Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: Jeff_Berryman on March 02, 2005, 07:40:00 AM
-
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2592226 (http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2592226)
Senators join forces in crackdown on teen-help industry
By Kirsten Stewart
The Salt Lake Tribune
Two senators with competing ideas for cracking down on Utah's teen-help industry have come to a truce.
Sen. Tom Hatch is sponsoring legislation to crack down on unsafe group homes, but had been opposed to government meddling in private boarding schools.
The Panguitch Republican has had a change of heart, agreeing to add boarding schools to his bill, adopting language almost word-for-word from West Jordan Republican Sen. Chris Buttars' bill.
Senate Bill 107 will now give the state regulatory power over schools such as northern Utah's Majestic Ranch boarding school, reclassifying such facilities as "therapeutic."
The school's director, Tammy Johnson, originally fought Buttars' plan. But in the wake of a string of mostly unfruitful state investigations into complaints of child abuse and neglect, Johnson asked Hatch to adopt it.
The Senate approved the amended the measure on Monday, which now heads to the governor for his signature.
-
is there a place to find all the newsapper articles?
-
does someone have a email for kristin?
-
"Sen. Tom Hatch is sponsoring legislation to crack down on unsafe group homes, but had been opposed to government meddling in private boarding schools."
This is where Hatch and others' thinking needs to change.
These facilities, RTCs, TBSs, SPSs, are NOT traditional boarding schools.
Medical Insurance doesn't cover tuition to a traditional boarding school. Nor do school districts.
Parents can't write off trips to visit their (disabled) child at traditional boarding schools.
Students of traditional boarding schools don't have contact with family severed, monitored phone call and mail, visits home based on behavior.
They really need to get it that thousands of teens are being subjected to BM- a highly controversial theory- austere and experimental 'therapy', and isolation from the world.
For all intents and purposes, these facilities are psuedo psych hospitals. Heavy on behavior modification, with the use of psychotropics varying by program. Boarding schools.... over-priced teen warehouses... but certainly, 'unsafe group homes' is a bit closer to the truth.
-
I'd like to encourage everyone to send e-mails to the governor of Utah - encouraging him to sign this legislation. I know that Huntsman is a mega-billionair - so he may not be tempted by a $100,000 donation. Realize that the teen-industry lobby is currently working him over. We need to do the same. Please send some short and to the point emails as soon as possible encouraging him to sign the legislation into law. He could make it or break it at this point.
The people's right to change what does not work is one of the greatest
principles in our system of government
--Richard M. Nixon
-
this is so important.
-
Hopefully this will get past the governor's desk. We really need to support this be writing letters.