Rep. Schiff to Push Reform Bill for Troubled Teen Programs

It seems that more honest warriors are on board to continue the many failed attempts that now-retired representative George Miller proposed in legislation. By the looks of it, this bill seems to be new and improved on federal regulations and licensing. California congressman Adam Schiff is supporting another bill to reform adolescent rehabilitation programs.

Here is what the bill will include:

•  Providing youth with essential food, water, medical care, rest, and shelter.
• Food, water, medicine, rest, and shelter should not be withheld as a punishment.
• Therapeutic practices must be evidence-based and peer-reviewed to be effective with specific mental disorders (no aversives, negative reinforcement, or brainwashing ).
• Will require therapist, teachers, and education consultants to be licensed in their appropriate profession (ed consultants/teachers should specialize in education, therapist in therapy, etc.). 
• Education Consulting will be regulated to make sure they don't get referrals from unlicensed therapeutic placements.
• There will be clear licensing of therapeutic facilities.
• Therapeutic options need to provide the child access to the family and community.
• They should not force a minimum length of stay, parents should be allowed to remove children at will.
• Facilities shall not engage in false and deceptive marketing practices (like WWASPS facilities looking like a resort, or Diamond Ranch Academy claiming to have athletics like a traditional high school)

However, due to the political environment, it's unlikely to become law. This could easily be fixed if we move to get money out of politics, so organizations and think-tanks (NATSAP, IECA, DFAF, ALEC, etc.) that support these unregulated facilities will no longer control congress to vote it down in benefiting their lucrative business practice.

Reasons most commonly used in opposition to such laws will be told under the guise of:

• "Education is a State's Rights issue. Therefore this needs to be entirely dealt with at the state level"
• "This is Socialism"
• "This law has too much pork"
• "It's infringing on religious freedom and parental rights"
• "It's bad for the economy"

Most people don't realize that when they hear those arguments, they're lying through their teeth in order to continue this abusive practice. They care nothing else besides money and it benefits our government, hence why it's federally subsidized.
Leaving this responsibility up to state governments adds to the problem since facilities move around to different states across the country to avoid regulations that got them shutdown in another state. It's sort of like playing the game "Whack-A-Mole" in which as soon as one is closed for abuse, another will pop up in it's place often in a less regulated state.