PRESS RELEASE: Justice Law Collaborative Files Lawsuit Against Trails Carolina
Justice Law Collaborative has filed a lawsuit against Trails Carolina (“Trails”) and Family Help & Wellness (FH&W) claiming that the self-promoted therapeutic wilderness-based residential treatment program for young adults misled parents, charged exorbitant fees, and fostered an abusive environment.
The complaint, filed in the United States District Court/Western District of North Carolina Asheville, details how Trails and FH&W profited from the promotion of its wilderness and residential treatment programs for “troubled teens” and young adults suffering from behavioral difficulties associated with low self-esteem and self-image issues, substance abuse, mental health disorders, depression, anxiety, and mood dysregulation. The complaint further outlines how Trails intentionally omitted and concealed numerous details from its marketing, advertising, and intake materials, misleading parents into a false sense of security when entrusting the program with the safety and security of their minor children.
“Former residents of the shuttered Trails program and their parents have come forward in droves to reveal horrific stories of ongoing abuse, neglect, and assault at the hands of both staff and senior operators of these so-called ‘troubled teen’ wellness programs,” said Kim Dougherty, attorney for the plaintiffs and partner, Justice Law Collaborative. “Instead of providing residents with the treatment promised in its marketing and promotional materials, Trails and its employees subjected our client to severe neglect, inhumane conditions, emotional, and sexual abuse. Every parent alive should be warned about these seedy, abusive programs that prey on vulnerable and desperate parents seeking beneficial treatments for their children.”
The term “troubled teen industry” (or TTI) is a term coined by survivors of facilities and programs that subjected residents to forced and unpaid labor, inhumane conditions, severe neglect, false imprisonment, kidnapping, and emotional, psychological, and sexual assault and abuse.
Trails and FH&W also actively concealed from the public incidents of physical abuse and neglect, food and clothing deprivation, bodily injury, sexual abuse, battery, and forced labor, to which its residents were regularly subjected. They failed to report events to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Trails’ licensing regulator, and other government authorities, even when faced with reasonable cause to suspect abuse or neglect has occurred in their programs.
Further, FHW advertised itself as a “mental health and wellness program for young adults,” claiming that its program is more than 90% effective at treating depression and other mental health diagnoses. However, the Defendants placed residents, including the Plaintiff, in settings where untrained and uncertified staff and peers, had the opportunity to neglect, physically and sexually abuse, and force labor upon him and other residents in a secluded, unsupervised setting and circumstances that were life-threatening.
The action against Trails seeks to vindicate the rights of Plaintiff John Doe, who was coercively controlled by and suffered severe and life-long injuries as a result of Defendants’ misconduct while in their custody and care.
Trails Momentum a/k/a Trails Carolina is a for-profit program run by WTC, which is part of an organization of for-profit affiliated businesses that does business as Family Help & Wellness. Family Help & Wellness is based in Salem, Oregon, and it operates various “troubled” teen programs in North Carolina, Idaho, Utah and Arizona.
Currently, the Trails program in North Carolina is not in operation and the property on which the program was run is up for sale.
UPDATE: Justice Law Collaborative's Kim Dougherty was interviewed by investigative reporters from WSOC-9 (North Carolina) about the class action lawsuit in an effort to execute systemic changes. *"It's time for us to work together and make sure that these facilitites, if they're going to continue to exist, are safe for children." *
About Justice Law Collaborative
Justice Law Collaborative (JLC) embodies the highest level of professional, trauma-informed legal expertise associated with social justice. Led by attorneys with deep experience in civil rights, sexual assault and discrimination, medical device litigation, medical malpractice, and personal injury cases, the firm has represented athletes abused by Olympic coach Larry Nassar, teenagers tormented by hostile, uncertified schools parading as therapy-based programs for “troubled teens,” and has represented consumers or patients are harmed by corporate greed and negligence. Additionally, JLC is at the forefront of legislative reform, spearheading efforts to modify statutes of limitations and enact new laws to protect the innocent and to provide proper financial and judicial remedies to victims.