HR 911 Please introduce and pass in Senate

Sign the Petition : 164 Letters and Emails Sent So Far

Private residential facilities for problem youths have become a lucrative industry in the past few decades. The industry is poorly and unevenly regulated. Some facilities escape regulation by being called boarding schools even though their real focus is behavior modification rather than education. Some are unregulated because they are wilderness camps. Some are unregulated because youths choose to go there “voluntarily” rather than being kidnapped from their homes by hired escorts. And some are unregulated because they are owned and operated by churches.

The 2009 bill, HR911, outlaws many of the abuses that have caused deaths in these programs. It prohibits disciplinary practices that withhold “essential food, water, clothing, shelter, or medical care.”

It sets limits on the use of physical and mechanical restraints and seclusion.

It requires all staff to be familiar with the signs of and appropriate responses to heatstroke, dehydration, and hypothermia. It requires the program to have policies for the provision of emergency medical care. It requires that youths be allowed to make and receive phone calls with “as much privacy as possible” and be allowed to call the state hotline to report abuses.

HR911 does not exempt church-run facilities from its requirements. It will greatly improve protection for young people in residential care, especially in Missouri, which allows church-run facilities to operate without even sanitation or food safety inspections and which has been a giant magnet for operators of abusive programs who get in trouble elsewhere.

Please consider sponsoring or co-sponsoring HR911 in the Senate; we must protect the rights and lives of all our citizens, even those too young to vote.		HR 911 Please introduce and pass in Senate

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People signing the "HR 911 Please introduce and pass in Senate" petition!

  1. Wed., Mar. 10, 2010 12:56 AM    link Helen M. | Arlington, VA

  2. Tue., Mar. 9, 2010 5:51 PM    link Phyliss D. | Jersey City, NJ

    There are better ways of dealing with the problems that trouble our youth. Being involved parents is a good start. For ouside help there are many non-abusive counseling and youth activities available. If you abuse, you only teach the young how to abuse. They will either abuse others or themselves. Stop the insanity.

  3. This comment has been reported to the site manager. It will be reviewed and removed if inappropriate. Thank you!

  4. Tue., Mar. 9, 2010 5:37 PM    link Name not displayed | Vallejo, CA

    This shouldn't be necessary, but it is.

  5. This comment has been reported to the site manager. It will be reviewed and removed if inappropriate. Thank you!

  6. Mon., Mar. 8, 2010 2:48 PM    link Misty H. | Santa Rosa, CA

  7. Fri., Mar. 5, 2010 1:05 AM    link Sarah W. | Malvern, PA

  8. Tue., Mar. 2, 2010 7:56 PM    link Mollie B. | Englewood, CO

  9. Sun., Feb. 28, 2010 9:52 PM    link Emily H. | Walnut Creek, CA

  10. Sun., Feb. 28, 2010 7:36 PM    link Sunny D. | Elwood, KS

  11. Sun., Feb. 28, 2010 1:23 AM    link Kathleen C. | Olympia, WA

  12. Sat., Feb. 27, 2010 6:47 PM    link Judy C. | Orlando, FL

  13. Sat., Feb. 27, 2010 5:23 PM    link Aimee B. | Tallahassee, FL

  14. Fri., Feb. 26, 2010 10:34 PM    link Kate G. | West Linn, OR

  15. Fri., Feb. 26, 2010 5:31 PM    link Nyah W. | San Rafael, CA

  16. Fri., Feb. 26, 2010 1:25 PM    link TRACY M. | Westmont, IL

  17. Fri., Feb. 26, 2010 12:00 AM    link Briianna C. | Winchester, VA

    Abuse creates abusers. Stop these places.

  18. This comment has been reported to the site manager. It will be reviewed and removed if inappropriate. Thank you!

  19. Tue., Feb. 23, 2010 7:54 PM    link Rachael B. | Williamsburg, VA

  20. Mon., Feb. 22, 2010 12:37 PM    link N'Lou F. | New Carlisle, OH

  21. Mon., Feb. 22, 2010 10:05 AM    link KE G. | Silver Spring, MD

  22. Fri., Feb. 12, 2010 12:32 AM    link Micheal P. | Franklin, MA

    If the government did it's job this law would not be necessary, the operators would be in jail on kidnapping and assault charges. But they don't so we need this.

  23. This comment has been reported to the site manager. It will be reviewed and removed if inappropriate. Thank you!

  24. Thu., Feb. 4, 2010 12:08 AM    link Lisa T. | Lancaster, PA

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