CHARLOTTE, N.C. — State health leaders are not allowing a wilderness therapy camp in western North Carolina to take new admissions and has removed all existing kids from the camp.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) sent a letter to Trails Carolina ordering the move just over a week after a 12-year-old camper was found dead at the camp.
In the letter, state health regulators told the camp to put new measures in place immediately to keep children safe. By Friday, officials decided to relocate kids already at the camp.
"While the investigation is ongoing and we cannot comment on specific details, it was determined that action needed to be taken to ensure the health and safety of the children," NCDHHS said in a released statement. "Parents have been notified and children will be temporarily taken into the care of Transylvania County DSS."
The state will require unlimited and unannounced access to the camp by local DSS staff, law enforcement, and state investigators, according to the letter.
A former student is suing the program, alleging staff members dismissed her claims of sexual assault by another camper and denied her basic needs when she attended in 2016, according to NBC News.
The lawsuit accuses Trails Carolina of creating "an environment where troubled children have and do sexually assault other children."
A PR firm for Trails Carolina released a statement on Friday that WCNC Charlotte obtained from NBC affiliate WYFF. The statement reads, in part:
"After 5 p.m. EST on Feb. 15, DHHS threatened and intimidated parents by demanding parents travel from all over the country to pick up their children or DHHS would take their children into custody. The children were receiving high-level clinical care for complex mental health diagnoses requiring experienced professionals with full knowledge of critical medications and specialized treatment regimens. Normally, locating alternative programs and matching children for placement takes several weeks. This negligent and reckless move by the State denied parents the opportunity to continue to care for their children in the appropriate manner."
The statement goes on to say that "Parents believe the program is safe and do not want their children’s treatment disrupted by the State, which has continued to make reckless decisions based on false and misleading information from the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office."
The statement also contradicts the investigators' findings that the death appears to be suspicious by claiming that "preliminary findings by state agencies, internal investigation, information and conversations with officials, staff, and known experts, everything points to an accidental death."
"The death at Trails Carolina is tragic and concerning," NCDHHS wrote in their Friday statement. "We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of the child who died, and commit to them that we are conducting a thorough investigation."
Trails Carolina is located about 35 miles outside of Asheville and is described as a wellness therapy program for troubled youth.
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