Recommended Reading and Links about Residential Programs for Teens

Concerns about Protecting Youth in Residential Care

ASTART Facts and Warning Signs (PDF)
Learn to protect your child by reviewing the warning signs of abusive residential programs for teens.

Treatment Research Lacks Good Science (PDF)
Biased research commonly promoted by treatment programs was not conducted using accepted scientific methods and standards. 

Deceptive Marketing in the Troubled Teen Business (PDF)
Undisclosed financial relationships, manipulative sales tactics and misrepresenting staff qualifications are too common in the troubled teen industry.

Legal Issues in Residential Placement (PDF)
Attorney Phil Elberg discusses legal issues faced by families with teens in residential programs.

When a Client/Patient Has Spent Time in a Residential Treatment or Wilderness Program (PDF)
Vital information for mental health and medical professionals who provide services to teens and young adults who have spent time in residential programs or wilderness programs for "troubled teens." These teens may suffer PTSD and other trauma-related symptoms.

Joint Commission "Gold Seal" Concerns (PDF)
ASTART reviews The Joint Commission’s “Gold Seal of Approval.” All accreditations, certifications and licensing must be checked at their source to determine what, specifically, is covered. Do not accept information about certification given to you by a residential program or its website. It is easy to be misled.

Protecting Youth in Unlicensed, Unregulated RTF (PDF)

Still Shackled in the Land of Liberty - Wanda Mohr (PDF)

Unlicensed Residential Programs The Next Challenge in Protecting Youth (PDF)

ASTART Overview of the Troubled Teen Industry 2010 (PowerPoint Slides)
ASTART Overview of the Troubled Teen Industry 2010 (PDF)

Exploitation of Youth and Families in Unregulated Private Residential Treatment Facilities (PDF). A Capitol Hill press briefing, ASTART, 2005.  

Research 

The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked by Congress to investigate reports of abuse, maltreatment, neglect, torture and death in programs for troubled teens. The GAO's forensic experts produced three reports that were delivered to Congress:

GAO Report: Concerns Regarding Abuse and Death in Certain Programs for Troubled Youth Oct 2007 (PDF)

GAO Report: Residential Programs Selected Cases of Death, Abuse and Deceptive Marketing Apr 2008 (PDF)

GAO Report: State and Federal Oversight Gaps May Increase Risk to Youth Well-being Apr 2008 (PDF)

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry: Unlicensed Residential Programs The Next Challenge in Protecting Youth (PDF). Read also Summary Article of American Journal of Orthopsychiatry (PDF)

A Summary of Participant Perspectives on Residential Treatment for Youth by Allison Pinto, PhD

Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General 1999 (Includes Evaluation of Residential Treatment) 
The Surgeon General’s Report concluded that, “Given the limitations of current research, it is premature to endorse the effectiveness of residential treatment for adolescents.”

Counselor Magazine: Confrontation  Doesn't Work in Addiction Treatment

Improving the Effectiveness of Juvenile Justice Programs - Evidence-based Practice (Link to PDF) 

Parents' Stories

Read accounts from parents who enrolled their children in wilderness programs and therapeutic boarding schools for troubled teens.

Parents Speak Out

Testimony of Parent Bob Bacon (PDF)
Bob Bacon’s son Aaron died after what criminal investigators described as 21 days of ruthless and relentless physical and psychological abuse and neglect.

Testimony of Parent Cynthia Clark-Harvey (PDF)
Cynthia Clark-Harvey's daughter Erica died of heat stroke with dehydration in the Nevada wilderness, hours away from emergency medical help. “Tough love” staff failed to act when Erica became ill on a strenuous hike, saying she was faking her symptoms.

Testimony of Parent Paul Lewis (PDF)
Paul Lewis sought help for his son, Ryan, who suffered from depression. Ryan took his own life seven days after being enrolled in a residential program for teens. Staff had failed to take common sense precautions to protect him.

Parent Ann Loftin’s Story (PDF)
After placement in three residential programs for teens and a separate $40,000 in-patient evaluation, Ann Loftin’s son “James” had not improved, was not learning, and would no longer call her “Mom.” Fortunately, she was able to find qualified, competent, safe and appropriate care for him in a nonprofit residential program close to home.

Parent Cristine Gomez Story (PDF)
Cristine Gomez found that untrained staff without skills to work with mental illness worked at the program where her son was placed. She was paying the program hundreds in extra fees for extra counseling when most of the time he was in the isolation room. When he left the program, he was 16 months behind academically.

Parent Crystal Manganaro Story (PDF)
Crystal Manganaro's son Matthew died in a Texas program due to a "lack of training, compassion and effort." Crystal wants other parents to be aware of the dangers of wilderness programs for troubled teens.

Articles 

Confrontation in Addiction Treatment, Counselor Magazine, October 2007

Closure in the Mount Bachelor Academy Case Dec 2010 (PDF)

Follow-up in Mount Bachelor Case July 2011 (PDF) 

The Cult that Spawned the Tough-Love Teen Industry

Science Behind Teen Brains and Behavior, National Geographic Oct 2011

Read News Page here.

