LOS ANGELES - Marylandian -- A top North Carolina health official is calling for a ban on wilderness therapy camps in the state following the tragic death of a 12-year-old boy at a now-closed wilderness therapy facility.[1] The mental health industry watchdog, Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), supports this action and urges the prohibition of such camps nationwide to ensure the safety of youths seeking help.

In his final weeks as North Carolina's Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kody Kinsley spoke to local media, stating that he believes wilderness therapy camps should be permanently outlawed in the state. His remarks follow the February 2024 death of a child at a camp in the western part of the state, which the NC Department of Health has since closed. The boy suffocated after being zipped into a sleeping bag with a device that prevented him from opening it. An autopsy later ruled his death a homicide.

"I don't think wilderness therapy camps have a place in our continuum of care in North Carolina," Kinsley said. "The law needs to be changed to permanently remove these licenses, so they don't exist." He expressed deep sympathy for the families affected by such tragedies, emphasizing the need to prevent other parents from experiencing similar heartbreak.

To implement this change, Kinsley emphasized that new legislation must be passed by the North Carolina General Assembly. CCHR suggests this could potentially be achieved by amending NC Codes to explicitly exclude wilderness therapy camps from being licensed as residential child-care facilities. Similarly, amendments to Licensing Procedures could specify that facilities employing wilderness-based therapeutic models are not eligible for licensure under mental health or substance use disorder treatment provisions.[2] The organization has urged state lawmakers to take action by inquiring with the Department about how wilderness camps can be prohibited under the state's health regulations.

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In recent years, wilderness therapy camps have been widely scrutinized nationwide. A USA Today investigation in December 2022 revealed that many former participants described their experiences as negative and traumatizing, with some noting that these camps often serve as a gateway to longer-term residential treatment centers.[3] CCHR, which has been exposing abuse in these camps since the early 1990s, cites reports of deaths, mistreatment, and deceptive practices that have gone largely unregulated.[4] In 1995 there were almost 400 wilderness camps in the U.S.[5]

A 2008 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office documented abuse and deaths across these facilities, and more recent findings by Breaking Code Silence estimate that 150,000 to 200,000 children are enrolled in over 2,000 such programs nationwide, which includes 40 wilderness camps.[6] In Utah, the number of wilderness camps dropped 64% from 14 in 2014 to just five in 2023.[7]

With the decline came a decrease in deaths. Nationally, deaths in these facilities decreased by 81%, from 142 in the 2000s to 27 in the 2020s.[8]

Despite a decline in the number of wilderness camps due to increased scrutiny, CCHR argues that wilderness therapy camps are still a risk to vulnerable youth and should be prohibited.

The group, which was established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and professor of psychiatry, Dr. Thomas Szasz, helped secure federal protections in the late 1990s against restraint use in mental health residential hospitals. It has helped secure hundreds of laws and regulations worldwide that provide protections to mental health patients and their families.

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CCHR is calling for a comprehensive overhaul of the troubled teen industry, part of which will be addressed by the recently passed federal Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, which establishes a study to ultimately help prevent child abuse in youth residential programs. However, as the study may take several years, CCHR wants regulations now to impose robust penalties on facilities found abusing children and youths, including stronger regulations to revoke facility licenses and penalties for violations of vulnerable youth. As part of this, it says, wilderness therapy camps are no longer necessary as mental health care facilities for children and teens.

Sources:

[1] www.wbtv.com/2025/01/14/top-regulator-calls-ban-wilderness-camps-north-carolina/

[2] www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter_122C/Article_2.html; regulations.justia.com/states/north-carolina/title-10a/chapter-27/subchapter-g/section-0400/

[3] www.usatoday.com/in-depth/life/health-wellness/2022/12/08/wilderness-therapy-troubled-teen-industry/9890694002/

[4] "Utah wilderness therapy deaths," Salt Lake Tribune, 11 Oct. 2007,
archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/news/ci_7139316

[5] "Taking Nature's Cure," U.S. News and World Report, June 26, 1995

[6] www.usatoday.com/in-depth/life/health-wellness/2022/12/08/wilderness-therapy-troubled-teen-industry/9890694002/

[7] www.sltrib.com/news/2024/05/07/nearly-half-utahs-wilderness/

[8] sierranevadaally.org/2023/08/02/dark-forest-a-look-inside-controversial-wilderness-therapy-camps/