It was an incredible experience for me last week to sit in Congressional hearings and listen to two parents I'd featured in my book finally get a chance to tell their stories to people who might make a difference. Bob Bacon and Cynthia Clark Harvey both lost children to negligent and abusive practices in the largely unregulated "troubled teen" industry.
Their testimony was heart-breaking-- as was that of another father who'd lost a child similarly, Paul Lewis. None of these families had placed their children recklessly, the parents had done everything possible to check out the facilities they used-- and nonetheless, their children ended up having serious medical problems dismissed as faking until as a GAO investigator put it, they either had no pulse or stopped breathing.
I was absolutely thrilled to see that the ranking Republican on the committee was moved by the testimony to say that regulating the industry should be a bipartisan issue and that while he generally opposes new federal laws, sometimes they are needed.
However, as this piece I just wrote for the American Prospect shows, successful regulation will be tricky. Would love to hear people's thoughts about how to ensure that kids who need help get it, those who don't need treatment aren't given it and that any treatment provided is both safe and effective.
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When South Africa made a new bill of rights they included children:
Section 28 Children
(1) Every child has the right -
(a) to a name and a nationality from birth;
(b) to family care or parental care, or to appropriate alternative care when removed from the family environment;
(c) to basic nutrition, shelter, basic health care services and social services;
(d) to be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation;
(e) to be protected from exploitative labour practices;
(f) not to be required or permitted to perform work or provide services that -
(i) are inappropriate for a person of that child's age; or
(ii) place at risk the child's well-being, education, physical or mental health or spiritual, moral or social development;
(g) not to be detained except as a measure of last resort, in which
case, in addition to the rights a child enjoys under sections 12 and 35, the child may be detained only for the shortest appropriate period of time, and has the right to be -
(i) kept separately from detained persons over the age of 18 years; and
(ii) treated in a manner, and kept in conditions, that take account of the child's age;
(h) to have a legal practitioner assigned to the child by the state, and at state expense, in civil proceedings affecting the child, if substantial injustice would otherwise result; and
(i) not to be used directly in armed conflict, and to be protected in times of armed conflict.
(2) A child's best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child.
(3) In this section "child" means a person under the age of 18 years.
As long as your legal system continues to treat children as a rights-free zone these problems will continue.
I've said it before but again, thank you for the work you are doing for our country's children. I think one of the most beneficial things we could do as a nation is improve our network of community-based mental health services for adolescents and families. These are practically non-existent in some places, or simply out of reach because of lack of insurance coverage. We also need lots more child psychiatrists and family counselors who are highly trained, licensed, and reimbursed by insurers. Our nation is currently experiencing a severe, long-term shortage of child psychiatrists, so family docs end of prescribing drugs for conditions that they really aren't trained to manage. Too much responsibility for child mental health is falling on cash-strapped school districts, police departments and emergency rooms. Often kids won't get help until the school threatens to expel them or they're headed for jail, then the school has to pay for the psychiatric treatment because there is no insurance coverage in the family. I see this play out over and over in our school district (in an affluent suburb). We are making such a huge mistake by not investing more in children's mental health. Keep up the good work Maia!!
It ain't the kids.