NC - 12-year-old dies at Trails Carolina wilderness therapy camp, Lake Toxaway, February 2024

[Betty P]

so not only was he just 12 (the youngest camper there) but also small for his age. And he was "escorted" there by two grown males hired by his parents.

While I personally would never make such a decision as a parent I do pray for his. I imagine they will question that decsion every day for the rest of their lives.

rest easy CJH
----------------------------
A medical examiner’s report released with the autopsy findings said the boy who died had ADHD, anxiety, migraines and social challenges, including “a very hard time making friends.”
Autopsy report rules 12-year-old's death at camp for troubled adolescents a homicide

I hope they do question their decision every day of their lives. Having competent medical care for their child would have given them sufficient tools to diagnose and treat his problems. There would be no need to resort to dangerous quack “cures”. They had access to quality, evidence based health care and they chose to ignore it. Let them live with the consequences, JMO.

 

[Lilibet]

I hope they do question their decision every day of their lives. Having competent medical care for their child would have given them sufficient tools to diagnose and treat his problems. There would be no need to resort to dangerous quack “cures”. They had access to quality, evidence based health care and they chose to ignore it. Let them live with the consequences, JMO.

I don’t believe we know that they ignored conventional treatment. It may well be that they had made use of “quality, evidence based health care” and their son had not responded to the treatment. That happens. Modern medicine sometimes fails to work with certain patients. If his behavior was escalating and the family did not feel safe, I can understand (although not agree with) their decision to try this type of treatment center. On paper it looked great. They were probably desperate. I’m sure they wanted their son to be happy and able to cope with his issues. Tragically, he became a victim of abuse.

I am sure they will “live with the consequences” and feel intense guilt over their decision and mourn their son for the rest of their lives without us wishing that on them. Losing a child is a horrible experience, especially if there is any reason for guilt. Personally, until or unless we learn more damning information about them, I’m inclined to give the parents the benefit of the doubt and keep the whole family in my prayers.

JMO

 

[ChatteringBirds]

His parents didn't ignore conventional treatment. He arrived at the camp with prescription medication, if I am understanding this correctly. So he had been receiving traditional medical care. IMO.

"“His medications were sequestered and reviewed independently by law enforcement, and the medical examiner. The only irregularity noted was the absence of 3 clonidine tablets. No medical administration records were identified for the decedent at the camp and it is unclear if he took any of the missing medication."

Trails Carolina camper death ruled homicide by asphyxiation, autopsy shows

TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — An autopsy report is shedding light after a child died earlier this year at a troubled teen camp in western North Carolina. An autopsy report states that a 12-yea…

myfox8.com

 

[Lusitana]

I'm glad MSM finally had the guts to name him. His name is Clark Harman and deserves to be referred to by his actual name and not just as "12-year-old boy".

 

[Betty P]

I don’t believe we know that they ignored conventional treatment. It may well be that they had made use of “quality, evidence based health care” and their son had not responded to the treatment. That happens. Modern medicine sometimes fails to work with certain patients. If his behavior was escalating and the family did not feel safe, I can understand (although not agree with) their decision to try this type of treatment center. On paper it looked great. They were probably desperate. I’m sure they wanted their son to be happy and able to cope with his issues. Tragically, he became a victim of abuse.

I am sure they will “live with the consequences” and feel intense guilt over their decision and mourn their son for the rest of their lives without us wishing that on them. Losing a child is a horrible experience, especially if there is any reason for guilt. Personally, until or unless we learn more damning information about them, I’m inclined to give the parents the benefit of the doubt and keep the whole family in my prayers.

JMO

I suppose its because I raised sons with ADHD and ADD that I view this a little differently. There are forms of cognitive behavioral therapy that can be helpful in difficult cases, but I would never send my child to a "camp" that wasn't fully staffed by licensed psych professionals who are trained in CBT. In fact, I would only allow an ADHD child to have any kind of inpatient therapy if it was close by where I and my child's doctor could observe it.

