resources > featured discussions > Current featured discussion
Featured Discussion
Residential Treatment Centers for Teens: Can You Assume They Are Safe?
Sometimes parents and other caregivers are forced to make a very difficult decision, and opt to send their child to a residential program such as a therapeutic boarding school, wilderness camp, boot camp, or behavior modification facility. Upon making this decision, the parent believes that such a program will help the child with behavioral, emotional, or mental health problems. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case. A recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed thousands of allegations of child abuse and neglect at residential programs for teens. This abuse sometimes even resulted in the death of a child. The GAO suggested that a lack of consistent oversight of these programs was a cause of these tragedies.
In response, on June 25, 2008, the House passed The Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008 (H.R. 6358), which establishes minimum standards for preventing child abuse and neglect at teen residential programs, and requires “the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate complaints of child abuse and neglect at residential programs and to issue penalties against programs that violate the new standards,” according to the press release issued by the Committee on Education and Labor.
Additionally, this new legislation helps parents access information about teen residential programs that they need in order to make safer choices for their children. To that end, the Federal Trade Commission created a brochure, Considering a Private Residential Treatment Program for a Troubled Teen? Questions for Parents and Guardians to Ask, to guide parents in making educated decisions about where to seek help and support for their teen. This four-page document outlines basic questions to ask a program, such as whether it is licensed and accredited, and whether it conducts background checks on its entire staff.
Although hard to believe that such an elementary document is needed, testimony such as that by Jon Martin-Crawford, a victim of a less-than-reputable residential treatment center, demonstrates that parents need to be very cautious when opting to get this sort of help for their children. Stories of physical and emotional abuse by those who are supposed to care for our children when they are most vulnerable are unfortunately all too common.
Questions for Discussion:
Are you surprised to hear that residential treatment centers, until now, were not systematically regulated?
Do you think regulations will somehow harm legitimate providers, or channel their energies away from the care of the youth they are serving?
Who should be responsible for the prevention of abuse in residential treatment centers?
Is there ever a time when physical punishments for youth in the care of residential treatment centers are warranted?
Your thoughts…
Comments:
this is a scary thought when I know as parent of a diable son support should be looked in on. My son is given the excuse that he is not as in need of in home services; due to the fact that there others in need more so.
His health and medical give him up to 40 hours of need. we are only getting 16 to 20 hours sometimes. Not an on going steady basis. One of the company of home health is one of the worst company's I've ever had to deal with in the 9 years I've had to deal with.
Posted Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 12:06 PM
By the way, thank you Charlie, very much. It looks to me like you are trying to do some good things? Seems to me like some of these are some good things.
"The Alliance for Safe, Therapeutic and Appropriate Residential Treatment (A START)has some great discussion and guidelines for parents if you Google them. the Community Alliance For Ethical Treatment of Youth (CAFETY) is an on line organization devoted to supporting youth who have suffered abuse in residential care. CAFETY youth and A START professionals, parents and youth all participated in asking for the GAO investigation, in testifying before Rep. Millers committee and actively supported the new law that passed the House and will be considered by the Senate next fall."
