OUTCOME DATA
does the Moonridge academy program work?
Families enrolling their teen at Moonridge Academy sacrifice significant time, emotions, and finances in the healing journey. Occasionally we are asked, “How do you know it works?” This is a great question. Success is measured differently by different families. For some, symptom reduction is success. Still others see increased participation in academics as success.
Moonridge Academy recognizes the need and responsibility to conduct appropriate research to ensure that our students are receiving the best possible treatment. Moonridge Academy is proud to be designated research based programs through NATSAP (National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs). Currently we are actively participating in the NATSAP Outcome Research Project.
Our main outcome measure is the Youth Outcome Questionnaire (Y-OQ). The Y-OQ® SR 2.0 is a bi-product of one of the most researched outcome measures for youth in the world, and has been the subject of many studies worldwide. The Y-OQ uses a series of questions to measure the effectiveness of therapeutic treatment. It is designed to reflect the total amount of distress a teen is experiencing. Questions include information about a teen's decision making skills, interpersonal relationships, clinical issues, emotional regulation and mental health history. A higher score indicates more emotional and behavioral distress.
We ask both parents and their teens to complete the Y-OQ upon admission to our residential programs. While a teen is enrolled at Moonridge Academy, they will complete the YOQ on a regular basis. We then ask both parents and teens to complete it upon discharge/graduation, and again at 12 months post graduation. We have been collecting data since 2007 and now have thousands of data points.
WHAT DO THESE OUTCOME GRAPHS MEAN?
These graphs show a compliation of data from 2024. The dotted line that runs through the graph is indicative of a teen in the healthy range who is not receiving any type of treatment or therapy. The first bar of the graph shows how teens are scoring upon admission, meaning that parents view their children experiencing significant clinical issues including a high degree of behavioral issues, mental health issues and relationship issues. Scoring high on the questionnaire is an indicator that the student is experiencing more struggles.
The second bar illustrates how teens and parents are scoring the teen upon discharge. There is tremendous progress made from admission to discharge. We expect this to happen because a teen has completed extensive treatment in they are at Moonridge Academy. At a year following treatment, we see that the majority of students level out, scoring slightly higher (between 48-51) than the typical teen in the healthy range, but with dramatically decreased clinical struggles. Our data then shows the majority of students who have attended Moonridge Academy maintain this same level for the next 5 years.
