Throughout the country mental health issues are rising: Isolation, anxiety, uncertainty and cultural stressors are impacting families.  Adolescents are now faced with limited academic engagement, virtual relationships and emotionally heightened family systems.  Parents are facing difficult decisions about their children’s education and mental health treatment.  The decision to place a child in residential care is difficult enough without COVID-19. 

Safety is foundational in providing excellence in residential care.  When risk is mitigated with high standards, clients are able to engage in robust programming, which leads to healing. This type of engagement is offered through the educational, recreational and therapeutic services at Spring Ridge Academy. 

The staff at Spring Ridge are dedicated to campus safety by observing CDC guidelines off campus and best practices exceeding CDC guidelines on campus. 

Spring Ridge Academy’s campus consists of 26 acres nestled in a more remote area of Yavapai County Arizona.  Although everyone is vulnerable to COVID-19, Yavapai County cases are lower than Arizona metropolitan counties, like Maricopa and Pima, and border counties, like Yuma.  Hospitals in Yavapai County, while tending to COVID-19 patients, are not facing a surge of patients for ICU treatment.  COVID-19 testing is and will continue to be readily available to Spring Ridge Academy, students, staff, and families, through a private relationship with a local medical provider.

Risk can be mitigated when safety protocols evolve and inform creative and adaptive programming.  Holding graduations, family workshops, recovery programming, and family communication virtually has proven to be effective.  Allowing students to continue family visits — an essential part of treatment — by providing the opportunity to receive virtual services has allowed students to build their lives and relationships at home while engaging in the supportive services of Spring Ridge Academy.

About Spring Ridge Academy

Spring Ridge Academy, located 1.5 hours outside Phoenix, Arizona, serves young women ages 13-17. Founded in 1997 as a female and family-owned Residential Treatment Center. It is licensed by the State of Arizona. The academic program/school is accredited by AdvancED. Utilizing evidence-based clinical modalities with a traditional rigorous college-prep curriculum, including fine and expressive arts and team sports, Spring Ridge has created a relationship-based setting that allows the students’ emotional, relational, spiritual, intellectual, and physical to grow.