Posted Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 07:15 PM
You say, ""I believe it is the role of government to protect children in all situations."" So many people do, but I believe that it is the parents right and the parents place to protect their own children and they should. Our government is too big, but we can teach by example, if we would, how to take care of children as has been done for millions of years now, as probably more then likely was done in your situation and you seem to be doing fine. You say, ""I formerly worked in public agencies for years in positions where I made placements in such facilities."" Yes, you placed the kids there, and what did you do to help their parents with them, to keep the families together? What kind of support were you in keeping the family together. One girl once told me, and I was made to erase it by a state agency, that she liked me taking her because listened to her and the regular social worker didn't, I think that was part of what became a problem for me. The fact is that we don't listen to most of the children most of the time, we listen to people like you, the ones that your job depended on placing kids out of the home. You say, ""I also worked in a residential treament facilitiy and witnessed physical abuse and other forms of maltreatment by staff."" What did you do about that? You couldn't have done much or you would have shortly been without a job or in another position. You say, ""but private pay centers that receive placements directly from parents."" I suppose in most of those situations the parents probably watch what is happening fairly close at those that is why they choose private over state because they have the money to do that. You say, ""State laws and federal regs place oversight responsibiliites on the public agencies that place childsren."" They do not watch them, they only do reports that is all. You say, ""who is watching the kids in private pay facilities?"" Like I said their wealthy parents, the ones that were fortunate enough to choose that over the states poorly paid institutions. I have seen parents searching for these agencies before knowing that there children were getting ready to be placed out of home, I firmly believe that the better thing is to keep children in the home any time one can. If a kid has to be placed more then often a private facility is way times better then any public or government run institution, and that should always be as the last resort in my thinking. Posted Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 07:10 PM
I believe it is the role of government to protect children in all situations. Treatment facilities cannot be allowed to police themselves. Children in such facilities are extremely vulnerable because they are often cut off from the rest of the world: family, public school, friends.
I formerly worked in public agencies for years in positions where I made placements in such facilities. I could not gain access to information about care rule violations or incidents of abuse or neglect before considering facilities for placement. I also worked in a residential treament facilitiy and witnessed physical abuse and other forms of maltreatment by staff. Regulations that protect children with efficient direct government oversight are necessary. My greatest concern is for facilities that do not receive placements from public child welfare or juvenile justice facilities, but private pay centers that receive placements directly from parents. State laws and federal regs place oversight responsibiliites on the public agencies that place childsren. who is watching the kids in private pay facilities? Posted Thursday, August 7, 2008 by Howard at 09:06 AM
As one of the professionals that has seen the consequences of abuse and neglect in residential programs in my patients and as one of those who has sought relief from the federal government I am delighted to see this issue featured by the RTC. I would like to point to two great on line resources for parents and youth who may be vulnerable to abusive programs or have suffered abuse. The Alliance for Safe, Therapeutic and Appropriate Residential Treatment (A START)has some great discussion and guidelines for parents if you Google them. the Community Alliance For Ethical Treatment of Youth (CAFETY) is an on line organization devoted to supporting youth who have suffered abuse in residential care. CAFETY youth and A START professionals, parents and youth all participated in asking for the GAO investigation, in testifying before Rep. Millers committee and actively supported the new law that passed the House and will be considered by the Senate next fall.
Posted Thursday, August 7, 2008 by Charles Huffine, MD at 08:50 AM
No never, and I am trying to build the right kind of coalition in the community, what I find is that the system is very unsafe for all of our children in so many different ways over all. A teacher can threaten a child that is growing differently then others and can't find mass produced clothes that fit them exactly and threaten them with some kind of a sexual charge if their pants accidentally fall down and yet wear blouses that expose her breast to them and think that is okay? Foster parents can be seen doing things in the community now that parents would have their children removed for and brag about them and not have to keep any better of a home and yet the courts will jerk children away from a parent in a heart beat for the same things. I have watched this system for about 25 years now and it isn't getting better which the statistics bear out, it is getting worse for all involved. Is that really what you people want? People to be afraid to use the assistance that is suppose to be freely available to them and then face the outcomes of that? It is like a backlash of those that tried to make things different, because somehow it got into being more about having good jobs and respectable positions that have power, and to darn with how or who it affected in such negative ways. On AOL today, and I don't know how representative of the general population that is, 80% of the population is in favor of the death penalty??? I sure wonder why, how did we get to that point of anger and wanting vengeance in our country and does that have any thing to say about why we really have so much violence and things of this nature in our world? How many of those people are being mentally treated and on drugs? This system was meant to stop violence not create more anger and violence in it not make more of it, so what do we do with all of that? I am trying are you? Posted Wednesday, August 6, 2008 by this time signing anonymous, at 05:20 PM
this is a scary thought when I know as parent of a diable son support should be looked in on. My son is given the excuse that he is not as in need of in home services; due to the fact that there others in need more so.