Cafety

Contact your Senator Today!

Click here for Summary on H.R. 911
Click here to Read H.R. 911
Click here to Submit your Testimony to be Submitted to the Senate

On February 23, 2009 the House of Representatives passed the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Treatment Programs bill H.R. 911. This bill was introduced following a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) which found that many residential programs, include therapeutic boarding schools, boot camps, wilderness programs, and behavior modification facilities, do not offer anything remotely related to therapy, and in fact the office found thousands of cases and allegations of child abuse and neglect since the early 1990's. It is currently the state's authority to regulate these programs, but a separate GAO report found major gaps in their licensing and oversight, so that they have been able to operate virtually unregulated.

To help fix this major failure, H.R. 911 proposes that these programs fall under federal regulations. At a press conference on Capitol Hill organized by the Alliance for Safe, Therapeutic, and Appropriate Use of Residential Treatment (ASTART) on February 19th, three residential program survivors from CAFETY (Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Youth), described some of the abuses they experienced and witnessed including malnourishment, dangerous restraint, and seclusion, among other abuses. They described going to "group therapy", where they were coerced into admitting to offenses that never happened, and were blamed and shamed about them. Brian Lombrowski, President of CAFETY (Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Youth), explained that residential treatment should be short term, individualized, and targeted. In addition, it should only be considered after community-based services have been exhausted. However, deceptive marketing practices and the use of "education consultants" who have no mental health credentialing, advertise these programs as being appropriate for almost everyone, using such symptoms as depression and anxiety as being appropriate criteria. When a child does not meet the criteria for a state residential program, parents then turn to these privately-run facilities, which do not require a psychiatrist's referral.

HR 911 would do the following:

Keeps Teens Safe

∞ Prohibits programs from physically, mentally, or sexually abusing children

∞Prohibits programs from denying essential food, water, clothing, shelter, or medical care

∞ Programs must provide children with reasonable access to a telephone

∞ Staff must be trained in what is child abuse and neglect and how to report it

∞ Programs can only physically restrain children if it is necessary for their safety and the safety of others, and restraint must be used in accordance with federal law

∞ Programs must have plans in place to provide emergency medical care

Increases transparency for parents

∞ Creates a website with information about cases of abuse at residential treatment programs

∞ Requires that programs inform parents of their staff members' qualifications, roles, and responsibilities

∞ Requires that programs notify parents of substantiated reports of child abuse or violations of health and safety laws.

The bill still has been introduced to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. If you reside in any of the states below, please contact your Senators. They need to know that their constituents feel strongly about this issue. Please call/write your senators today to urge them to support this issue!

(Click here for template letter.)