I have been to Sandy Pines 2 times and they have not helped me with my treatment. I was here in July 2016 - February 2017. At this time i was here for 7 months and i was transferred to another residential called Devereux and they held me for 3 years. i personally believe that this is not a place to send your kids. the staff here do not respect your kids and when you are on the phone with your family the staff are always yelling and being disrespectful. the cafeteria is dirty and when you pour the juice you get flies in your juice. the food is always so greasy and honestly this place would not pass the yearly inspection if they kept it the way that it is now. the nurses don't actually treat the kids who are having serious problems. all they do is make excuses for why we are in pain. also when we are in excruciating pain they don't do anything about it. it is really upsetting me because today i am in Sandy pines and they haven't done anything about my abdominal pain. and when i asked for another nurse to come see me i was told no so i would give sandy pines no stars but i had to give stars so i gave the lowest amount.

Whatever you do do not have your children go to this place. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. My daughter was there for almost 6 months and during that time they gave her the wrong medication twice, lots of fights constantly, the staff yelling and screaming at the kids while my daughter was on the phone with me, no communication, took away her privileges at times for no reason and inappropriate behavior the staff showed and also constantly running out of snacks and short staffed all the time. It was without a doubt the worst experience I ever had to deal with a facility. Every time you try to call no one would return your call and even pick up the phone. Can’t really call anytime like they said

I was a patient here back in 2008. The whole place need shutting down. Staff being overly agressive for no reason. They put me on meds that when I discussed with other doctors they were flabbergasted as to why I was even on them. Food was terrible and cafeteria was filthy. I left with more issues than when I went in. To this day i still wake up sometimes thinking I’m in that place. The therapist outed me to my family without discussing it with me at all. Watched so many young girls get felt up by male staff. Only good thing I can say about this place is that I learnt to crochet. Find somewhere else don’t even think about going here. My parents tried to get me out but they refused time and time again

I was put here by the state for placement when I was 17and it was genuinely one of the worst experiences of my life. I've been homeless before and I would strongly prefer to do that again rather than go here again. 1. The food was terrible, on top of that after filing a complaint it was told to me by the cafeteria workers that they were not allowed to make any changes to the recipe to make it taste any better the facility purposely makes the food taste bad. This isn't for allergy reasons either because they have separate meals for people with allergies. There were always fruit flies around the drink station (watered down cranberry and orange juice if you're lucky) and there were multiple instances of rats being found in the kitchen. One time there was a rat just sitting on one of the shelves in the back. There were also cockroaches seen commonly. 2. There are not enough staff. Each unit had about 23 kids and there was one or two nurses assigned to two units. One nurse managing at least 46 different children's needs and issues. Kids would sometimes even get the wrong meds. I was on melatonin only and they gave me scitzophrenia meds one time. Staff were also very often disrespectful, thoughtless, and down right belittling. This didn't apply for all of the stuff only most. There was even an instance of a staff hitting a kid and instead of backlash happening they were moved to another unit. (Thanks Ms natishia) Very often they would not have enough staff to handle the very common riots and fights which would happen almost every day sometimes multiple times a day. 3. Kids were out of control, not only was cheating meds and sniffing them a serious issue but there were multiple instances where kids had to be rushed to the hospital and the cops called due to it. Kids would also fight, riot, destroy property, sexual behavior, ect. There were multiple times that I was attacked unprompted, one of those times I was splashed with water and tackled by five different people. I have real scars on my body from this facility. 4. They group kids without much thought towards mental triggers. If you put your kid here for behavior issues chances are they will come out with more. Kids pick up bad habits here, self harm, drug use, sex, fighting just to name a few. Because they are put with other kids regardless of how minor or major their issues are a majority of the time. On top of that the "group therapy" was really us going around in a circle for 5 minutes and saying our high of the day low of the day and a goal. And the one group therapy session with an actual therapist was horribly managed due to a therapist trying to control half a unit of kids. The only positive thing I can really say about this place is that the one-on-one therapists are actually really talented and are the only positive part. That said the trauma experienced here was not worth the two 45 minute therapy sessions a week (which doesn't sound like intensive therapy to me). The school was decent as well and actually had some amazing teachers (shout out to Mr bell) do not send your kids here. End of sentence.

