Nearly half of Utah’s wilderness programs for ‘troubled teens’ closed in the last year. Here’s what’s happening.

With its sweeping desert vistas, millions of acres of public lands to hike through and parent-friendly laws around who can make medical decisions for teenagers, Utah became known as the place to send so-called “troubled teens” for wilderness therapy. For decades, the state fostered the growth of an industry that made its money on a promise that time spent in the outdoors — and far away from home — would help a child struggling with behavioral issues or substance abuse. But the wilderness therapy industry is now struggling in a...