The House Education and Labor Committee today approved legislation that targets abuse and neglect at residential treatment centers for troubled youth. H.R. 911, the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009, was reported out of committee by a bipartisan vote of 32-10. The bill is almost identical to legislation passed in the House last year (H.R. 6358).
One of the original sponsors of the bill, Representative Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), explained the importance of the bill. “There are thousands of good programs out there," she said. "We want to make sure that all programs protect children and their parents, too.” Representative Robert Andrews (D-NJ) stated his belief that the legislation would “establish a federal floor [of standards]…below which state standards may not go.”
Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) originally introduced the legislation as a response to what he claimed was a “weak patchwork of regulations” that has allowed some programs and states to operate, in his view, without oversight, leading to cases of death, abuse and deceitful marketing. Such cases have been examined in depth by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and have been the focus of a number of hearings since the fall of 2007.
The legislation would require the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement 14 minimum standards to protect against child abuse in residential programs, including prohibition of disciplinary techniques such as withholding food and water, and promotion of seclusion and restraint-free programs. Additionally, the bill would establish on-going state review processes for investigating reports of child abuse, a national toll-free hotline to report abuses, civil penalties of no more than $50,000 per violation for programs that violate the standards and processes to review the complaints collected by the hotline. The bill recognizes states’ ultimate responsibility in monitoring and regulating the programs, and gives states three years to come into compliance with the standards. States’ ability to receiving Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment (CAPTA) funds would be contingent on meeting such standards within the given time period.
Republicans on the Committee offered three amendments to the bill, which were not adopted. A more complete analysis of the bill will be posted soon.
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