My child was just discharged 2 days ago after 2 months and no medication change, as his counselor reminded him they didn't want him there. Night 2 of him not being able to sleep, ranting and showing signs of the beginnings of mania and psychosis and I'm left alone to deal with it. They told my child from day one they made a mistake taking him and he was on a 30 day contract. I was never told that, so I called and they said he was on a contract. They acted as if my son was the most violent, aggressive, "gangster" they've ever had. Meanwhile other kids are fighting daily vs my son's 2 fights. We only had family counseling after I complained. So instead of weekly counseling we had 3 sessions in 2 months. It was clear the counselor didn't want to do that. My son told me not to complain anymore because he doesn't want the counselor and the dr in his face again. Dr. P met with me for 5 minutes on my son's first day. I'm assuming he'd read his chart, since he didn't get much info from me, but a month later I see he didn't. He's a fast talker, talks over me the one other time I talked to him. I asked several times to speak with the dr and never heard from him, although staff assured me he'd call. Very concerned my son was stereotyped and profiled, after some of the comments staff and dr made about my child and towards my child. I gave 2 stars, because the techs were great! My son said for the first time in his life he had someone that actually cared about him. They're the ones doing the hard work, not able to get a break from the constant chaos that happens with a group of mentally ill teens, but still maintained professionalism and understanding. I can't thank them enough. Once again my son was just passed off as he gets worse. Beyond tired and disappointed!

I was there when i was 15 for almost a year. I was routinely emotionally and physically abused by staff members. The staff members would literally peg the children against each other and cause drama for their entertainment. I was restrained multiple times just for having emotional reactions. One of my close friends was also assaulted by their creative director. I was severely over medicated by DR.MERKATZ. I am still facing the consequences till this day. IF YOU WANT UR CHILDREN SEDATED AND ABUSED THIS IS THE PLACE!!!! THIS IS NOT A SAFE PLACE FOR YOUR CHILDREN!!!!

on jan 23rd of this year 2023. there was a riot. only 3 guards were working. they had to call the sheriff's dept. some escaped but were caught quickly. is it a jail or a hospital..

Was a resident here got discharged on August 20th 2022 aged out it was horrible Pelican unit always fighting dolphin unit always fighting out of control seems like staff don't have control over the kids certain staff are there to help you other staff are there to just traumatize you and not help you and scream with my experience don't put your kids in here it will traumatize them even more than they already are dolphin staff really helped me out they were there for my worst moments and my good moments they help me push through tough things especially Mama Ida Miss wisca on pelican is very lovable kind and caring staff after moments and sometimes I take it out on the kids this is not acceptable and nothing ever seems to happen the nurses sometimes give you the wrong meds or they don't tell you or ask you what meds you're taking I have seen kids cheek their meds and pass them on to other kids nurse Rhonda is the best nurse on dolphin works very hard because above and beyond for anyone and everyone she is loved by all the kids and the staff.

My daughter was there for 2 months and I can honestly say it helped tremendously. Prior to admission she had been in and out of crisis care for months. I have absolutely no complaints about her stay.. Marissa was wonderful with helping me with insurance issues. Dr. Yuryev got her on the right meds within 2 weeks of her being admitted, something multiple doctors couldn't do for months when she was in and out of crisis care. And most of all my daughter's therapist Carol was amazing. She got my daughter to open up and taught her great coping skills which she is using at home.

i was a resident during 2017, i am now 21 with a beautiful baby and much more expanding view of life and stable mental health now, living in the real world is nasty and evil. i really fought to not be vulnerable in this place, once i let go of that i allowed myself to heal. given their are staff that you may not like, and some staff who really need to apply somewhere else to work and thats okay, i really would like to say that i deeply appreciate a woman named ms. tekeisha who was a supervisor of the dolphin unit at that time i was admitted for those months i think about her often now that im evolving and growing up in the real world and that i thank her for taking her time to come work with us girls who will soon develop into woman and keep things together and giving alot of tough love and grace while doing so. their are many other woman who were VERY kind and compassionate but i forgot the names but i just want them to know i love them alot. ive outweighed some of the experienced that were negative in the facility but i think the love of the woman who motivated me and served such a blueprinted purpose in my life now deserve everything and a raise if you ask me and im very grateful, i hated going in their but im very happy i did now because i probably would be dead if i didnt. i really hope someone finds this and reads it so their is hope that your kid will heal and get better and that their will ALWAYS be hope in finding a better life and way much healthier way of dealing with things. thank you sandy pines.

