Punching, predators, neglect. Traumatized NC children suffer inside dismal psychiatric centers

Psychiatric residential youth facilities are supposed to be a safe space. But “Locked Away,” a USA TODAY Network-NC investigation, reveals children are not getting what they came for: treatment. Elizabeth wasn’t in prison, exactly. She was at Strategic Behavioral Health, a psychiatric residential institution for North Carolina kids, because she had been suicidal. The strip search was traumatic. Elizabeth is a sexual assault survivor, and she was supposed to be there for care, because she was in a fragile state.