Further Looks at West Ridge Academy
Posted by Andrew | Filed under Education
When I finished writing my last post about Utah State Senator Chris Buttars, I continued looking into this institution he has been involved with called the West Ridge Academy, formerly the Utah Boys Ranch.
I’ve been doing some reading at website. If you look under “Testimonials“, you will find a lot of heart warming stories about families finding promising and sensational results after sending children there. One account is from parents Debi and Kirk Gilmore, and if you look at the Board of Directors of the Academy, you will find Debi Gilmore is actually the Chairman. If you watch the ten minute trailer (pretty long trailer) for “Clearing Time,” a movie that the UBRN is producing, they show a commercial that the Academy used featuring nothing but people they claim to be staff members giving scripted testimonies of their experience with the Academy. If Debi Gilmore is putting up her own testimony on their website, it isn’t hard to believe that they may decide to pull something like that.
The part that disturbs me the most is the connection to the LDS Church. In the commercial shown in that trailer, they indicate a very close relationship with the church will such people as former President and member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, Jeffrey R. Holland speaking at the Academy and posing in photos with their current Executive Director, Ken Allen. The commercial also shows children studying the scriptures and speaking with service missionaries, this despite the Academy claiming that it is nondenominational. I don’t care if your institution is tied to the Church, it’s not against any principle I hold or any law I know of. But, shouldn’t we at least be honest about it and not tell a blatant lie to the public?
I wonder if the Church is actually aware of the abuse allegations against the Academy from the UBRN. The Church apparently provides the service missionaries and even a Bishop to the Academy. However, I don’t think that the Church wants to be associated with an organization which in recent time has come under fire for controversial practices. I know the Church, and they do operate on a high plane, and if these things are true, then someone at Church headquarters is being kept in the dark. However, I would find it hard to believe that one of these Church volunteers offering services to the Academy wouldn’t know that some of these things are happening and wasn’t saying anything. Unfortunately, high plane or not, Mormons are human beings too.
The UBRN has also posted a two part recording of Norwood and others talking to Ken Allen and trying to obtain a copy of their records from West Ridge. Norwood claims that a staff member of the Academy has been posting a false accusation on the Academy’s Wikipedia article claiming Norwood refuses to share the records of his time as a resident. I looked through the history of the article, and was unable to find any evidence of that. However, when Norwood asks Mr. Allen for a copy of his records, he is asked questions about what his intentions are and is told that Mr. Allen does not know what the Academy’s policy on releasing records are. HIPPA clearly states that any medical records (the Academy being a rehabilitation facility) must be kept at least ten years and that a patient is fully within their rights to request a copy of them.
If this institute is in fact legit and operating with in the confines of the law, then what on earth are they hiding?
