This is the History of and Reporting Guide for Falcon Ridge Ranch in Virgin, UT
On this page you will find incomplete staff and complaint histories with sources cited (i.e. Progress Report), the general advisory against segregated congregate care with sources cited, and a reporting guide for those unlawfully harmed or firsthand witnesses to unlawful harm by or at this location to report violations of the law to the proper authorities/law enforcement. The staff list itself will not be updated with additional names out of a sense of fairness where those providing the names ask for anonymity or confidentiality. And, this program will remain eligible for merciful release if all criteria are met and no guest sermon is provided by a qualifying sponsor by that time. In the meantime, it can graduate the COPE Conversion Program by meeting the Honesty In Marketing Standards (HIMS) or permanently close to be removed from the watch-list/released from the COPE Conversion Program. If permanently closed prior to graduation or merciful release, it will be buried in the virtual graveyard.
Name |
Unit/Position |
Additional Information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Carolle Bell | Clinical Director |
The confirmedly abusive
Red Rock
Canyon School is sister to this facility.
To file complaints regarding Carolle Bell, please visit: http://www.commerce.utah.gov/contact.html and contact the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing. Current (October, 2015) Director: Mark Steinagel Current (October, 2015) Director's E-mail Address: Mark Steinagel (msteinagel@utah.gov). |
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Nora Wiseman | Therapist | Specialty: Neurosurgery (lobotomies). Wiseman no longer appears to work for this facility. Wiseman has never been a licensed therapist in UT. Wiseman was formerly a licensed social worker from 2009-2010 in UT, but, has not been licensed in UT since then. (checked October 7th, 2015) Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Steve Barrick | Therapist |
Formerly worked at Kolob Canyon Residential
Treatment Center in W. Jordan, UT and Liahona
Academy. Barrick now appears to be the director at the newly
formed/created Renewed Hope Academy in Enoch, UT. We are now
investigating that facility upon parent request.
Education:
Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html To file complaints regarding Stephen Barrick, please visit: http://www.commerce.utah.gov/contact.html and contact the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing. Current (October, 2015) Director: Mark Steinagel Current (October, 2015) Director's E-mail Address: Mark Steinagel (msteinagel@utah.gov). |
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Michael C. Armstrong | Residential Director | Armstrong is not a licensed mental health, social work, nor medical professional in UT. Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ken Kreider | Teacher | Kreider is registered with the Utah Education Network. Utah Education Network is a partner of the Utah State Office of Education. HEAL has not determined as of yet whether being registered with UEN means being licensed by the State of Utah. We are investigating... It shows that Kreider is a teacher for Cinnamon Hills (an abusive facility in UT) and not Falcon Ridge Ranch on the UEN registry. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Deborah Adams-Cochran | Office Manager | Formerly worked at Home of the Good Shepard in Las Vegas, NV. HEAL does not perform professional licensing checks on office, clerical, maintenance, and food service staff unless they have direct contact with and authority over children in the program. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Karen Slack | Case Manager | Slack is not a licensed mental health, social work, nor medical professional in UT. Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shane R. Swensen | Teacher | Swensen is registered with the Utah Education Network. Utah Education Network is a partner of the Utah State Office of Education. HEAL has not determined as of yet whether being registered with UEN means being licensed by the State of Utah. We are investigating... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mariah Pogue | Admissions | Formerly worked in juvenile corrections. Pogue is not a registered educator in UT. Source: http://www.uen.org/educator/executeSearch.action | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Salesi Misinale Fakahua (aka Nale Fakahua) | Positive Peer Culture Coordinator |
Fakahua is not a licensed mental health, social work, nor medical
professional in UT. Source:
https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html Admits that this program uses confrontation "therapy" (a.k.a. positive peer
culture). This is psychologically damaging. (Salesi Misinale
Fakahua is also known as Nale Fakahua and formerly worked for
Cinnamon Hills Youth
Crisis Center in Utah.)
Nale
Fakahua reportedly no longer works for this facility and now works for
Ashcreek Ranch Academy.
