Lend your support for the Bill of Rights for Children in Residential Treatment Facilities

Each year, over 100,000 children are sent to residential treatment within the “Troubled Teen Industry,”  the network of therapeutic boarding schools, wilderness programs, residential treatment centers, and boot camps across the United States. Many of these facilities operate with little to no oversight and have long histories of abuse, neglect, and human rights violations.

This proposed federal Bill of Rights, promoted by author and activist Daniel Poyerd, seeks to establish basic, essential protections for these children. 

Daniel will be presenting this proposal directly to lawmakers, and your support can help bring the necessary attention to this issue.

Learn more about the proposal, and the Troubled Teen Industry as a whole, at ttichild.com

The Bill of Rights for Children in Residential Treatment Facilities

The following practices, when used in residential treatment facilities for minors, are hereby designated as violations of human rights, and must be federally prohibited:

1. The use of solitary confinement as punishment for minors lasting beyond two hours, unless approved by a licensed mental health professional (and then for no more than 24 hours).
   
   
2. The use of forced labor (not including minimally laborious chores lasting less than two hours per day) in the “treatment” of children.
   
   
3. The use of attack therapy, defined as a type of psychotherapy that involves highly confrontational interactions between patients and a therapist or other patients in a group setting.
   
   
4. The use of corporal punishment, defined as discipline that involves intentionally causing physical pain or discomfort to someone in response to their behavior.
   
   
5. The use of any form of emotional or psychological abuse including, but not limited to, screaming, spitting, mocking, sexual harassment, trauma reenacting, berating, knowingly making false accusations or threats, aversion therapy, personal humiliation, forcing religious beliefs or using hate speech relating to a protected class.
   
   
6. The prescription of new medication or the increase in dosage of pre-prescribed medication for minors without approval of an independent medical professional and the written consent of their parent or guardian.
   
   
7. The implementation of any practice that is intended to strip children of their personal identity or dignity, including, but not limited to, food or sleep deprivation, head shaving, unreasonable restriction on clothing, public shaming, forced isolation from other members of the treatment program or strip searches conducted by members of the opposite sex.
   
   
8. The censorship of communication between a minor and their parent or guardian, the censorship of outgoing or incoming mail (beyond reasonable and documented safety concerns), or the restriction of communication between a minor and a non-affiliated advocate.
   
   
9. The treatment of education as a privilege that must be earned through work or behavior, as well as the punitive limiting of schooling hours or the withholding of graduation opportunities, for whatever reason.
   
   
10. The lack of timely and appropriate reporting of claims of sexual, psychological or physical abuse of a minor by a fellow minor or a staff member to law enforcement.
    
    
11. The use of physical or chemical restraints for any reason beyond protection of a child or staff from harm that subsides immediately upon deescalation, as well as the lack of appropriate documentation and timely reporting of restraints to the child’s parent or guardian.
    
    
12. Any deviation from contractually agreed-upon methods that results in a human rights violation, as defined in this Bill, shall also be treated as a deceptive business practice.