Letter to John Olver about Teen Challeng
To the Honorable John W. Olver,
I'm writing you today to ask you to co-sponsor HR 5876 - Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008. Below is some background as to why I believe this bill is needed.
I recently read about the horrible crimes committed against children by the organization Teen Challenge. Teen Challenge runs many "faith-based rehabilitiation" programs specifically aimed at young people. These are residential programs, with all participants required to live on site for the 12-18 month duration of the program. One of these is located in Fitchburg, MA, part of Teen Challenge New England.
Youths are often sent to Teen Challenge as part of a court-ordered rehabilitation program. This gives Teen Challenge a lot of power over the kids in their care, as they can simply report them for "non-compliance" in the rehabilitation program and they will be sent to jail. They use this power to coerce people to become members of the "army of god", to speak in tongues, to profess a Christian faith. This, when they accept non-Christians. If someone requests a change to a different rehab program, they also threaten to use this. They have been known to lie to parents and probation officers about the actions of those in the program.
There are numerous documented instances of Teen Challenge abusing those in its care, both mentally and physically. They deny food, water, and medical care, such as treatment of wounds. To withhold prescribed medication. To administer beatings. To put people in solitary confinement for weeks on end.
In addition to this, they abuse government funds. Food stamps, social security checks - they require the kids in the program to apply for them, and then confiscate them when they arrive, to use them to pay for the program. In addition, often the intake contracts require unpaid work, or require large rents to be paid while providing only one method to make money to pay it.
If you would like to read more about Teen Challenge, I suggest you visit http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/26/17250/8747/930/503496 . That author has written several entries in a series about Teen Challenge, plus numerous other articles about similar programs. He cites media reports and press releases of Teen Challenge and other organization to support his claims, which are summarized in my message.
Please, co-sponsor HR 5876. Act to prevent institutionalized child abuse, paid for by the US government.
Sincerely, Michael Leuchtenburg
I'm writing you today to ask you to co-sponsor HR 5876 - Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008. Below is some background as to why I believe this bill is needed.
I recently read about the horrible crimes committed against children by the organization Teen Challenge. Teen Challenge runs many "faith-based rehabilitiation" programs specifically aimed at young people. These are residential programs, with all participants required to live on site for the 12-18 month duration of the program. One of these is located in Fitchburg, MA, part of Teen Challenge New England.
Youths are often sent to Teen Challenge as part of a court-ordered rehabilitation program. This gives Teen Challenge a lot of power over the kids in their care, as they can simply report them for "non-compliance" in the rehabilitation program and they will be sent to jail. They use this power to coerce people to become members of the "army of god", to speak in tongues, to profess a Christian faith. This, when they accept non-Christians. If someone requests a change to a different rehab program, they also threaten to use this. They have been known to lie to parents and probation officers about the actions of those in the program.
There are numerous documented instances of Teen Challenge abusing those in its care, both mentally and physically. They deny food, water, and medical care, such as treatment of wounds. To withhold prescribed medication. To administer beatings. To put people in solitary confinement for weeks on end.
In addition to this, they abuse government funds. Food stamps, social security checks - they require the kids in the program to apply for them, and then confiscate them when they arrive, to use them to pay for the program. In addition, often the intake contracts require unpaid work, or require large rents to be paid while providing only one method to make money to pay it.
If you would like to read more about Teen Challenge, I suggest you visit http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/26/17250/8747/930/503496 . That author has written several entries in a series about Teen Challenge, plus numerous other articles about similar programs. He cites media reports and press releases of Teen Challenge and other organization to support his claims, which are summarized in my message.
Please, co-sponsor HR 5876. Act to prevent institutionalized child abuse, paid for by the US government.
Sincerely, Michael Leuchtenburg