Well, shit.
I just spent a significant amount of time writing a post, off and on, which got lost when I tried to submit it and it said I wasn't signed in any more.
So, here was my main point, it was re: Whoot and the hotlines comment.
1. We've already established that kids don't have uncensored phone access. (Whoot said that was because kids would manipulate their way out of programs, in general; while in my program, specifically, we weren't allowed phone access because the facility had quite a bit invested in not letting abuse reports get out.)
2. Kids don't have the ability to send letters without censorship.
3. Many kids don't have visitors, so lack even the opportunity to tell someone face-to-face.
So what kids are left with is a "grievance process." This is taken seriously in some places, such as some recovery-oriented facilities I have come across as an adult. But in the place where I was as a child, it was on the books for show.
It went something like this:
Step one: Beg for a grievance form. Get denied it many times. Get allowed access to the form when another staff member who might be pro-accountability is present.
Step two: Turn in the grievance form to a lower-level staff member. Who is abusing you. But if they aren't abusing you, it gets turned over to...
Step three: The staff supervisor. Who, in my case, was the worst perpetrator of physical abuse in the facility.
Step four, which you almost never get to because your grievances line trash cans and shredders: Call the facility main office. Which you can't do without the phone being disconnected for mentioning the abuse.
So, my point was to clarify - it seemed like Whoot didn't understand how a kid could be placed in a situation of reporting abuse to their abuser. There it is, and I'm sending it before I get cut off again.
Hedge
