There are more than 30 privately run schools for troubled youth operating in the state of Montana. They employ more than 600 people and pump an estimated 4 million into the state income taxes. It's an exploding industry, but strangely, most Montanans have no idea the schools even exist. In this hour-long documentary, MontanaPBS explores a lucrative industry praised for its novel approach to reforming youth, yet shrouded in disturbing allegations of abuse and neglect.
MontanaPBS Investigative Reporter Wins National Award
July 5, 2007 – Anna Rau, a producer and reporter for Montana PBS station KUFM-TV, has won a Cine Golden Eagle Award for her documentary "Who’s Watching the Kids." The program examined the multi-million dollar alternative school industry in Montana, which operates without state license or regulation.
The Cine Golden Eagle is awarded for excellence in documentary and other informational film and video production. Besides Rau, other awardees in the Professional News/Investigative Division included Thirteen/WNET in New York City and ABC News.
"This award speaks to the integrity of Anna’s investigative reporting abilities," said William Marcus, director of The University of Montana’s Broadcast Media Center, which houses KUFM-TV. "This was a contentious subject that required more than 18 months of research and documentation. The aim was to further public discussion about this industry. It did that."
"Who’s Watching the Kids" also was one of 17 U.S. documentaries selected as international finalists in the Input 2007 documentary competition, which recognizes public television work from around the world. Available in more than 150 communities across the state, Montana PBS is a collaborative service of KUFM-TV at UM and KUSM-TV at Montana State University-Bozeman.
PROGRAM UPDATE:
During the 2007 Montana Legislature, lawmakers passed a bill requiring alternative schools to be licensed and regulated by the Board of Private Alternative Adolescent Residential or Outdoor Programs (PAARP) under the Department of Labor. But, the new bill gives the PAARP board a deadline of October 2008 to come up with licensing rules. Until that happens, Montana programs will remain unlicensed.
CAFETY NOTE: Residential programs in MT are now regulated by the Department of Labor, despite concern over the appropriateness of this oversight agency, as opposed to knowledgeable and far more suitable Department of Public Health and Human Services. In 2007 Senator Trudi Schmidt proposed bill SB 288, that would ensure such basic adequate protection were afforded youth, but this bill was heavily lobbied against by the industry in MT and did not pass. On the record opposing the legislation were Spring Creek Lodge Academy of Thompson Falls and Monarch School of Heron. Only two people verbally testified in opposition to the bill. The first was Gary Spaeth, a lobbyist for the Montana Alternative Adolescent Private Programs (MAAPP). MAAPP Board members include NATSAP members John Mercer, Mission Mountain School, President; Penny James, Explorations, Secretary; and Linda Carpenter, Star Meadows at Hope Ranch, Treasurer. Also on the Board are Representative Paul Clark, and Jacqueline Rutzke, Spring Creek Lodge Academy. The second was John McKenna, President of Monarch School (and a CEDU alumnus). Both expressed concern about the makeup of the Montana Board of Private Alternative Adolescent Residential or Outdoor Programs (PAARP), a five-member board—which includes three industry representatives— under SB 288, which calls for expanding the size of the board from five members to nine and adding a psychologist, a physician, the superintendent of public instruction and the director of the Department of Public Health and Human Services. According to McKenna, having a lopsided number of board members who don’t represent the industry could stifle innovation at the expense of the teens in the programs.
For more information please click on articles below:
Keeping an eye on the kids (MT)
Ready for Their License (MT)
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