In Its Own Words: The Trade Group’s Reputation Plans

NATSAP's own newsletters and strategic plans list survivor websites, Google reviews and negative press as threats and answer them with public relations, and the statements it later deleted.

6 min read Updated

Contents
  1. What we found
  2. The plan in 2006
  3. What the trade group calls a threat
  4. The answer: public relations
  5. 2018
  6. 2019
  7. 2020
  8. Said, then deleted
  9. June 2023
  10. February 13, 2024
  11. March 11, 2024
  12. Sources

Most of what this series describes has to be pieced together from court records and reporting. The National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP), the industry’s largest trade group, wrote its own down. Its newsletters and its yearly strategic plans say what it considered a threat to its members, and what it meant to do about it.

What we found #

  • NATSAP’s own plans list “HEAL online/Fornits,” “Google Reviews,” “Anonymous” and “Negative press” as threats to its members.
  • Its public relations committee was to “Contact programs experiencing negative reviews” and “Create FAQ on countering the myths of our industry.”
  • Its statement on Trails Carolina said there were “no indications of abuse.” The death was ruled a homicide. The statement has since been deleted.
  • It also deleted its claim that no member was “ever” affiliated with WWASP.

Part of our series How the Troubled Teen Industry Manages Its Reputation. Every quotation below is from the trade group’s own documents, linked in the sources at the end; the strategic plans and newsletters are in our NATSAP document library, and the statements it has since taken down are linked to the Internet Archive’s copies and to our own copies of them, which are in the same library.

The plan in 2006 #

In early 2006, facing what he called “the pending possibility of a federal regulatory bill (the Miller bill),” NATSAP’s president, John Santa, used his newsletter column to set out a public relations strategy.

NATSAP had a new director of public relations, and it had formed an alliance with a psychiatric hospital trade group “to mitigate the potential impact of ill conceived regulatory efforts such as the proposed Miller legislation.” Members were to help:

  • “Invite your local media to visit, interview, and write a story that highlights the positive impact of your program and make sure to note that you belong to NATSAP an organization composed of programs committed to high standards of care.”
  • “When you invite a guest to campus create a news release for your local papers and be sure to copy the release to NATSAP so that it can be posted on our web site.”
  • “We are more powerful than we think, particularly if we enlist a broad grassroots effort from all members and as many of our satisfied parents and students as possible.”
  • “When we have an issue that demands action we need to create a clear, simple message and then programs must forward the same message to their respective legislators.”

By the end of the year, NATSAP’s public relations committee had hired the founder of Bulldog Public Relations to run a “Working with the Media” workshop for members.

What the trade group calls a threat #

Each year’s strategic plan includes an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats NATSAP’s members see. The threats it lists are threats to the programs’ reputations and revenue:

  • 2017 (printed in the 2018 plan): “Legislation,” “HEAL online/Fornits,” “Google Reviews,” and “Private investors changing our mission and programming.” HEAL and Fornits were websites where survivors of the programs and their families told what had happened to them.
  • 2018 (printed in the 2019 plan): “Internet Reviews,” “Anonymous,” “Abuse,” “Sentinel Event Isolates Program,” and “Legislation- Schiff bill.” A sentinel event is a death or serious injury.
  • The 2020 plan (here): “Miller/Schiff Legislation,” “UT/CA repealing funding,” “Negative press,” and “Internet/reviews.”

The same analyses record what members said among themselves. The 2017 list of weaknesses includes “No teeth in best practices” and “Not feeling trust from other conference attendees to speak about problems in program.” Its opportunities include “Formulate messaging to counter negative perception of our programs,” “Get brand more widely known to lay public,” and “More PR: Radio and TV public service announcements. Produce an evergreen piece.”

The answer: public relations #

Each plan answers those threats with work for the public relations committee. Every one of the three also says that NATSAP “engages an outside public relations consultant who, together with staff, assists the Association in proactive P.R. efforts, handling press inquiries, and developing pro forma press releases and P.R. tool kits that can be used by member programs.”

2018 #

“Contact programs experiencing bad press,” “Serve as a sounding board for members experiencing a crisis,” “Create FAQ on countering the myths of our industry,” “Choose an excerpt from the JTSP to be posted on social media monthly,” design questions for “testimonial videos,” “Assist in the re-branding of NATSAP,” and a conference presentation titled “Ethical Marketing for Today’s World.”

The member services committee was to “Create list of programs who would be willing to mentor or be involved if a sentinel event occurred.”

2019 #

“Contact programs experiencing negative reviews,” “Create FAQ on countering industry perception,” “Push existing resources out to members– crisis, social media, ethical marketing, etc.,” “Solicit 5-10 program testimonials annually,” and “Press releases for each RDP member,” the programs taking part in NATSAP’s research. The government relations staff were to “Forward Journals and newsletters to members of Congress.”

2020 #

the committee’s “core functions” are “Drive brand awareness,” “Create positive messaging,” and “Assist with member program PR needs.” Its goals include “Brand management” and serving “as a resource for member organizations needing Public Relations guidance.”

The plans also show how closely NATSAP works with the consultants who refer families to its members. Each describes “Link ‘n Learn,” “an innovative service that allows educational consultants and NATSAP programs to meet and network,” and the consultants’ trade group, IECA, holds an ex officio seat on NATSAP’s board. The best practices committee’s work for 2018 included a “guidance paper on tours and gifts.”

Said, then deleted #

NATSAP has since rebuilt its website. Its news and policy pages are gone, and today the site publishes a single post, a July 2026 summary of wilderness therapy outcome research. The Internet Archive kept copies of what was there before:

June 2023 #

a member news item on NATSAP’s site, “Trails Carolina Celebrates 15 Years of Transformative Wilderness Therapy for Youth & Families,” described the program’s “evidence-backed, life-changing therapeutic wilderness experiences” and called its accreditations “a badge of honor.”

February 13, 2024 #

NATSAP’s statement to members on the death of a 12-year-old at Trails Carolina said: “There are no indications of abuse or mistreatment as per available information. While it’s human nature to speculate, we urge caution and sensitivity.” The medical examiner later ruled that Clark Harman’s death was a homicide by asphyxiation, and North Carolina revoked Trails Carolina’s license.

March 11, 2024 #

NATSAP’s press release on The Program, the Netflix series about the Academy at Ivy Ridge, said NATSAP stood “in full support” of the documentary, that “The Association and its member programs are not, nor have ever been, affiliated with any WWASPS programs or any member of the Litchfield family,” and that NATSAP was “founded in 1999 as a solution-making organization with the goal of eliminating abuse and trauma in the residential treatment field.”

None of the three is on NATSAP’s website now. For what the 2007 House hearing made of NATSAP’s record, see our NATSAP investigation and, in this series, Silencing Critics and Survivors.

Sources #