At the age of fourteen, I was forcibly escorted to WWASP's Paradise Cove facility in Western Samoa, where I spent twenty-two months.
Get Involved!
Empowerment Project!
The primary objective of the Empowerment Project (ep)is to ensure the work of CAFETY volunteers comes from a position of empowerment. For many formerly institutionalized persons, whether placed in a therapeutic boarding school or residential treatment center, having safe space to turn to discuss the trauma, challenge internalized stigma and dispel the myths promoting coercive and degrading "treatment" is an important first step in the recovery process. This process might include group sharing, peer support, mental health treatment or sharing with parents their concerns surrounding residential placement.
Mental Health Professionals
Update! - CAFETY is currently compiling a list of national network of trauma-informed mental health professionals who are willing to commit at least 1 hour per week at low or no cost to our members. To become a volunteer you must be familiar with this issue and recognize the value of self-determination as part of the therapeutic process. Please complete our volunteer form AND This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it should you be interested in donating your time.
Peer Support
Update! - CAFETY currently has a developed collective of over 400 residential program alumni nationwide who have volunteered to offer peer support and/or share their experience with families considering placement within specific programs. Please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it should you be an alumnus seeking to connect with others in your community.
IN DEVELOPMENT - We will produce materials and provide trainings/workshops for our peer support volunteer.
Parent Resource
Update! - CAFETY currently has a developed collective of over 400 residential program alumni, staff and parents of alumni nationwide who have volunteered to share their experience with families considering placement. We connect our volunteers with parents or alumni who have had direct experience within the program being considered and educate parents on our general concerns regarding institutionlization and community based alternatives. Please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it should you be a parent or guardian considering placement at a specific program and are interested in speaking with alumni who are willing to share their experience.
IN DEVELOPMENT - We will produce materials and provide trainings/workshops for our parent resource volunteer.
It is our belief that continual learning and knowledge sharing is a necessary and crucial step to empowerment.
Recent News:
- Points of Advocacy: Examining the Issues of Concern Surrounding Residential Programs for Youth - Report used for a national gathering sponsored by residential program trade organizations, American Association of Children’s Residential Centers (AACRC) and National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP) - July 2011
- CAFETY's Report on the National Gathering - July 2011
Transparency Project!
Human Rights
International Human Rights Law provides a framework where domestic laws fail to provide certain groups of people adequate protection against discrimination and segregation. This is especially true of children’s rights and the rights of people with disabilities.CAFETY spearheads efforts to document, monitor, and report on human rights violations against institutionalized youth in the United States, and then publicize our findings through publications, community education, and direct action. We provide trainings to other groups seeking to use human rights standards in their work. We actively seek volunteers and collaborators for all of our projects.
Currently, we are analyzing data from our national participatory online survey on the residential program alumni/survivor experience. Results from this survey will provide credible documentation on their experience, which will impact future public awareness campaigns and policy advocacy. The goal of this project is to produce use our findings to inform our analysis of public policy, applicable domestic and international laws, and issue recommendations based on our findings.
Research, Policy Analysis and Outreach
We aim to work with empowered alumni/survivors who wish to educate targeted groups on the issues surrounding residential placement and the successes of community care. We develop and design information gathering mechanisms and partner with other grassroots community organizations (ie. YouthMove) to implement study initiatives that support and strengthen our organizing and advocacy work. Through these initiatives, CAFETY members and volunteers are given access to experts involved in the disability and youth rights movement, from child abuse and protection groups, mental health professionals, civil and human rights lawyers, and other leaders of this grassroots movement. Participants are empowered to think critically, challenge stigma and are offered supportive resources to assist them in becoming effective leaders.
Care, NOT Coercion Campaign
The goal of our advocacy work is to challenge the norms surrounding inappropriate and unnecessary institutionalization of youth. We are primarily made up of formerly institutionalized advocates who have empowered ourselves to become active agents of changed. An empowered advocate is one who is open to growth, actively seeks support and feedback from others and challenges him or herself to adapt to changes based on new information.
Recent News:
- Letter in support of proposed amendment in MA to prohibit use of Level III aversives - July 2011
- MTV Commentary:Press Release - True Life: I'm Being Sent Away By My Parents
Media and Public Speaking
CAFETY currently has a developed collective of over 400 residential program alumni nationwide who have volunteered to present at local events and conferences and speak with the press. Please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it should you wish to have a CAFETY volunteer speak at your event or if you are a member of the press seeking to speak with alumni from a specific program or a program within a specific state, we will do our best to connect you.
As part of this project, CAFETY collaborates with youth empowerment organizations nationwide. We invite young people who have participated in community based care to share the their experience and highlight the practices that differ from the residential program experience, with a focus on how youth are empowered to be partners in their own care. Our belief is that the stigma of youth with challenges that is caused by institutionalization and the lack of community care are two of the most significant contributing factors to the ongoing choice by parents to send their children away. It is the very existence of these institutions that perpetuates their existence. Success stories of youth recovering from mental health challenges in their community reduces stigma and dispels the myth that long term (over 90 days) institutionalization is ever appropriate.
ACTION ALERT! NYC/NJ - CAFETY is currently working with a filmmaker in NYC interested in documenting this issue. We are seeking additional alumni in the tri-sate area who wish to be interviewed. Please complete our volunteer form AND This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it should you wish to participate.
Direct Advocacy and Reporting:
Working with families, we file formal complaints to private accrediting bodies, trade organizations and government regulators, track responses and issue periodic, and offer state specific recommendations based on our findings. We believe that the presence of state regulation and accreditation of residential programs alone means little and must be measured against the comprehensiveness and capacity of reporting mechanisms and monitoring to adequately respond to the consumers needs and concerns.
Chapters
We provide legal, technical, research and policy assistance to CAFETY Chapters and other grassroots community groups engaged in a wide range of community development efforts nationwide. Our work is informed by the belief that real and lasting change is rooted in the empowerment of grassroots, community institutions.
CAFETY Chapter leaders will be provided with opportunities for leadership development and advocacy opportunities both in their own community and on a national platform. Advocacy opportunities include: academic conferences, family support conferences, youth councils, forums for the purpose of receiving public comment on proposed regulations, workshops, legislative hearings, and presentations at public venues.
Legislation
In the absence of legal protections at the state and federal level, CAFETY engages in a small amount of direct and grassroots lobbying in support of legislative solutions.
Litigation - IN DEVELOPMENT
CAFETY's volunteer team of attorneys, mental health professionals and advocates are dedicated to enforcing the rights of institutionalized youth. We currently provide technical assistance to attorneys representing individual clients and in class action lawsuits. Please complete our volunteer form AND then This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it directly should you be an attorney or law student who wishes to help!
Our goal is to ultimately provide alumni and survivors with low-cost legal services. We also engage in community education and outreach in the belief that institutionalized youth are entitled to due process to ensure institutionalization is not chosen because a referral has been inappropriately made, a parent is misinformed or an institutions with a conflict of interest deems it necessary. CAFETY is currently seeking grants to fund strategic litigation and low cost legal services.
What would you like to say/ask NATSAP/AACRC leadership?
Since the 2007/2008 Congressional Hearings on death and abuse at 'boot camps', aka. therapeutic boarding schools, wilderness camps, behavior modification programs, et...
Page 1 of 4
Subscribe to Cafety Newsletter
Register here to receive CAFETY's newsletter.
