Two girls missing from SUWS

[DannyB II]

The deputies response seems like a red flag to me.  Does anyone know if this SUWS location has been investigated yet?

Joel, I think everyone is aware of the location of SUWS.  It is the site of an old Boy Scout camp.  It has a few buildings, electricity, running water and open outdoor areas and a lodge for indoor meetings.  

I would be sure to think the local police know what they do there.  The risk is high for kids to run away, so I dont really see it as a red flag.  If you open up a bar in town you can expect a higher than usual number of drunk drivers after hours.



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Whooter the RI State Police came one time, in three years, to Eckerd Camp E-Hun-Tee for a child who ran away.  They brought their tracking dogs and found the child 30 minutes later.  Whereas sheriff deputies respond to children running away from this SUWS location several times per year.  So, there is a problem that needs to be addressed. I wouldn't say there are necessarily abuse (I have not seen evidence to support such abuse claims) issues but I would say there are supervision issues.  That is what my gut feeling tells me from work experience.  I think it is time to start asking some tough questions about this SUWS camp.  If there are articles about abuse/neglect I would like to see them.

 :shamrock:  :shamrock:

@Joel where was this camp/program Eckard you worked at, I lived in Charlestown and South Kingston growing up for a short time.

Danny

[Joel]

Edited: Wednesday, October 06, 2010

[Oscar]

Runaways located after 14-hour search, By Richelle Bailey, The Mcdowell News, May 09, 2010

Fortunately they were found safe.

Unfortunately before so they could be lawyered up and protected by the social services or in the legal system.

Once again minors ended up locked up without access to legal assistance or counseling on their behalf. Shameful that it is possible in year 2010

[Ursus]

The McDowell News Covering Marion and McDowell County, NC
Runaways located after 14-hour search
By Richelle Bailey
Published: May 09, 2010

Authorities have found the two teen girls who walked away from a wilderness camp in Old Fort Thursday morning.

They were located around 10:30 p.m. Thursday in the woods of Mill Creek.

"The girls were found … safe and sound," said Kristen Hayes, communications director with CRC Health Group & Aspen Education Group, in an e-mail. "Apparently, they hid near the train tracks all day, never making it into town."

CRC is the parent company of SUWS of the Carolinas, the therapeutic wilderness camp program on Graphite Road in Old Fort from which the teens left Thursday.

The girls, 16-year-olds Katelynn Hall and Kayla Sunray, were last seen at the base camp around 6 a.m. Someone noticed their disappearance at 7 a.m., and authorities were notified at 8 a.m.

A 14-hour search proved to be fruitful.

"It was discovered (Thursday) morning that the two girls had left camp unauthorized," Hayes stated in the e-mail. "SUWS staff immediately contacted local authorities and a search team was assembled. Authorities and SUWS staff used every resource they had to find the students and worked closely with the girls' families throughout the search."

Hall is from Dyer, Ind. and Sunray from Clinton, Va.

SUWS of the Carolinas is a state licensed and nationally recognized outdoor behavioral health program for struggling teens. Hayes said it considers student safety its No. 1 priority.


©2010 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC.

[Whooter]

Runaways located after 14-hour search, By Richelle Bailey, The Mcdowell News, May 09, 2010

Fortunately they were found safe.

Unfortunately before so they could be lawyered up and protected by the social services or in the legal system.

Once again minors ended up locked up without access to legal assistance or counseling on their behalf. Shameful that it is possible in year 2010

There is no law against running away if you are under aged in this country so there was no need for the kids to get a lawyer or be protected from being thrown in jail.  These kids were probably released back to their parents custody (not jail).   Also if you look at SUWS website you will see that they have 2 licensed social workers working there full time so the kids will be well looked after and insure that they stay safe.



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[Ursus]

There is no law against running away if you are under aged in this country so there was no need for the kids to get a lawyer or be protected from being thrown in jail.

Not true. Ordinarily, if you run away, and you get caught, you can be thrown in juvie.

It depends on what your parents want done with you. The law maintains that you should be home or wherever your parents have contracted out for you to be. If you refuse, it could be cell-time for you, baby!

[Anne Bonney]

I have a friend that ran from Straight, got a lawyer and went before the judge.  That's how he finally got out of Straight.   Kids do have the right to due process....even in this - **cough** - "therapeutic" - **cough** setting.  Hell, they even have the right to petition the court to refuse chemo, if they so choose.

[Whooter]

There is no law against running away if you are under aged in this country so there was no need for the kids to get a lawyer or be protected from being thrown in jail.

Not true. Ordinarily, if you run away, and you get caught, you can be thrown in juvie.

It depends on what your parents want done with you. The law maintains that you should be home or wherever your parents have contracted out for you to be. If you refuse, it could be cell-time for you, baby!

You have a point.  They may hold you in juvenile until your fate is determined.  But runaways are mainly returned to their parents custody.  I can also see if the parents are not taking care of the kids and they are chronic runaways then they would be held and their fate would be run through the court system if social services felt the need or the kids made a case for themselves that they shouldnt be sent back or they were running from an unsafe environment.



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[Ursus]

I have a friend that ran from Straight, got a lawyer and went before the judge.  That's how he finally got out of Straight.   Kids do have the right to due process....even in this - **cough** - "therapeutic" - **cough** setting.  Hell, they even have the right to petition the court to refuse chemo, if they so choose.

Your friend was lucky. He got a lawyer. Kids that don't know any better, don't know that they have to ask for one to get one. That may not be how it's supposed to work, but that is ... how it often works, at least as it has in the past. This I do know all too well.

