Nye County youth psychiatric facility not fighting license revocation

The Department of Health and Human Services announced in April, weeks after the Las Vegas Review-Journal published an investigation into the facility’s conditions, that it was revoking the license for the Never Give Up Youth Healing Center in Amargosa Valley.

Never Give Up was set to appeal the decision in a hearing scheduled for Thursday, but a spokeswoman for the state health department announced on Tuesday that the facility had withdrawn its appeal.

“The (Division of Public and Behavioral Health) process has concluded, and the license is closed,” department spokeswoman Shannon Litz said in the emailed statement.

A representative for Never Give Up could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

All of the children who were at Never Give Up were transferred to other facilities or discharged home at the end of April, the state health department has said. The facility has yet to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, Litz said Wednesday.

The most recent fine of $120,000 was issued in May through a letter sent to the facility. In the letter, the health department also banned Never Give Up from admitting new patients, citing repeat deficiencies found during inspections conducted over the past year.

Never Give Up was previously fined more than $350,000 for failing to correct multiple deficiencies, and an $8,000 fine was issued in September over substantiated reports that staff members were unnecessarily restraining children.

As of Wednesday, Never Give Up had only paid the $8,000 fine, Litz said.

Never Give Up is contesting Nevada Medicaid’s decision to terminate the facility’s contract. The agency notified Never Give Up in January that the contract was being terminated after the facility was found to be in violation of the health department’s corrective action plan.

Throughout 2022, Never Give Up reported that staff restrained children more than 300 times, a Review-Journal investigation revealed. State investigators found multiple instances of staff restraining children as punishment and repeatedly holding children against walls.

The facility also faced multiple lawsuits alleging that staff members and other patients sexually assaulted the children in the facility’s care. Multiple former staff members are facing criminal charges in Nye County ranging from child abuse to sexual assault of a minor.

Never Give Up was located on the same property as Northwest Academy, a private boarding school that was shut down more than four years ago after its owners were arrested on child abuse charges.

Assemblyman Gregory Hafen, R-Pahrump, said in June that bills passed during the recent legislative session may prevent future abuse at youth facilities like Never Give Up.

One bill, AB136, required facilities with children to be regulated as child care institutions, and AB148 granted courts oversight of psychiatric facilities that house children.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.