Report: Western NC camp staffer and camp responsible for NY child's death in 'bivy'

A North Carolina health department report states that a camp staff member and the WNC outdoor therapy camp for whom he worked were responsible for the Feb. 3 death of a 12-year-old child who might have suffocated in a single-person "bivy" tent.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services statement of deficiency − made public April 23 with extensive redactions − is not clear if the Trails Carolina staff member directly said he was to blame − or if that was a conclusion of DHHS regulators or Transylvania County sheriff's deputies who conducted the interview with the staff member at the high-end camp in the Lake Toxaway community.

The Citizen Times reached out to DHHS and Trails Carolina about that section of the report.

The death is the second in the history of the camp, which is also being sued by former campers who said staff failed to protect them from sexual assault.

In an answer to the DHHS statement of deficiency, Trails Carolina said submitted a "plan of correction" but also sought to rebut some of the charges.

The statement of deficiency dated March 21 said, "local law enforcement" interviewed an employee referred to as Staff #4 Feb. 3, the day of the death of the boy who lived in New York City.

Following a large redacted section, the statement said, "Nodded and answered 'yes' to the question, do you think he suffocated?"

The next line of the DHHS report says, "he and the camp were responsible for DC #1's (the deceased child's) death."

And then the following line: "when asked what he could have done, 'I could have opened it up, repositioned him (in the bivy).'"

State health regulators attempted to directly interview the staff member, leaving two voicemails on Feb. 12 and being told Feb. 14 by the staff member's attorney that "there would be 'no comment,'" the DHHS report says.

One DHHS finding in the statement of deficiency says another employee, referred to as Staff #3, "did not complete required night checks on DC #1," who was in the zipped up bivy sack on the floor of a cabin, a regular procedure for campers' first night in which they cannot leave the bivy without help from staff.

Another finding said, "Lead Staff #1, Staff #4 and FSC (Field Shift Coordinator) failed to provide the required supervision that protected DC #1 from harm and neglect and failed to follow internal procedure for increased sleeping modification with the bivy."

The camp's plan of correction lays out ways to prevent future deaths or harm to campers, but also pushed back on state's findings, saying the submission of the plan "does not indicate full agreement" with the state.

Campers placed on heightened supervision, such as the 12-year-old, "will have an overnight awake staff present," Trails Carolina said. "As such, bivy’s and (burritos) will no longer be used, undefinedthough these have been state approved interventions for safety for the past 15 years," the camp said.

The camper was admitted Feb. 2, one day before his death. Both a state health investigation and a criminal investigation were opened.

On March 28 the state sent a notice to the camp of intent to revoke its license. The criminal investigation remains open as deputies await a state toxicology test expected in June and an FBI forensic analysis of camp computers that could take up to a year, according to Detective John Nicholson, a spokesperson for Sheriff Chuck Owenby.

Trails Carolina submitted the plan of correction, an allowance of state law, in an attempt to stave off the license revocation. The plan, dated April 4, was made public April 23, the day of an informal conference scheduled between the state and camp. The now shuttered camp charged an average of $66,000 for an 83-day outdoor experiential treatment program for major depressive disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and other disorders.

It is one of two licensed residential therapeutic camps in N.C., according to a state database of nearly 4,000 licensed mental health facilities.

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Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Report: NC camp staffer and camp responsible for NY child's death