{"id":9670,"date":"2022-03-11T16:28:11","date_gmt":"2022-03-12T00:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.breakingcodesilence.org\/?p=9670"},"modified":"2022-03-12T23:35:52","modified_gmt":"2022-03-13T07:35:52","slug":"logan-river-academy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.breakingcodesilence.org\/logan-river-academy\/","title":{"rendered":"Logan River Academy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Logan River Academy<\/b> (2000-present) Logan, UT<\/span><\/h1>\n

Residential Treatment Center<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

History and Background Information<\/b><\/h2>\n

Logan River Academy is a behavior-modification program that opened in 2000. It is marketed as a Residential Treatment Center for troubled teenagers aged 12-18 with a history of adoption related issues, Autism Spectrum, ADHD, depression, anxiety, digital\/screen addiction, emotional dysregulation, learning differences, OCD, mild substance use, and trauma. The program’s average length of stay is roughly 12 months, and its tuition is reported to be between $8,900 – $10,000 per month.<\/span><\/p>\n

The program is located at <\/span>1683 South, US-89, Logan, UT 84321<\/span><\/a>. There is also a branch of LRA called Maple Rise Academy, which is an all-girls program that used to operate on the same campus as LRA. In 2009, Maple Rise Academy was <\/span>moved the former location<\/span><\/a> of LRA’s transition program, Tavasi. The Tavasi program was moved to a “special dorm” on LRA’s main campus in Logan.<\/span><\/p>\n

LRA has been a member of <\/span>NATSAP<\/span><\/a> since 2000. It was accredited by the <\/span>Northwest Association of Accredited Schools (NAAS)<\/span><\/a>, but it is important to note that neither the United States Department of Education nor the Council for Higher Education Accreditation recognizes the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools as an accrediting agency for institutions of higher education. In fact, NAAS is most well-known for in the public for the State of New York not accepting the diplomas given by the <\/span>Academy at Ivy Ridge<\/span><\/a>, which was a confirmedly abusive <\/span>WWASP<\/span><\/a> program which was also accredited by NAAS. NAAS has “accredited” many notoriously abusive behavior-modification programs, including <\/span>many<\/span><\/i> WWASP programs. It appears that LRA no longer is accredited by NAAS.<\/span><\/p>\n

Logan River Academy is suspected of being a spin-off of Provo Canyon School.<\/b> Logan River Academy was founded by Larry Carter and Jeff Smith, both of whom previously worked at the reportedly abusive <\/span>Provo Canyon School<\/span><\/a> for many years. Jeff Smith as CEO and Larry Carter as an Administrator. In addition, one of the Founders of Provo Canyon School, Robert Crist, was also involved with LRA from the beginning, serving as their Medical Director. Provo Canyon School has been reported to be an extremely abusive behavior-modification program. Provo Canyon School is also widely regarded as the birthplace of the <\/span>WWASP<\/span><\/a> organization, as WWASP’s Founder, Robert B. Lichfield, had worked at Provo Canyon School as the Director of Residential Living for a number of years before leaving to create WWASP.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a response to a <\/span>review<\/span><\/a> left by a survivor, Logan River Academy claimed the following: “Logan River Academy is not affiliated with WWASP. No one working here has been accused of abuse or neglect, or been associated with any organization that has. All of our staff pass annual background checks and Logan River Academy provides high quality care in a caring and nurturing way.” However, as described above, this claim appears to be untrue. Logan River Academy not only has extensive connections to Provo Canyon School (which is reported to be highly abusive and also has many connections to the <\/span>WWASP<\/span><\/a> organization), but LRA also has connections to <\/span>Teen Help<\/span><\/a>, which was one of the marketing arm of WWASP, as Mark Peterson, the Co-Owner and Director of Residential Services at Logan River Academy, previously worked as a Sales Representative for Teen Help (<\/span>source<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Founders and Notable Staff<\/b><\/h2>\n

