Elevations RTC

Elevations RTC is a residential treatment center (RTC) in Syracuse, Utah, for teens age 13-18.[6] The facility was formerly known as Island View Residential Treatment Center, until it was acquired by Syracuse RTC, LLC, which does business as Elevations RTC, in 2014.[7] Elevations RTC now shares the campus with Seven Stars and ViewPoint Assessment Center.[8]

Elevations RTC f/k/a Island View Residential Treatment Center
Address
2650 West 2700 South

Syracuse
,
Davis County
,
Utah
84075
Information
School typeFor-profit program, Residential Treatment Facility, Emotionally Disturbed Children
Founded1994; rebranded in 2014
FounderDr. W. Dean Belnap, M.D., Lorin A. Broadbent, D.S.W., Jared U. Balmer, PhD., and W. Kimball DeLaMare, L.C.S.W.
Sister schoolAshcreek Ranch Academy, Asheville Academy for Girls, BlueFire Wilderness, Sedona Sky Academy, Solstice East, Equinox RTC, Talisman Camps, Trails Carolina, The Academy at Trails, ViewPoint Center Assessment, and Wingate Wilderness Therapy[1]
Age range13 to 18
Classes offeredSocial Studies, Pre-Algebra through Pre-Calculus, English, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Spanish, and Physics[2]
Campus typeSecured/Locked
AccreditationsCognia[3]
Tuition$16,000 per month[4]
AlumniMisha Osherovich
OwnerFamily Help & Wellness, formerly Aspen and CRC Health Group[5]
Websitehttps://www.elevationsrtc.com/

Background

Opening of Syracuse Campus

The Syracuse campus initially opened in 1994 as the Island View Residential Treatment Center.[9] Its founders were Lorin Broadbent, DSW, Jared Balmer, PhD, and W. Kimball DeLaMare, LCSW.[10] They came together to create their own residential treatment center after leaving other failed "tough love" treatment programs.[11][12][13]

In 2004, Aspen Education Group acquired Island View.[10] CRC Health Group, a company owned by Bain Capital,[14] purchased Aspen Education for $300 million in 2006.[15] Aspen and CRC Health Group owned and operated the Syracuse campus until 2014.

Rebranding to Elevations RTC

In April 2014, Syracuse RTC, LLC acquired Island View and changed the name to Elevations RTC.[16][17][7]

Elevations is a continuation of Island View.[18] At Elevations, the student dress code, applications, policies and procedures, and the solitary confinement procedures are largely the same as at Island View.[19][20]

Many Elevations employees also worked at Island View.[20][21] These include Elevations' executive director Judi Jacques, M. Ed., clinical director Jennifer Wilde, L.C.S.W., medical director Dr. Michael Connolly, admissions director Laura Burt, program director Eric Flores, and dean of students Jen Capellen.[20][22]

Elevations is a residential treatment center that works with students of all genders.[23] The facility today caters to a large population of transgender and gender non-conforming teens.[24]

Partnership with Family Help & Wellness

Elevations is partnered with Family Help & Wellness.[25] The company was founded by Tim Dupell,[25] who was the executive vice president and CFO of Aspen Education from 1999 until 2004.[20] Family Help & Wellness provides management, financial, and marketing support to Elevations’ ownership team.[25]

Programming

The program at Elevations includes individual, family, and group psychotherapy, an educational program, and therapeutic recreation activities.[6] The Elevations School is accredited by Cognia.[3] Most classes at Elevations meet college entrance requirements.[26]

Elevations utilizes a level system consisting of five tiers.[26][27] Children in higher tiers have additional privileges.[26][27][20]

The lowest level is the Orientation Phase and the status referred to as "Community Break", which is designed for students who have violated rules and are significantly disrupting the therapeutic community.[26][27] While on Community Break, students may not communicate (CMR) with peers or make phone calls and at night, they are required to sleep in the hallway under the fluorescent lights.[26][27][20] Students may be on Community Break for considerable amounts of time, often with other restrictions or sanctions.[26][27][28]

Front of a building at Elevations

A common consequence for misbehavior includes "Individual Focus" or "Team Focus", a form of isolation in which students are made to sit silently for hours — or days.[20][26][27] During this time, students are often not allowed to go to class and cannot communicate with their peers.[20] Elevations also utilizes a tiny isolation chamber, approximately 4 by 4 feet.[20]

Phone use at Elevations is restricted and mail is closely monitored.[26][27] Elevations does not allow students to access email, but does allow them to communicate with their families electronically through a system called Family Bridge.[26][27] At Elevations, all of the residential buildings have locked doors.[29]

