Date: 2008-06-24
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5876. the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs For Teens Act of 2008. Last year. a 17yearold boy in a Maryland residential program for teens became unresponsive after he was physically restrained by staff members. According to the press reports. prosecutors alleged that the staff members waited 41 minutes to call 911 because they thought the boy was faking. The boy died. A 15yearold boy in a wildernesscamp in Colorado died in May 2007 from a staph infection. According to the press reports. State authorities said the boy showed observable signs of infection that were neglected by the camp staff members. Tragically. these recent deaths are not isolated cases. The Government Accountability Office has thousands of cases and allegations of child abuse and neglect stretching back decades in teen residential programs. including boot camps. wilderness camps and therapeutic boarding schools. The Education and Labor Committee has closely examined a number of these neglect and abuse cases. including cases that resulted in the death of a child. We have heard stories about program staff members for*cing children to remain in socalled stress positions for hours at a time. to stand with bags over their heads and nooses around their necks in mock hangings. to eat foods to which they were allergic. even as they got sick. or to eat their own vomit. We have heard from parents of children who died preventible deaths at the hands of untrained. uncaring staff members. Bob Bacon testified that program staff members mocked his son. Aaron. when the 16yearold boy asked for medical help. calling him a faker. For weeks. the staff deprived Aaron of adequate food and water even though his weight loss became frighteningly apparent. When Bob and his wife Sally went to the mortuary to see their son. they found scars of abuse and dried skin stretched taut over Aarons bones. Cynthia Harvey told the Education and Labor Committee that program staff members waited 45 minutes before summoning appropriate medical care for her daughter. Erica. who had collapsed and was having difficulty breathing. Paul Lewis testified that program staff members ignored his son Ryans obvious signs of emotional distress. denying him psychiatric care that could have saved hislife. In addition to wrenching stories like these parents told. the Education and Labor Committee has also heard from adults who attended these programs as teens. They too were victims of physical and emotional abuse and witnessed other children being.abused. Madam Chairman. these abuses have been allowed to continue unchecked because of the weak patchwork of State and Federal regulations governing teen residential programs. An exhaustive 18month study by the Government Accountability Office showed that State licensing programs may exclude certain types of teen residential programs. and thus place children at higher risk of abuse and neglect. In some States. inconsistent licensing enables programs to define themselves out of the licensing altogether. According to the GAO. in Texas a program that calls itself a residential treatment center would be required to obtain a license. but if that same program were simply called a boarding school. it would not require a license. Even when licensing exists. GAO found that there may not be minimum standards to effectively prevent child abuse and neglect. Parents often send their children to these programs when they feel they have exhausted all their alternatives. Their children may be abusing drugs or alcohol. attempting to run awayor physically harm themselvesor otherwise acting out. Parents turn to these programs because of the promise that staff members will help their children straighten their lives out. And surely there are many cases in which programs do provide families with the help they need. In far too many cases. however. the very people entrusted with the safety. health. and welfare of these children are the ones who violate the trust in some of the most awful ways imaginable. We have learned a great deal from -the Government Accountability Office about programs irresponsible operating practices that put kids at risk and about the deceitful marketing practices that programs use to lure parents desperate for help for their children. The Government Accountability Office also found examples of the shady network that programs sometimes relied on. such as referral service providers that claim to offer independent services to parents but that actually have close financial or personal ties to the very programs that they are "independently recommending." We know that there are many programs and people around the country who are committed to helping improve the lives of young people and who do good work every day. But. unfortunately. it has become extremely difficult for parents to -tell the good programs from the bad. And I would remind you again that very often these parents seek nothing but the best for their children. children who are extremely difficult to handle. who have failed in other efforts and other programs to deal with their problems. So these parents have exhausted most of their options. and then they run into some of these programs which then endanger their child even though the parent is seeking the best for their child. The legislation before us today. H.R. 5876. would help keep children safe in residential. programs and help ensure that parents have information they need to make safer choices for their kids. The legislation requires the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to establish minimum standards for private programs to enforce those standards. With childrens health and safety at risk. this Federal rule is a necessary recognition that we are dealing with an emergency and we cannot wait for the States to act. These abuses have been going on for years. States have had time to act and in many instances they have failed to do so. Ultimately. however. States will be primarily responsible for carrying out the work of this bill. The legislation calls for States within 3 years to take up the role of setting standards and enforcing them on all programs. both public and private. The Health and Human Services Administration and the State standards would include prohibitions on physical. sexual. and mental abuse of children. The standards would require that programs provide children with adequate food. water. and medical care. They would require that programs have plans in place to handle medical emergencies. They would also include new training requirements for program staff members. including training on how to identify and report child abuse. The legislation requires Health and Human Services to set up a tollfree hotline for people to call to report abuse in these programs. As you can see. Madam Chair. these are minimum requirements for the health and the safety of the children that have been placed in this care. It also requires Health and Human Services to create a Web site with information about each program so that parents can look and see if. substantiated cases of abuse have occurred at a program that they are considering for their children. Finally. the legislatio. helps prevent programs from using deceptive marketing tactics to target parents. Among other things. it requires programs to disclose to parents the qualifications. roles. and responsibilities of all current staff members. and requires programs to notify parents of substantiated reports of child abuse or violations of health and safety laws. The legislation has the strong support of the American Association of Residential Centers. One of the association board members. Dr. Christopher Bellonci. testified in support of the legislation earlier this year. He said. and I quote. "The goal of this legislation is to ensure that children are not abused in these treatment settings. not to limit access to appropriate. regulated. and licensed residential care for children who are in need of these services. All of us working in licensed residential centers should support this goal." Madam Chairman. we have a responsibility to keep children safe no matter what setting they are in. and today we are taking an important step towards finally ending the horrific abuses that have gone on far too long in residential programs for teens. I want to thank Congresswoman MCCARTHY of our committee for her hard work on this legislation. and I want to thank Congressman MCKEON for his effort. And we will be offering a managers amendment later that I think will help make this bill bipartisan and helps deal with some of the concerns that people had with the legislation. So I want to thank Congressman McKEON and his staff. I reserve the balance of my time.