Help for a child sent to wilderness therapy for conversion therapy
There is a young man in my community who has struggled at home due to being gay and being raised by religious fundamentalists who see homosexuality as on par with murder or bestiality. The boy is a delightful young man--a star student, a kind, talented, and witty person--a kid most parents would be really proud of, but his parents apparently see him as a troubled teen and have sought out extreme "therapy" to cure him.
We learned 2 weeks ago that the family vacation he was excited about was actually a ruse to transport him to a wilderness boot camp for teen boys with sexual behavior issues in St. George, Utah. Friends of this young man (age 17), parents, and teachers, have all been appalled as we learned from survivors what really goes on at this program and others like it. It is abuse by design, no question about it.
The boy in question has, I am told, attempted suicide in the past and has struggled with additional self-harming behavior. But it seemed before he was taken out of school and transported cross-country to this conversion camp that his mental health was well managed, and he had a therapist he had a good rapport with, etc. Based on what I have read, he will have no access to this therapist while he is in this open-ended program (his last message indicated 90 days he expected to be incommunicado, but the program's website gives no such promises).
Many people in our community have reached out to the Department of Children's Services, both in our state and in Utah, to report potential child abuse and child endangerment, but so far no one has gotten any traction. Is there any way to trigger a welfare check just to ensure he is alive and inform him of his rights? Does he even have any rights, as a minor?? Can his parents not be investigated for committing him to inappropriate treatment (since he has no addictions or anything of the sort that they claim to treat)?
If anyone has any ideas how we can help this vulnerable young man, I'm all ears. I'm really concerned about how this will affect his mental health and the possibility that he might harm himself out of hopelessness. But also, it seems like this program is inherently abusive, so he needs help even if the threat isn't coming from himself.