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Athena Gent | Staff | Formerly worked as a corrections officer. Gent is not a licensed mental health, social work, nor medical professional in UT. Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Melanie Habibian | Executive Director | Habibian is not a licensed mental health, social work, nor medical professional in UT. Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Amanda Nielson | Therapist | Nielson is not a licensed mental health, social work, nor medical professional in UT. Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stan Sullivan | Therapist |
Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html To file complaints regarding Stan Sullivan, please visit: http://www.commerce.utah.gov/contact.html and contact the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing. Current (October, 2015) Director: Mark Steinagel Current (October, 2015) Director's E-mail Address: Mark Steinagel (msteinagel@utah.gov). |
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Lorneta Ferguson | Therapist |
Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html To file complaints regarding Lorneta Ferguson, please visit: http://www.commerce.utah.gov/contact.html and contact the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing. Current (October, 2015) Director: Mark Steinagel Current (October, 2015) Director's E-mail Address: Mark Steinagel (msteinagel@utah.gov). |
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Ariel Ruesch | Nurse |
Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html To file complaints regarding Ariel Ruesch, please visit: http://www.commerce.utah.gov/contact.html and contact the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing. Current (October, 2015) Director: Mark Steinagel Current (October, 2015) Director's E-mail Address: Mark Steinagel (msteinagel@utah.gov). |
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Robyn Christiansen | Equine Team | Christiansen is not a licensed mental health, social work, nor medical professional in UT. Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html Christiansen is not a registered educator in UT. Source: http://www.uen.org/educator/executeSearch.action | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nicole Barnson | Equine Team | Barnson is not a licensed mental health, social work, nor medical professional in UT. Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html Barnson is not a registered educator in UT. Source: http://www.uen.org/educator/executeSearch.action | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jenkin White | Equine Team | White is not a licensed mental health, social work, nor medical professional in UT. Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html White is not a registered educator in UT. Source: http://www.uen.org/educator/executeSearch.action | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Joette Hayden | Principal | Hayden is registered as a "principal's assistant" with the Utah Education Network. (This may not mean they are licensed, we are checking.) Source: http://my.uen.org/myuen/209947 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Megan Anderson | Teacher | Anderson is registered with the Utah Education Network. (This may not mean they are licensed, we are checking.) Source: http://my.uen.org/myuen/203889 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Suka Faiga | Teacher | Faiga is registered with the Utah Education Network. (This may not mean they are licensed, we are checking.) Source: http://my.uen.org/myuen/209282 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Evelyn Isham | Teacher | Isham is not a registered educator in UT. Source: http://www.uen.org/educator/executeSearch.action | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dave Lydon | Teacher | Lydon is registered with the Utah Education Network. (This may not mean they are licensed, we are checking.) Source: http://my.uen.org/myuen/254073 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gary Dean | Teacher | Dean is not a registered educator in UT. Source: http://www.uen.org/educator/executeSearch.action | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Steve Force | Teacher | Force is registered with the Utah Education Network. Utah Education Network is a partner of the Utah State Office of Education. HEAL has not determined as of yet whether being registered with UEN means being licensed by the State of Utah. We are investigating... It shows that Force is a teacher for Cinnamon Hills (an abusive facility in UT) and not Falcon Ridge Ranch on the UEN registry. Source: http://my.uen.org/myuen/278704 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jamie Haynes | Residential Director | Haynes is not a licensed mental health, social work, nor medical professional in UT. Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Summer Downard | Res. Shift Leader | Downard is not a licensed mental health, social work, nor medical professional in UT. Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Amy Dazet | Res. Shift Leader | Dazet is not a licensed mental health, social work, nor medical professional in UT. Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lisa Vanwater | Academic Registrar | Vanwater is not a registered educator in UT. Source: http://www.uen.org/educator/executeSearch.action | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tony Mangerino | Res. Shift Leader | Mangerino is not a licensed mental health, social work, nor medical professional in UT. Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wynette Heusser | Cook | HEAL does not perform professional licensing checks on office, clerical, maintenance, and food service staff unless they have direct contact with and authority over children in the program. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nale Fakahua | Residential Director (Reportedly Former) | Fakahua is not a licensed mental health, social work, nor medical professional in UT. Source: https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/index.html In addition, a survivor of Falcon Ridge Ranch reported via e-mail on April 3rd, 2019 the following: "The residential director (at the time), Nale Fakahua, used an illegal restraint on me. He twisted my arm behind my back in such a way as to deliberately inflict pain. He asked me if I was ready to calm down and kept twisting until I replied "yes". I told him it felt like he was trying to break my arm. His response was "If I wanted to break your arm, I would break your arm. I'm very skilled like that." He does martial arts in his spare time." |
THE TRUTH: All segregated congregate care providers, including those on our watch-list, are welcome to contact us to correct any information or provide additional data that may assist with delivering the whole truth to the public. The HEAL Mission of COPE (HEAL) found in many cases where this offer has been abused or resulted in revealing additional basis for our concerns. For some examples see feedback. Now, we are willing to look at the facts and may have questions or require documentation backing up any claims. We do verify licensing, academic backgrounds, and other qualifications when investigating and researching programs on our watch-lis/enrolled in the Conversion Program to assist consumers seeking additional information on such programs or victims requiring assistance with getting corroborating evidence of their claims. We do that in order to make sure the information we provide is accurate and verified and cite our sources. In the event any information we've posted is in error, we're happy to make a correction. HEAL does not support segregated congregate care for many reasons which include that many such facilities are abusive, exploitative, fraudulent, and lack effective oversight often as a result of fraudulent misrepresentation coupled with the ignorance of those seeking to enroll loved ones in such facilities, programs, schools, or centers without a valid court order and involuntarily. In the United States such involuntary placements done without a court order are apparently illegal as they either violate the Americans with Disabilities Act community integration requirement or due process rights of those involuntarily placed. Now, in regards to parents, in the United States parents have the right to waive their own rights, but, not the rights of their minor children. See https://www.cope.church/legalarguments.htm for more information. Now, most facilities on our watch list include waivers, indemnity clauses, and sworn statements legal guardians must sign assuring the program that the parents/legal guardians have the right to make the placement involuntarily and without due process in a segregated congregate care environment, however, California and federal prosecutors as well as settled law appears to suggest that is not the case. In fact, in the David Taylor case found at https://www.cope.church/provocases.htm , Taylor sued Provo Canyon School and his mother as co-defendants. His mother was found liable for 75% of the damages awarded to Taylor as a result of multiple complaints including false imprisonment, while the program was found only 25% liable because the mother owed a duty of due diligence to investigate anyone to which she would entrust care of her child and she failed to do so. Now, HEAL opposes segregated congregate care and we find most placements are happening illegally in the USA which if the youth understood their rights would result in unfortunate outcomes for the parents, particularly when they don't exercise good judgment and support the fraud and abuse rather than their own children when they need remedy and justice. And, HEAL supports all victims of fraud and abuse in seeking remedies at law for any crimes or torts committed against them. And, that's true whether or not the program or victims are in the USA. HEAL has a 5 point argument against segregated congregate care we'd like you to consider: a. Segregated care is unconstitutional and a civil rights violation. It is only permissible if a person is unable to survive independent of an institutional environment. For more on this, watch the HEAL Report at https://youtu.be/C4NzhZc4P0A. Or, see: http://www.ada.gov/olmstead/ which includes in part: "United States v. Florida – 1:12-cv-60460 – (S.D. Fla.) – On April 7, 2016, the United States filed an Opposition to the State of Florida’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. In the Motion, the State had asked the Court to rule, on a variety of grounds, that the United States could not recover damages for unnecessarily institutionalized children to whom the State had been deliberately indifferent." b. Institutionalization is always dehumanizing and coercive. Institutionalization always harms the institutionalized and deprives them of protected