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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
2181 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-226-0853
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