Dear Senator ------
On February 23, 2009 the House of Representatives passed the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Treatment Programs bill H.R. 911. Currently, this bill sits before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, of which you are part of. As your constituent, I urge you to support HR 911 (Senate Bill number is not known to me), Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009.
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. While some states may have relatively high standards, it is critical that other states, where there's virtually no (or poor) regulation, are held accountable. (eg. Montana, Utah)
Far too many youth are being maltreated in the name of treatment and institutionalized unnecessarily as a result of lack of access to community based care. I have witnessed first hand that harm that may come from a poorly regulated or monitored residential program. It is incumbent upon us to protect our most vulnerable citizens, youth experiencing behavioral, emotional or mental health challenges.
I would like to find out where this bill currently stands and if you will be making this piece of legislation a priority and move it forward. Please help ensure that no other youth are harmed in the name of treatment.
Thank you.