Admission Information
We are pleased to offer a complete and secure online application for admission to Aspen Achievement Academy.
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Aspen Achievement Academy operates year-round, and application for admission may take place at any time. Acceptance is based on a review of the student's current and past behavior, psychological and educational testing (when appropriate), and consultation with parents and professionals.
Appropriate candidates are adolescent males and females, ages 13 to 17, who have a history of moderate to severe emotional and behavioral problems, low self-esteem, academic underachievement, substance abuse, and family conflict.
Admissions typically occur Mondays through Fridays; however, in cases of crisis, students can enroll on Saturdays and Sundays – and adolescent escort services are available if needed.
For more information, call our admissions office at: 800-283-8334 or E-mail us.
Admissions Criteria
Our admissions criteria are the basic guidelines that we use to determine appropriate admissions. Because most diagnoses can be treated effectively in the home community with a motivated patient and strong family involvement model, the least restrictive program appropriate to the patient's need should be the first choice for treatment. However, multiple failures at outpatient interventions, inpatient stays, or a combination of both are often indicative of different treatment needs.
Aspen is experienced in treating resistant adolescents who are marginally involved in treatment, manipulative, and for whom traditional outpatient individual and family therapies have been ineffective. Additional criteria used in making admissions decisions are numbers and types of previous interventions, family dynamics, aftercare orientation, specific incidents leading to treatment, legal system involvement, severity of symptoms, likelihood of positive outcome, and safety of each student.
Admissions Exclusions and Program Failures
There are a number of psychiatric, emotional, and behavioral conditions that preclude admission to Aspen Achievement Academy. The primary consideration in these cases is the safety of the applicant, the other patients, and staff. The second consideration is the inability of the program to effectively work with the present issue(s). Aspen's admissions exclusions include the following:
Psychiatric signs/symptoms:
- Severe and extreme depression or chronic severe depression
- Acute suicidal risk
- Severe and chronic personality disorders
- Psychosis
- Severe antisocial behavior and/or antisocial personality disorder
- History or potential for repeated violent or sexual abuse to others
- Intermittent explosive disorder
- Mental retardation
- Multiple personality disorder
- Severe dissociative disorder (not otherwise specified)
- Bi-polar disorder not fully stabilized on medication
- Need for anti-psychotic medication
- Severe and active self mutilation
- Moderate to severe anorexia or bulimia
Physical signs/symptoms:
- Diabetes or extreme hypoglycemia
- Epilepsy (grand mal seizures)
- Renal disease
- Arthritis that will interfere with hiking
- Pregnancy
In some cases, students who appear to be appropriate for Aspen Achievement Academy are admitted, only to prove to be unable to benefit from or complete the program. Cases that fall into this category include the following:
- Severely depressed youth who initially appear to be more functional than they actually are.
- Youth who are more anti-social than initially believed to be, with no ability to connect, no conscience, and no remorse.
The admissions and clinical teams will give final approval of admission, and have the authority and responsibility to reject admissions deemed necessary for the safety and integrity of the patients, staff, and program.