The cost of tuition at Elevations is approximately $16,000 per month or $192,000 per year.[4] According to Elevations, the average stay is 8 to 10 months, although students often stay there much longer.[26] Insurance companies have denied coverage based on the long-term care at Elevations not being medically necessary.[30](subscription required)

Elevations gives parents a list of the typical things that kids new to the program say to manipulate their parents into letting them come home.[31][32][26] Common statements include "I feel unsafe," "they treat us like we are in prison," "the faculty are trying to brainwash us," and "they lied to you about what this place is, it is nothing like they said."[32][26] Parents are told these statements are either an exaggeration or a lie[31] and to avoid these "parenting traps".[32][26][33]

Controversy

Allegations of Abuse and Mistreatment

Many former residents at Elevations and Island View have alleged experiencing some form of physical, sexual, or psychological abuse at the Syracuse facility.[20][28] They describe staff tormenting and abusing them, and leaving the program with more trauma (PTSD) than they came in with.[20] A petition exists with almost 2,500 signatures to shut Elevations down.[34]

A September 2020 incident at Elevations in which a student was rendered unconscious after hitting his head while being restrained prompted an investigation by the Utah Department of Human Services Office of Licensing. [28] The case is still open.[35]

In 2018, a former resident filed a lawsuit against Elevations RTC, alleging that a staff member threw her to the floor.[36] As a result, the girl alleged that she sustained a traumatic brain and nerve damage resulting in permanent disfigurement of her eye and impaired vision.[37] Despite her headaches, nausea, vomiting, and double vision, the former resident alleged that Elevations failed to provide medical assistance for six days.[38] Elevations settled the case in September 2019, and the court dismissed it with prejudice.[39]

Inspections reports of the facility from 2015 through 2019 show 35 violations, including insufficient documentation pertaining to seclusion methods and repeated citations for missing paperwork related to staff training and mildew or mold in the bathrooms.[28]

Elevations has also been accused of practicing conversion therapy.[40] Transgender activist Lillian Lennon told Mashable that while in the residential treatment center, she was shuttled between a boys' dorm and an isolation quarter.[40] She says staff refused to call her by her pronouns and dismissed her gender identity as an "excuse to be promiscuous."[40]

In 2014, the Utah Department of Human Services detailed students' claims that staff at Elevations was mistreating them, including by using restraint too often on them when not warranted and belittling them.[20]

Around the time the facility was renamed Elevations RTC, Island View had been at the center of two highly publicized lawsuits in 2014, one with Dr. Phil, alleging that the center “maintained a prison-like environment where physical and psychological torture were used against students",[41][42][43][44] which were subsequently dismissed.[45][46][47][48][49][50][51]

Several former residents of the center claimed in 2012 that they had received inadequate medical care during their time there, and that they had been subjected to solitary confinement and other harsh physical and psychological treatment.[52]

In 2007, the disappearance of a 15-year-old resident made headlines after she made a short-lived attempt to escape the facility.[53] After her parents returned her to Island View, the girl says she was punished for running away by being put in isolation for 58 days.[20]

In 2004, a 16-year-old boy hung himself in a bathroom at Island View.[54] The staff were unsuccessful in reviving him.[55] Island View was cited for providing inadequate medical care to the child, placed on probation, and required to submit a plan of corrective action.[55]

In 2002, a former resident filed a $135 million lawsuit against her father in part for having her admitted to Island View where she says she was traumatized.[56]

Many former residents have also reported that sedatives were given at Island View to quell disobedience.[57]

The local Syracuse Police Department has responded to 219 emergency calls at the facility’s address between January 2005 and October 2020.[58][28] Many of the calls are related to abuse, sex offenses or suicide attempts.[59][28]

Breaking Code Silence

Former Island View and Elevations residents, including Island View alumni actor Misha Osherovich, attended a rally held by Paris Hilton in protest of alleged abuse at Provo Canyon School and programs for troubled teens and spoke out about the abuse they said they experienced.[60] Elevation's clinical director, Jordan Killpack, is a former Provo Canyon School therapist.[61]

The non-binary "Freaky" star Osherovich described in Them about their experience at Island View.[62] Osherovich likened what the facility did to conversion therapy.[62] Osherovich tweeted their support for the Breaking Code Silence movement.[63] The American Bar Association hosted a panel with Osherovich, Hilton, Senator Sara Gelser, and the mother of a former Island View resident, which explored youth being funneled into prison-like “behavior modification” centers under the guise of treatment and conversion therapy.[64]

Other alumni have come forward describing abuse as part of the viral Breaking Code Silence movement.[65] The survivors describe being locked in isolation and solitary confinement, sleep deprivation, attack therapy, and being drugged with psychotropics, amongst other things.[65][66]

