Parent company profile
Rite of Passage, Inc.
Rite of Passage, Inc. is a parent company based in Minden, NV. Kids Over Profits has records of 20 programs it has run in 9 states and countries, 16 of them open.
Programs it has run
20 on record, open ones first.
- Canyon State Academy
- Falcon Ridge Ranch
- Gulf Coast Trades Center
- JoAnn Bridges Academy
- Lake Granbury Youth Services
- Lava Heights Academy
- Monarch Academy for Girls
- Mt. Lassen Treatment Center
- Norris Academy
- Oak Grove Academy
- Palm Beach Youth Academy
- Pearl Haven
- Sierra Sage Treatment Center
- Uta Halee Academy
- Walton Academy for Growth and Change
- Yosemite Treatment Center
- Daytona Juvenile Residential Facility
- ROP ATCS Sierra Ridge Treatment Center
- Silver State Academy
- The Oaks
People
The people the network map ties to the company, with their other jobs in the industry.
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James Bednark
president
Elsewhere in the industry
- Canyon State Academy president
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Brian Heath
exec director
Elsewhere in the industry
- Canyon State Academy director
2 other staff on record
- Craig Rogers
- Kaysie Dannemiller, guide
News coverage
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Queen Creek police investigating alleged assault at Desert Lily Academy
Christopher Allen, a 48-year-old staff member at Desert Lily Academy in Queen Creek, Arizona, was arrested on September 4, 2025, and charged with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor following a reported sexual assault involving a juvenile resident. Police report responding to over 2,000 calls at this facility and its companion boys' school, Canyon State Academy, over the past three years, including reports of various incidents and mental health crises.
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‘State-sponsored Abandonment’ No More: California Stops Paying for Adoptees Sent to Out-of-State Treatment Centers
California has ceased funding residential treatment placements for adopted foster youth in other states, closing what advocates termed a dangerous loophole. The decision follows revelations that hundreds of children were sent to facilities with histories of violations, including several since-shuttered programs. At least 676 adoptees were placed in out-of-state centers since 2020, with many attending problematic facilities. Among them were Sequel Youth and Family Services programs like Iowa’s Clarinda Academy and Utah’s Red Rock Canyon School, both closed after abuse scandals. Other placements included Utah’s Havenwood Academy, disciplined for improper restraints, and Cinnamon Hills Youth Crisis Center, sanctioned for excessive punishments. Three Points Ranch ceased operations in 2025 following violations, while White River Academy continues accepting California-funded youth under existing contracts.
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Falcon Ridge Ranch Academy Staff Member Arrested and Charged with Sexual Battery and Dealing Harmful Material
A staff member at Falcon Ridge Ranch Academy in Utah was arrested and charged with multiple counts of sexual battery and dealing harmful material to a minor. According to charging documents, the employee showed explicit photos to four minor students and subjected them to inappropriate physical contact.
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At A Tennessee Psychiatric Treatment Center, Inexperienced And Overworked Staff Left Kids Without Care | WPLN News
Kingston Academy, a residential psychiatric treatment facility in Tennessee operated by Sequel Youth and Family Services, was closed after state investigations revealed unsafe conditions and inadequate care resulting from understaffing and inexperienced personnel. Former residents and staff reported frequent violence, policy violations regarding family contact, and the misuse of physical restraints by strained employees.
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Cornelius Frederick death: Attorney releases video showing 16-year-old being restrained and given chest compressions later
In April 2020, 16-year‑old Cornelius Frederick was restrained by staff at Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and later received chest compressions while unresponsive. He suffered cardiac arrest and died two days later; three staff members have been charged with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse.
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Sequel Youth and Family Services Announces Closure of Red Rock Canyon School and Mount Pleasant Academy
Sequel Youth and Family Services announced the voluntary closure of Red Rock Canyon School in St. George, Utah, following multiple state and county investigations into allegations of physical and sexual abuse, safety violations, and a reported student riot resulting in arrests. The parent company also announced the upcoming closure of a sister institution, Mount Pleasant Academy, while maintaining the decision was unrelated.
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Sequel Youth and Family Services Closes Two Utah Treatment Facilities Amid Regulatory Scrutiny and Misconduct Investigations
Sequel Youth and Family Services announced the closure of Mount Pleasant Academy following the closure announcement of Red Rock Canyon School, both located in Utah. The facilities faced intense scrutiny, regulatory threats, and police investigations involving allegations of staff misconduct, sexual misconduct, and physical abuse.
- Opinions differ on mainland placement for Hawaii's troubled teens (2015-02-14)
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Staff member at southern Utah youth treatment center arrested on sexual abuse charges
A 22-year-old staff member at Lava Heights Academy was arrested and charged with multiple sexual offenses after two teenage survivors reported inappropriate contact that began during a truth-or-dare game. The alleged abuse occurred in the facility's bathrooms and dormitory between mid-September and October 2024, and the suspect is being held without bail pending further legal proceedings.
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Coronavirus cases at Palm Beach Youth Academy concern parents
Twenty-one juveniles at the Palm Beach Youth Academy tested positive for COVID‑19, prompting parents to express concern over the facility’s infection control practices. Staff reportedly did not wear masks and some appeared ill, raising questions about safety protocols. The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice confirmed the cases and noted that all staff and parents were notified.
Lawsuits
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Falcon Ridge Ranch, Inc., et al. v. Sequel Youth Services of Red Rock Canyon, LLC, et al.
Outcome: In the underlying AAA arbitration (No. 01-17-0005-9666), the arbitrator issued an Interim Award on March 2, 2020, and a Final Award on May 1, 2020, denying the Sequel buyers' claims, granting the sellers' counterclaim (a contingent payment of at least $3,118,445), and awarding the sellers $1,300,000 in fees and costs. The sellers filed this amended petition on May 11, 2020, asking the court to confirm the awards; the documents do not show the court's ruling.
Frank Habibian and the companies that sold Falcon Ridge Ranch, Red Rock Canyon School, Lava Heights Academy and Mount Pleasant Academy (the CARE Schools) to Sequel Youth Services in August 2016 asked a Utah state court in Washington County to confirm an arbitration award against the Sequel buyers; the amended petition is dated May 11, 2020. In the arbitration, Sequel sought indemnity for a June 2017 settlement of about $2.58 million it paid the United States and Nevada after self-reporting that the schools had paid referral fees for students covered by Nevada Medicaid. The arbitrator dismissed that claim because Sequel settled without notifying the sellers, found the sellers had been ignorant of the law rather than fraudulent, and ruled that Sequel breached the purchase agreement in how it ran the schools after the sale. This is a business dispute between a program's sellers and buyers, not an abuse case, but it documents the referral-fee practice and the Medicaid settlement. The documents do not show whether the court confirmed the award.
Documents
Filed under its programs
14 documents across 2 programs: inspection reports, court records, clippings and more, each on its program page.
From SCIAD NET
7 documents about Rite of Passage, Inc. that Kids Over Profits does not hold a copy of. SCIAD NET keeps them on Google Drive, where they open.
Websites
A company's own website is linked as an archived snapshot, so the page reads as it did when it was captured.