The Great Escape

Last Sunday, my wife and I gave talks at the Westridge Academy for Girls. This is next to the Westridge Academy for Boys (formerly known as the Utah Boys Ranch). Both schools are a residential treatment facility for troubled teens.

Here are a few excerpts from my talk that I would like to share:


I remember when I was in college, I found myself getting into some problems with my schoolwork. I was getting behind in my classes, and I was taking some classes for which I was not adequately prepared. The end of the semester was approaching, and the day of reckoning was night at hand.

I used to have a think spot up Provo Canyon, overlooking Deer Creek Reservoir. I would driver there when I needed some time to be alone, to think and ponder. As pressures began to mount, I decided to go to my usual think spot to try and sort things out. However when I got there, I just kept on driving. The next thing I knew, I found myself on Interstate 80 – headed for Denver.

Denver

I hadn’t planned for a long trip when I left. I didn’t bring anything with me -- no cash, no change of clothes, no food nor drinks, not even a toothbrush! I lived off of gas station hot dogs and soft drinks. (I did have my oil company credit card with me.)

At first my road trip seemed exciting. I drove all night long. I arrived in Denver and found a room to stay in – in what I later learned was a bad part of town. I went to a Hockey Game in Denver. It was minor league hockey back in those days, and the team from Salt Lake was in town playing the local Denver Team – The Salt Lake Golden Eagles vs the Denver Spurs.)

As I sat in that cheap motel room, I began to think again about my situation, and the difficulties from which I was trying to escape. Even though I had driven some 500 miles, my troubles just followed right along with me! I just couldn’t shake them!

Nowhere To Hide

I realized then and there that no matter how far I ran, my problems were still with me. You can’t run away from your troubles, and you can’t run away from the Lord -- no matter how far you go. You can’t run away from who you are. You are still a child of God no matter what. You are still accountable for your actions no matter where you go.

There is no place on earth that is so far away, but that the Lord knows you are there. He is always there, and he always knows where you are. No matter how far away you go, and no matter what you may have done – The Lord already knows all about you. There is no place we can hide.

God will always be our Father, and we will always be his children. There may be times in our lives when we turn away from him, and don’t acknowledge Him as God, and that He is Father. However, that does not change the fact that he exists, and that we are his children.

He will never turn away from us – even if we have turned away from Him. No matter how far we may think we are Him – He is always only a prayer away! He will always listen. He will always answer when we call upon Him.

I know in my life, that He has never given up on me – even when there were times when I may have given up on myself.

The Master Physician

Christ can lift our burdens. He can heal our wounded souls, and He can mend our broken hearts. He is the Master Physician.

I know that he lives. That He is the Son of God. And that he is the Savior of the World.

He knows you, and he knows your heart. He knows what troubles your soul, and he knows how to heal you.

He has touched my life. He has calmed soul, bound up my broken heart, and has given me peace, understanding, and hope of a glorious eternity – provided that I honor the covenants I have made with Him.

These blessings are available to all. Every soul is precious to the Lord. I know He can heal our hearts, if we will let Him in.

Copper Hills Youth Center

Last Sunday, I spent the day at Copper Hills Youth Center, a local treatment center for youth ages 12-17. My assignment was to be the instructor of an interfaith Sunday School Class. I last visited this center back on Easter Sunday of 2005. We had a good turn-out back then, probably due to the holiday. I used some photos of desert wildflowers, that I found on Flickr, to draw the comparison of the newness of life found in the wildflowers and the newness of life offered by Jesus. I had some interesting correspondence with the photographer afterwords, which you can read about here if you wish.

I have learned some more about the youth center, since my last visit. It is privately owned, by Horizon Health Corporation. Youth are placed in the center by their parents, or they can be placed into the facility by the Juvenile Court System. Treatment options include: substance abuse rehabilitation, behavioral modification programs, and treatment for many forms of mental illness and learning disabilities. I learned that the average stay is something between 4 and 6 months. They also provide education as well, and are a fully accredited private high school, recognized by the State. Like most treatment centers, the success rate is unfortunately rather low. Only about 30% of the residents will be able to avoid getting into trouble again.

