The following is provided as general information for parents considering placement.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Licensing

Currently, there is no national regulation of privately-owned behavior modification programs.

The licensing of such facilities is left to the individual states.

Unfortunately, legislators have not kept pace with the industry.

Program-owners know this are opening more and more facilities in states that don't regulate them or even require the facility to acknowledge its very existence!

These programs, full of underage children, are simply allowed to operate unchecked.

The state of Missouri for example, doesn't have a single law regulating teen boot camps, emotional growth schools, specialty boarding schools, etc.

Allegations of abuse and even child-deaths at Missouri facilities date back many years.

The state of Montana only requires licensing when the facility employs a full-time therapist.

We have found that a number of facilities in Montana advertise therapy for troubled-children, but have no therapist on staff in order to avoid licensing.

Because the laws vary from state to state, it is a parent's responsibility to exercise due diligence when signing over custody of minor children.

• Ask the program representative if the facility is licensed by the state.

• If their answer begins with anything other than "YES," hang up the phone and cross the program off your list! Attempting to convince parents that licensing is not necessary is a common marketing tactic.

• If the program is not licensed, do NOT enroll your child under any circumstance.

• If the facility claims to be licensed, find out the exact name of the agency who issued the license. If the representative "can't remember" the name of the agency - but assures you they are licensed, the program probably is NOT licensed!

• Contact the agency and verify the license. In most cases, the licensing will be through the Department of Health and Human Services or its equivalent.

• Request copies of all publicly available information including complaints, site visit evaluations, violations, corrective actions, etc. As a potential consumer, you are entitled to such information.

At the present time, the northwest states and the southern states have the worst track record when it comes to licensing.

Legislation

On April 20, 2005, Representative George Miller of California introduced H.R. 1738, the End Institutionalized Abuse Against Children Act of 2005.

This bill proposes to regulate the teen treatment industry and is a good first step towards ensuring the safety of children.

Click here to read the bill!

ISAC has spoken with experts who track the success or failure of such bills.

In their opinion, this bill will FAIL unless it receives more support from Republicans.

Please contact your legislators and urge them to support this bill.

Contact your Senator    Contact your Representative

Visit Rep. Miller's web site

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