Doesn't sound that different to me from when my kid was there. If they had a major rules violation, they lost the privilege of going to class and had to sit and write emotional growth assignments. One of my big disagreements with the school concerned withholding academics as a punishment. They wouldn't let me son take his finals one quarter, because they knew academics were very important to him. The academic head wasn't competent enough to successfully manage make-up exams in any manner which made sense.
There were always a number of kids who went back to wilderness, including my son. At any of these places there will be kids removed from the program for various reasons. As for escapees- two kids from my son's group ran within 2 months of being there. Both went on to successfully complete the program.
Nothing new here!
Karen