There are, to be sure, local and state differences. The kids in Pennsylvania may or may not have been able to get access to legal counsel, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference there.

[Anne Bonney]

I have a friend that ran from Straight, got a lawyer and went before the judge.  That's how he finally got out of Straight.   Kids do have the right to due process....even in this - **cough** - "therapeutic" - **cough** setting.  Hell, they even have the right to petition the court to refuse chemo, if they so choose.

Your friend was lucky. He got a lawyer. Kids that don't know any better, don't know that they have to ask for one to get one. That may not be how it's supposed to work, but that is ... how it often works, at least as it has in the past. This I do know all too well.

Oh, absolutely!! More often than not, when kids ran, the cops would just bring them right back.   That's why it's imperative to have the abuse hotline phone numbers posted in all programs to inform kids that they do, indeed, have rights.

There are, to be sure, local and state differences. The kids in Pennsylvania may or may not have been able to get access to legal counsel, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference there.

Yep.  It's deplorable.

[Ursus]

There is no law against running away if you are under aged in this country so there was no need for the kids to get a lawyer or be protected from being thrown in jail.

Not true. Ordinarily, if you run away, and you get caught, you can be thrown in juvie.

It depends on what your parents want done with you. The law maintains that you should be home or wherever your parents have contracted out for you to be. If you refuse, it could be cell-time for you, baby!

You have a point.  They may hold you in juvenile until your fate is determined.  But runaways are mainly returned to their parents custody.  I can also see if the parents are not taking care of the kids and they are chronic runaways then they would be held and their fate would be run through the court system if social services felt the need or the kids made a case for themselves that they shouldnt be sent back or they were running from an unsafe environment.

Involving and relying on Social Services is a real mixed bag, IMO. There have been times when DHS has done the right thing, as was recently the case with Mount Bachelor Academy in Oregon. More often than not, however, too much depends on how much of a potential thorn in DHS's side the parents in question can be. It's substantially more difficult for them to make a case against a happily married, financially well-off couple than it is to target economically disadvantaged single parents. My guess is that folks who can afford to send their kids to SUWS of the Carolinas are less likely to be in the latter category.

[Ursus]

Some Comments on the above article:


Posted by karljohanson on May 10, 2010 - 3:19 a.m.

I am happy that they were found safe.But I am concerned because knowing the type of wilderness program they were detained in, they were not provided with legal representation as they would have if they had committed a crime.Most of the so-called clients or detainees, which are a better term, are either tricked by their parents to such program or simply pulled out of their bed at night by private youth transport firms and transported to the wilderness camps in handcuffs and shackles on the orders of their parents.How come that criminals are better protected that an ordinary teenagers, who may only have problems as little as an ordinary depression or being picky at the dinner table?What kind of society are we, when we send a message to our kids that you have to commit a crime in order to secure legal protection for you?As I stated above I volunteer for a NGO where we track records of possible abuse and deaths among minors in treatment. Every year we must acknowledge that we once again can observe how teenagers lost their lives in a treatment aimed to "treat" them. Every year we also most acknowledge that some cannot live on with the memories of the so-called treatment and choose to end their lives prematurely.When will it stop? We hope that 2010 will be the turning point, but as this story show, it will most likely not happen.My heart goes out for these girls. May they one day be able to return to their families safe and hopefully without so many scars from the "treatment".

Posted by joycon1 on May 11, 2010 - 5:29 p.m.

I agree with you and I think that teens should have a legal advocate who must be reported to by these programs.

[/list]



©2010 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC.

[Anne Bonney]

Some Comments on the above article:


Posted by karljohanson on May 10, 2010 - 3:19 a.m.
How come that criminals are better protected that an ordinary teenagers, who may only have problems as little as an ordinary depression or being picky at the dinner table?

Because kids don't have rights!!! ~~  guess Who

[Oscar]

Karl Johanson is one of ours. Mr. Overgaard liked his post so much that he put it on our blog.

[Whooter]

Some Comments on the above article:


Posted by karljohanson on May 10, 2010 - 3:19 a.m.

I am happy that they were found safe.But I am concerned because knowing the type of wilderness program they were

detained in, they were not provided with legal representation as they would have if they had committed a crime.Most of the so-called clients or detainees, which are a better term, are either tricked by their parents to such program or simply pulled out of their bed at night by private youth transport firms and transported to the wilderness camps in handcuffs and shackles on the orders of their parents.How come that criminals are better protected that an ordinary teenagers, who may only have problems as little as an ordinary depression or being picky at the dinner table?What kind of society are we, when we send a message to our kids that you have to commit a crime in order to secure legal protection for you?As I stated above I volunteer for a NGO where we track records of possible abuse and deaths among minors in treatment. Every year we must acknowledge that we once again can observe how teenagers lost their lives in a treatment aimed to "treat" them. Every year we also most acknowledge that some cannot live on with the memories of the so-called treatment and choose to end their lives prematurely.When will it stop? We hope that 2010 will be the turning point, but as this story show, it will most likely not happen.My heart goes out for these girls. May they one day be able to return to their families safe and hopefully without so many scars from the "treatment".[/list]

Posted by joycon1 on May 11, 2010 - 5:29 p.m.

I agree with you and I think that teens should have a legal advocate who must be reported to by these programs.

[/list]



©2010 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC.

The fornits poster errrrr I mean (excuse me) <cough> "independent comment" was telling.  The.... being sent to SUWS in shackles for being a picky eater added a nice touch and was priceless.



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