Treatment of ADHD

ADHD treatment recommendations vary by age group.

www.cdc.gov

Parent Training in Behavior Management for ADHD

Parent training in behavior management for ADHD in children.

www.cdc.gov

If medication isn't working and the current doctor doesn't have any better suggestions, I'd get a second opinion and a third or fourth if necessary. ETA: If medication and CBT still isn't working, a second opinion may be necessary to see if there's a different problem, a more severe type of mental illness. E.G. Kids diagnosed with ADHD sometimes later develop symptoms of schizophrenia, etc. It's rare but it happens.

Wilderness Camps/Boot Camps, etc. do not have good reputations for handling kids with neurological/ behavior disorders. There's nothing about the outdoors that is helpful to troubled kids other than the fact they're often remote, private locations where staff are free to abuse kids as they wish without oversight. There's also nothing special about religious beliefs that make them a good tool for dealing with conditions like ADHD. There's no scientific evidence to support any of that. JMO

 

[Lusitana]

Doesn't Trails Carolina send adults that are strangers to the families into these kids homes to remove them without the child's knowledge and "transport" them to camp? Wasn't that what Clark's parents paid for to be done to their tiny 12-year-old son? This practice doesn't sound therapeutic to me.

 

[tlcya]

His parents didn't ignore conventional treatment. He arrived at the camp with prescription medication, if I am understanding this correctly. So he had been receiving traditional medical care. IMO.

"“His medications were sequestered and reviewed independently by law enforcement, and the medical examiner. The only irregularity noted was the absence of 3 clonidine tablets. No medical administration records were identified for the decedent at the camp and it is unclear if he took any of the missing medication."

Trails Carolina camper death ruled homicide by asphyxiation, autopsy shows

TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — An autopsy report is shedding light after a child died earlier this year at a troubled teen camp in western North Carolina. An autopsy report states that a 12-yea…

myfox8.com

He was likely prescribed the clonidine for his migraines. But with him being there less than 24 hours, I am curious if he was actually given 3 doses and it wasn't noted in his records or . . . why are three pills missing? That seems like a lot but some people are prescribed 3 a day I guess.

 

[tlcya]

Doesn't Trails Carolina send adults that are strangers to the families into these kids homes to remove them without the child's knowledge and "transport" them to camp? Wasn't that what Clark's parents paid for to be done to their tiny 12-year-old son? This practice doesn't sound therapeutic to me.

I'm not sure the "escorts" are/were employed by Trails itself or just a subcontractor the camp hooked the parents up with. but yeah basically goons sent to grab you from your own home by surprise and haul you off to camp.

 

[Betty P]

I'm not sure the "escorts" are/were employed by Trails itself or just a subcontractor the camp hooked the parents up with. but yeah basically goons sent to grab you from your own home by surprise and haul you off to camp.

Why would anyone think that's an effective or humane way to deal with a child with any neurological/behavioral problem?

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I just don't see how a twelve year old would have the room to turn a complete 180 degrees in that confined a space. A six year old? Sure. But the average twelve year old boy is just under five feet tall.

MOO

I have been thinking more about this topic-- how he ended up with his head at the bottom of the bivy, and hope the truth comes to light.

I have to think he must have moved himself into that position somehow; I can't even imagine they made him go in that way...

Granted they are still responsible for what happened, IMO, but hopefully there are witnesses and experts that can give clarity.

If they made him go in that way, that would definitely be a serious crime, IMO. I don't think it's been alleged, though.
All JMO.

 

[cujenn81]

Wait, the father said he enrolled his son in this camp due to behavioral and addiction issues but he also said the child had no history of illicit drug use? Does that mean the child was addicted to drugs that had been prescribed to him? I’m confused.

I’m thinking the addiction he was referring to might have been video games… but obviously that’s just a guess on my part. I think I remember someone mentioning his love of video games at the memorial service.

