It is sad to think that
in 2008
there exists in America an
industry where children are
locked up for years at a time
at the sole discretion of their
parents. These children and
teens are not given due process
nor is there any governing
agency monitoring who goes
into these programs, and most
importantly, who comes out.
There is no governing agency
that monitors the activity in
these programs, no governing
agency determining if these
programs are causing more
harm than good.
Founder & President
Isabelle Zehnder
Tags:
troubled teens
teen abuse
help for teens
GAO
help your teen
struggling teens
struggling teen
teen dating
ADD
ADHD
restraints
child abuse
parents
child abuse
deaths
restraints
residential treatment programs
therapeutic boarding schools
boot camps
human rights
Congressman George Miller
stop child abuse in residential treatment programs act of 2008
If anyone has more recent information about this story, please forward it to CAICA at
info@caica.org.
Gabriel's death occurred in April 2008 and no news articles were discovered until June 2008. There has
been no news since June that we are aware of and would like any updated information. Thank you.
Caleb
Jensen died last year at Alternative Youth Adventures. His
mother has
agonized over his death, questioning how it could have happened. Today,
she welcomes the indictments but said “I still battle ... I don’t know
how to
tell myself 'You just have to understand that you’re not going to have
Caleb
back.’ I want him back so much, it hurts. It’s not easier or better.
Somehow
we find a way to get through every day.”
As a result of the Grand Jury
investigation, numerous charges have been filed
in Caleb's death including:
Community Education Centers,
Inc. indicted for the crimes of Criminally
Negligent Homicide, and child abuse resulting in death.
Alternative Youth Adventures Inc has been indicted for the crimes of
Criminally Negligent Homicide, and child abuse resulting in death.
Dr. Keith Hooker has been indicted for the crimes of Criminally
Negligent
Homicide, and child abuse resulting in death.
Mr. James Omer has been indicted for the crimes of Criminally Negligent
Homicide, and child abuse resulting in death.
Mr. Ben Askins has been indicted for the crimes of Manslaughter, and
child
abuse resulting in death.
The DA's office says possible penalties for these crimes range from one
to
12 years in the Department of Corrections, plus parole with possible
fines
up to $750,000.
The scheduled first appearance for these individuals is August 25th in
Montrose District Court.
A bill to protect children and teens has passed in
the House!
Residential programs for troubled teens will be getting
more scrutiny from Congress this week, where
investigators will reveal the results of an undercover
investigation.
Some of the outfits, which
purport to help troubled
children, have generated hundreds of allegations of
death and physical, sexual and emotional abuse, ABC
News reported last October.
Research has uncovered, and families have
reported:
▪
There are no laws to protect the children
outside the US ▪
Many facilities are not licensed and there
is no oversight
▪
Children often lose their basic human rights
▪
Many have no privacy to use the restroom
or shower ▪
Children
lose contact with the outside world ▪
Once phone calls with parents are finally
allowed, usually
3-6 months after the child enters the program, they are
censored; children lose all other
verbal contact with the
outside world
▪
Children’s letters to extended family and
friends are usually
not delivered, and mail is censored ▪
Many have spent months on their faces in
isolation
NATIONAL CRISIS: For years we have been saying, "It's time
to Wake Up America!"
Parents
considering placing their child or teen into any residential treatment
program or facility away from home are urged to read CAICA's
Message to Parents.
The CAICA website is dedicated to promoting awareness of injuries and
deaths
to children and youth in treatment programs, schools, the juvenile justice system,
and other settings, and to increase our resolve to reform programs and promote
safety for all
children and youth. We welcome families, researchers, academics,
media, attorneys, and
advocates to use the information on this website.
We hope that the information on
this website will provide incentive to parents
nationwide to carefully scrutinize programs offered to their children, to demand
better
accountability, and to work for systems reform so that we understand
what is happening, why
it is happening, and how we achieve positive change.
The actual number of incidents
of injuries and deaths due to restraints, seclusion,
aversives, and coercive interventions to children and youth in treatment programs,
schools, the juvenile justice system, and other settings, remains unknown. It is
suspected that
those reported to the media are only the tip of the iceberg and
that the tip of the iceberg
itself is not routinely archived.
The GAO’s Results in Brief
stated: “Improper restraint and seclusion can be
dangerous to both people receiving treatment and staff, but the full extent of
related
injuries and deaths is unknown. There is no comprehensive reporting
system to track such
injuries and deaths or the rates of restraint and seclusion
use by facility. Because reporting
is so fragmentary, we believe many more
deaths related to restraint or seclusion may occur.
Data on use of restraint and
seclusion are also fragmentary because most facilities are not
required to report
these data to oversight agencies.”
CAICA is responding to the GAO’s
calls. Until we improve data collection and
achieve a national database, this website is dedicated to beginning that process
by
archiving as much information as we can collect from a variety of sources.
