Article
October 10, 2007
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WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 10, 2007 (NBC) -- Desperate to help their troubled children, many parents have turned to so-called wilderness boot camps.
But a new study out Wednesday by the federal government warns that thousands of kids are being abused in the mostly unregulated programs and at least ten have died. Some lawmakers want the federal government to step in and stop what they call institutionalized child abuse.
The problem goes back at least to the 1990's, when Aaron Bacon died at a boot camp in Utah. Concerned about his pot smoking, Aaron's parents sent him for what they thought would be wilderness self-awareness. In fact, his father testified Wednesday, Aaron was force marched and starved to death.
Aaron's father, Bob Bacon said he suffered "twenty one days of ruthless and relentless physical and psychological abuse and neglect."
The government study released Wednesday found ten boot camp deaths.
Gregory Kutz of the General Accountability Office said, "Many of these kids died slowly while program management and staff continued to believe that they were faking it."
Erica Harvey collapsed and died at her Nevada camp in 2002.
Security video shows 14 year old Martin Anderson after being beaten in a Florida program last year. He died after the beating. Eight employees are on trial for manslaughter in that case.
The new study says parents of troubled teens are desperate.
The websites of camps like Alldredge Academy are reassuring. The programs look safe. But Alldredge was ordered closed after the suicide of 14-year-old, Ryan Lewis, who earlier slashed his arm.
Ryan's dad Paul Lewis said, "Ryan was ignored and consequently at 730 on a cold rainy night, desperate, alone and abandoned our son hung himself."
Alldredge has reopened.
An association of residential programs says it's cracking down. Jan Moss, executive director of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs said, "Clearly we still have a very long way to go."
Right now it is the states that regulate, or don't regulate, these tough love programs. Some lawmakers want to change that so that all boot camps are regulated.
Showing posts with label us government accountability office. Show all posts
Showing posts with label us government accountability office. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
GAO finds abuses at 'tough love' camps for troubled kids
Article
By Ken Dilanian, USA TODAY
October 10, 2007
WASHINGTON — Members of Congress from both parties reacted with outrage Wednesday to wrenching testimony from parents of children who died in residential programs for troubled teens, saying a federal law may be needed to remedy a lack of oversight.
"I can't think of any testimony that we have heard in this committee that has caused a greater sense of anger and sorrow," said Democrat George Miller of California, chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, moments after hearing three parents recount the deaths of their teenagers in wilderness therapy programs designed to help them.
Rep. Buck McKeon, the ranking Republican, said he does not like to expand the role of the federal government, "but there are some times when it has to happen."
VIDEO: Parents detail torture at boot camps
Several states don't regulate private wilderness programs, boot camps and therapeutic boarding schools, which enroll thousands of children each year and have been the subject of what the Government Accountability Office (GAO) called "widespread" allegations of abuse and neglect. No law prevents operators who have been disciplined in one state from setting up shop in another — something investigators say happens often.
Jan Moss, executive director of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs, said the industry wants state regulation. Her group represents 180 facilities that serve 16,000 children.
"Among our goals is the complete elimination of the abuses and neglectful practices we have heard about today," she said. "Clearly, we have a long way to go."
The GAO on Wednesday presented the committee with the results of their investigation into the industry. The congressional investigative agency selected 10 deaths to examine in depth and found reckless practices, inadequate training and misleading marketing. It also found what Rep. Todd Platts, R-Pa., called "horrific" examples of abuse.
"If you walked in partway through my presentation, you might have assumed I was talking about human rights violations in a Third World country," said Gregory Kutz, a GAO investigator.
Kutz said there is no comprehensive nationwide data on deaths and injuries in residential treatment programs. The GAO identified 1,619 incidents of child abuse in such settings that were reported to the Department of Health and Human Services in 2005, but reporting is voluntary and not all states comply. Auditors found thousands of allegations in lawsuits, websites and state records, he said.
"Examples of abuse include youth being forced to eat their own vomit, denied adequate food, being forced to lie in urine or feces, being kicked, beaten and thrown to the ground," Kutz said, adding that one teen was reportedly "forced to use a toothbrush to clean a toilet, then forced to use that toothbrush on their own teeth."
In several cases examined by the GAO, staff was untrained to detect medical emergencies. "As a result, many of these kids died slowly while program management and staff continued to believe that they were faking it," Kutz said.
Kutz spoke forcefully, more in the manner of a prosecutor than a government auditor. Among the slides he presented to lawmakers was the grisly photo of a 15-year-old California girl who was left for 18 hours on a dirt road after collapsing from dehydration in 1990.
The three parents who testified — Bob Bacon, Cynthia Harvey and Paul Lewis — each choked up as they told of sending their troubled teenagers against their will into "tough love" wilderness programs. Each warned parents to avoid such programs until government rules can assure parents they are safe.