This is a "secure, residential" facility. That translates to: they live at the center, and are locked in. Typically youth enrolled at the center have tried other treatment programs, (such as outpatient programs) and have failed. They generally have become disruptive to the point that they can no longer function in the home environment. (That is if they have a home environment at all!) Here are some examples of the kinds of behaviors that are treated at Copper Hills Youth Center:

• Lying, covert behavior, stealing
• Extreme oppositional or defiant responses to peers and/or parents
• Explosiveness or uncontrolled rages of anger
• Evidence of substance abuse or dependency
• Inability to control aggressiveness, cruelty, and physical acting out
• Impulsive behavior resulting in self harm
• Runaway behavior which gives evidence of self-destructive behaviors
• Destruction of property
• Evidence of ritualistic behaviors

Here are some of the treatment programs offered :

• Boys Residential Treatment


• Girls Residential Treatment


• Bridges & Gateways Sexual Offender Residential Treatment


• Arches-A program for Asperger's Syndrome

Our Stake has been assigned by the Church to provide a Branch Presidency at the Copper Hills Youth Center. The main contact the Branch Presidency has with the youth is during the Sunday Services. A patient (resident) may request to see a member of the Branch Presidency (a clergy visit, if you will) if they desire, outside of the Sunday Meetings, but that rarely happens. The center will only allow a non-denominational service. If they allowed the LDS church to have a regular branch there, then they would have to allow other church groups the same access. Having too many church groups would be disruptive to the very regimented programs at the youth center. I am told that those residents who participate in the Sunday services tend to have a much higher rate of success than average. That is encouraging to the Branch Presidency, and those of us who have the opportunity to assist them in their work. It's nice to know that the youth are being helped by bolstering their spiritual lives.

I recently spoke at the Utah Boys Ranch, where they have a fully functioning LDS branch. They have regular sacrament and priesthood meetings. The branch presidency can interview the boys and have week-night activities with them (even off-campus activities). They have full-time church service missionaries who spend all day at the boys ranch. At the Boys Ranch, the boys can still work on their scouting and Aaronic Priesthood goals as well. Of course, the whole environment is different at the Boys Ranch. Religious training and instruction is not just a Sunday offering, but is an integral part of the program.

As I see it, the Copper Hills Youth Center treats those who have previously failed other treatment programs. Those who fail at Copper Hills may find themselves going back to another lock-down treatment facility, or even to the Juvenile Corrections System (Youth Jail) if the situation is serious enough. For some at Copper Hills, their only alternatives were Copper Hills Youth Center -- or Jail.

For the Sunday services, it is necessary to teach the same lesson, 4 times. There are two reasons for this. Space is a problem. They only have a conference room in which to meet. It can comfortably hold about 20 people. The other reason for needing to teach 4 different sessions, is that the various groups are not allowed to inter-mix. Attendance at Sunday Services is completely voluntary. Since it is an inter-faith Christian Service, we only use scriptures from the Bible. However, it is OK to teach LDS interpretation of the Bible. I would say that about ½ of the attendees at the Sunday services were LDS. Many brought their own various versions of the Bible with them. I created a handout with the scriptures that we would use in the lesson pre-printed, and numbered. That way anyone could help with reading scriptures, whether the had a Bible or not.

It was interesting to see the various groups come through. Each group was a little different from the others. My lesson plan was flexible enough that we could fit the lesson to the needs of each group. We probably had a total of 30-40 residents in attendance on Sunday.

When you find yourself face-to-face with these young people, you have to suspend all your judgments of them. They all have serious problems in their lives. Some have committed some serious offenses (sex offenders), and have damaged the lives of others. Some I'm sure, have been victims of abuse themselves. However, I found that you have to take a non-judgmental approach when teaching them. I am not their Judge, the Savior is. How would He have me approach them -- with love and compassion, not condemnation. My job is to help them have a desire to come unto the Savior, that they can be strengthened, and find forgiveness. That they may gain a measure of peace, solace, and spiritual strength in their troubled lives. When you go in there, and think about having to give the same 30-minute lesson four times, it may seem like a daunting task. However, each session went by quickly. The time was up before I knew it. I felt like we did some good, and were able to offer some spiritual nurturance to these young people.

This assignment usually only comes up once a year for me, so I probably won't visit there again until at least a year from now. I consider it an endeavor well worth-while.