ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — The death of a 12-year-old boy at Trails Carolina on Feb. 3, 2024, brought wilderness therapy into the spotlight and has survivors of the troubled teen industry calling for reform.
During the month of May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month, News 13 took a special look at wilderness therapy.
NORTH CAROLINA WILDERNESS PROGRAM’S LICENSE ISSUES RAISE CONCERNS FOR RELATED FACILITIES
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“From the day that I got there, I was crying, begging to be able to talk to my parents, and staff just told me that’s not a part of the program,” Vic Mitterando, a former Trails Carolina client, said.
FORMER CLIENT URGES SHUTDOWN OF WILDERNESS THERAPY PROGRAM AFTER REPEATED DEFICIENCIES
The North Carolina Division of Health Service Regulation said facilities not allowing kids to call their parent or guardian when requested violates North Carolina law. Situations like this are raising concerns about children’s mental health and the methods of treatment.
“So, you might have someone who is medically not appropriate, but then behaviorally, if there’s a young person who has a lot of suicidal ideation, you probably don’t want to put them in a situation where they would have access to the means. So, rock faces, bodies of water, things where they might endanger themselves in that space,” Dr. Michelle Geiser, the director of Hope Coalition Program, said. Geiser is also a trauma-specialized mental health professional.
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Calls for industry reform have reached Washington, D.C., and federal lawmakers.
A March 2024 survey by North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Health Service Regulation revealed the first night at Trails Carolina, the program required all campers to sleep in a bivy wrapped in a tarp, a device that restricts movement. It’s the same type of device, the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office confiscated into evidence as they investigate the death of a boy in the program when they arrived on February 3, 2024.
‘I DO FEEL THE BIVY HAD A LOT TO DO WITH IT’ NEW DETAILS EMERGE IN TRAILS CAROLINA CASE
Staff performing morning wake-ups found the New York boy unresponsive at 7:45 a.m. in a cabin with boarded-up windows on the property. According to records, staff called 911 around 8 a.m. when the child wouldn’t wake up. The student could not be resuscitated by emergency officials.
Law enforcement interviews detailed in the health inspection reveal the boy may have suffocated and wasn’t visually checked on several times during his first night at the program.
NC HEALTH DEPARTMENT NOTIFIES TRAILS CAROLINA OF VIOLATIONS, INTENTION TO REVOKE LICENSE
In two letters dated May 17, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services notified Trails Carolina they intended to revoke the program’s license to operate for its failure to comply with provisions of the North Carolina General Statute.