Positive Approaches for Community-based Care 

Systems of Care
The system of care model involves collaboration across agencies, families, and youths for the purpose of improving access and expanding the array of coordinated community-based, culturally and linguistically competent services and supports for children and youth with a serious emotional disturbance and their families. Systems of care engage families and youth in partnership with public and private organizations to design mental health services and supports that are effective, that build on the strengths of individuals, and that address each person's cultural and linguistic needs. A system of care helps children, youth, and families function better at home, in school, in the community, and throughout life.

National Wraparound Initiative
The wraparound process aims to achieve positive outcomes by providing a structured, creative and individualized team planning process that, compared to traditional treatment planning, results in plans that are more effective and more relevant to the child and family. Wraparound aims to develop the problem-solving skills, coping skills, and self-efficacy of the young people and family members with an emphasis on integrating the youth into the community and building the family’s social support network. 

NAMI: Building Bridges Between Residential and Community Based Service Delivery Providers, Families and Youth
In order to address the historical tensions between residential- and community-based service providers and systems, a meeting was held to better integrate and link residential (out-of-home) and community-based services and supports.

State and Federal Legislation

H.R. 3126 Stop Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2011, U.S. House (PDF)
Read the text of this legislation to prohibit sexual, physical and emotional abuse and ban the use of deprivation — of food, sleep, clothing and shelter, for example — as punishment or for any other reason. The use of physical restraint would be permitted only for safety, and all programs would be required to provide residents with "reasonable" access to a telephone. It would require staff to be educated about what specifically counts as child abuse and how to report it, and mandate programs to disclose staff qualifications to parents.

S. 1667 Stop Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2011, U.S. Senate (PDF)
Read the text of this legislation to prohibit sexual, physical and emotional abuse and ban the use of deprivation — of food, sleep, clothing and shelter, for example — as punishment or for any other reason. The use of physical restraint would be permitted only for safety, and all programs would be required to provide residents with "reasonable" access to a telephone. It would require staff to be educated about what specifically counts as child abuse and how to report it, and mandate programs to disclose staff qualifications to parents.

Stop Child Abuse In Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009. Passed with broad bipartisan support by the 111th U.S. Congress and referred to the U.S. Senate for action. Unfortunately, in 2009 the Senate adjourned before taking action on this bill. See how your representative voted.

Advocacy 

The Alliance to Prevent Restraint, Aversive Interventions and Seclusion

Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law 

Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Youth (CAFETY)

TASH: Equity, Opportunity and Inclusion for People with Disabilities

National Disability Rights Network How and When to Find Help in Your State

National Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health

Mental Health America

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

National Alliance on Mental Illness

National Youth Rights Association

Mental Health Resources

ASTART Mental Health and Family Resource Links (PDF) A summary of links to finding help in your area, and helping resources available online.

System of Care Issues Brief: A Framework For System Reform in Children’s Mental Health (PDF)

Helping Youth be Healthy, Caring and Responsible

Search Institute's "40 Developmental Assets for Adolescents": The Importance of Family and Community in Healthy Youth Development. Search Institute has identified the building blocks of healthy development—known as Developmental Assets—that help youth grow up healthy, caring, and responsible.

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Risk factors and delinquency prevention tips and resources.

Government Publications

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Residential Programs.  

National Disability Rights Network How and When to Find Help in Your State

Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management Wilderness Program Rules

Building Bridges Initiative

Building Bridges Joint Resolution (PDF)

Building Bridges Tip Sheet for Families Considering a Residential Program (PDF)

Building Bridges Inside Info on Residential Programs from Youth Who Have Been There (PDF)

Federal Trade Commission "Considering a Private Residential Treatment Program for Your Teen?" (PDF)

SAMSHA Fact Sheets (coming soon)

Books, Videos, Films, TV, Audio, Blog Links

VIEW our Videos page here. Also for films, TV and audio links.

Book: Help At Any Cost; How the Troubled Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids, Maia Szalivitz
Definitive expose of the troubled teen industry.

Book: Boot Camp, Todd Strasser
A novel about a tough love program for troubled teens.

Book: Jesusland, Julia Scheeres
A memoir of the author's experiences in a foreign, religious-based program. 

Book: Gone to the Crazies, Alison Weaver
Alison Weaver's privileged upbringing hid the darker undertones of her childhood until her parents shipped her away, at fifteen, to the cultish Cascade School, warping her perception of reality.

Book: An American Gulag: Secret P.O.W. Camps for Teens, Alexia Parks
In America, it's open season on children. Children have become the cash crop for a rising industry of child abuse, that targets anxious or worried parents of "defiant," "angry," "depressed," or "troubled" youth. Vulnerable, frightened children, are abducted from home or school, are sent like prisoners-of-war to rural, remote schools and camps throughout America. Behind closed doors, with no one to witness their pain and suffering, these captive children may suffer abuse, sexual abuse, and torture at the hands of strangers.

TV site blog: ABC Reports on Congressional Hearings 2007

Graphic arts blog: Adolescents and Depression 

Last updated 5/15/14.