Maple Lake Academy has shuttered its girls program after a nearly three-year battle with licensers to stay open — a decision academy leadership blamed on Utah officials, saying political pressure has led the state to take a more “punitive” approach with teen treatment centers.
In August, state licensers decided to not renew Maple Lake Academy’s license over concerns that the program has had continued problems keeping clients safe since a girl died there in January 2022.
The program appealed the decision, and had been fighting the state in court. But Maple Lake Academy said in a statement this week that it “faced significant legal obstacles that made it nearly impossible to succeed.” (Details of the court case are not publicly available because a judge sealed the records.)
MLA leaders hoped to negotiate with the state in order to stay open, their statement said, but they claim state licensers “were unwilling to engage in constructive dialogue.”
“We believe this reluctance may stem from significant political internal and external pressures that compel the [licensing] division to adopt a more punitive stance toward facilities like ours,” the statement reads.
“Looking ahead,” the statement continues, “we sincerely hope that the division will adopt a more objective and collaborative approach, prioritizing the needs of the students and families served, and working alongside licensed facilities to ensure the best possible outcomes for all involved.”
Utah’s Office of Licensing has faced criticism in recent years for taking a more friendly approach to how it oversees the so-called “troubled-teen” industry. Past licensing directors have said they believed their role was not to be punitive towards these programs, but to offer them “technical assistance.”
The Salt Lake Tribune highlighted this light oversight in a series of articles, which led legislators to pass a reform bill in 2021 that increased regulation for teen treatment programs.
In a statement, Utah’s Department of Health and Human Services did not address MLA’s allegation that it had received political pressure to punish programs. It did say that, in most instances, the licensing division supports facilities that have been found to be out of compliance and rarely closes down a program.
Most programs, the statement said, are given multiple chances to fix problems.
“However, patterns of repeat (within the last 3 years) or severe noncompliance at a facility put the people we serve at risk and cannot be tolerated,” the statement reads.
Utah’s Division of Licensing and Background Checks licenses or certifies more than 9,000 facilities in Utah, the statement reads, with a goal of ensuring that Utah’s “most vulnerable citizens” are cared for “in settings where their health and safety needs are paramount.”
That’s not just teenagers sent to programs like Maple Lake Academy, but older adults, people with disabilities and those with mental illnesses.
“Our primary role,” the statement reads, “is to verify that the most critical health and safety standards are met to protect the well-being of residents and employees. We do not compromise on health and safety and take seriously the trust placed in us by communities, individuals, and families.”
DHHS officials said that in the past two years, the licensing division has put 59 of those facilities on what’s called a conditional license, which often puts limits on a program or increases state scrutiny after a facility breaks Utah rules. Of those 59, licensers revoked or declined to renew licenses for 12 facilities.
In the last two years, DHHS has denied license renewals for Maple Lake Academy and another program, Diamond Ranch Academy. Both facilities had a girl die in their care in 2022 from what licensers say was medical neglect.
Licensers began keeping a close eye on Maple Lake Academy in 2022, after a 14-year-old girl named Sofia Soto died that January. They said staff there did not give Soto proper medical care despite worsening symptoms and her mother’s requests that she be taken to a doctor. They tried to pull MLA’s license in 2022, but licensers ultimately negotiated with the program and allowed it to stay open.
(Courtesy Gross & Rooney law firm) Sofia Soto, pictured here in an undated photo provided by her parents, died at Maple Lake Academy on Jan. 16, 2022. Her parents are suing the Utah teen treatment facility, alleging staff failed to provide adequate medical care in the days before the 14-year-old's death.
Since Soto’s death, licensers have documented other instances in which girls were seriously hurt or did not receive medical care. In April 2022, the facility was cited after staff did not immediately seek medical help after a girl fell and hit her head, lost consciousness and vomited multiple times. Last August, the program was cited after staff refused to provide medications to a client. And in July, licensers found Maple Lake Academy had failed to protect the client who attempted to end her life and caused herself “significant injury.”
Maple Lake Academy said in a statement that the girl who harmed herself is “now in perfect health” and has recovered. It said that the girl’s mother supports Maple Lake Academy and said that her daughter had been more successful there than in other programs or treatment.
MLA has operated a program catering to girls on the autism spectrum for 19 years. It continues to hold a license for its boys program. A DHHS spokesperson has said the boys program, which is licensed separately, “does not have the same history of rule noncompliance” and the license denial for the girls’ program does not affect it.