"His mother and I will never escape our decision to send our gifted 16-year-old son to his death," Bacon said, speaking of son Aaron, who died from an untreated perforated ulcer after weeks of punishing physical activity with very little food. "We were conned by their fraudulent claims and will go to our graves regretting our gullibility
By Ken Dilanian, USA TODAY
October 10, 2007
WASHINGTON — Members of Congress from both parties reacted with outrage Wednesday to wrenching testimony from parents of children who died in residential programs for troubled teens, saying a federal law may be needed to remedy a lack of oversight.
"I can't think of any testimony that we have heard in this committee that has caused a greater sense of anger and sorrow," said Democrat George Miller of California, chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, moments after hearing three parents recount the deaths of their teenagers in wilderness therapy programs designed to help them.
Rep. Buck McKeon, the ranking Republican, said he does not like to expand the role of the federal government, "but there are some times when it has to happen."
VIDEO: Parents detail torture at boot camps
Several states don't regulate private wilderness programs, boot camps and therapeutic boarding schools, which enroll thousands of children each year and have been the subject of what the Government Accountability Office (GAO) called "widespread" allegations of abuse and neglect. No law prevents operators who have been disciplined in one state from setting up shop in another — something investigators say happens often.
Jan Moss, executive director of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs, said the industry wants state regulation. Her group represents 180 facilities that serve 16,000 children.
"Among our goals is the complete elimination of the abuses and neglectful practices we have heard about today," she said. "Clearly, we have a long way to go."
The GAO on Wednesday presented the committee with the results of their investigation into the industry. The congressional investigative agency selected 10 deaths to examine in depth and found reckless practices, inadequate training and misleading marketing. It also found what Rep. Todd Platts, R-Pa., called "horrific" examples of abuse.
"If you walked in partway through my presentation, you might have assumed I was talking about human rights violations in a Third World country," said Gregory Kutz, a GAO investigator.
Kutz said there is no comprehensive nationwide data on deaths and injuries in residential treatment programs. The GAO identified 1,619 incidents of child abuse in such settings that were reported to the Department of Health and Human Services in 2005, but reporting is voluntary and not all states comply. Auditors found thousands of allegations in lawsuits, websites and state records, he said.
"Examples of abuse include youth being forced to eat their own vomit, denied adequate food, being forced to lie in urine or feces, being kicked, beaten and thrown to the ground," Kutz said, adding that one teen was reportedly "forced to use a toothbrush to clean a toilet, then forced to use that toothbrush on their own teeth."
In several cases examined by the GAO, staff was untrained to detect medical emergencies. "As a result, many of these kids died slowly while program management and staff continued to believe that they were faking it," Kutz said.
Kutz spoke forcefully, more in the manner of a prosecutor than a government auditor. Among the slides he presented to lawmakers was the grisly photo of a 15-year-old California girl who was left for 18 hours on a dirt road after collapsing from dehydration in 1990.
The three parents who testified — Bob Bacon, Cynthia Harvey and Paul Lewis — each choked up as they told of sending their troubled teenagers against their will into "tough love" wilderness programs. Each warned parents to avoid such programs until government rules can assure parents they are safe.
"His mother and I will never escape our decision to send our gifted 16-year-old son to his death," Bacon said, speaking of son Aaron, who died from an untreated perforated ulcer after weeks of punishing physical activity with very little food. "We were conned by their fraudulent claims and will go to our graves regretting our gullibility
Monday, October 8, 2007
Congressional Hearing: Tough Love or Teen Torment: Will the Industry Finally Be Regulated?
Article
Posted October 8, 2007
By Maia Szalavitz
Congress is finally looking into the "troubled teen" industry and the deaths, human rights abuses and other problems that have occurred in teen "boot camps" "wilderness programs" and other "tough love" residential settings. In many states, these institutions are less regulated than dog kennels and nail salons.
On Wednesday, Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, will hold a full committee investigative hearing and present results from a Government Accountability Office report that he commissioned. The investigation promises to be revealing-- and may be highly unfavorable to industry claims that it can regulate itself.
My book, Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids (Riverhead, 2006), was the first to expose systematic problems in the industry and the complete lack of regulatory oversight on programs that are essentially private jails for kids. The book helped spur Miller's push for legislation.
As it stands now, there is more federal regulation protecting mule deer than there is preserving the rights of children in these institutions. Anyone can open one-- there are no qualifications required, nor criminal background checks. Some owners have even made deals with prosecutors and regulators to stay away from their facilities, due to accusations of sexual and other kinds of child abuse. But they were not made to leave the industry!
And no legal authority is required to inspect these facilities or see to it that kids are well-treated in them.
Teens placed in these settings do not have any right to appeal their confinement: they may be held without contact with the outside world until they turn 18.
Moreover, in the programs, they are often subject to "therapies" that many consider torturous: food deprivation, sleep deprivation, total isolation, punitive restraint and constant emotional and even sexual humiliation. When such tactics are used on suspected terrorists, there is a human rights outcry-- but these programs have done everything short of water-boarding kids with impunity for decades.
