FTC Releases First Federal Guide to Help Parents Make Safe Choices When Choosing a Residential Treatment Program for Their Children
Guide Issued as Part of FTC Investigation Requested by Chairman Miller

Thursday, July 3, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Reps. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities, issued the following statement today after the Federal Trade Commission released the first-ever federal consumer guide to assist parents in choosing a safe residential treatment program for their children.

Miller, who along with McCarthy is the author of recently passed legislation to protect teens attending residential treatment programs, first called for the FTC to investigate deceptive marketing practices used by these programs last fall. Miller also requested investigations by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which uncovered thousands of cases and allegations of child abuse in recent years at teen residential programs, and revealed that these programs may be using questioning marketing tactics to lure vulnerable parents desperate to find help for their children. 

“Parents deserve every assurance that they have entrusted the safety, health, and welfare of their child to a reputable and qualified treatment program. Unfortunately, as the GAO found, in far too many cases, residential treatment programs have violated parents’ trust in some of the worst ways imaginable. With this consumer guide, parents will be able to better navigate the myriad of programs and make safer choices for their teens.”

“Parents also need and deserve greater transparency when researching and choosing which residential treatment programs would be the best fit for their children. The legislation we passed last month would help prevent deceptive marketing practices and require programs to provide parents with full and fair information about the qualifications, roles and responsibilities of their staff.”

Miller and McCarthy’s legislation, the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008 (H.R. 6358), would establish minimum standards for preventing child abuse and neglect at teen residential programs,  Among other things, the bill would require programs to disclose to parents the qualifications, roles, and responsibilities of all current staff members. For more information on this bill and on past GAO investigations, click here.

To view the Federal Trade Commission’s Guide to Help Parents Make Safe Choices When Choosing a Residential Treatment Program for Their Children, click here.

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