House Passes Stop Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of
2009
On February 9, 2009, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) reintroduced the
Stop Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act
(HR 911) in the House of
Representatives. The bill passed the House in 2008 with a vote of
318-103. On February 11, 2009, the House Committee on Education and
Labor voted 32-10 to recommend passage of the bill. On February 23,
2009, the House of Representatives passed the bill with a floor vote of
295-102. CHADD signed the following
letter of support in favor of HR
911 as introduced in the House.
Updated February 23, 2009
Stop Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008 Passed in
House
On June 25, 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives, with bipartisan
support, passed with a vote of 318-103, the Stop Abuse in Residential
Programs for Teens Act of 2008 (HR 6358, formerly HR 5876).
HR 6358 responds to the allegations of child abuse and neglect at
private residential programs for teens with mental health needs, such as
therapeutic boarding schools, wilderness/boot camps, and behavior
modification facilities.
In a series of reports issued in April and May of 2008, the Government
Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative agency for the U.S.
Congress, found that in 2004, more than 200,000 young adults lived in
these types of residential care facilities. In 2005, according to data
submitted by thirty-four states to the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (DHHS), the states reported 1,503 incidents of abuse and
neglect in these facilities but this number is most likely
underestimated the actual occurrence of incidents given the difficulty
the GAO encountered in obtaining data from some types of programs.
Although all states have processes in place to license and monitor
certain types of residential facilities, many state agencies report gaps
in oversight of juvenile justice detention centers, and wilderness/boot
camp programs. For copies of the reports, go to
http://gao.gov/docsearch/topic.php and search reports
in the topic of Social Services dated from April 2008 to May 2008.
HR 6358 is a much needed response to ensure the proper oversight of
these programs. Although, some parents have reported success with
these programs, it is crucial that parents of children with AD/HD and
related disabilities who may be considering placing their child in a
residential behavior modification program receive accurate information
regarding the performance of the programs so they are able to make
informed choices in the best interest of their child. Parents should
check with governmental agencies before deciding to send their child to
a particular program.
HR 6358, if signed into law
will:
- Create new national standards for private residential programs.
- Prevent deceptive marketing by requiring disclosure to parents of
qualifications, roles and responsibilities of staff, and substantiated
reports of abuse and/or violations of health and safety
standards. Also, programs would have to provide a Web address or
link for a comprehensive Web site of all programs to be maintained by
DHHS.
- Hold teen residential programs accountable for violating the law by
requiring DHHS to conduct unannounced site inspections every two
years. Civil penalties would be up to $50,000 for every
violation. Also, parents will be provided the right under federal
law to sue program operators who violate national standards.
- Ask states to provide protection to teens in residential programs
through providing grants to states to develop state standards that at
minimum meet the national standards and allow for state inspection of
the programs every two years.
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