For example, one girl was made to dress as a prostitute, wearing a nametag that said "Shameful Slut." "Slut, 25 cents" was written on her skin in lipstick. Boys had to yell "slut" and "ho" and "bitch" at her. Others were made to wear diapers and boys were dressed in drag and called "faggot." In another program, a girl was gagged with Kotex; another was made to clean toilets with her bare hands. Some children had to use their toothbrushes first to scrub the floors, then their teeth.
That's not to mention the dozens of gruesome deaths that have occurred because "tough love" ideology does not accept the idea that teens ever have legitimate medical complaints. One boy lost control of his urine and bowels as he began to die-- and was humiliated for it by program staff, saying he was doing it deliberately. Another, also accused of faking, had two and a half quarts of pus in his chest when he was autopsied.
Right now, of course, seven boot camp guards and a nurse in Florida are on trial for manslaughter in another death-- that of a 14-year-old boy who couldn't complete required exercises and was beaten and forced to inhale ammonia to prove he wasn't faking. He died proving it.
I hope that these hearings will bring national attention to this issue. Hundreds of thousands of teens have been sent over the last 30 years-- and the industry continues to grow. There is no proof that its "product" helps anyone-- and a great deal of research suggesting that the programs may be causing significant harm.
We don't allow amateurs to diagnose and treat physical illnesses-- so why are we letting untrained people have total control, with no checks and balances, over vulnerable teens who have no way of contesting their confinement? I will have more after the hearings.
Posted October 8, 2007
By Maia Szalavitz
Congress is finally looking into the "troubled teen" industry and the deaths, human rights abuses and other problems that have occurred in teen "boot camps" "wilderness programs" and other "tough love" residential settings. In many states, these institutions are less regulated than dog kennels and nail salons.
On Wednesday, Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, will hold a full committee investigative hearing and present results from a Government Accountability Office report that he commissioned. The investigation promises to be revealing-- and may be highly unfavorable to industry claims that it can regulate itself.
My book, Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids (Riverhead, 2006), was the first to expose systematic problems in the industry and the complete lack of regulatory oversight on programs that are essentially private jails for kids. The book helped spur Miller's push for legislation.
As it stands now, there is more federal regulation protecting mule deer than there is preserving the rights of children in these institutions. Anyone can open one-- there are no qualifications required, nor criminal background checks. Some owners have even made deals with prosecutors and regulators to stay away from their facilities, due to accusations of sexual and other kinds of child abuse. But they were not made to leave the industry!
And no legal authority is required to inspect these facilities or see to it that kids are well-treated in them.
Teens placed in these settings do not have any right to appeal their confinement: they may be held without contact with the outside world until they turn 18.
Moreover, in the programs, they are often subject to "therapies" that many consider torturous: food deprivation, sleep deprivation, total isolation, punitive restraint and constant emotional and even sexual humiliation. When such tactics are used on suspected terrorists, there is a human rights outcry-- but these programs have done everything short of water-boarding kids with impunity for decades.
For example, one girl was made to dress as a prostitute, wearing a nametag that said "Shameful Slut." "Slut, 25 cents" was written on her skin in lipstick. Boys had to yell "slut" and "ho" and "bitch" at her. Others were made to wear diapers and boys were dressed in drag and called "faggot." In another program, a girl was gagged with Kotex; another was made to clean toilets with her bare hands. Some children had to use their toothbrushes first to scrub the floors, then their teeth.
That's not to mention the dozens of gruesome deaths that have occurred because "tough love" ideology does not accept the idea that teens ever have legitimate medical complaints. One boy lost control of his urine and bowels as he began to die-- and was humiliated for it by program staff, saying he was doing it deliberately. Another, also accused of faking, had two and a half quarts of pus in his chest when he was autopsied.
Right now, of course, seven boot camp guards and a nurse in Florida are on trial for manslaughter in another death-- that of a 14-year-old boy who couldn't complete required exercises and was beaten and forced to inhale ammonia to prove he wasn't faking. He died proving it.
I hope that these hearings will bring national attention to this issue. Hundreds of thousands of teens have been sent over the last 30 years-- and the industry continues to grow. There is no proof that its "product" helps anyone-- and a great deal of research suggesting that the programs may be causing significant harm.
We don't allow amateurs to diagnose and treat physical illnesses-- so why are we letting untrained people have total control, with no checks and balances, over vulnerable teens who have no way of contesting their confinement? I will have more after the hearings.
Friday, October 5, 2007
MORE CAICA NEWS: Missouri boot camp under national scrutiny
MO boot camp under nat'l scrutiny
Posted: Thursday, October 04, 2007 at 4:20 p.m.
KANSAS CITY, MO. (AP) -- Former employees of a northwest Missouri boot camp where a teenager died say they have been questioned by federal investigators.
The workers say they were told the Thayer Learning Center is a key focus of an investigation into boot camps for troubled teens.
An attorney for the facility says Thayer officials have fully cooperated with investigators from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
The investigators recently visited the facility in the town of Kidder and interviewed students.
The General Accountability Office is the investigative arm of Congress. The investigation into residential treatment programs for children came at the request of Congressman George Miller of California.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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