I was admitted in to LRA on July 3rd 2012 and discharged on August 27th
 2013. I am now in a boarding school. I was not court ordered but my
 parents hired transporters to remove me from my home by force. The
 transporters treated me well and drove me all the way from Houston,
 Texas to Logan, Utah. Upon entering LRA I was strip searched down to
 my boxers, and I was then ordered to use my fingers to outstretch all
 the waist band of my boxers outward to ensure there weren't any hidden
 contraband items. A staff named Darby Golden was extremely physically
 abusive when it came to PI's and would throw fists and slam kids heads
 onto the wooden floors, often causing blood and scarring. The program
 itself is run horribly. The staff are mostly college students who are
 payed next to minimum wage with zero experience in this area. The
 system called, "Devo" is one in which any student who partakes in
 infract-able behavior is sent to a small room where he is aggressively
 ordered to sit up straight with out looking or communicating with
 other students. We were punished if our feet were visible outside the
 boundaries of the desk itself and the consequence for this was more
 torturous hours of Devo time. If anyone did anything that suggested
 running from the program, vaguely referenced suicide, or vaguely
 referenced violence, they would be sent to Devo on precaution for up
 to 30 days at a time. This would be 24/7. Sleeping, showering, and
 eating would even take place in devo. The student would literally
 never leave this one room for a month other than walking a few feet to
 the bathroom (which staff must watch them do if they are on
 precaution). Their clothes would be confiscated as well as their
 shoes, and in return flip flops and rugged, used sweats would be given
 to the student. I have witnessed what is called, PI's. A PI stand for
 Physical Incident or Physical Intervention and is an excuse for
 irritable staff to physically bully students who they don't like. They
 would yell, "DIAL 9" over the radio and restrain student's with other
 staff member. It was over the top excessive. I got along with a staff
 named Chandler Olsen, he was one of the few staff who actually cared
 about the well being of his students. Staff like Andrew Burris had
 zero regard for our wellbeing and were emotionally abusive to the
 students they didn't like. I graduated the program by achieving the
 highest level. To do this I had to behave to LRA's expectations and
 achieve good feedback from my staff. This was difficult for many but
 easy for me because I understood how to trick the staff into believing
 my progress was legitimate. I did make legitimate progress towards
 sobriety (substance abuse was my reason for admission) however this
 progress did not affect my level progression, I had to act like I
 wanted to behave according to their standards. This was torturous at
 times because I was under constant judgement 24/7 and one mistake can
 set back a kid's ability to progress in the levels. Students had zero
 emotional safety at this school because the vast majority of staff did
 not care for the kids, and were aggressive if the kids did not behave
 as demanded. I was never neglected for food or water however bathroom
 breaks in devo are limited and any more than 1 break for the bathroom
 every couple of hours was not tolerated. I was not diagnosed with any
 disorder from this program. My relationship with my parents is now
 very good but this is due to my own growth and had nothing to do with
 the program. This program did not help me. Me being sober helped me. I
 hated this program, and I believe almost nobody can benefit from it. I
 have seen kids cry because of the staff's lack of regard for their
 emotions and they only get treated more poorly for showing such
 emotional instability and as a result stay in the program for longer
 periods of time.