Havenwood Academy promotes open communication and ongoing growth.
We appreciate that selecting a treatment center for your kid is an important decision, and you may have questions or concerns, especially given some of the media coverage of juvenile treatment programs. We want to address these issues directly and emphasize our dedication to safe, effective, and compassionate care.
Addressing Specific Concerns
In our commitment to transparency, we want to address some claims and incidents that have been raised:
Claim
Havenwood and other comparable programs are bad actors who routinely break the rules and mistreat pupils. The state must constantly monitor them in order to track down misbehavior, and the state's efforts are insufficient.
RESPONSE
The state does not "catch" Havenwood for breaking the law. We self-report every event, infraction, or treatment mistake. Regulatory agencies do not constantly monitor us. Instead, when a mistake occurs, we swiftly notify state authorities and take efforts to improve our procedures and program.
Claim
Havenwood has a high amount of "critical incident" reports, implying that the program is abusive or irresponsible and that authorities aren't doing their jobs.
2018
Horse Trough/Zip Tie Incident
At our Cedar City program, a 2018 incident during an equine therapy session challenged our policies and led to significant changes.
An equine specialist contractor acted outside our guidelines when responding to a dysregulated student who had injured a staff member. The contractor’s unauthorized actions, including physical restraint and inappropriate use of equipment, violated our policies.
We immediately self-reported the incident to authorities, suspended involved parties, and fully cooperated with the ensuing investigation. While no criminal charges were filed, we used this deeply troubling event as a catalyst for growth.
This incident prompted us to implement stronger safeguards, resulting in no recurrence of such behavior.
