Forty-nine States Slowly Realize Utah Is Not Safe Place for Children
Teens' Deaths Mount As Utah Keeps Questionable Facilities Open
The latest death happened this month in Heber City, Utah. A teen boy, yet to be publicly named, fell three stories. Authorities suspect suicide.
Five days before Christmas, 17-year-old Taylor Goodridge died in Hurricane, Utah, from apparent medical neglect.
And before Goodridge, 14-year-old Sofia Soto died in Spanish Fork on Jan. 16, 2022, also from apparent medical neglect.
The three teens were sent to inpatient residential treatment programs in Utah. On its surface, Utah sends more teens to such programs than any other state.
But Utah is also a leader in deaths at those programs. Advocates have confirmed 25 of them since 1989. Utah, however, does not maintain a comprehensive list of program fatalities, so the figure below is likely incomplete. (If you have information about an unlisted death at a Utah youth program, please contact MartyG Reports.)
Often parents send a child to Utah to a residential program and foot the bill. Other times, school districts use public special-education funds. Courts and state agencies nationwide also order children to programs in Utah.
Soto was autistic. Her family struggled with the decision to place her at Maple Lake Academy. Reportedly, she had been sick for days when Maple Lake, too late, called 911.
Days after Sotoβs death the Utah Office of Licensing, which oversees youth programs, put Maple Lake under conditional licensing, a kind of probation routinely invoked after a child dies. A few months later, following a similar but nonfatal incident, Utah gave the facility 30 days to close. The facility protested, and Utah resumed its conditional license for a year. Maple Lake remains fully licensed and open today.
The Sotos have sued. MartyG Reports requested information from Gross & Rooney, the firm representing Sotoβs family, but was not answered by press time.
βObviously, this situation is tragic for all involved,β Maple Lake Academy told The Salt Lake Tribune. βIt would not be appropriate for us to comment at this time, other than to say that our hearts continue to go out to the Soto family for their loss. We respect the legal process and will act in good faith as we seek resolution.β
Goodridge died at Diamond Ranch Academy, perhaps Utahβs most financially successful youth program. Michael Jacksonβs daughter, Paris Jackson, was once held there. The program featured regulation football and baseball fields.
Goodridgeβs story is fundamentally similar to Sotoβs. Court and state documents indicate that Diamond Ranch and its staff were negligent to her life-threatening symptoms for weeks. After she died, Utah invoked conditional licensing. Having survived at least two prior fatalities, Diamond Ranch may have weathered the storm, just as Maple Lake survived when Soto had not. Such outcomes are common in Utah.
But this time diverse pressures mounted.
Within days Paris Hilton started campaigning against Diamond Ranch Academy. Hilton had already testified before the Utah Senate Judiciary Committee about her experiences at the nearby Provo Canyon School.
On Christmas Eve, four days after Goodridgeβs death, Hilton told her Twitter followers: βIt is vital that facilities like Diamond Ranch Academy are held accountable.β (Hiltonβs publicist, Dawn Miller, did not return a request for comment as to the latest death at Daniels Academy.)
Six days after Hiltonβs tweet, Goodridgeβs father sued Diamond Ranch. That suit, later joined by Goodridgeβs mother, triggered an inquiry into Diamond Ranchβs key medical staffers by the Utah Division of Professional Licensing. (Utahβs Office of Licensing oversees facilities but not individual doctors and nurses. The Division of Professional Licensing is distinct. It licenses individual medical practitioners.)
Goodridgeβs family also campaigned outside the courts, while decades of vocal former Diamond Ranch patients organized. Perhaps only the Office of Licensing knows how many contacted its director, Mr. Simon Bolivar.
Then, in June, Utahβs Disability Law Center, a federally mandated protection and advocacy agency, published a report on Utahβs oversight of inpatient care, including youth programs. It noted: βTime and time again, facilities that mistreat vulnerable residents and fail to provide them with appropriate treatment or even humane living conditions continue to operate.β
On July 11, 2023, the Division of Professional Licensing issued its findings on the Goodridge case: βAfter reviewing the evidence, the members of the Panel unanimously found that each of the Respondents breached the standard of care causing harm to Petitioner. Therefore, the claims are meritorious.β
βThis was a tragic death of an otherwise healthy adolescent that likely could have been avoided,β the panel noted. βThe Panel members expressed hope that the State will investigate Diamond Ranch Academy to protect.[sic] Panel members also expressed concerns over the entire industry with residential treatment facilities for adolescents.β
Hours later, Utahβs Office of Licensing ordered Diamond Ranch to βdischarge all of its clients on or before August 14, 2023.β
Ricky Dias, Diamond Ranchβs executive director, wrote that the discharge order was βunfair.β Utah, Dias wrote, βhas consistently demonstrated its lack of concern for the safety, well-being, and treatment of youth in [residential] programs.β
Though it could appeal, Diamond Ranch soon announced it would close.
MartyG Reports covered Diamond Ranch and many youth programsβ controversial marketing practices at this link here.
As Diamond Ranch announced its closure, Utah had another teenβs death on its hands. A boy living in an apartment at Daniels Academy had reportedly been suicidal for weeks when he fell three stories to his death.
Utah placed the Daniels Academy apartment building, but not its main campus or other buildings, on conditional licensing, as it had done with Maple Lake and Diamond Ranch. As this went to print, Utah also put the Midvale Psychiatric Hospital, called the βRape Hospitalβ by some investigators, under conditional licensing for a third time, triggering criticism by former employees who want it closed.
Without knowing the name of the boy who died at Daniels Academy, his family could not be reached for comment. A Daniels Academy staffer reached by The Salt Lake Tribune declined to comment and hung up.
But Goodridgeβs mother AmberLynn Wigtion spoke to MartyG Reports after the Daniels Academy licensing action: βFor any parent, who is considering a residential treatment for their child, I would strongly recommend to dig deep into your research on that facility. My first recommendation would be to try to work out any issues at home.β
Asked about Soto and the unnamed Daniels Academy boy, Wigtion told MartyG Reports, βIt breaks my heart.β
Nora Ashleigh Barrie coauthored this report. She maintains https://thetroubledteenindustry.com/ and manages The Surviving Abuse Podcast.
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I was a student at Daniels academy, and the victim was a good friend of mine. They were one of the kindest people there, and the entire situation makes my blood boil. I wish people would wake up. Great article, thanks for sharing their story.
Iβm a survivor of the troubled teen industry, 1987-1989. The TTI causes lasting damage.