Larry Carter<\/b> was the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Logan River Academy. Prior to working at LRA, Carter worked at the confirmedly abusive <\/span>Provo Canyon School<\/span><\/a> (which is widely regarded as the birthplace of the <\/span>WWASP<\/span><\/a> organization) for <\/span>13 years<\/b>. He then went on to work for <\/span>Aspen Education Group<\/span><\/a> as Senior Vice-President of their In-Patient Services, where he oversaw all of Aspen\u2019s residential services for just over a year before deciding to start Logan River Academy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeff Smith<\/b> is the Co-Founder and Owner of Logan River Academy. He has worked in many roles at LRA throughout the years, from Director of Operations to a Counsellor. He previously worked as CEO of <\/span>Provo Canyon School<\/span><\/a> (which is widely regarded as the birthplace of the <\/span>WWASP<\/span><\/a> organization), before leaving to help Larry Carter open Logan River Academy (<\/span>Source<\/span><\/a>). He is also reported to have worked as a Teacher at <\/span>Mount Bachelor Academy<\/span><\/a>, a reportedly abusive <\/span>Aspen Education Group<\/span><\/a> program which was a direct spin-off of <\/span>CEDU<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Robert Crist<\/b> worked as the Medical Director of Logan River Academy. Crist is also the Co-Founder of the notoriously and confirmedly abusive <\/span>Provo Canyon School<\/span><\/a> (which is widely regarded as the birthplace of the <\/span>WWASP<\/span><\/a> organization), as well as <\/span>Silverado Academy\/Boys Ranch<\/span><\/a>. Crist is also the Owner\/Vice President of <\/span>Discovery Academy<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark Peterson<\/b> is the Co-Owner and Director of Residential Services at Logan River Academy. He previously worked as a Sales Representative for <\/span>Teen Help<\/span><\/a>, which was a marketing arm of the confirmedly abusive <\/span>WWASP<\/span><\/a> organization.<\/span><\/p>\n

Craig Rodabaugh<\/b> previously worked as the Clinical\/Admitting Director of Logan River Academy. He later worked as the Clinical Director of <\/span>La Europa Academy<\/span><\/a>. He currently works as the Clinical Director of <\/span>Kolob Canyon RTC<\/span><\/a>, another CERTS program. He is also the current Chief Clinical Officer of <\/span>CERTS<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

David Allred<\/b> worked as a Therapist at Logan River Academy. He currently works as the Executive Director of <\/span>Lava Heights Academy<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Falcon Ridge Ranch<\/span><\/a>. He may be related to Kathy Allred, who worked for <\/span>Lifelines Family Services<\/span><\/a> which, similar to <\/span>Teen Help<\/span><\/a>, was a marketing arm of the confirmedly abusive <\/span>WWASP<\/span><\/a> organization.<\/span><\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/i><\/a> to view the staff list from Logan River Academy’s website from 2001.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Program Structure<\/b><\/h2>\n

Like other behavior-modification programs, Logan River Academy uses a level system consisting of eight levels. Residents move through the levels by earning points for good behavior while avoiding demerits for negative behavior. This system has been used in many confirmedly abusive programs, including the notoriously abusive <\/span>WWASP<\/span><\/a> programs. The ultimate privilege is the \u201cstatus\u201d rooms, on the third floor, which are reserved for those students who have achieved the highest levels and usually are getting ready for transitioning to their next school.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the lowest level, students are allowed very few privileges and must ask permission for even simple things such as going to their rooms or getting out of their seat in the cafeteria. By moving up in the levels, they are allowed to earn privileges which allow them to attend dances, play co-ed games, occasionally be unsupervised, and use the Internet. The eighth and highest level is the transition program, called Tavasi.<\/span><\/p>\n

The program works with behavior measured ‘grades’ which are given every two weeks. They call them “Level grades”.<\/span><\/p>\n

The communication between the teenager at the facility and their family progresses from restricted on-campus visits to home-visits as the detained teenager moves forward in the program.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the program is not marketed as a religious facility, it has been reported by many survivors that the staff at LRA, who are almost entirely Mormon, attempt to impose their beliefs onto the students at the school. It has also been reported that other religious affiliations (besides LDS) are not respected at LRA.<\/span><\/p>\n

Punishments<\/b><\/h2>\n

If the residents at Logan River Academy violate one of the program’s many rules, they are given a punishment. Punishments that have been reported by survivors include:<\/span><\/p>\n