Sequel Youth & Family Services, once one of the nation’s largest operators of treatment centers for children with behavioral problems, plans to close three more facilities, including its flagship academy, continuing the company’s contraction in the past two years amid wide-spread reports of abuse.
In the past three weeks, Sequel announced plans to shutter Clarinda Academy in Clarinda, Iowa, the company’s original facility; Normative Services Academy in Sheridan, Wyoming, which it had managed for 18 years; and Auldern Academy, a small private school in Siler City, North Carolina. All three are closing due to decreasing enrollment, according to statements from the company and state regulators.
The closures will bring to 12 the number of Sequel facilities closed since 2019. The company has been under sustained pressure from disability rights groups and state lawmakers, and has received a flurry of national media attention, including an investigation by APM Reports, following the May 2020 death of 16-year-old Cornelius Fredrick, who lost consciousness after he was restrained by staff at a Sequel facility in Michigan.