New Federal Bill to Curb Child Abuse in RTC's

[Invertix]

This is absolutely great news. I am worried though. It's not that I'm saying that this bill is the wrong move or anything (far from it), but has anyone ever thought that the more pressure we put on these programs to reform inside the united states the more likely it will be that they will form other TBs or GBTS style programs that are outside the US's jurisdiction. As we impose more regulations the more likely it will be that the kids will be sent to programs that are probably going to be far worse then their US counterparts.

Even though I support this measure fully we should think of the unintended consequences of such legislation.

[001010]

email adresses link http://www.conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm

[Anonymous]

http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know if there is a number yet for this bill.  The entire bill can be viewed by going to http://www.emancipationproject.org for some reason I couldn't cut and paste it - I'm a techno-retard......

[Anonymous]

I sent my letter to Congress yesterday. If you send one in early - be sure to do a follow up when the bill comes up for a vote - and who knows when that will be.  :smile:

[BuzzKill]

Invertix  - this bill would cover American kids in programs everywhere - if it gets passed in its present form.

Seriously folks - write and keep writing. Make sure they know people are watching and care about this bill.
Write the White House as well - even if you hate them - but don't tell them you hate them.
Also, maybe send a copy of the announcement to your local media - and request they cover the story.

[Timoclea]

Well, I called my congressman and one of my senators so far and explained why this bill is a legitimate excercise of Constitutional federal authority---really important to Republicans---and why I *couldn't* work to fix it at state level---and why the bill was necessary.

I'm going to recount the meat of the call not to pat myself on the back but because what I said seemed to be effective on my Republican Congresscritters.  I figure if any of your Congresscritters are Republican, reading this might help you when you're figuring out how to present your case to your reps.  If your Congresscritters are Democrats, the whole worldview on scope of government is different, so I'm sure a politically savvy Democrat could form a strategy/sample call or letter better than mine.

I think the most important things that made my calls "work" was that I directed my arguments to the particular Congresscritter's worldview, I made it personal, and I talked about it in terms of how it affects children in our home state.

It seemed to really have an impact on the people who took the call when I mentioned WWASPS losing their defamation lawsuit recently, and when I explained that Georgia kids could be shipped to Utah at any time and that the facilities misrepresent their services to the parents, and how many facilities are in Utah and the large influx of money involved.

The loss of the defamation lawsuit really got their attention.  Also that I told them I was a republican and normally wouldn't be supporting legislation submitted by a democrat from California. :smile:

It also helped when I said I didn't know if the language of the bill was good or needed cleaning up, and if they wanted to make sure it wasn't affecting strictly in-state legitimate private schools they could attach an amendment restricting it to places that accept out of state students.

It also helped when I explained that licensing in Utah seems to be a rubber stamp, probably because of the amount of money involved, and that federal legislation was the *only* way to protect Georgia children from Utah's lax laws and lax enforcement.

And I made sure I sounded regretful that federal legislation seemed to be the only way to fix the problem.

And I left my phone number and invited the Congressman or Senator or staffers to call me if they needed more information about the issue.

I told them I keep abreast of the issue because my child has a major mental illness of the kind that sometimes needs a facility, so I try to keep track of which ones are good and which ones are bad--that I obviously don't want to shut down all care, I just want to make sure it's quality care.

And I told them that I knew a girl who nothing was wrong with her and her *parents* were nuts and thought she was and sent her off out of state for basically no reason---and that there are no safeguards to prevent that.  They sounded slightly skeptical about that, but like they were willing to consider it for argument's sake.  I don't think they necessarily believed *that* case was one I was right about, but I *do* think it helped illustrate another one of the risks.

I think the point that the facilities' services are misrepresented to the parents, and the isolation room conditions, and the cases settled with gag orders, had more effect.

Maybe they were just sounding convinced so I'd feel like my representatives were in touch and responsive, but since they sounded skeptical at first and convinced at the end, I don't think so.

I hope this helps somebody.

Timoclea

A multitude of laws in a country is like a great number of physicians, a sign of weakness and malady.


--Voltaire, philosopher (1694-1778)

[Anonymous]

Any news on the number the bill is going to be under?  I also wrote Congressman and indicated that the bill shouldh have bipartisan support and also indicated that my own child had been the victim of untherapeutic care and torture at a Utah facility and the authorities did nothing in Utah.  I indicated that this is just one reason to support the bill - the industry is prolific and the children are cut off from the world. They are disenfranchised.

