Considering YOVA Inc (Youth of Vision Academy) for your child?

If you have already found Youth of Vision Academy and you are deciding whether to send your child to Jamaica, this page is for you. We are former YOVA parents. Let's chat before you enroll.

We have been where you are

We were looking for any boarding school or residential treatment center with therapeutic support, after options at home had run out. Perhaps you too have you run into any of the following:

• Your school district is unhelpful, and claims your child is fine with a more robust IEP and their accomodations.
• Your insurance says treating their illness or behaviors are not of medical necessity.
• Some programs in the US say their behaviors are too severe or put other children at risk, or they have exclusionary criteria that limits your options further.
• Many programs won't take a child at your child's age.
• One psychiatrist is compassionate but has no clear answers; another lists Ivy League degrees and tells you the diagnosis is wrong, while a different expert with similar credentials gave you that diagnosis. You are left not knowing what is actually going on, with no practical steps forward, and not fully believed.
• Everyone points you to "resources": blogs, books, courses, and wrap-around services. All of which have not helped and feel like a band-aid on a gaping lethal wound.
• You are left felling isolated, in one crisis after another, with no long-term options.
• The only programs you can find, that might accept your child, cost tens of thousands a month.
• You have been through acute hospitalizations, calling law-enforcement, PHP, IOP, residential stays.
• When you turn to the state for help, you are sitting with every parent's worse nightmare, of potentially having to relinquish custody in order to obtain care.
• Your child is no longer safe to live in your home, and you can not ensure their safety, and the safety of other children & pets.

We get it. We have lived this entire list and more.

YOVA claims to address this exact situation. They charge around a fifth of what many U.S. institutions charge, will take almost any child, and seem to offer practical help instead of "opinions and resources".

There is little independent information from families who have sent their child to YOVA. We can tell you what we learned from our 2+ year experience with the program. We understand that placing your child in the care of others, especially in another country, is a decision you want to be sure about. This is why we make ourselves available to give an honest review.

While you research

As you do your due diligence, write the U.S. Embassy in Kingston at KingstonACS@state.gov. From there, you can request a confidential phone conversation.