civil rights. Dr. David Straker, Psychiatry Professor at Columbia University's School of Medicine (Ivy League) explains this in detail at http://changingminds.org/disciplines/sociology/articles/institutionalization.htm. "Many institutions, from prisons to monasteries to asylums, deliberately want to control and manage their inmates such that they conform and do not cause problems. Even in less harsh environments, many of the institutionalization methods may be found, albeit in more moderated form (although the psychological effect can be equally devastating)." (See website linked in this paragraph for more info.) c. Institutionalization is not in the best interest of children. Institutions are not ever better for a child than living with a loving family. Source: http://www.unicef.org/cambodia/12681_23295.html d. Reform schools, residential treatment programs, and other segregated congregate care settings have been shown to be ineffective and harmful. Best source on this currently is: https://www.acgov.org/probation/documents/EndoftheReformSchoolbyVinny.doc e. Boarding Schools, even the "good ones", result in a form of social death, isolation, and cause both anxiety and depression. Therefore, it is clearly not in the best interest of the youth subjected to those environments. Sources: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/08/boarding-school-syndrome-joy-schaverien-review and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/11662001/The-truth-about-boarding-school-syndrome.html Beyond the above arguments against segregated congregate care, we have reports from the NIH, Surgeon General, Yale University Studies, and much more showing the methodologies of behavior modification are damaging, harmful, and ineffective. You can request these documents via e-mail. In addition, for such programs offering academic services or claiming to offer diplomas, certifications, or the like, it is important to check to see if it is a diploma mill with no accredited academic services. Please see article: "Avoiding Scams: What You Need To Know" for important information on how to avoid education/training scams. If you'd like to see what HEAL suggests rather than segregated congregate care (i.e. committing a crime or tort against your child if done against their will without a court order), please see articles: "Fix Your Family, Help Your Teen" and "Emancipation Guide". |
REPORTING GUIDE FOR VICTIMS, SURVIVORS, AND WHISTLEBLOWERS: In Utah, the statutes of limitation do not apply to crimes against children that include sex offenses and human trafficking. There are no statutes of limitation on murder and kidnapping in Utah. Other felonies have statutes of limitation ranging from 4 years to 8 years. Most misdemeanors in the state have a 2-year time limit. For civil suits in Utah, the statute of limitations is 4 years depending on cause of action. Options for you to take action and/or seek redress/justice today are listed below: 1. Report crimes such as assault, fraud, battery, labor trafficking, and child abuse to law enforcement in Utah. You can call the Washington County Sheriff at (435) 656-6500 to inquire about filing an official complaint which may provide the probable cause needed to get a warrant for investigation and/or prosecution. You may also wish to submit a concern to state regulators in charge of licensing Falcon Ridge Ranch which you can do at this link: https://hslic.utah.gov/submit-a-concern 2. File a consumer complaint with your home state's attorney general against Falcon Ridge Ranch and include your request for compensation for any harm done to you. If you live in Utah and/or would like to file consumer complaint as a non-resident with the Attorney General of Utah, visit: https://dcp.utah.gov/complaints.html . 3. If you do not wish to file a consumer complaint, you can contact a private personal injury attorney and look into suing in tort/civil court. However, if you can't afford the retainer, you should expect to settle out of court with a non-disclosure agreement which may bar you from speaking publicly about the incident because you've agreed (even if with a grumbling assent) to the terms of the settlement. 4. You may send a new e-mail to rev@cope.church with subject "Post My Feedback" and we will post your feedback (e-mail printed to .pdf disclosing your name and e-mail address and any information in your e-mail with that subject) to https://www.cope.church/feedback.htm and add a direct link to those .pdf files to this page . 5. You may also wish to provide a guest sermon. Guest sermons are posted at https://www.cope.church/sermons.htm , under Progress Reports/Guest Sermons at https://www.cope.church/conversion.htm where appropriate, and on program info pages when applicable. So, one provided by you on your program would also be placed on this page . Guest sermons should be written into the body of an e-mail and sent to rev@cope.church . Your first and last name will be disclosed (contact info will not be unless you expressly request disclosure). For sermons available on our site see https://www.cope.church/sermons.htm (and sermon archives linked on that page). If you have questions about this option, please contact rev@cope.church. Please see https://www.cope.church/givetoday.pdf to get an idea what your sermon may be worth. |
4/27/22: COPE Conversion Program Progress Report: Falcon Ridge Ranch |
Return to https://www.cope.church/conversion.htm