PRESS RELEASE: Justice Law Collaborative Files Second Lawsuit Against North Carolina-based "Therapeutic Wellness Retreat"

BOSTON, Mass. (June 20, 2025) – On the heels of a November 2024 lawsuit filed against “TRAILS CAROLINA, LLC “Trails” and FAMILY HELP & WELLNESS (FH&W), Justice Law Collaborative has filed a second lawsuit against the entity and its sub-facility, ASHEVILLE ACADEMY claiming that the self-promoted therapeutic wilderness-based residential treatment program for girls misled parents, charged exorbitant fees, and fostered a highly abusive environment.

The complaint, filed in the United States District Court/Western District of North Carolina, Asheville, details how Asheville, Trails, and FH&W profited from the promotion of its wilderness and residential treatment programs for “troubled teens” and young adults suffering from behavioral difficulties associated with low self-esteem and self-image issues, substance abuse, mental health disorders, depression, anxiety, and mood dysregulation. The complaint further outlines how Trails intentionally omitted and concealed numerous details from its marketing, advertising, and intake materials, misleading parents into a false sense of security when entrusting the program with the safety and security of their minor children.

The action against Asheville Academy, Trails Carolina, and FH&W seeks to vindicate the rights of the Plaintiff R. B., who was physically and sexually assaulted, forced to wear diapers and urinate on herself during long, arduous hikes in freezing temperatures and rain. Further, R.B. was forced to perform commercial labor, and was punitively punished by losing access to food, water, and basic hygiene. While in the custody and care of two affiliated, North Carolina-based facilities (Asheville Academy and Trails Carolina), R.B. was also brainwashed into thinking this “treatment” was appropriate and that she was deserving of whatever pain stemmed from it. Both facilities are now permanently closed following multiple student deaths within the last 18 months (2024-2025).

“Our client was a victim of an industry that has a long record of putting its profits over the safety and well-being of vulnerable children,” said Keith Smith, attorney with Justice Law Collaborative. “While both Trails Carolina and Asheville Academy for Girls were recently closed after several student deaths and investigations, that closure doesn’t undo the harm inflicted on R.B. or the countless other children harmed at both facilities. Like other survivors of these facilities, our client and our client’s family were promised a safe and therapeutic environment with licensed and experienced personnel. Instead, they were subjected to conditions that were anything but therapeutic. We will continue to seek justice for all of our clients and their families, all of whom have become victims of this horrible industry.”

The term “troubled teen industry” (or TTI) is a term coined by survivors of facilities and programs that subjected residents to forced and unpaid labor, inhumane conditions, severe neglect, false imprisonment, kidnapping, and emotional, psychological, and sexual assault and abuse.

Asheville, Trails, and FH&W also actively concealed from the public incidents of physical abuse and neglect, food and clothing deprivation, bodily injury, sexual abuse, battery, and forced labor, to which its residents were regularly subjected. They failed to report events to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Trails’ licensing regulator, and other government authorities, even when faced with reasonable cause to suspect abuse or neglect has occurred in their programs.

Further, FH&W advertised itself as a “mental health and wellness program for young adults,” claiming that its program is more than 90% effective at treating depression and other mental health diagnoses. However, the Defendants placed residents, including the Plaintiff, in settings where untrained and uncertified staff and peers, had the opportunity to neglect, physically and sexually abuse, and force labor upon them and other residents in a secluded, unsupervised setting and circumstances that were life-threatening.

Trails Momentum a/k/a Trails Carolina is a for-profit program run by WTC, which is part of an organization of for-profit affiliated businesses that does business as Family Help & Wellness. Family Help & Wellness is based in Salem, Oregon, and it operates various “troubled” teen programs in North Carolina, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona.

About Justice Law Collaborative

Justice Law Collaborative (JLC), with offices in California and Massachusetts, embodies the highest level of professional, trauma-informed legal expertise associated with social justice and advocacy. Owned and led entirely by women, the firm has represented athletes abused by Olympic coach Larry Nassar, teenagers tormented by hostile, uncertified schools parading as therapy-based programs for troubled teens, and has represented consumers and patients harmed by corporate greed and negligence, specifically the pharmaceutical, reproductive medicine, and tobacco industries. JLC attorneys have extensive experience in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, wrongful death, medical malpractice, reproductive rights, sexual assault and abuse, and personal injury cases. Additionally, the firm is dedicated to legislative reform, spearheading efforts to modify statutes of limitations and enact new laws to protect the innocent and to provide proper financial and judicial remedies to victims. Justice Law Collaborative was ranked a 2025 Best Law Firm by Best Lawyers®, and firm partners have been named to Massachusetts Super Lawyer® and Best Lawyers® lists for multiple, consecutive years. More information about the firm and its far-reaching results can be found at: www.justicelawcollaborative.com.

###

Media contact: Wendy Agudelo; wendy@imageprofessors.com

JUNE 2025