August 22, 2006

Pryce Tours Buckeye Ranch, Hears
Report on Program Funding She Secured  

COLUMBUS , OH – On Thursday, Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-Columbus) visited the Buckeye Ranch in Grove City to tour the campus and receive a briefing on its Applied Violence and Prevention Research program, funded in part through an appropriation secured by Pryce.

“The incredible work being done at Buckeye Ranch is one of our community’s most underappreciated stories,” said Pryce, following the visit. “Few can imagine the virtuous and emotional work performed day in and day out at the Ranch, and the magnitude of their miraculous achievements in helping to resuscitate the lives of many profoundly troubled children.”

Pryce secured $350,000 for the Buckeye Ranch in the FY 2004 Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations bill to fund the Applied Violence and Prevention Research program, an outcome based effort to prevent and reduce youth violence in both homes and schools. In its study, the Ranch evaluated the efficacy of two types of interventions – family-based and school-based – and determined that violence in the lives of troubled youth may be reduced by interventions in both venues.

“Youth violence has been and remains a serious public health problem in our nation,” said Pryce. “It is thus critically important that groups on the front lines of youth violence like Buckeye Ranch continue to explore both the causes of the violence as well as outcome-based solutions to the problem. As both a judge and prosecutor, I saw firsthand the tragic consequences of what can happen to individuals, families and communities when violent mental health tendencies go unchecked. Yet, after hearing from the Ranch about their advancements on understanding these issues, I have a renewed confidence that many at-risk youth can turn their lives around.”

The Buckeye Ranch, located in Grove City, provides hope and healing to children and families by offering family-focused mental health treatment services for at-risk youth. Children in the care of the Ranch have behavioral or psychological disorders, including depression, oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficient/hyperactivity disorder, post-traumatic stress syndrome, and bipolar disorder, among others.

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