Dear Guest,
You are right to distrust what you are being told and to keep your child out of these programs. Surely there is someone among your family, friends or neighbors who might be willing to help you? You probably have much more support than you think. My niece was sent away 28 months ago, and has had no contact with family members other than her parents, not even a phone call with siblings, during this entire time. We would gladly have stepped in if her parents had only been willing to talk to us about the situation. The girl could have come to live with us if only we'd known.
You might benefit from reading some of the following:
Warning Signs of Potentially Abusive Facilities
http://www.isaccorp.org/warningsigns.aspThe US House of Representatives just passed legislation to (hopefully) rein in abusive facilities. There were hearings in October and April, and three reports of investigations by the GAO into widespread allegations of abuse, maltreatment and death, and deceptive marketing practices in these facilities.You can read lots more at this link to the House Committee on Education and Labor:
http://edlabor.house.gov/hearings/fc101007.shtmlLook for the testimony from parents. I also recommend the GAO forensic investigation of reports of abuse and death and deceptive marketing practices:
http://edlabor.house.gov/testimony/2008-04-24-GregKutz.pdfAnd if you receive any reponse here from a guy called The Who, know that he is
paid by the progams to downplay the abuses and hype up the programs to parents.
Be very cautious about licensure and accreditation. Be very very clear what the claims really mean. For example, if they claim to have JCAHO accreditation, you can look up the specifics here:
http://www.qualitycheck.org/consumer/searchQCR.aspxOften it just means they keep needles clean and check two forms of ID before administering meds, or will give an aspirin if someone is having a heart attack. It has nothing--nothing--to do with effective outcomes for teens having difficulty. Re education, former students here are much better able to tell you what a joke it is at the programs.
I'm guessing you must be pretty stressed out by all this. I wish you well as you navigate this difficulty. Please keep your mind clear and recognize that the programs have a lot of experience at manipulating parents who are at the end of their rope. Take care and keep your wits about you.
Auntie Em