Maybe his parents couldn’t coax him to step away from the video games, and he threw tantrums whenever they tried? I sincerely hope there was more to his parent’s decision to send him to this camp than that, but it honestly wouldn’t surprise me if there wasn’t.

ETA — I just wanted to clarify that I don’t personally believe there’s any problem serious enough to justify sending a child to one of these wilderness camps. But I can understand why some parents might feel differently if their child had serious behavioral problems — more serious than an addiction to video games — and they were desperate and out of options.

 

[Kittypoo]

Wait, the father said he enrolled his son in this camp due to behavioral and addiction issues but he also said the child had no history of illicit drug use? Does that mean the child was addicted to drugs that had been prescribed to him? I’m confused.

Alcohol, smoking, other substances eg aerosol or glue, gambling are all addictions

 

[MsMarple]

Alcohol, smoking, other substances eg aerosol or glue, gambling are all addictions

Technically those are all illicit drugs except gambling since he was a minor. His father said he wasn’t addicted to illicit drugs. I suppose he could have meant street drugs and wasn’t thinking of legal age to drink, smoke, etc..

It’s heartbreaking to read about the challenges this child faced at only 12 years old! Then to have his power and autonomy taken away first by the escorts then by the counselors, ugh.
JMO

 

[North_Idaho_Nony]

MOO, and not directed at anyone, “There but for grace went I.”

For that reason, it hurts my heart when the parents are blamed. No one here has walked in their shoes or lived their lives. It could well have been my family, though.

Are there some parents looking to just get troubled adolescents out of their hair by sending them away to RTCs of all types? Maybe.

But, MOO, the vast majority of parents are loving parents who are desperate to save their kids.

And for those who really don’t know how difficult getting decent behavioral/mental health care is for troubled adolescents/teens is in much of the country, please count your lucky stars. This is from 2022, but the situation sadly has not improved. Please take a look:
Severe Shortage of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists Illustrated in AACAP Workforce Maps

MOO, the blame for this child’s horrific death rests squarely on the facility’s administration & staff, and I have nothing but deep sympathy for his parents.

 

[GRT]

The following is from the autopsy on Daily Mail.

"The standard protocol was deviated
from due to using a damaged bivy and securing the outer weather resistant door instead of the inner mesh
panel. Lastly, the counselors could not check on him as they should due to the opaque nature of the outer
panel, preventing them from potentially noting the problem and delivering aid before he died. With this
combination of factors, the death is best certified as homicide."

Is he saying that by securing the outer door, the counselors left him in a bivvy without enough oxygen for him to stay alive?

Little Clark worked himself completely upside down--trying like mad to get some air. How in the world did the counselors not know he was suffering? I would be willing to bet he begged, cried, screamed, too.

This is an awful story. Anyone who advocates that kind of "discipline" needs to experience it for themselves.

 

[MsMarple]

The following is from the autopsy on Daily Mail.

"The standard protocol was deviated
from due to using a damaged bivy and securing the outer weather resistant door instead of the inner mesh
panel. Lastly, the counselors could not check on him as they should due to the opaque nature of the outer
panel, preventing them from potentially noting the problem and delivering aid before he died. With this
combination of factors, the death is best certified as homicide."

Is he saying that by securing the outer door, the counselors left him in a bivvy without enough oxygen for him to stay alive?

Little Clark worked himself completely upside down--trying like mad to get some air. How in the world did the counselors not know he was suffering? I would be willing to bet he begged, cried, screamed, too.

This is an awful story. Anyone who advocates that kind of "discipline" needs to experience it for themselves.

That brings up a question… the parents must have signed a contract with the camp when they enrolled their child.

Did the camp disclose that their son might be subjected to being placed in a bivy for x number of nights upon arrival? And if so was a proper description given of a bivy?

If not then why would the camp exclude sleeping arrangements that clearly were outside the norm? What parent would automatically assume their kid would be zipped up in a multi layered bag with their face covered? Probably none.

