Island View RTC

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Vardell Part Of Island View Future

Dr. Jared Balmer Unveils the Future of Island View RTC

Back in 1994, after many years treating at-risk youth, Dr. Lorin Broadbent, Kimball DeLaMare and I had a vision to create a residential treatment center dedicated to helping troubled adolescents address and overcome personal obstacles to achieve lasting emotional health. We emerged from the collapsing psychiatric hospital industry and dared to believe that the integration of psychiatry, therapy, education, recreation and milieu would create the most optimal approach for treating troubled adolescents. The full integration and synthesis of these "five food groups" as they came to be known represented a new direction in the private placement industry which had traditionally shied away from formal therapy in favor of what was known as emotional growth curricula.

Our vision fell on fruitful ground. With the faith and support of referring professionals across the country, particularly educational consultants, Island View was up and running and we never looked back. After two years of operation, sitting in a restaurant with my colleagues, I drew on a paper napkin my dream for building our next adventure: the Oakley School. Again, with the support of professionals, Oakley took its place in the continuum of care as a leading therapeutic boarding school.

Since then, I have served as Executive Director of Island View and have had the privilege of working with numerous families and professionals seeking to help students make positive changes in their lives. The relationships I have developed with referring professionals across the country are nothing short of amazing. I have never forgotten Dr. Teri Solochek, the first educational consultant who referred a child to us, and I thank Teri for believing in us. Since that time, well over two hundred consultants have utilized our services, and they continue to do so. I will be forever grateful for their trust in what we do.

Last year, we opened the Aspen Institute for Behavioral Assessment next door to Island View. The Aspen Institute provides families and professionals with a short term, intensive treatment option that includes comprehensive diagnostic evaluations and assessments to gain clarity of diagnosis and further treatment recommendations for young people.

I have held the position of Executive Director for both the Aspen Institute and Island View for the past two years, and hoped to find a way to spend more time growing and developing the Aspen Institute into the premier location for adolescent assessments. Working with both programs and their dedicated staff concurrently has been extremely rewarding, yet I see the potential to be even more effective, to help even more families in crisis.

Fortunately, an ideal opportunity recently surfaced with Mr. Don Vardell becoming available to step in at Island View. Don is an individual with a tremendous amount of talent, dedication, passion and integrity. He comes to Island View with a great deal of experience in the administration and leadership of residential programs, having served as Executive Director of Peninsula Village, Academy of Swift River and, most recently, Excel Academy. Don also has spent many years with the Red Cross, both as an employee and as a volunteer director, and is currently the National Chair for Preparedness and Health and Safety Services. He is well-equipped to ensure a consistency of treatment and continued success at Island View, and I have every confidence in his abilities to take Island View into the future, to continue to live out the vision once conceived. Don will transition into the Executive Director role effective January 12, 2009.

Island View's success and the continuation of the high-quality services our clients have come to expect are important to me, therefore I will be mentoring Don throughout this transition process. My focus on the Aspen Institute does not diminish the passion I have for Island View and, by working together, I am confident that this will be a seamless transition.

I look forward to continued relationships with the many respected professionals I have come to know over the past 14 years. I can be reached at (801) 825-5222 or jbalmer@aspenassessment.com. I also invite you to contact Don Vardell at (801) 773-0200 or dvardell@ivrtc.com.

Thank you for your continued support.