[Anonymous]

We need to boycott tourism to Jamaica and close Tranqulity Bay. ASAP

I saw a young man wearing a t shirt with Jamaica across the front.It came from Old Navy.I wrote to Old Navy asking that they discontinue promoting Jamaica until they start protecting our American children.

Please do the same. Contact the Tourism industry, cruise ships ,travel agencys etc and ask that they boycott Jamaica.Then let the fine folks in the Jamaica gov know why.

TB must go.

[001010]

Write your local congressmen too, good idea.  :tup:

http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml

http://www.conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm



_________________
EST 1983
Salesmanship Club '84-'86
Straight, Inc. '86-'88

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. ~ Edmund Burke

[Nihilanthic]

I think its great we finally have a bill in the works. I REALLY hope this makes it to the news!

I mean, how the hell is the GOP gonna act like they dont care about kids after making a big huge fucking deal about "morals" and "family values".

Ah well, as long as someone doesnt twist it into "the government got too involved with terri schiavo so they cant get involved in treament" this should go somewhere.

Hey, anyone know how to contact the daily show?

The nature of psychological compulsion is such that those who act under constraint remain under the impression that they are acting on their own initiative. The victim of mind-manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to be free. That he is not free is apparent only to other people. His servitude is strictly objective.




--Brave New World Revisited, Aldous Huxley, 1958

[Anonymous]

I have been writing tio Comgress for two yrs plus.

Congressman Miller has my testimony.

We need to do both.  I have writen tio my Congressman and others in my state.Isent letters pictures news articles.

From my expereince it is an on going process.

[Anonymous]

Never give up.

[Anonymous]

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2679149

Article Last Updated: 04/22/2005 01:25:24 AM

Mother sues treatment center, claims son was beaten, abused
By Pamela Manson
The Salt Lake Tribune


A California mother is accusing a northern Utah boarding school of physically and emotionally abusing her son while he was being treated there.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, Jennifer Havlan said Majestic Ranch employee Sean E. Coombs seriously injured her minor son by slamming him against a wall and table, throwing him to the ground and striking him. She also alleges that the boy was "repeatedly restrained and placed in handcuffs" during his 2004 stay at the Randolph facility.
Majestic Ranch, which is affiliated with the St. George-based Worldwide Association of Speciality Programs and Schools (WWASP), is designed to treat preteens and young teenagers with behavioral and conduct problems. The program has been investigated several times after abuse allegations were lodged, with one probe ending in a criminal conviction when Coombs pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor assault charge.
A school official said Thursday that she had not seen the suit. WWASP officials have said that their treatment programs have a high rate of satisfaction among clients.
But Havlan, a Newport Beach resident, is unhappy about her son's experience and alleges battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment and negligence. Her suit seeks unspecified damages.
On the same day Havlan filed her suit, U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., introduced legislation that would provide more monitoring of residential treatment programs and establish criminal and civil penalties for abuse of children.
Miller, who unsuccessfully asked then-Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2003


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to investigate allegations against WWASP, says residential treatment programs in the United States and abroad should be licensed.
"Parents are sending their children to these programs becaue of a promise that they will help resolve difficult behavioral issues, like substance abuse," Miller said in a written release about his End Institutional Abuse Against Children Act. "But the way kids have been treated at some of these facilities would make any parent shudder."
pmanson@sltrib.com


Proposed federal regulations

Federal legislation to regulate residential treatment programs in the United States would:
* Provide $50 million in funding to states for licensing and monitoring.
* Establish federal civil and criminal penalties for abuse of children.
* Expand federal authority to regulate programs located overseas but run by U.S. companies.
* Require the State Department to report any abuse of American children overseas.

[tommyfromhyde1]

On 2005-04-21 20:34:00, Nihilanthic wrote:



I mean, how the hell is the GOP gonna act like they dont care about kids after making a big huge fucking deal about "morals" and "family values".

Niles, if and when this comes to a commitee hearing,
the program defenders are going to claim that
they're the ones trying to instill "morals" and
"family values" into these kids. Don't get me
wrong, I support this bill. Just get ready for
that kind of argument. Remember, these programs
love to position themselves with social conservatives. My earlier post was really about
loopholes.

Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar.
                                                                               
--Julius Caesar