I know we don’t have those answers but it makes me wonder just what the camp actually disclosed up front.
All my own thoughts and opinions.

 

[tlcya]

The North Carolina Attorney General is now considering charges against the camp, which had its license revoked last month and has faced a string of lawsuits alleging neglect and abuse.
[snip]
It should be noted that a common warning on commercially available bivy products indicates that the outer, weather resistant opening should not be fully secured as it may lead to condensation and breathing
restriction. This information was obtained on basic web search. [from the ME report]
[snip]
The camp which charges more than $700 a day, hit the headlines in 2014 when Alec Lansing, 17, was found dead in a nearby stream where he had lain for two weeks after running away.
Shock coroner's report reveals boy, 12, killed at Trails Carolina camp

more than $700/day per "camper". Paying undertrained or untrained staff minimum wage, to oversee vulnerable kids with varying issues. I sure hope the AG goes after the camp. Someone needs to. The people behind the camps have been making a literal killing. No pun intended.

 

[Betty P]

The following is from the autopsy on Daily Mail.

"The standard protocol was deviated
from due to using a damaged bivy and securing the outer weather resistant door instead of the inner mesh
panel. Lastly, the counselors could not check on him as they should due to the opaque nature of the outer
panel, preventing them from potentially noting the problem and delivering aid before he died. With this
combination of factors, the death is best certified as homicide."

Is he saying that by securing the outer door, the counselors left him in a bivvy without enough oxygen for him to stay alive?

Little Clark worked himself completely upside down--trying like mad to get some air. How in the world did the counselors not know he was suffering? I would be willing to bet he begged, cried, screamed, too.

This is an awful story. Anyone who advocates that kind of "discipline" needs to experience it for themselves.

This sounds more like physical abuse or torture than "treatment". There is no scientific evidence that this sort of treatment is effective for psych problems, mental illness, addiction or anything. The same applies to sensory deprivation and isolation, water-boarding, ice water baths, etc.

 

[tlcya]

This sounds more like physical abuse or torture than "treatment". There is no scientific evidence that this sort of treatment is effective for psych problems, mental illness, addiction or anything. The same applies to sensory deprivation and isolation, water-boarding, ice water baths, etc.

I am particularly concerned that they were bivying children who suffer from anxiety, as Clark did. How does it help in any way to take a child who already suffers from anxiety, and shove them into a coccoon from which there is no escape?

the burritos are more about making escape harder for the newbies. There was zero thereputic value. It was a convenient way to corral kids they knew were most likely to be runners, ergo they made it their policy that the first several nights campers were forced to sleep in this arrangement.

Can't allow more than $700 a day absconding in the night so we physically restrain them because - money

 

[MsMarple]

This sounds more like physical abuse or torture than "treatment". There is no scientific evidence that this sort of treatment is effective for psych problems, mental illness, addiction or anything. The same applies to sensory deprivation and isolation, water-boarding, ice water baths, etc.

Yep. Try Googling phrases like Bivy as teen therapy or Therapeutic bivy use and up comes… nada except for articles about this case. No scholarly articles, scientific papers, nothing.

Back in February this appeared in a Fox8 article:

However, away from Hollywood movie magic, there are real-world cases in which parents tie or hold down children as if they’re possessed and call it discipline or therapy. Therapists and organizations, often without licensure or the backing of trained professionals, sell the idea as a means of helping to heal troubled children, promoting techniques that medical experts deem pseudoscientific at best and abusive at worst.
…
“Parents believe the program is safe and do not want their children’s treatment disrupted by the State,” the camp said in the statement.

https://myfox8.com/news/north-carolina/restraint-methods-allegedly-used-at-trails-carolina-point-to-link-between-troubled-teen-industry-discredited-attachment-therapy/

The article gives some history on the use of restricting kids’ movements as therapy. Some dire, unscientific psychobabble included.
MOO