GAO Report Finds Thousands of Allegations of Child Abuse at Residential Treatment Centers for Teens
Education and Labor Committee Hears Testimony from Parents of Children Who Died in the Programs

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC -- A new government report released today found thousands of allegations of child abuse at private residential treatment programs between 1990 and 2007. The report also examined in detail ten cases of child abuse and neglect that resulted in death between 1990 and 2004.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office, which prepared the report at the request of House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA), testified about its findings at a committee hearing today. Three parents whose children died in private residential programs also testified at the hearing.

There are estimated to be tens of thousands of children enrolled in private residential treatment programs – often called “boot camps,” “wilderness camps,” and “behavior modification facilities” – around the country. A weak patchwork of state regulations governs the operation of these programs.

The GAO report found that the 10 programs it examined were marked by ineffective management, untrained staff; reckless or negligent operating practices; and misleading marketing practices.

Cynthia Harvey’s daughter, Erica, was 15 years old when she died of dehydration and heat stroke at a wilderness program in Nevada. “When Erica’s eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell off the trail, head first, into rocks and scrub brush, she was left to lie where she fell for 45 minutes, while two [program] staffers, still unwilling or unable to recognize what was happening, watched Erica die a slow, painful death,” testified Harvey.

Paul Lewis’ son Ryan committed suicide at a residential school and wilderness program in West Virginia in 2001. “Our family was duped into believing that caring people would help Ryan, who was struggling with a learning disability and clinical depression. We thought these were professionals who knew what they were doing. We had no idea that their interest was profit, not healing.”

Bob Bacon’s son Aaron died at a wilderness program in Utah in 2004. According to the GAO, Aaron showed signs of physical distress for three weeks that were ignored by program staff, including a company-employed Emergency Medical Technician. In those three weeks, Aaron lost 20 percent of his body weight.

“This company-employed EMT . . . dismissed [Aaron’s] final desperate plea to see a doctor who could prove he wasn’t faking and made a conscious decision to prove a point rather than render aid, thus effectively killing our son rather than saving him.”

Miller said today that Congress must act to regulate the industry to prevent abuse from happening.

“This nightmare has remained an open secret for years. Sporadic news accounts of specific incidents have built a record that should never have been ignored, but shamefully was,” said Miller. “Without regulations, the industry as a whole will continue to present unacceptable risks to the children it serves.”

Miller requested the GAO investigation in December 2005. The GAO is expected to release a comprehensive report in early 2008.  To see a copy of Miller’s 2005 request, click here.

To see Miller’s opening statement from the hearing, click here.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Kiley / Rachel Racusen
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