I went to Sandy Pines on September 23, 2019 and got discharged on May 31, 2020, which was actually a day before my 18th birthday. Im not gonna lie, I did have a lot of bad experiences over there, and due to my psychosis I actually fought two other female patients. My level and privileges dropped again because of the first girl who I physically assaulted. It was over something trivial and stupid, so I really don't even want to discuss it. I haven't forgiven myself but going to this place made a HUGE positive impact on my life. Before I came to Sandy Pines, I was very suicidal and I was self harming every week. Ever since I got out of this place I barely self harm now and even if I get an urge to I just reflect on my coping skills, such as drawing and listening to my favorite songs on Spotify. I definitely learned a lot from going to Sandy Pines. I also learned my lesson from fighting those two residents because Miss Sheri and Dr. Bartucci punished me for it. Now I already know that I will never lay a finger on anybody again until the day I die. Nearly all the staff were nice to me so I don't know what the people who were saying that the staff were rude were talking about. When I become a mom I would bring my mentally ill son or daughter to Sandy Pines in a heartbeat. :)

Truly one of the WORST places I have EVER been to. I’d rather be homeless than stay here. They never had staff. There would be 19 kids and 2 staff. Other staff would instigate the kids and it would make them upset and then the staff would restrain them. Which in my opinion makes no sense. They never answered the phone unless it was the house supervisor. Also, the staff would make up situations between the kids and their favorite staff and try to get that staff member moved on to a different unit. The nurses on pelican were good though I will admit we love them! To be honest the only good staff are: Ms.Kayla Mr.Vincent Mr.Nate Ms.Chasity Ms.Tahvia Ms.Kiera Ms.Denieisha Ms.J Nurse Samantha Nurse Alexis

I was discharged from this facility in December of last year, tbh the staff were okay they would have mood swings with the kids but they did take care of us my unit was sea-turtle and I was the oldest and I cared about the little ones, the food was okay depending on what was served, education was okay. Even though there were fights like everyday I still focused on my treatment so I can go home.

This place wasn't the best. The staff a lot of the time would instigate and start stuff with kids. There were never enough staff. There'd be 27 kids with 4 staff a lot of the time and only 1-2 nurses. The school was good. The food was awful at first but then we got a new chef, Chef Ron, he made great food. There would be rats and roaches in the kitchen. The therapist were good, SHOUT OUT TO MS. SARAH AND MS. BRITTANY. they gave me wrong meds one time. It was a 3/5

I was admitted into Sandy Pines in November of 2021 and left April of 2022. I loved the staff and made a couple of acquaintances. I loved my therapist, and the doctor sorta provided me the meds I need. But other than that the place was trash. The food made me sick. The bathrooms were nasty. And overall the place was unsanitary. If you are looking to send your adolescent to a residential facility I do not suggest Sandy Pines.

I was at sand pines for 261 days. I had my ups and downs like most of others. For me the adjustment was not easy. I would always find myself in drama and in trouble. I eventually got out of all of it; was staying to myself, and getting closer to staff. One of the things that had become an issue was my safety. I was attacked 4 times. The facility did nothing about it, other than separate us. One of my attacks happened while I was asleep. At one point during room changes I was put in a room with the one that attacked me. I was in a room with her for approximately 3 days. Most staff didn't take it seriously even if a resident would go to staff and tell them if anything was going to happen. I could keep talking about the bad but most people don't see the good. I want to thank the staff that help me a lot whether they may know it or not. Staff: Ms. Juju Ms. Z Ms. Thornika Ms. Nelly Ms. Danica. Ms. Kayla (both) Ms. Ty Ms. Rashanda (I miss you) Ms. Chelsey (I miss you) Ms. Dorothy And more! I got the help I needed. It wasn't the easiest but now I've been doing great. Sandy pines doesn't intirely prepare us for real life but I've been trying to find my own way.

