on HealthGrove, the average rating was 1.7 stars based on six reviews, and on Google, it was 2.8 out of five stars.
Numerous alumni echoed Julie’s concerns, citing harsh and inappropriate treatment, strict rules limiting contact with families, and leaving the facility feeling worse than when they arrived.
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
The single loved one polled by Best-rehabs.com stated that they would recommend Youth Care to friends and family. They gave the center three out of five stars for the overall quality of its addiction treatment and four stars for the overall quality of its mental health treatment. However, they gave lower ratings of two stars for its holistic offerings and its leadership.
CONCLUSION
The cost of treatment at Youth Care varies depending on the client’s needs and length of stay. The center is in-network with Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, United, and Value Options, and it also accepts insurance on an out-of-network basis. To increase the accessibility of treatment, Youth Care has partnered with healthcare loans company American Healthcare Lending for clients who require financial assistance.
In April 2015, Al Jazeera America published a report on abuse at adolescent residential facilities in Utah, which included a mention of an incident at Youth Care resulting in a death. The facility responded at the time by stating that the death was the result of a medical condition.