these are independent run cults that make up their own rules. they are not regulated at all. It's important to make this a FEDERAL issue because trying to work with certain states where these cults are located may produce minimal results... ex. Wyoming & Utah. i know, because i traveled out there to investigate myself... i called Provo Utah & disguised myself as a parent who was thinking about sending my kids there... i don't even have kids but i pretended i was Sam Roberts & spoke with a Southern accent... i even said, "Well, if my kids step out of line, make sure and give them a good beatin" i did this to see what their response would be..... NO JOKE, 100% TRUE STORY.... their response: "no problem, we will do that sir if need be" i couldn't believe it... i even recorded that conversation & brought it to Utah with no results... Now, i know a little bit more about the law to say the least, i only wish i kept that recording.... seriously, this needs to end!!!
prisoner of war cams which mentally abuse children while not allowing them due process is a violation of the United States Constitution. HR 911 needs to be passed to protect the most vulnerable of residents-children.
If ever there is a time for over-site the time is NOW, we have a need for the homes, but there MUST be over sight for the temptation for abuse is rampant!
I was put in a "residential treatment center" (a facility for troubled teenagers with dual diagnoses) and then a "therapeutic boarding school" (again, a facility for troubled teenagers with dual diagnoses), despite that I had never once done drugs or even drank alcohol. I was placed there by my parents against my will, simply because I have fibromyalgia and my parents did not know how to deal with it. These facilities spew false promises to the parents of teens. I cannot express how much this residential treatment center and the therapeutic boarding school have damaged me. These facilities are downright sickening and MUST be regulated.
These facilities need to be governed by some entity. When these establishments are allowed to operate ungoverned, it results in the reports of abuses by staff.
Please read "Reform at Victory: a Survivor's Story" by Michele Ulriksen for an account of the horrible psychological cruelty and emotional damage caused by places like this. Shockingly, they get away with it simply because they claim to be "helping youth" and because many of them are religious institutions.
As a former abused inmate of a youth detention facility, and as one who is aware of the goings on of many others who are similarly incarcerated and abuse, I urge you to pass this measure with firmness and expediency.
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.
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.
I remember reading about these scary places a few years back. Some of them will con the parents into sending kids there on the grounds of "being possibly at risk for drug use" - this is before they've ever done anything! It's a nightmare. These places just let the inmates torture each other, they don't even have to hire counselors that way. These places ought to be outlawed. At the very least, they need to be regulated.
I have a niece in Turning Winds in Montana. I have found out that children have died and tortured at the hands of these people. At 13, I was put into a reform school run by nuns -- and that was just the beginning of my being dragged through the system, abused, raped, beaten up -- for 7 consecutive years. I wish I could just pick up my niece and take her away from this hellhole. This bill is well overdue and should have been passed decades ago. Don't wait any longer!!!
Was a resident at a Mercy Ministries home in St. Louis - this organization and others like it NEED to be regulated. Too many people have been hurt...we need to do something about this.
If we don't take all necessary safeguards to protect youth in "reform" schools, boot camps and the like, abuse is going to occur and we as a society will be responsible for "letting" this happen. Abuse and neglect don't reform; instead it breeds more anger, frustration, and ultimately hopelessness and rage that will be vented on society.
To learn why this is so important, read the articles at http://reformatvictory.com/
One of the main predators mentioned on that website was very close to starting a facility in my town when he was exposed by the media.
Too many individuals have suffered through the abuse wrought by these facilities and come out irreparably traumatized. It is time that an end is put to what often amounts to unregulated child abuse.
HR 911 Please introduce and pass in Senate
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One of the main predators mentioned on that website was very close to starting a facility in my town when he was exposed by the media.
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