TEEN ADVOCATES USA: MEDIA ROOM

Over the past decade in the United States, hundreds of private residential treatment facilities for youth have been established, described as a $1 billion to $1.2 billion unregulated industry that serves 10,000 to 15,000 children and adolescents annually.

This increase in residential programs is especially alarming because research clearly shows that community-based treatment and support is effective and indicated for most youth and families, even those with serious problems who need intensive support.

Some residential programs self identify as “therapeutic boarding schools,” “emotional growth academies”, "wilderness therapy programs" or “behavior modification facilities,” and market to families of youth with psychiatric diagnoses, claiming expertise in treating a variety of serious conditions.

Many of these new programs are not currently subject to any state licensing or monitoring as mental health facilities. Currently, the only information available about most of these programs comes from their own marketing efforts and there is no systematic, independently collected descriptive or outcome data on these programs.

Highly disturbing reports have been published in numerous newspaper articles and exposes showing that children and youth who are placed in private unregulated residential facilities are not afforded basic and fundamental rights and protections.

Youth and parents describe financial opportunism by program operators and referral agents, education access violations, harsh discipline, inappropriate seclusion and restraint, substandard psychotherapeutic interventions conducted by unqualified staff, medical and nutritional neglect, mental, physical and sexual maltreatment and abuse.

Despite egregious abuses and many deaths of children these facilities continue to grow in number and size. A parent may pay between $3,000 to $6,000 a month to send their troubled (or troublesome) child to an unregulated private residential treatment facility and yet not be able to monitor their child's care and treatment because of strict rules limiting (even prohibiting) family contact.

The industry prospers on promises to modify unwanted behaviors and to make "bad" kids good. Its financial sustainability is assured by frequent deceptive advertising on the Internet that markets facilities as offering an array of mental health and educational services that are often not available or provided by unqualified staff.

In addition to the hundreds of unregulated private residential treatment facilities operating in the United States several American-owned companies have opened private facilities in the South Pacific, the Caribbean, Costa Rica and Mexico to avoid state regulations and monitoring.

In May 1999 the United States Department of State issued its first-ever Fact Sheet on foreign-based private treatment facilities where some of the most egregious human rights violations against American children and youth have occurred. This fact sheet serves to underscore the inherent risk in sending children out of the country for treatment and has been updated twice by the Department of State.

In 2005, Representative George Miller (D-CA) introduced legislation entitled The End Institutionalized Abuse Against Children Act of 2005 (H.R. 1738) to mandate federal regulations and monitoring of private specialty schools and programs for children and youth in the United States and abroad. This bill is currently under review by the House Education and Labor Committee which Representative Miller chairs.

In response to repeated reports of abuse, fraud and deaths of children, Representative Miller also asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a comprehensive investigation of unregulated private residential treatment facilities. Other organizations such as The Children's Welfare League, American Bar Association and the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law have also called upon the GAO to conduct an investigation.

In 2007, the GAO began conducting such an investigation. The findings of this report which cataloged 1,610 incidents of abuse in 33 states in 2005 alone were presented at a hearing before the House Education and Labor Committee on October 10, 2007. A second more conprehensive study is due to be released in 2008.