Calo Abuse Allegations Raise New Questions About Missouri's Troubled Teen Industry

For years, Change Academy at Lake of the Ozarks — better known as Calo — marketed itself as a specialized treatment center for adopted children struggling with trauma, attachment disorders, and behavioral challenges.

Families from across the country were told Calo offered something unique: a trauma-informed environment where children could heal, reconnect with their families, and rebuild their lives.

Today, that image is being challenged by a growing number of former residents, parents, former employees, investigative journalists, and attorneys.

In recent months, multiple national and regional investigations have examined allegations involving Calo and its parent company, Embark Behavioral Health. Former residents have filed lawsuits alleging physical and emotional abuse. Law enforcement records reviewed by journalists document reports involving assaults, sexual abuse allegations, runaways, and other incidents occurring on or around the campus.

Calo denies wrongdoing and has described the allegations as meritless. The company maintains that it provides critical mental health services to some of the nation's most challenging youth populations.

The legal cases remain ongoing.

But the public record now raises a question that extends beyond any single lawsuit:

How did a facility that marketed itself as a leader in childhood trauma treatment become the subject of so many allegations and investigations?

A Growing Number of Lawsuits

According to reporting by The Midwest Newsroom, at least fifteen former residents have filed lawsuits against Calo since 2024.

The lawsuits describe allegations that include excessive physical restraints, physical abuse, inadequate supervision, emotional mistreatment, and failures to protect children from harm. Several former residents interviewed by reporters described a facility where violence and chaos were common experiences.

One former resident alleged she was body-slammed by a staff member and suffered injuries that went untreated. Another described repeated restraints that left them bruised and aggravated an existing medical condition. Others alleged that staff failed to adequately protect children from assaults committed by fellow residents.

Calo has denied the allegations.

The purpose of the civil litigation process will be to determine what occurred, who knew about it, and whether the institution fulfilled its responsibilities to the children entrusted to its care.

Hundreds of Law Enforcement Calls

The lawsuits are not the only source of concern.

Investigative reporting by the Associated Press and ABC News reviewed hundreds of pages of Camden County Sheriff's Office records associated with the facility.

Those records reportedly documented incidents involving runaways, assaults, allegations of sexual abuse, and other disturbances requiring law enforcement response.

According to the reporting, one incident involved multiple residents attempting to flee the facility by running into nearby woods and jumping into the lake. Another involved allegations that residents obtained drugs brought onto campus by an employee. In another event, deputies were reportedly told that staff members had become outnumbered while attempting to manage a violent altercation among residents.

Each incident has its own facts and context.

Taken together, however, they paint a picture far different from the carefully controlled image often presented in marketing materials.

Allegations of Sexual Abuse

Some of the most disturbing allegations involve claims that residents were sexually assaulted by other children while under Calo's supervision.

Sheriff's reports reviewed by journalists documented multiple allegations involving sexual misconduct between residents over a period of years.

Several parents interviewed by reporters alleged they were not promptly informed about incidents involving their children. Some accused the facility of minimizing or failing to properly report allegations.

Calo disputes many of those claims and has stated that allegations are reported and investigated according to applicable requirements.

Nevertheless, the recurring nature of the allegations raises difficult questions about supervision, staffing, reporting procedures, and institutional accountability.

The Business of Hope

Perhaps the most revealing aspect of the recent reporting involves the economics behind the facility.

Calo opened in 2007 and later became part of Embark Behavioral Health, a rapidly expanding behavioral health company backed by private equity investment.

Investigative reporting found that the facility's business model evolved from private-pay treatment to one increasingly funded through insurance reimbursements, Medicaid, educational funding streams, adoption subsidies, and other public programs.

According to the Associated Press, Illinois agencies alone have spent more than $35 million over the last decade sending children to Calo.

Parents often arrived at Calo during moments of crisis.

Many had exhausted local treatment options. Some had already spent years navigating mental health systems, schools, therapists, hospitals, and residential programs.

As one internal marketing document quoted by investigators reportedly stated, admissions personnel were selling hope to families during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives.

For many families, that hope came at a steep financial cost.

Some parents reported spending well into six figures seeking help for their children.

Part of a Larger Troubled Teen Industry

Calo is not the first residential treatment center to face scrutiny.

Over the last decade, increasing attention has been directed toward what critics call the "troubled teen industry" — a network of residential treatment facilities, therapeutic boarding schools, wilderness programs, and behavior-modification programs operating across the country.

Advocates for survivors have long argued that vulnerable children can become isolated from independent oversight once they enter these programs, particularly when they are sent across state lines.

Supporters of such facilities respond that they serve families facing extraordinarily difficult circumstances and provide treatment options unavailable elsewhere.

The debate is likely to continue.

What is becoming harder to dismiss is the growing number of former residents willing to publicly describe experiences they say left lasting psychological harm.

The Questions That Remain

The lawsuits against Calo are still pending.

No court has yet resolved the allegations.

But several important questions remain.

Were children adequately protected from foreseeable harm?

Were allegations properly investigated and reported?

Were parents given complete and accurate information?

Were staffing levels sufficient to protect vulnerable residents?

And if systemic failures occurred, who should be held accountable?

Those questions matter because residential treatment centers occupy a unique position of trust.

Parents send children to facilities like Calo believing they will receive care, treatment, and protection.

If that trust was violated, survivors deserve answers.

Representing Survivors of Institutional Abuse

McGonagle Johnson represents survivors of sexual abuse, physical abuse, and institutional misconduct throughout Missouri and across the United States.

Our firm has experience representing individuals harmed by schools, camps, residential treatment facilities, religious organizations, and other institutions entrusted with the care of children.

If you attended Calo, Change Academy at Lake of the Ozarks, Embark Behavioral Health programs, or another residential treatment facility and believe you may have experienced abuse or neglect, we encourage you to speak with an attorney about your rights.

Consultations are confidential.