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The "Troubled Teen Industry" is a topic that has been driving me nuts for some time now and I wanted to do a quick write up for this sub

What are these facilities?

Here's a great quote from the ABA summarizing what these places are:

"The “troubled teen” industry is a network of private youth programs, therapeutic boarding schools, residential treatment centers, religious academies, wilderness programs, and drug rehabilitation centers and it dates back at least 50 years. The facilities are operated by private companies, nonprofits, or faith-based groups and they promise to help youth with problems related to behavior, addiction, and eating disorders, and in some cases sexual orientation and gender identity. Despite numerous allegations of serious abuse that date back decades, they continue to operate in a largely unregulated way".

Torture:

These places have been systematically torturing children, en masse, for multiple decades now and the vast majority of them are still open. Notice how I use the term torture and not abuse. That is because many of these places use torture methods that are outlawed by the Geneva Convention.

Examples of tortures administered include:

Verbal abuse, humiliation, beatings, forced isolation, sensory deprivation, being forced to backbreaking unpaid labor for 10-14 hours a day, starvation, deprivation of water, being forced to eat excrement, being thrown out in to the woods for days, and countless stories of rape and molestation. In 2016 a facility in Iowa called "Midwest Academy" was investigated and shut down by the FBI after allegations were substantiated that children were forced to kneel inside of tiny cement boxes for days on end. This is quite literally the same thing that Saddam Hussein called "the boo box". it was also a torture used at Abu Ghraib. Some of these places that are more infamous (Elan School for example) did eventually close down but others, like the Judge Rotenburg center remain open. The judge Rotenburg center placed caps with electrodes in them on mentally challenged children that shocked them for infractions as minor as closing their eyes too long. 6 children were tortured to death here alone. It closed down briefly and then reopened. Here is a list of most of the deaths at these places. It cant be stressed enough that the real number is probably much higher given that they often try to write the deaths off as accidents or suicides.

There are hundreds of these places all across the country operating with next to zero oversight. keep in mind that these places gain legal custody of the child while they are there. If they run away law enforcement will simply bring them back to their new legal guardians.

political ties:

A number of prominent politicians have proudly supported these institutions even when allegations of abuse were already being made.

- Steve Cartisano founded "Challenger", a facility well known for abuse and torture in 1987. Who was his Co-investor? Oliver North. Yup. That Ollie North.

- George Bush, as governor, sided with "Teen Challenge" after a regulatory board was trying to shut down the facility after allegations of abuse were made and evidence was revealed that they were violating guidelines. Bush then made faith based facilities exempt from regular regulations.

- About a decade before this Ronald Reagan boasted “I speak from more than twenty years of knowledge of the organization when I tell you that the Teen Challenge program works. The government can’t do it alone, no matter how hard it tries.” Nancy regularly visited these facilities.

- In 2010 HR 911, the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act, was sunk by republicans after abruptly cutting off negotiations.

- Mitt Romney continues to profit off of WWASP, one of the most infamous facilities in all of texas. His former financial co-chair/one of his biggest contributors is none other than Mel Sembler, who founded Scared Straight, one of the first facilities of these facilities to be closed down. Mel is considered by some to be the godfather of the troubled teen industry.

Is there Hope?

Yes. Thanks to a number of activists, growing numbers of victims, and new studies that show the extreme forms of "tough love" being administered actually increased recidivism there has been a growing public out cry to stop this bullshit. Utah, the state with the most facilities, recently passed a bill intended to bring more oversight to these places. Paris Hilton has been incredibly instrumental in this and has consistently been spreading horror stories and badgering politicians. The troubled teen industry has been on the decline but these facilities still have thousands of children in them collectively. Write to your local politicians and keep the pressure on.

I will attach sources in the comments. Here are the books I own about this topic:

Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids

Maia Szalavitz PHD. (probably my favorite of the three)

An American GULAG : Secret P.O.W. Camps for Teens

Alexia Parks

Troubled: The Failed Promise of Americas Behavioral Treatment programs

Kenneth Rosen