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2007 CMF Bronze Mouse Award

Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs
for Teens Act of 2008

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Tens of thousands of U.S. teenagers attend private and public residential programs – including therapeutic boarding schools, wilderness camps, boot camps, and behavior modification facilities – that are intended to help them with behavioral, emotional, or mental health problems. Depending on the state where they are located, some of these programs are regulated; some are not. As a result of this loose patchwork of regulations, reports of child abuse at the programs have frequently gone unchecked. The Government Accountability Office found thousands of allegations of child abuse and neglect at residential programs for teens between 1994 and 2007. Tragically, in a number of cases, this abuse and neglect led to the death of a child.

On June 25, 2008, the House passed the "Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008" to address this issue.

Keeping Kids Safe: Bipartisan "Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008"

To address this urgent problem, the bipartisan “Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008,” would:

Keep teens safe with new national standards for private and public residential programs

  • Prohibit programs from physically, mentally, or sexually abusing children in their care;
  • Prohibit programs from denying children essential water, food, clothing, shelter, or medical care – whether as a form of punishment or for any other reason;
  • Require that programs only physically restrain children if it is necessary for their safety or the safety of others, and to do so in a way that is consistent with existing federal law on the use of restraints;
  • Require programs to provide children with reasonable access to a telephone and inform children of their right to use the phone;
  • Require programs to train staff in understanding what constitutes child abuse and neglect and how to report it; and
  • Require programs to have plans in place to provide emergency medical care.

Prevent deceptive marketing by residential programs for teens

  • Require programs to disclose to parents the qualifications, roles, and responsibilities of all current staff members;
  • Require programs to notify parents of substantiated reports of child abuse or violations of health and safety laws; and
  • Require programs to include a link or web address for the website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which will carry information on residential programs.

Hold teen residential programs accountable for violating the law

  • Require states to inform the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of reports of child abuse and neglect at covered programs and require HHS to conduct investigations of such programs to determine if a violation of the national standards has occurred; and
  • Give HHS the authority to assess civil penalties of up to $50,000 against programs for every violation of the law.

Ask states to step in to protect teens in residential programs

Three years after enactment, the legislation would provide certain federal grant money to states only if they develop their own licensing standards (that are at least as strong as national standards) for public and private residential programs for teens and implement a monitoring and enforcement system, including conducting unannounced site inspections of all programs at least once every two years. The Department of Health and Human Services would continue to inspect programs where a child fatality has occurred or where a pattern of violations has emerged.
 

Support for H.R. 6358 (formerly H.R. 5876)