In March, AJ and MJ returned to Harmony Academy Recovery High School after gym class. The school, located in Lake Oswego, is situated on a retirement and assisted living campus that provides support for its 40 students. The building, once an orphanage, now exudes a sense of community with its student artwork on the walls and reminders of togetherness.
As they walked down the hallway lined with old couches and chairs, the red building filled with the smell of old wood and stacks of paper. Baggy jeans, experimental makeup, and purposefully unkempt hair filled the space. A large handmade poster encouraged students with the message, “We are in this together.”
The teen recovery series aims to shed light on Oregon’s struggles with providing adequate mental health treatment by identifying policy failures and highlighting a path forward. In recent years, Oregon’s youth behavioral health system has come under scrutiny for its inadequacies in comparison to other states. Parents have had to go to great lengths to ensure their children’s safety.
To better understand the experiences of students at Harmony Academy Recovery High School, The Oregonian/OregonLive interviewed 15 teens, five parents, and various educators and service providers. Spending around 2 1/2 months at the school, the newsroom chose not to use full names of the students to protect their privacy as minors. For continued coverage on mental health in Oregon, visit oregonlive.com/mentalhealth.