CAICA thanks its many volunteers
for their hard work and dedication to helping
to achieve our goals, and for its many supporters.
Hearing on "Child Abuse and
Deceptive Marketing by Residential Programs for Teens,"
scheduled at 10:00 a.m. in room 2175 Rayburn H.O.B. Witnesses to be
announced.
On October 10, 2007, The
Committee of Education and Labor held a hearing on
cases of child abuse and neglect at private Residential Treatment
Facilities. Click
hereto watch the
Congressional hearing
ABSTRACT OF GAO REPORT:
Click here for highlights of
their report;
Click here for full report of prelim findings.
Residential treatment programs
provide a range of services, including drug and
alcohol treatment, confidence building, military-style discipline, and
psychological
counseling for troubled boys and girls with a variety of addiction,
behavioral, and
emotional problems. This testimony concerns programs across the country
referring
to themselves as wilderness therapy programs, boot camps, and academies,
among
other names. Many cite positive outcomes associated with specific types
of
residential treatment. There are also allegations regarding the abuse and
death of
youth enrolled in residential treatment programs. Given concerns about
these
allegations, particularly in reference to private programs, the Committee
asked the
General Accountability Office (GAO) to (1) verify whether allegations of
abuse and
death at residential treatment programs are widespread and (2) examine
the facts
and circumstances surrounding selected closed cases where a teenager died
while
enrolled in a private program. To achieve these objectives, GAO conducted
numerous
interviews and examined documents from closed cases dating as far back as
1990,
including police reports, autopsy reports, and state agency oversight
reviews and
investigations. GAO did not attempt to evaluate the benefits of
residential treatment
programs or verify the facts regarding the thousands of allegations it
reviewed.
GAO found thousands of
allegations of abuse, some of which involved death, at
residential treatment programs across the country and in American-owned
and
American-operated facilities abroad between the years 1990 and 2007.
Allegations
included reports of abuse and death recorded by state agencies and the
Department
of Health and Human Services, allegations detailed in pending civil and
criminal trials
with hundreds of plaintiffs, and claims of abuse and death that were
posted on the
Internet. For example, during 2005 alone, 33 states reported 1,619 staff
members
involved in incidents of abuse in residential programs. GAO could not
identify a more
concrete number of allegations because it could not locate a single Web
site, federal
agency, or other entity that collects comprehensive nationwide data. GAO
also
examined, in greater detail, 10 closed civil or criminal cases from 1990
through 2004
where a teenager died while enrolled in a private program. GAO found
significant
evidence of ineffective management in most of the 10 cases, with program
leaders
neglecting the needs of program participants and staff. This ineffective
management
compounded the negative consequences of (and sometimes directly resulted
in) the
hiring of untrained staff; a lack of adequate nourishment; and reckless
or negligent
operating practices, including a lack of adequate equipment. These
factors played
a significant role in the deaths GAO examined.
The GAO said it is planning to
release a more comprehensive report Winter 2008 that
will provide more detail on the scope of programs and the incidents of
alleged abuse.
Other organizations are
concerned with these issues. CAICA recommends
you visit their websites:
MISSION: CAICA seeks to expose the abuse and distress of children placed in
private
and state-funded programs including but not limited to residential
facilities,
behavior modification programs, boot camps, wilderness programs,
and boarding
schools. CAICA believes that no
child should be abducted, incarcerated, abused,
neglected, or
stripped of their basic human rights for the sake of profit.
CAICA is an informational and educational website that provides news
articles, reports, etc.,
regarding children and teens abused, neglected, and who have died in
residential treatment settings
DISCLAIMER, WARNINGS, AND
NOTICE TO READERS: This website does not represent or endorse
the accuracy or reliability of any of the information, content
collectively, the "Materials") contained on, distributed through, or
linked, downloaded or accessed from any of the services contained on
this website (the "Service"). None of the contributors, sponsors,
administrators or anyone else connected with this website in any way
whatsoever can be responsible for the appearance of any inaccurate
or libelous information or for your use of the information contained
in these web pages. All information provided using this website is
only intended to be general summary information to the public.
REFERRALS:
CAICA is not a referral agency. CAICA does not refer
to or promote facilities or transport companies for children or
teens. CAICA warns parents that the parent pay / parent choice
programs ie. Residential Treatment Centers, Therapeutic Boarding
Schools, Behavior Modification Programs, Christian Programs,
Positive Peer Culture Programs, etc., are not regulated by the
Federal Government and that it is a "Buyer Beware" industry. CAICA
provides the following for parents:
Message to
Parents,
Help for Distraught and Desperate Parents,
and
Questions to Ask and Warning Signs.
Welcome to CAICA!
Residential programs for troubled teens will be getting 
