'A problem if they were never paid': Parents discuss NC summer camp facing lawsuit, investigation

DURHAM, NC – For the first time, we're hearing from parents whose kids went to a CJF America summer camp.

WRAL Investigates has reported about issues with the camps for more than a month. The company is now the subject of a lawsuit, and criminal investigation, for not paying workers.

Terri Miller and her niece Lakyah Jones sent their kids, ages 5 and 7, this summer to the free CJF America camp in Durham.

Both said their children had positive experiences at the camp.

"They did really well with my son," Jones said.

Yet, as WRAL Investigates has reported the workers did not necessarily have good experiences.

WRAL Investigates has spoken with more than a dozen employees from Raleigh to Durham and even in other states who say they were never paid.

"It’s a problem if they were never paid, of course," Miler said. "Because we all work to get paid … My main thing is if you’re treating these children right, then I’ m OK."

From a source, WRAL Investigates obtained a 22-page permission form parents were asked to sign for camp. It asks for their children's insurance information, and asks parents to consent to share their child's health information with Elysian Therapeutics, LLC, described as a "licensed, luxury healthcare provider."

What the form does not say is that, according to North Carolina Secretary of State records, Elysian Therapeutics is run by some of the same people as CJF America. The state filings have familiar names, including CJF America CFO Nick Gallardo, its founder Courtney Jordan and CJF America President Kristen Picot. 

Elysian's website is full of stock images, a phone number that no one answered, and claims that the company offers a range of mental and physical health services with locations coming soon in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

Jones says she is not sure if the health permission part of the form was on what she signed. Miller says she did notice it on hers, and she did not consent to that section.

"My daughter has her own outside care going on and I didn't want to intertwine the two," Miller said. 

WRAL Investigates previously asked CJF America about the mental health services.

A spokesperson confirmed the camp "provides access to licensed mental health professionals," adding "these services are legally compliant, trauma-informed, and in many cases, serve as the only access point for youth who would otherwise be unsupported during the summer."

The parents who spoke to WRAL Investigates, as well as a former employee, said that CJF America plans to expand, hosting before and after-school programs in the future.