LOS ANGELES - Marylandian -- Despite dozens of closures of abusive "troubled teen" programs in behavioral and psychiatric centers, including wilderness camps in recent years, a leading mental health industry watchdog warns that children's lives remain at risk unless stronger laws ban the worst offenders and the secretive youth transport practices that feed them. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), a nonprofit mental health industry watchdog, says that while public outrage and media exposure have forced some notorious facilities to close, the underlying problems that enable these abusive programs still persist—and more children will die if lawmakers do not act. Two teen suicides occurred last month in a North Carolina behavioral facility, forcing its closure.[1]

"These so-called 'therapy' camps have a disturbing history of traumatizing vulnerable young people while charging desperate families tens of thousands of dollars," said Jan Eastgate, international president of CCHR. "When a child dies in these programs, that should be the last death. We need permanent bans—not just temporary closures."

Wilderness therapy camps, residential treatment centers, and other "troubled teen" programs often market themselves as life-saving alternatives for youth struggling with behavioral or emotional challenges. But critics say that behind the glossy brochures is an industry built on secrecy, harsh discipline, and abusive staff.

"Many of the methods used in these camps would violate the Geneva Convention if applied to prisoners of war," wrote journalist Maia Szalavitz in Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids.[2] Her book, along with years of survivor accounts and investigations, has shown how children are subjected to extreme isolation, physical restraints, humiliation, and medical neglect.

Other recent closures have been prompted by tragic deaths, including a 12-year-old boy who died within 24 hours of admission to a wilderness program in North Carolina after being restrained.

Numerous youth facilities and wilderness camps across the U.S. have faced criminal charges, lawsuits, and license revocations following deaths, suicides, or widespread abuse. Many charged fees ranging from $30,000 to more than $100,000 per child per year.[3]

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State audits have exposed repeated failures. A 2022 Salt Lake Tribune investigation in Utah—long known as a hub for these programs—found thousands of inspection reports detailing rampant abuse, sedation, and neglect even after an oversight law was passed in 2021.[4]

Utah Senator Mike McKell, who spearheaded the law admitted the state had been "learning the hard way," that this was inadequate, citing at least seven preventable deaths since 2021. He led the amendment to the law this year, creating a children's ombudsman and new whistleblower protections.[5]

In Maryland, legislators led by Delegate Vaughn Stewart passed the Preventing Abduction in Youth Transport Act this year to curb some of the worst practices, including the forcible removal of children from their homes at night by "secure youth transport" companies. The law prohibits dangerous restraint use by these companies. This often-unregulated youth transport industry has been described by journalists as "authorized kidnapping," with children handcuffed or restrained as they are shuttled to remote facilities far from home. Survivors, including prominent advocates, Paris Hilton, attorneys and CCHR, say this practice can leave children deeply traumatized before they even reach a program.[6]

CCHR points to a deeper issue fueling the troubled teen industry's survival: the widespread psychiatrizing of normal childhood and adolescent behavior.

"Too many of these kids are labeled with vague or unscientific mental health diagnoses simply for acting like teenagers," said Eastgate. "This creates a pipeline to often harmful treatments—and big profits."

Psychiatrist Allen Frances, who chaired the task force that revised the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), famously admitted that the expansion of psychiatric labels has been excessive. ADHD diagnoses alone have tripled over the past two decades.

"Human nature just doesn't change that quickly," Frances said. "Our kids haven't suddenly become sicker; it's just that diagnoses are applied to them more loosely."

This diagnostic inflation has proven lucrative. In the U.S., the troubled teen segment alone is estimated to be worth $50 billion.[7] Between 2017 and 2021, total medical spending for pediatric mental health conditions jumped by over 45%, with these conditions now making up nearly half of all pediatric medical spending—around $31 billion in direct child costs and $59 billion in related household expenses.[8]

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CCHR says that while some private equity firms are quietly exiting the troubled teen market amid mounting lawsuits and bad press, the industry continues to operate largely in the shadows—propped up by misleading advertising, false diagnoses, and an unregulated transport network.

"Every state must investigate these programs thoroughly, shut down any that endanger children's lives, and permanently ban the worst practices," said Eastgate.

The watchdog says that true reform must hold facilities accountable for abuse and deaths, end the use of psychiatric labels to funnel youth into profit-driven programs, and shut down the loopholes that allow dangerous operators to rebrand and reopen under new names.

"The recent closures show that change is possible when families, survivors, the media, and lawmakers work together," said Eastgate. "But as long as one child can still be abused or die in these behavioral-psychiatric camps, this fight isn't over. No child's life should ever be gambled away for profit."

CCHR is a nonprofit mental health watchdog established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and Professor of Psychiatry, Dr. Thomas Szasz. It has helped enact more than 190 reforms worldwide to protect individuals from abusive or coercive psychiatric practices.

Sources:

[1] Andrew R. Jones, "Asheville Academy, Trails Carolina owner faced financial upheaval before deaths" Asheville Watchdog, 11 June 2025, avlwatchdog.org/asheville-academy-trails-carolina-owner-faced-financial-upheaval-before-deaths/

[2] Paul Donald, "Inside America's disturbing 'wilderness therapy' camps with child deaths and extreme isolation," Mirror, 27 Feb. 2024, www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/inside-americas-disturbing-wilderness-therapy-32203146

[3] Sarah Golightley, "Troubling the 'troubled teen' industry: Adult reflections on youth experiences of therapeutic boarding schools," Sage Journals, March 2020, journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2043610619900514

[4] "New Regulations For The State's 'Troubled Teen' Industry Win Final Legislative Approval," KUER, 3 Mar. 2021, www.kuer.org/politics-government/2021-03-03/new-regulations-for-the-states-troubled-teen-industry-win-final-legislative-approval

[5] Courtney Johns, "Lawmakers push for tougher oversight after several deaths in Utah teen treatment centers," KSL NBC News, 25 Feb. 2025, ksltv.com/politics-elections/lawmakers-push-for-tougher-oversight-after-several-deaths-in-utah-teen-treatment-centers-2/743747/

[6] www.cchrint.org/2025/02/14/maryland-bill-targets-psychiatric-transport-abuses/; mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0497?ys=2025RS;

[7] www.dw.com/en/troubled-teen-industry-in-the-usa-the-prison-school-scandal/a-69963580

[8] "Medical Spending Among US Households With Children With a Mental Health Condition Between 2017 and 2021," Pediatrics, 11 Mar. 2024, jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2815870