Wilderness programs help kids - especially runaways

[Oscar]

From an interview with Debra Wartney:

What other steps did you take to find the girls when they were missing?
I hired a private investigator, finally, to search for them. He was a former Los Angeles cop, and he had a reputation of being able to find kids pretty quickly. He found them within 24 hours, and I put them into a wilderness therapy camp, which lasted about a month.
What was your take on the impact of that program?
It was a stopgap measure. When they first got out, it was wonderful. They said: "We just love you so much, and we want to be with you." That lasted about two weeks.
Later they said that the skills they learned there really helped them when they finally jumped on a train, and really ran away. So much of the wilderness therapy is about self-reliance. You have to build your own fire with flint and steel. You have to create your own structure.