Aspen Achievement Academy

Aspen Achievement Academy is a wilderness therapy program for adolescents, based in Loa, Utah.

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It is operated as a part of Aspen Education Group.

According to the program's promotional materials, Aspen Achievement Academy enrolls adolescent males and females, ages 13-17, with a history of moderate to severe emotional and behavioral problems, such as low self-esteem, academic underachievement, substance abuse, and family conflict. The program has a flexible length of stay, with a minimum of 35 days. Some parents use the services of a teen escort company to transport their children to the site.

The program's website state that the program is JCAHO certified and licensed as an Outdoor Treatment Program by the State of Utah Department of Human Services. It maintains memberships in the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs and the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Industry Council.

In news media and popular culture

Aspen Achievement Academy has been a subject of several media reports and works of popular culture:

• The 1999 book Shouting at the Sky: Troubled Teens and the Promise of the Wild by Gary Ferguson, ISBN 0-312-20008-0 recounts the author's experiences and observations during several months he spent in the wilderness with teens at Aspen Achievement Academy.
• The third season of the UK TV series Brat Camp was shot at Aspen Achievement Academy.
• In January 1996, six teenagers ran away from an Aspen group. They were found by law enforcement officials and returned to the program, but the incident raised concerns that future escapees might assault tourists, hikers or recreationists on the public lands that Aspen used. Afterward, the Bureau of Land Management, which manages these lands, was reported to be have conducted a review to determine whether to renew or terminate Aspen's access permit.^[1]
• In April 2007 a 16-year-old male student died after hanging himself with a shoelace.^[2]

References

1. ^ Christopher Smith, Tough love proves too tough High Country News, June 10, 1996
2. ^ Four recent Utah deaths in treatment programs, By Kirsten Stewart, The Salt Lake Tribune, October 13, 2007

Watch organizations

• International Survivor Action Committee
• Community Alliance for the Fair and Ethical Treatment of Youth
• Colation Against Institutionalized Child Abuse
• Paula Reeves - activist
• Project Nospank's page about institutions