Our Staff

Turning Point staff has a long history of working with troubled teens in residential care. This rich and varied experience lends to a nurturing environment with opportunities to grow.

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Joe Kealamakia
Program Director

Joe Kealamakia is our Program Director. Prior to moving to Utah in 1992 he worked for the State of Hawaii Corrections Division for nine years. In 1992 he started working with youth at a private troubled youth ranch in Cedar City as a line staff. In 1993 he became the Program Director. In 1995 Southwest Center Mental Health introduced there first Juvenile Sex Offender Program (Eagle Quest). Here is where he gained his experience working with juvenile sex offenders. The program offered a therapeutic environment where youth received psychological, psychiatric and psychosocial assessments; individualized schooling was also provided there along with recreational activities. In 1999 he became Program Coordinator, some of his responsibilities were hiring of all staff and training, and making sure all clients were current on all court obligations as well as coordinating transportation for all court appointments. This position provided him the opportunity to increase his experience with the administrative aspects of the program, working directly with caseworkers and those responsible for licensing and auditing the program.

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Brent H. Judd, LCSW
Residential Clinical Director

Our clinical director is Brent H. Judd, LCSW. Brent has worked with troubled youth since 1981. From 1981-1987 he served with the Division of Youth and Family Services as a youth services worker. This position provided individual and family therapy for young men and women who were beyond the control of their families, the school system or the juvenile court.

In 1987 Brent had the opportunity of going to the Division of Youth Corrections as a supervisor over a secure care unit. The youth in this program had been placed there by the court system. They were there for serious acts of criminal behavior. It was in this program that Brent first started working with adolescent sexual offenders. This program eventually became the first secure unit in the State of Utah to house 100% sexual offenders. At about the same time as part of his private counseling practice he became the Clinical Director of two adult units of the Intermountain Sexual Abuse Treatment Center. In this setting he had the opportunity of increasing his experience by treating adults who had these same sexual issues and who were housed in a satellite unit of the Utah State prison.

In addition to his work with adolescent and adult offenders Brent has had a private counseling practice in Cedar City for 22 years. In this environment he has the opportunity of working with all ages of clients and with a variety of family and individual problems. He is especially skilled in working with depressive and anxiety disorders. Brent believes the family is the key to many problems young men may face especially in their placement at Turning Point and he welcomes as much family involvement with the youth as possible.

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Rick Morris, LCSW
Foster Care Clinical Director

Rick first began working with youth in 1996 in the capacity of a line staff at Eagle Quest, which dealt with youth who sexually acted out. The 5 years at Eagle Quest provided Rick with the opportunity to understand and relate with the youth on an individual level. This experience has helped him as a therapist to understand what the youth go through on a daily basis. He quickly realized that he wanted to work with youth for a career and decided to obtain his Masters in Social Work at the University of Utah. After graduating, he worked in a wilderness program that focused on helping youth overcome substance abuse addiction. Although he really enjoyed working in the substance abuse field, he realized that his interest lied in working with youth who have sexual behavioral issues. Rick has been part of the team at Turning Point Family Care for over 3 years and is the Clinical Director over the foster care program.

Outside of work Rick enjoys spending time with his wife and four children. They enjoy going camping and participating in sports with his children. He also volunteers at a local high school; coaching wrestling.

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Staff & Therapists

In addition to our clinical director we currently have three other master level therapists who are licensed in the State of Utah to practice in this field. All of these therapists have years of experience in the helping profession. Their experience is rich in a diversity of issues and they are all well qualified to do individual, group and family therapy. Youth who come to our program will be assigned the therapist for their individual therapy who we believe will be the most beneficial for them.