With federal and state investigations of the “troubled teen” behavioral industry, the “transport” companies used to kidnap and force children into potentially deadly “therapy” should also be held to account

By CCHR International
The Mental Health Industry Watchdog
July 12, 2024

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International has warned parents against hiring companies to forcibly transport troubled teens to psychiatric residential treatment facilities (RTFs) and wilderness camps, citing devastating reports of trauma and abuse. Jan Eastgate, the group’s international president, says, “The average experience of troubled youths in wilderness camps starts with legal kidnapping, terrorizing them and adding to their trauma.” Misguided and distraught parents often hire these transport services to stage kidnappings of their children, who are violently extracted from their homes in the middle of the night and delivered to RTFs thousands of miles away, according to The Regulatory Review.[1]

The National Youth Rights Association (NYRA) website also warns: “Despite the seemingly innocuous name, the business of abduction is anything but, and it is perfectly legal in most states. Escort services could range from politely asking your child to go with them to the child being woken up in the middle of the night by strangers with handcuffs and violently staging what is essentially a kidnapping. Forcefully removing a child from their home often involves traumatic experiences, especially when the child doesn’t know what’s happening.”[2]

CCHR says this practice should be investigated as a possible violation of 18 U.S. Code §1201, “Federal Kidnapping Laws,” which states: “Whoever unlawfully seizes, confines, decoys, kidnaps, abducts or carries away and holds for ransom or reward any person, or when the person is willfully transported in interstate or foreign commerce across a state boundary is guilty of kidnapping….” One law firm states, “Kidnapping is generally described as taking someone away against their will. Sometimes, it will involve confinement or detaining them in false imprisonment,” preventing an escape.

Children and teens, even of consenting age, are kidnapped, transported across state lines, and held against their will under the guise of psychiatric or behavioral care. Transport companies typically charge fees ranging from $2000 to $4000. Parents may incur a case management consultant fee that could cost up to $10,000, while the wilderness camps charge an upfront admissions fee ranging from $1500 to $5000. Some financial institutions offer loans for these services, with amounts reaching as high as $100,000, preying on the desperation of distraught parents.

NYRA estimates the industry profits $1.2 billion a year from a process that “dehumanizes youth and quite literally deprives them of freedom.” In extreme cases, young people have experienced solitary confinement, and sexual abuse, and have even been killed.[3] CCHR says this was evident in February 2024, when a 12-year-old boy transported from New York to a North Carolina wilderness camp died undergoing a restraint procedure within 24 hours of admission. His death was ruled a homicide.

Researchers in a 2021 study said Involuntary Youth Transport (IYT) “relies on the implicit or explicit use of force,” and against young people who may “have no legal right to refuse treatment.” The exact prevalence is unknown, with estimates suggesting it could be as high as 83% across out-of-home behavioral healthcare programs. The system has been criticized as a form of social control or “strong-arm rehabilitation.” Staff used for IYT are trained in techniques to “manage behaviors,” which includes overt physical force (e.g., therapeutic holds, physical restraints, and in some cases mechanical restraints).[4]

The Alliance for the Safe, Therapeutic and Appropriate Use of Residential Treatment also explains the long-term damage: “Many survivors who have been ‘escorted’ to a residential program say they experience years of nightmares, flashbacks, emotional ‘numbing,’ inability to concentrate, angry outbursts, difficulty sleeping or other symptoms—primarily, survivors say, because of the trauma of being forcibly taken against their will.”[5]

Youths from foster care and juvenile detention can also be funneled into these facilities. The Regulatory Review reported: “Teens may be subject to legally and ethically dubious tactics before they ever step foot on the grounds of the RTF, with the advent of an industry practice dubbed ‘gooning’ by which youth are placed into these facilities against their will.”

A recent case was that of a 17-year-old transported to a North Carolina wilderness camp, where she was held for 77 days. “I was falling behind, and my parents were concerned about me graduating on time or being able to go to college. At the time, my parents felt it would be beneficial to my mental health to get out of the school system for a break,” she said. Many of the people with whom she attended the camp told her that they had been “gooned,” taken from their homes and transported to the camp by strangers. Once admitted, “We were yelled at and mocked for being upset,” she said and described conditions as “absolutely criminal.”[6]

Eastgate says the crux of this child abuse industry is the delinquent behavior of teens being labeled as a “mental disorder” justifying their involuntary incarceration. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is a disputed psychiatric text due to its subjective systems and unreliability.[7] In its first edition in 1952, there were three “adjustment reactions” of infancy, childhood, and adolescence. By 1980, there was a 1,100% increase in the number of mental disorders for children. This included conduct disorder and oppositional disorder—the latter described as a pattern of disobedient, negativistic, and provocative opposition to authority figures, which can be treated with “therapy and medication.”

Today, an arbitrary list of symptoms of teen troubles requiring “treatment,” includes loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities; a significant decline in academic performance; increased irritability; changes in sleep patterns, increased secrecy, and defiance/disobedience.[8]

CCHR wants the involuntary youth transport business included in federal and state investigations of the $23 billion troubled teen treatment industry. Eastgate says,  “It is a legalized child abuse industry from labeling teen behavior as mentally disordered, to kidnapping and dumping them into abusive psychiatric and behavioral facilities with impunity. It deceives parents who are unaware that their children are being subjected to criminal abuse in the name of behavioral care.”

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[1] Evelyn Tsisin, “The Troubled Teen Industry’s Troubling Lack of Oversight,” The Regulatory Review, 27 June 2023, https://www.theregreview.org/2023/06/27/tsisin-the-troubled-teen-industrys-troubling-lack-of-oversight/

[2] “The ‘troubled teen’ industry,” National Youth Rights Association, https://www.youthrights.org/issues/medical-autonomy/the-troubled-teen-industry/

[3] “The ‘troubled teen’ industry,” National Youth Rights Association, https://www.youthrights.org/issues/medical-autonomy/the-troubled-teen-industry/; Elizabeth Chuck and Tyler Kingkade, “Death of 12-year-old at North Carolina camp for troubled youth ruled a homicide,” NBC News, 24 June 2024, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/death-12-year-old-nc-wilderness-camp-ruled-homicide-rcna158691

[4] “Involuntary Youth Transport (IYT) to Treatment Programs: Best Practices, Research, Ethics, and Future Directions,” Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, Vik 39, 6 Nov. 2019, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10560-021-00801-9

[5] “The ‘troubled teen’ industry,” National Youth Rights Association, https://www.youthrights.org/issues/medical-autonomy/the-troubled-teen-industry/

[6] Emily Mikkelsen, “Former Trails Carolina camper recounts stay at embattled ‘wilderness therapy’ camp; ‘I have nightmares that I’m still there.’” Fox News Greensboro, NC (WGHP), 4 July 2024, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/former-trails-carolina-camper-recounts-stay-at-embattled-wilderness-therapy-camp-i-have-nightmares-that-i-m-still-there/ar-BB1pmOWk

[7] https://www.cchrint.org/2023/02/10/mental-health-funding-delivered-system-in-shambles/

[8] https://keyhealthcare.com/where-can-i-send-my-out-of-control-teenager-programs-for-troubled-teens/