Nonprofit? As if! Payed so much money for this nightmare!
Oklahoma Teen Challenge was a nightmare. I went due to depression/suicidal ideation and lack of motivation as well as minimal anxiety. My mental health did not only get worse, but so did my spiritual health.
No matter how small a mistake you make, you got a discipline for it. One discipline, written or physical, meant no snack or non-uniform clothing for the week in addition to what they decided they wanted you to do. This heavily increased my anxiety which in turn increased my depression. In regard to dealing with depression or other problems, all you received was a half-hour per week to speak with an assigned mentor (not a certified therapist). Nothing else.
I don't know where the enormous amount of money my parents were paying was going either. The majority, if not all, of the food was donated and usually came out of a can and/or expired. I got food poisoning the first few days down there. They claimed they would take me to the doctor for 3 days until the head woman decided I was faking. The amount of guilt trips and manipulation was absolutely insane.
Of course the worst part, and the reason I'm leaving this review, was the spiritual aspect of it all. The most basic description I can give is "borderline cult." They had these worship nights on Sunday and Wednesday (if you were a high level you got to go to Youth Group instead) that were beyond words. They would turn on music and there is no other word for it than absolute 'chaos.' There was screaming and fits of coughing as well as fainting and laughing. False speaking in tongues (Yes I believe in speaking in tongues, however that was repetitive gibberish and nonsense.) There were girls claiming to have visions of heaven and dead loved ones. And all of this was praised and seen as normal. The new girls, especially those who had never been exposed to any sort of Christianity before, always had these horrified looks while this went on.
The staff members forced you to participate in their form of worship. There was quite a few occasions where I was forced to stand up and raise my hands. If you did not, you got a discipline. Silent prayer was not accepted. The gifts of the spirit were much more praised than the fruits of the spirit. I was not a "good Christian" because I preferred silent worship rather than chaotic rambling and screaming.
A side note regarding the gifts of the spirit is that some of the staff members boasted of their abilities that were... questionable. One in particular always claimed to have the gift of healing and bragged that she could pray over someone's scraped knee and it healed days later. (Pretty sure it would have healed anyway.) The staff members (not all, some were decent) often acted as though they needed to be the ones in a Teen Challenge.
Case and point: If you are looking for a good Christian Girls Home for Teens, stay far away from here.
I do not recommend Teen Challenge of OK. They gave up on my Daughter in less than 7 days. And gave back just the education fee. We paid 3800.00 and they gave back just $1000.00 for just 7 days for treatment. I am having a hard time understanding why this happened and even in moving forward trying to prevent what happened again. I watch my daughter died a little each day. And I feel no one can help. And if a Christian based treatment center can’t be honest they who can I trust.
Below is what happened: Sept 2013
We pick them because they told us they handled stuff cases with ODD/ OCD and eating disorders. We did not sugar quote anything she did, we told them everything and also gave them permission to call her therapist she was currently working with. After we dropped her off Sept 6, we got a call that she was not eating and Drinking and were told, that they were taking she to the emergency room. ( They knew she was getting food and water, but for health reasons and defiance reasons they wanted to not let her get away with anything ) So on Friday they took her to the emergency room and told us they were looking to get her a 72 hour hold (5150) and they told us she could do this all year long and for us not to worry. And the next day I was called and told she was being released from the program and put on a plane.
( We had asked them before we picked them, how could she be released for the program and were told if her hurt another children and that has only happen
once) What they said " because she was not eating or drinking" they were worried about her health and released her .
Fact: the doctor released her saying she was not malnourished or dehydrated.
Fact they released her on a Saturday( no way for family to get other plans in place insurance company closed on the weekend.
Fact: the director did not call us herself the weekend guy director called Fact we had never was given any heads up or concerns before. They told us on Saturday and put her on a plane within 2 hours . On Friday we were told all was fine.
Fact United airline did not want to put her on the place without a doctor note with a ok to travel.
Fact : they rebooked under a difference booking and did not tell the airline that child was endanger to herself ( The endanger was given to us as the reason they were no long keeping her in the program)
Fact: They refused to give us back any money at all we had to call Mr. Grey CEO of OK teen challenge to get $1000.00 back the education money
Fact: her therapist at the Ranch was not even aware she was being released.
We called her in a panic thinking this weekend guy was over his head and since the Blankenship's would not call us back. They release our daughter without even a meeting or a warning. Just "she is done with the program send her home
Fact: She did not hurt anyone
Reasons not to use them
We told them to call and speak to all her therapist to get the full picture.
If they had done that, they should have declined her in the program understanding that she was a very hard case and needed a lot. ( We had asked them if she need more mental therapy would she be able to get it. And they said yes, we would just need to pay for the drive to the office visit and back.
We spent over 1000.00 to get her packed and driven to the OK. 3800.00 was the deposit and got back 1000.00. If we had known they were not equipped to handle her we would have never used them and would have kept looking. They do not understand eating disorders at all. They take on mild cases not major. ( we have been in and out of three eating disorders places in less than 1 year. They just took our money and said sorry the rest is non-refundable. It should be non-refundable if the parents pull her out of the program, not the other way around. Please take them off of your reference list and call me if you need any more details