I have multiple reports of physical abuse at a troubled teen facility. Every government office I have contacted has told me that they don’t have jurisdiction.
The parents sign an agreement acknowledging that their children may be restrained or injured. There is basically no accreditation - only the Joint Commission, which is a private organization that will give their seal of approval to anyone who will fork over the cash. It takes Medicaid and gets school free lunch - so it’s taking government money, but not accountable to the government?
It’s a “partial hospitalization program.” Not a hospital enough to be regulated as a hospital, not a school enough to be regulated as a school… you can just buy a building, call yourself this, and no one can stop you from doing whatever you want?
The people running it did used to run a hospital for the state - they were shut down after they killed a kid. I believe they’ve killed a kid this year, based on conversations with former employees, but I don’t think anyone had the authority to look into it?
I forwarded a few accounts of abuse to Aetna, who cover services there, but this is the email I got. I’m not a member.
I’ve been trying to get this facility investigated for more than a year. I’ve contacted journalists, I’ve filed Open Records Requests, talked to multiple child advocacy organizations, CPS, the state medical association… the answer I keep getting is “we can’t do anything about it, we don’t have jurisdiction.”
I don’t understand why it’s legal to run essentially black box torture facilities for children.
Try talking to the local representatives at every level—city/county/state/national. Schedule an in-person meeting if you can. Bring documents to back things up and a one-page summary of the most important points.
Have you tried journalists from ProPublica? They do investigations into these kinds of things.
Look for support groups for people who’ve been through these kinds of places. They may resources/contacts.
See also: troubled teen camps.
Contact your State Attorney General’s office, maybe?
Probably matters what state but where I am the State AGs office does Medicare fraud, civil rights violations etc.
I went to a small hyper religious troubled teen place late 2000 to early 2001 they were shut down years later. I was lucky and after a few years stopped being religious, and have had a good life since, tbf I wasn’t that troubled compared to some.
What broke my heart was seeing a person who was in the program when I was going back and testifying/confessing about her sin and having backslide referring to being a lesbian and it just made me so sad that they programmed her to hate her very nature.
You use the media and public pressure to force action. First stop is to gather every piece of evidence you have and put it in one place. Something eye catching as a domain name. And then you start contacting the media and sending them there.
There’s been a couple documentaries on these schools. It takes students who have been through these programs literal years of dedication to make action happen. And this is with all sorts of evidence.
If you want a first-hand account of the full experience of a student, along with what they had to go through to get action taken (including being chased out of the country!), you can go to elan.school (cw: strong physical/mental abuse)
The people behind these schools have mafia levels of power and will literally disappear students back into their schools. If you’re not a previous student, you might have better ability to approach the situation since they don’t know you, but just be careful.
Thank you for posting that webcomic link. I knew in general terms how bad the troubled teen industry is, but the abuse described (which I 100% believe to be an honest retelling) is hair raising. I started reading it the day you posted it, but didn’t finish until now because I had to keep taking mental health breaks.
I have PTSD as well and there’s something really, I don’t want to use the word comforting, therapeutic? about seeing other people express so well what it’s like, even if emotionally it’s also kind of like looking at the sun.
I read through the series as it released and it was tense having to wait another week every time to find out what happened. He’s doing a physical release and I was lucky enough to get in on the pre-release run before the publisher gets their hands on it, so it’s 1:1 with the retelling on the site.
Don’t read what’s at that link if you aren’t willing to do some incredibly heavy and depressing reading. It’s also quite long. So while I do recommend reading it, you should be aware that this isn’t something you can casually consume with any amount of empathy.
Yeah, I should have prefaced that. His storytelling is some of the strongest I’ve read and it opened my eyes to the lengths they go through to hide their actions and how adults will write it off as tough love, claiming these are all exaggerated stories. I’ve tried to tell friends and even some of them initially dismissed it.
I’ll add a note.
I went there as a kid. They know who I am at this point.
CEO attempted a protective order on me, LOL. I’ve never spoken to her or been in her vicinity, but pathological liars going to do what they do best. It was really weird - I wasn’t notified or anything, just was checking to see what my court records looked like and I guess she tried something. When I have money I’ll have to go up to the court house and try to get a copy of whatever she said.
It baffles my Brazilian mind that you have to pay to look through public court orders
Literally every step of this year long journey to get this facility investigated has been “you need to pay for a lawyer” from state agencies.
Like, I’m sorry, I thought sending kids home from school covered in unexplained bruises would be a crime? Like fuck, I’m working two jobs and can’t afford a fucking mattress, but I seem to be spending more time on the child protective things than the people who have salaries and health insurance for this? And you also want me to pay money?
it’s not legal look into agape, etc.
Also don’t hesitate to reach out to the joint commission. (jcaho)