25 years old now was in here when I was 12 in 2011. Didn't really get any help on my anger or depression though they did restrain me when I first got there for trying to leave and had an allergic reaction to what I was injected with. The staff put me in the quiet room and laughed while I was in pain from the injection. When I was 14 I went to the university behavior health in Orlando, I recommend them instead, the staff are very friendly and helpful, never felt unsafe while there at all.

so happy to be out of this crazy place. most staff are there to just to work with they friends and take out they anger on the kids. most of the unit staff always be trying to curse at and argue with the kids for no reason and not let them do anything, they even argue with other staff. there were a few good staff tho and if it werent for them i think i would have had a completely miserable time, alot got better after january . shoutout to the actual good staff Nurse Chanta (momma) nurse marie nurse herby Ms Ashley Mr Brennon Momma ida Mr T Ms Antionique ms christene ms christana mr ray and mr porter

Worst facility ever , they don’t care for the kids only want them for the insurance money Place is ran down , admissions are horrible This facility needs to be shut down I feel sorry for the staff who works there poor people don’t even get paid enough!! I REPEAT DO NOT SEND YOUR KIDS THERE THEY WILL COME BACK HOME WORSE THEN EVER

I’ve never been a resident at this facility but I do have a family member that is. I cannot get in touch with them. I’ve called more than 20+ times over the course of 10 days and cannot get anyone to answer the phone. I do not have a lot of confidence in the care they are receiving if I can’t even speak to them or a staff member. Having to resort to leaving a review because there is no other way to contact this facility.

this place is HORRIBLE. hell on earth experience. kids would attack eachother, staff was useless. therapy is so bad, activities sucked. not allowed to take a nap, they treat patients like prisoners. this made my anxiety and depression worse, and added PTSD. i missed my family so much, i would sob every day and night, multiple times a day. i dreaded waking up.

saved my life a couple years back too be real, what i heard on the news is def not the staff fault. Kids go there before jail sometimes and really just dont care at all, i feel bad for the some of the good staff that got caught up in that mess. they helped me out alot during my stay

I am a former patient. My stay was 2 separate times, in 2015 & in 2016 for a combined almost 2 years. This facility helped me so much. I was finally correctly diagnosed, my therapist would listen to me and helped me work through my issues and create new coping skills instead of resulting to old ones. While every mental health facility has its issues, Sandy Pines saved my life. Particularly Nurse Felicia, as well as many B unit staff and Seagull staff. They listened to what i had to say, made me feel heard and treated me with respect, even when i had to be restrained. My only negative feedback would be about the food(its just bland and boring) and that some of the staff did have major ego problems and werent the most empathetic, but other staff members made up where some fell short. Also the A&B unit incident of 2016.. Overall my experience here was very helpful to me. It made me want to aspire for a career as a RBHT & help people the way i was helped. While i do not know where to start that career, because of the things I learned here, i know i am more than capable of doing it. Id love to be able to come & speak with the residents, like i got to experience while i was there. It helped Me a lot to be able to see the people who were there before me and how happy they are. Thank you for helping me be here 7 years later.

I ain't even going to hold you this place really helped me out I was on dolphin I love all the dolphin staff they was nice they did everything for me I'm really made really really close connections with a lot of people starfish staff pelican staff Manatee staff sea turtle staff seagull staff I was there a little over a year they made my stay easier these staff sharonda markia Michaela Stanley Ida denisha takisha whiska Anisha Dorothy Brittany Wayne all the kitchen staff Mimi Nordica Casey even ones that's not there no more Daryl Shakira there's a lot more staff that has helped me through thick and thin jus know I really appreciate you all and I can never forget you all I have thoughts about coming back just to see y'all again I felt loved I felt cared for and I felt like I fitted in even though I cried on Thanksgiving because the white people cooked 😂😂 just know to whoever had a good relationship with thank you from the bottom of my heart love you all black lives matter sincerely albino on the guys 💯💯💯😂♥️