CALIFORNIA IS THE ONLY STATE WITH A SEMBLANCE OF OVERSIGHT FOR ESCORTS. In response to news accounts in 1997 of a teenage boy from Oakland, Calif., who was transported against his will to Tranquility Bay, the state's legislature developed a bill to protect kids like him. The legislation would have barred escorts from using restraints that interfere with a child's "ability to see, hear, or move freely." By the time it passed, however, the bill had been amended into a toothless licensing scheme.
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CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY VOTES TO TIE PARENT?S HANDS
(June 15,1999) The California Assembly passed Bill 705, with the stated intention of establishing reasonable standards for regulating the private transport/escort of at-risk youth. It now goes to the state Senate. A section at the end of the bill would ensure that the only way an out-of-control youngster could be transported to a program to get the kind of help that is needed, is with that youngster?s permission. The result: elimination of a resource that desperate parents sometimes need in order to save their child from his/her own negative decision.
NATSAP AND OBHIC AGAINST BILL 705
(June 19, 1999) The National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP), 805-687-5825, a national organization of schools and programs for at-risk teens, and the Outdoor Behavioral Health Industry Council (OBHIC), 562-467-5519, a national association of wilderness programs, both came out strongly against California Assembly Bill 705. Both organizations are hard at work developing standards of quality and safety for private residential programs for at-risk teens, and feel strongly that passage of this bill into law in the State of California would have the effect of denying badly needed help for out-of-control teens.
http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... een03.htmlWho is NATSAP
In 1998, John Reddan wrote a paper outlining the size and scope of a possible association and asked for and received $5500 from Len Buccellato
and Hidden Lake Academy [TBS] in Dahlonega, Georgia
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 22&forum=9http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 68&forum=9http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 26&forum=9to travel to ten programs in nine states and to host an exploratory meeting in Atlanta. An organizational meeting in Albuquerque followed in 1999.
Redden pointed out there has been a six-fold increase in the number of these schools and programs since 1970. These schools and programs currently are working with more than 7,000 students annually with 1/3 of a billion dollars in revenue. Noting that the six-fold increase shows this new industry is rising to meet the increased demand, he estimated there are "at least
200,000 adolescents in America right now who need our programs and can afford them."
The highest priorities of those in attendance were annual conference, workshops, and setting industry-wide standards.
http://www.strugglingteens.com/news/nat ... iples.htmlBill 705 Who Wins? By Lon Woodbury
http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... /oe02.html