North Carolina officials announced Friday that they are revoking the license of Trails Carolina, a wilderness camp for troubled youth where a 12-year-old boy died in February.
In a letter to the camp’s executive director, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said it would revoke Trails Carolina’s operating license within 60 days, citing non-compliance with state regulations.
The department’s letter cited medication requirements and “protection from harm, abuse, neglect, and exploitation” as some of the regulations that Trails Carolina failed to comply with.
Trails Carolina spokeswoman Wendy D’Alessandro said the camp had no immediate comment.
The move comes after the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services notified the camp in March that it was in violation of several state regulations, including requiring mental health facilities to protect clients from abuse. It was done after. That license was in jeopardy.
The camp was given 10 days to submit a written statement explaining why it believes it is in compliance with the regulations, as well as supporting documentation and a plan for remediation.
Although Trails Carolina has the right to appeal, the department said in a separate letter on Friday that it has rejected its findings against the camp despite the information and proposed plan to address the violations the program provided in April. He wrote that he had decided to support it.
D’Alessandro “Given the progress we have made and the progress we continue to make, we were surprised and disappointed to learn of the state’s intent to revoke the program’s license,” Trails Carolina said in a March email. “There is,” he said.
The department did not provide details of the violations it found, which carry an $18,000 fine, or whether the violations were related to the boy’s death.
The Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office said the child, identified only by his initials CJH, was found unresponsive at Trails Carolina on February 3, less than 24 hours after his arrival. The boy’s cause of death has not yet been determined and a criminal investigation is ongoing.
The sheriff’s office announced Friday that the FBI had recently provided forensic downloads of computers seized at the camp, but that “it will take some time to examine the large amount of data received.” Officials said they were still awaiting the results of a medical examiner’s autopsy on the boy.
The 18 children attending Trails Carolina at the time of the 12-year-old’s death were expelled in late February, and state officials suspended admission.
The boy’s death is not the first at the for-profit camp, which advertised itself as an adventure therapy program to help children and teens with mental health issues and behavioral concerns. In 2014, a 17-year-old boy named Alec Lansing walked away from Trails, Carolina, sparking a massive manhunt. His body was later found in a stream, and an autopsy report said he died of hypothermia after climbing a tree and breaking his leg.
D’Alessandro previously said in an email to NBC News that Alec left camp to go to the bathroom and that “new protocols were developed around bathroom procedures” after his death.
According to inspection records obtained by NBC News through a public records request, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed that Trails Carolina has been subject to numerous changes over the past 12 years, including rules governing strip tests, drug payments and contact with parents. It was discovered that the regulations had been violated. Train staff on the proper use of restraints.
In response to past inspection reports, D’Alessandro said Trails Carolina’s employees have since completed training in areas such as properly documenting medication administration, and that “the state “We strive to cooperate in good faith and follow the guidelines set forth by the State of North Carolina.” Department of Homeland Security. ”
“Trails’ priority has always been to provide quality mental health care services to our students and their families,” she said.
But more than a dozen people sent to Trails Carolina from 2013 to 2022 told NBC News that the treatment they received at the camp left them fearful and humiliated.
The camp defended its approach but declined to comment on specific children’s experiences.
Rebecca Barney, 21, whose parents sent her to Trails Carolina the day after her 14th birthday, said her time at the camp was traumatic. Contact with her family has been restricted and censored, which Trails Carolina says is necessary for the welfare of the children, she said.
Barney said he was filled with an “overwhelming sense of relief” when he heard his camping license would be revoked.
“It’s a huge victory,” she said. “This is a huge step towards holding real accountability across this industry.”