COVID-19 Outbreak

Multiple cases of COVID-19 were confirmed among the students at Elevations RTC in December 2020. Some parents said Elevations’ communication with families was poor throughout the outbreak.[67]

Expansion of Island View

Leadership at Island View has branched into partnerships with several other troubled teen programs owned by the company Family Help & Wellness.[68]

References
  1. "Programs - Family Help & Wellness". famhelp.com. Family Help & Wellness. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  2. "Elevations - Curriculum". elevationsrtc.com. Elevations RTC. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  3. "Cognia - Institution Summary". advanc-ed.org/. Cognia. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  4. "Berkeley Unified School District Approval of Master Contract for Residential Treatment Centers for 2020-2021 SY". https://agendaonline.net/. Berkeley Unified School District. Retrieved 3 January 2021. External link in |website= (help)
  5. "New Status and Name Changes at Syracuse Campus". strugglingteens.com. 5 May 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  6. "Elevations RTC homepage". Elevations RTC. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  7. Asset Purchase Agreement by and among Turn-About Ranch, Inc., Island View Residential Treatment Center, Copper Canyon Academy, LLC, Aspen Institute for Behavioral Assessment, LLC, Aspen Education Group, Inc. and Lake Montezuma RTC, LLC, Escalante RTC, LLC, Syracuse RTC, LLC, Syracuse Institute, LLC, Wilderness Training & Consulting, LLC, March 7, 2014
  8. "Residential Treatment". Discover Seven Stars. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  9. "ISLAND VIEW RTC
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  10. "Aspen Education Group Acquires Island View & Oakley School". Woodbury Reports, Inc. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  11. Hayes, Kristen (11 December 2008). "Vardell Part Of Island View Future". strugglingteens.com. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  12. Carter, Mike (7 November 1989). "https://apnews.com/article/ddd52f74cab4b2ee5d572b3c13d82caf Click to copy RELATED TOPICS Archive Tough Treatment For Problem Juveniles Under Investigation". AP. Retrieved 5 January 2021. External link in |title= (help)
  13. Leibovich, Lori (3 October 1997). "mental hell How the American health-care system killed a 13-year-old girl". Salon. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
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  15. Jonny Bonner (2009-12-17). "Parents Say Dr. Phil Exploited Troubled Teen". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
  16. Hans, David (2014-05-05). "New Status And Name Changes At Syracuse Campus" (Press release). Woodbury Reports, Inc. Archived from the original on 2014-05-21. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
  17. Murdock, Sebastian (23 August 2016). "'The Troubled-Teen Industry Has Been A Disaster For Decades and Its Still Not Fixed". Huffington Post. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
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  19. "These Rehab Schools Beat, Raped, And Even Killed Their Students For Years Before Being Stopped". Ranker. Retrieved 2018-06-03.
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  22. See also: [[:Archived 11 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine]] and [[:page2[https://www.elevationsrtc.com/team/ "Our Experienced Team - Elevations RTC"]. elevationsrtc.com. Elevations RTC. Retrieved 5 January 2021.]]
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  25. "Tim Dupell Partner Letter - Elevations RTC". elevationsrtc.com. Elevations RTC. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  26. Elevations RTC Parent Manual. Elevations RTC. 2020.
  27. Elevations RTC Student Manual. Elevations RTC. 2020.
  28. Fuchs, David (December 17, 2020). "Utah Has Seen Abuse In 'Troubled Teen' Programs For Decades. Now, Momentum Slowly Builds For Change". KUER 90.1. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  29. "A Safe, Secure and Inviting Environment for your Teen". elevationsrtc.com. Elevations RTC. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  30. {Meyers v. Kaiser Found. Health Plan, Inc., 807 Fed. Appx. 651 (United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 26 March 2020).
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  34. https://mobile.twitter.com/elevationsrtc
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  38. Zelda Hutcheon vs. Kenneth Sio and Syracuse RTC, LLC, d/b/a Elevations RTC (Second Judicial District Court - Farmington Davis County, Utah August 16, 2018).Text
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  42. "Teen sex, Dr. Phil and Utah collide in federal lawsuit". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
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  62. Kim, Michelle (22 December 2020). "Misha Osherovich Is the Fearless Actor and Advocate Who Wants All Queer Kids to Be Okay". Them. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  63. Osherovich, Misha [@mishaosherovich] (22 December 2020). "endless thanks to @them + @meeshkakim for giving me a place to tell my story. to all survivors out there: I hear you, I see you, I stand with you. for more info on the troubled teen industry visit my friends at @BreakingCodeSi1" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  64. Youth in Congregate Care: Far from Home, Far from Safe. The Troubled Teen Industry, a Multi-series Webinar Event. American Bar Association.
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  66. "Brendan's Story". breakingcodesilence.net.
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