Camp Worth youth treatment center closes after Texas regulators cite dozens of violations
A Fort Worth treatment center for high-needs children shut down this summer and Texas regulators are now working to revoke its permit, citing previous abuse and neglect findings and a “history of failing to comply with the minimum standards.”
Camp Worth, on Fort Worth’s East Seminary Drive, is a residential treatment center for children. While the facility’s website is listed as “under construction,” archived versions describe the facility as serving foster children through the state’s new community-based care model, as well as those with autism. The facility is licensed to serve a maximum of 33 youths from 5 to 17 years old.
The facility was on probation with regulators for nearly a year before it closed in mid-June, according to the state.
Mark Sickafoose, Camp Worth’s managing member, criticized the state’s handling of the shutdown and said the facility was not given enough time to make the prescribed changes.
“We did everything they asked. We literally were making changes as fast as we could,” Sickafoose said. “Change can’t be made overnight.”
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which is responsible for licensing and regulation of child care facilities, placed Camp Worth on probation in August 2022. That probation followed three serious events at the facility, according to state documents, including a staff member sexually assaulting a child, a staff member physically assaulting a child and staff failing to properly supervise a group of children, which resulted in the children engaging in sexual contact with each other.
Camp Worth remained open under probation until mid-June, when the facility “voluntarily relinquished its permit,” according to an HHSC spokesperson. There have not been children at the facility since then, according to state documents.
Then, at the beginning of July, the state sent a letter to Sickafoose, notifying him that it had begun the process of revoking the facility’s permit. In its letter, the state wrote that ongoing deficiencies at the facility during the probationary period were “further evidence of your operation’s inability or unwillingness to come into and maintain compliance, even with increased oversight and guidance from HHSC.”
The state’s letter says there have been 56 deficiencies since it was placed on probation in August 2022. The state’s violations database, which is accessible online, shows 40. The majority of the post-probation violations were related to documentation and operational issues, although there were also a few related to improper restraints or other improper care.
An HHSC spokesperson wrote in an email to the Star-Telegram that Camp Worth has requested an administrative review of the state’s intent to revoke its permit. That review has not yet been scheduled.
Sickafoose told the Star-Telegram that, during the time that he worked with Camp Worth immediately before the closure, the facility was doing everything it could to comply with the state’s standards and probation conditions, including firing and hiring of staff.
“The changes we made, they were all to improve. We spent a lot of money to improve the situation, so it wasn’t like doing it cheaply,” Sickafoose said.
He said he felt the state’s handling of the situation was in line with the increased scrutiny on residential treatment centers now that the state’s foster care system is under federal oversight.
“We were unfairly treated,” Sickafoose said.
In recent years, a U.S. District Court judge has ordered sweeping reforms to Texas’ child welfare system. The state legislature voted in 2017 to transition Texas away from a foster care system operated primarily by the state, in favor of a “community-based care” system that places responsibility in the hands of private agencies. That system has not rolled out across the entire state, but Tarrant County was among the first to participate.
Another Fort Worth residential treatment center for children — Fort Behavioral Health, which also has a sub-program called Camp Worth that is separate from the Camp Worth facility — was abruptly shut down by the state early this year. Fort Behavioral’s shut down was temporary, and it was allowed to reopen after 30 days, although the facility remains on a one-year probation.
