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The Troubled Teen Industry / Utah Teen dies in Colorado Wildernes Therepy Program
« on: May 07, 2007, 01:49:47 AM »
This I have not heard about! :cry: Anyone know about this?
Utah teen dies in Colorado wilderness therapy program
Last Update: May 4, 2007 11:29 PM
Story by:
Larry Warren
[email protected] A Utah teenager ordered by a juvenile court to attend a wilderness therapy program died in the program Wednesday in Colorado. His mother says her son died of a simple staph infection which could easily have been treated. And, she told ABC 4 News, employees of the company running the program informed her callously that her son was dead without offering much in the way of sympathy or explanation.
"Couldn't it have been more compassionate?" the mother of 17-year-old Caleb Jensen asked. She said a representative of Colorado based Alternative Youth Adventures called and said "Caleb was life flighted out of the program and Caleb is dead."
Caleb had been ordered into the wilderness therapy program by Juvenile Justice Services in Utah. He died in a camp near the Montrose and Mesa County lines in Western Colorado, near Grand Junction.
"They did say it would be a tough program," Caleb's mother Dawn Boyd told ABC 4. But she said court officers said "There was nothing to worry about, that this would be a good thing for Caleb and that there was no reason to worry."
A spokesman for Alternative Youth Adventures, senior vice president Bill Palatucci e-mailed a Colorado newspaper saying, "We are saddened by this sudden, tragic incident and will review the circumstances surrounding it. It is important to note that AYA is a program with an excellent reputation and strong track record of providing safe, effective services for troubled youth."
Meanwhile, Mrs. Boyd says no one has offered to help pay the costs of transporting her son's body home. She is a single mom and low income, and can't afford the burial expenses. Friends have set up a donation account at Credit Union One to help her.
Utah teen dies in Colorado wilderness therapy program
Last Update: May 4, 2007 11:29 PM
Story by:
Larry Warren
[email protected] A Utah teenager ordered by a juvenile court to attend a wilderness therapy program died in the program Wednesday in Colorado. His mother says her son died of a simple staph infection which could easily have been treated. And, she told ABC 4 News, employees of the company running the program informed her callously that her son was dead without offering much in the way of sympathy or explanation.
"Couldn't it have been more compassionate?" the mother of 17-year-old Caleb Jensen asked. She said a representative of Colorado based Alternative Youth Adventures called and said "Caleb was life flighted out of the program and Caleb is dead."
Caleb had been ordered into the wilderness therapy program by Juvenile Justice Services in Utah. He died in a camp near the Montrose and Mesa County lines in Western Colorado, near Grand Junction.
"They did say it would be a tough program," Caleb's mother Dawn Boyd told ABC 4. But she said court officers said "There was nothing to worry about, that this would be a good thing for Caleb and that there was no reason to worry."
A spokesman for Alternative Youth Adventures, senior vice president Bill Palatucci e-mailed a Colorado newspaper saying, "We are saddened by this sudden, tragic incident and will review the circumstances surrounding it. It is important to note that AYA is a program with an excellent reputation and strong track record of providing safe, effective services for troubled youth."
Meanwhile, Mrs. Boyd says no one has offered to help pay the costs of transporting her son's body home. She is a single mom and low income, and can't afford the burial expenses. Friends have set up a donation account at Credit Union One to help her.