HELP PARIS HILTON & SURVIVORS OF THE TROUBLED TEEN INDUSTRY
STOP INSTITUTIONAL
CHILD ABUSE
About the Issue
An estimated 120,000-200,000 of our nation’s most vulnerable youth are pipelined into youth residential programs (colloquially referred to as the Troubled Teen Industry) each year by state child welfare and juvenile justice systems, mental health providers, federal agencies, school districts’ individualized education programs, and by parents.
These programs, including but not limited to boot camps, wilderness programs, therapeutic boarding schools, residential treatment facilities, or group homes, cause harm at a higher rate to youth who are Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQ+ youth, and youth with disabilities.
The Troubled Teen Industry receives an estimated $23 billion dollars of public funds annually to purportedly “treat” the behavioral and psychological needs of vulnerable youth yet there are systemic reports of youth experiencing physical, emotional and sexual abuse including but not limited to prolonged solitary confinement, physical, chemical, and mechanical restraints, food and sleep deprivation, lack of access to the restroom or personal hygiene, “attack therapy,” forced labor, medical neglect, and being denied a free and public education. Public records and news reports have documented more than 350 preventable child deaths in these programs.
Want to learn more? Watch YouTube Original’s This is Paris and Netflix’s The Program: Con, Cults, and Kidnapping.
Our Work
The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act
The "Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act" is pivotal legislation that aims to transform how youth residential programs are overseen and managed across the United States. By addressing long-standing issues of transparency and accountability, this bill seeks to safeguard the health and well-being of vulnerable youths housed in these facilities.
Check out our Social Media Toolkit here. Use your voice to pass the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act!
HOW TO SUPPORT
SURVIVOR OR ALLY?
Sign up to receive updates on the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act and join us in passing SICAA.
ORGANIZATION?
Join a coalition of national, state, and local organizations dedicated to ending institutional child abuse.
SUPPORTERS OF THE STOP INSTITUTIONAL CHILD ABUSE ACT
AbleChild, Advocating Opportunity, Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint, Alianza for Youth Justice, Ambika Law, American Humanist Association, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), Anti-Recidivism Coalition, Anxiety and Depression Association of America, Associated Psychological Health Services, AutConnect, Autistic Inclusive Meets, Autistic Revolution, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, BCEdAccess Society, Broadreach Training and Resources LTD, Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, Center for Children's Law and Policy, Center for Disability Rights, ChildUSAdvocacy, Citizens Commission on Human Rights International, Coalition for Juvenile Justice, CommunicationFIRST, DGH Neurodivergent Consultancy, Disability Law Center of Alaska, Disability Rights Maine, Disability Rights Texas, End the TTI, EOTAS Matters, First Focus Campaign for Children, FORGE, Inc., Freedom From Religion Foundation, Human Rights for Kids, Incarcerated Nation Network, International Coalition Against Restraint and Seclusion (ICARS), International Association for Spelling as Communication, International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry, Juvenile Justice Coalition, Juvenile Law Center, Lives in the Balance, Mazzoni Center, Medical Whistleblower Advocacy Network, Mental Health America of Virginia, NAMI Huntington, NAMI Virginia, National Association of Counsel for Children, National Disability Rights Network, National Juvenile Justice Network, Nebraska Appleseed, NeuroClastic, Neurodivergent, Liberation Coalition, New Hour for Women and Children - LI, New Jersey Parents Caucus, Our Children Oregon, PbS Learning Institute, Inc., RAINN, Rebuilding Independence My Style, Rights4Girls, RISE for Youth, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Sojourners, Storytime Solidarity, The Autistic Advocate, The Autistic Cooperative, The Face-to-Face Project, The Forum for Youth Investment, The Nurture Programme, The Porchlight Collective SAP, Therapist Neurodiversity Collective, Inc., Think of Us, Tommy James Law, Trans Asylias, Unsilenced, UTA Foundation, Virginia Autism Project, Voices for Virginia's Children, We Warned Them, Women Together Global Inc.
AbleChild, Advocating Opportunity, Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint, Alianza for Youth Justice, Ambika Law, American Humanist Association, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), Anti-Recidivism Coalition, Anxiety and Depression Association of America, Associated Psychological Health Services, AutConnect, Autistic Inclusive Meets, Autistic Revolution, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, BCEdAccess Society, Broadreach Training and Resources LTD, Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, Center for Children's Law and Policy, Center for Disability Rights, ChildUSAdvocacy, Citizens Commission on Human Rights International, Coalition for Juvenile Justice, CommunicationFIRST, DGH Neurodivergent Consultancy, Disability Law Center of Alaska, Disability Rights Maine, Disability Rights Texas, End the TTI, EOTAS Matters, First Focus Campaign for Children, FORGE, Inc., Freedom From Religion Foundation, Human Rights for Kids, Incarcerated Nation Network, International Coalition Against Restraint and Seclusion (ICARS), International Association for Spelling as Communication, International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry, Juvenile Justice Coalition, Juvenile Law Center, Lives in the Balance, Mazzoni Center, Medical Whistleblower Advocacy Network, Mental Health America of Virginia, NAMI Huntington, NAMI Virginia, National Association of Counsel for Children, National Disability Rights Network, National Juvenile Justice Network, Nebraska Appleseed, NeuroClastic, Neurodivergent, Liberation Coalition, New Hour for Women and Children - LI, New Jersey Parents Caucus, Our Children Oregon, PbS Learning Institute, Inc., RAINN, Rebuilding Independence My Style, Rights4Girls, RISE for Youth, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Sojourners, Storytime Solidarity, The Autistic Advocate, The Autistic Cooperative, The Face-to-Face Project, The Forum for Youth Investment, The Nurture Programme, The Porchlight Collective SAP, Therapist Neurodiversity Collective, Inc., Think of Us, Tommy James Law, Trans Asylias, Unsilenced, UTA Foundation, Virginia Autism Project, Voices for Virginia's Children, We Warned Them, Women Together Global Inc.
Learn More About the Issue
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Trapped In Treatment
11:11 Media’s docu-style podcast series that examines and exposes the dark secrets of the “Troubled Teen Industry”
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2022 GAO Report
This report investigates the maltreatment in youth residential facilities and addresses federal solutions for HHS to act
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Desperation Without Dignity Report
A disturbing report by the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) reveals widespread abuse and neglect at for-profit youth residential facilities.
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The Kids Are Not Alright
The Private Equity Stakeholder Project examines private equity investment in the Troubled Teen Industry
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Away From Home Report
Think of Us centers the voices of youth with lived experiences in the larger conversation about how to eliminate institutional placements in foster care.
