Short Term Boys Program

Teen Rescue's short term program is called "Focus". In this program you enroll your son for one month at a time until needed.

Read More

Long Term Boys Program

Teen Rescue's long term program is an 18 month program geared to help teen boys who are in need of help.

Read More

Other Programs

Teen Rescue offers family counseling services as well as a school for troubled teen girls.

Read More

Meet the Director

Phil Ludwig is the founder and CEO of Julian Youth Academy and Teen Rescue, Inc. Phil was born in Anaheim, California. He is the youngest of four children and grew up in a loving Christian home. After graduating high school, Phil worked at Hume Lake Christian Camps, where he met his wife, Kim. At a later time, Phil was hired as a police officer with the San Diego Police Department and had a successful career as an officer. In 1981, Phil’s car was struck by a drunk driver while he was on duty, causing Phil injuries severe enough to force his early retirement from the police force.

During Phil's recovery, the opportunity to help troubled teens and their families presented itself to him. Multiple parents during this time approached Phil about helping them with their troubled teens. He began gaining a reputation for this type of assistance, and more and more parents began seeking Phil's help. This ultimately led Phil to realize the critical need of assistance for parents and troubled teens. Phil started researching families' greatest needs, and, after investigating the situation for a year and a half, Phil and Kim developed and founded Teen Rescue, Inc. to serve as a non-profit advocate that would eventually help thousands of families with struggling teens throughout the country.

In 1993 Phil appeared as a guest on a radio show with Josh McDowell, a well-known author and leader in the Evangelical Christian community. During this radio show, Phil shared his vision for helping teens. After this, Josh McDowell opened the door for a facility that he controlled. It was on this property that Teen Rescue was able to open its first boarding school for teens. Teen Rescue was eventually able to purchase a property for a permanent campus.

Unfortunately, not long after opening up the school on the permanent campus, Kim, Phil's wife, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She died four months later. All of the sudden, Phil found himself a single father of two boys, left to manage the ministry on his own. He committed himself to building up his ministry at Teen Rescue and taking care of his boys, remaining single for six years.

Eventually Phil met Lynn Balderas, who was also a widow. Lynn was formerly a missionary in Oaxaca, Mexico with her husband where her husband died in a plane crash. Lynn came back to the U.S. shortly after this and soon discovered that she had terminal pancreatic cancer, the same cancer Kim had. Amazingly, Lynn survived her case of cancer, and Phil and Lynn were married in July of 2003. After only three months of marriage, the 2003 Cedar Fire burned the campus to the ground. However, despite this crisis, the program persevered and is still operating.

Phil is still the acting CEO of Teen Rescue and the Executive Director of Julian Youth Academy. Phil regularly gives talks on family advocacy issues, addressing how to handle issues such as conflict resolution, teens-in-crisis, parental rights, family dynamics, and other issues relating to healthy family relationships.