Addison’s Trinity Teen Solutions Testimony

My name is Addison and I was at Trinity teen solutions in Wyoming for 9 months from October of 2016 to July of 2017, I was 15. I knew I was leaving prior to my stay unlike many girls who went there and to other placements.

I watched girls cycle in and out of the program as I was one of their longest standing girls in the program for a while. It used to be an average of three years to graduate. The owner of the ranch that we lived and worked on was not present at all. I ran into the family maybe 3 times in my entire stay and it was a brief encounter every time. A simple wave a smile.

The staff were allowed to abuse their power and some really sensed to enjoy it. We woke up at 6am sharp every morning except Sundays (We slept until 7 on Sundays). Ran a good mile (estimate) down from the cabins where our housing was to the ranch where we did chores and “school” the chores ranged from mild to extreme. Filling water troughs with a hose to lifting a stacking full sized hay bails., giving baby cattle injections, mucking in extreme heat, etc. work was also used as a consequence.

Rules were not told to us. You learned as you were broken down what they where. Consequences were anything from push-ups to a hill run which was a high incline foothill of the surrounding mountains. You had to run up and down this hill in 15 minutes sometimes with an animal like a goat or dog in any temperature or weather conditions. If you didn’t make the tinder you had to do it again until you got it within the time limit. Medical treatment was often refused and illness and injuries were treated improperly. Often times when sick the RN would try to use fear as a manipulation for you to just suddenly get better. I hadn’t had a bowel movement in Over a week and being forever to finish three meals a day. The RN told me if I didn’t have a bowel movement that I would throw it up, then proceeded to give me the maximum dose of laxative a day for several days until I eventually had an extremely painful bowel movement that I had to leave the door open for so the staff could watch me and had to check the toilet after.

There was a lot that happened to me and the other girls there that I could talk and write about for hours. I’m not sure how deep I want to go into this here but I am now turning 21 and starting the process of realization and healing.