RFK Community Alliance — Local services in Lancaster

I went here for 7 months my junior year and was a day student, it was the most awful experience and school i’ve ever been too. The staff weren’t and probably still aren’t qualified to be taking care of mentally ill students, the staff were flat out abusive and most of them didn’t know how to control their tempers. When you were “misbehaving” (more like having mental breakdowns / a mental crisis) they would put you (or manhandle you) into one of two rooms called “solution rooms”, these rooms are basically cells and they looked like prisons. That’s where they’d take you to calm down, and most of the time it made the situation the student was in, worse. Some mornings my 1-1 counselor would be told by me, my teacher, and even my mother that i was in a mental health crisis, that i was suicidal and needed help or just someone to talk to, i wouldn’t be seen until the end of the day, i had to wait in a crisis for 5-6 hours for her. I left this school with less social skills than when i first went there with, i do not know how to function in society anymore and i can’t handle a job, or even a conversation with someone because this school made me worse than i’ve EVER been in my entire life. I can’t even properly read or write anymore because of the lack of help the staff provide, i feel like i’m 8 again when i’m 18. Do Not send your kids here if you value their mental health...

I was in the residential program from 2021-2023. This place genuinely saved my life. I truly wanted to be dead but this place gave me a second wind ngl. I recognize the kids who made reviews, they don’t follow the rules and are all doom and gloom and refuse treatment, when trust me, this program is not that bad compared to others. You get your own room while at other res-eds you have to bunk with 3 other kids. You get access to clinicians and staff that actually care and each house has a Nintendo switch and a TV and a lot of off campus stuff. At the end of my treatment I got to bring in my personal Xbox. Theres a cool barn with horses and such. These kids saying it’s a cash cow when trust me these staff are not making as much as they think lol. Schools like Devereaux, Brandon, Chamberlain, Wayside, and places like that are legit tough and I know of kids who have gotten abused and misplaced at those specific places. I also made a friend I still talk to, to this day. Anyways all in all it’s not bad trust me.

I’m mainly discussing the residential aspect the day school is like most therapeutic day schools. I’ve been to several day schools and it’s...

terrible school. rumors of abuse. teachers are cold and heartless and dont teach much. favored students get treated like celebs and get the rules to bend to their will, and forget the unfavorable students. if you are a student you are nothing more than a cash cow for this school. if you attempt to leave or drop out they will fight tooth and nail to keep you from leaving so they get their money and for no other reason. they made my life miserable and they knew it while they attempted to keep me enrolled for the money. they inflicted irreparable harm on me that i cant escape to this day. if you care about your child and you care about yourself, dont send yoyr child here and if want to be a student here, please reconsider for...