NPR: GAO: Poor Management Had Role in Boot Camp Deaths

GAO: Poor Management Had Role in Boot Camp Deaths

They are the places of last resort for some parents: privately run "boot camps" designed to help troubled teens. But a report from the Government Accountability Office presented to Congress today found that "ineffective management" and problems such as "the hiring of untrained staff" contributed to most of the 10 deaths in residential treatment programs between 1990 and 2004 that it examined.

Federal regulators found thousands of allegations of abuse since 1990. For instance, more than 1,600 staff members were involved in cases of abuse in 2005.

Although reporting on the private facilities is spotty, GAO investigators searched court records and Web sites. They interviewed lawyers, family members and others familiar with the facilities. "This nightmare has remained an open secret for years," said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.

Day to Day interviewed Kansas City Star reporter Steve Rock, who discussed allegations about Thayer Learning Center in Kidder, Mo., where a 15-year-old boy died a few years ago.

Rock says parents, teens and others familiar with Thayer have described the center's rules as especially strict. Children are allegedly allowed few bathroom breaks, resulting in many of the teens soiling themselves regularly. There have also been allegations of teens being dragged around a dirt track. But because the center is private, local officials in Missouri say it is difficult for them to investigate these allegations.

Rock says Miller's committee is trying to "collapse" facilities that operate without oversight, including possibly helping fund states that want to find a way to investigate them.

5:57 PM ET | 10-10-2007 | permalink

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The congressional hearing on boot camps today was entirely grim in tone and content. It was also highly tilted to present the case of critics. I am also troubled reading a GAO report on boot camp programs in the US timed to coincide with today's hearing. It is unfortunate that the report ignored incidents involving state sponsored programs and the many benefits received by the participants of many private programs. It also reinforces a media focus on worst-case scenarios. The hearing today was quite similar in tone to the GAO report.

I consider most of the tragedies cited as inexcusable and avoidable. Not all outdoor programs for at-risk teens utilize a model that resembles boot camps and such extreme measures are unnecessary. This summer at Galena Ridge, an outdoor program in Montana, I had a student with a persistent stomach ache on a wilderness trip. The entire course ceased its scheduled activities for a day until we were sure it wasn't a serious medical problem. We don't presume that students are "faking it;" we assume that any potential medical problem is real and evacuate a student if we have any doubt regarding his condition. I think this kind of response to potential medical emergencies is common in the Montana outdoor programs. The American public, however, will not distinguish the differences between programs from this hearing or report.

The GAO report, dated Oct 10, 2007, has cited some very troubling cases, primarily from boot camp and other wilderness programs in the US. Some of the same cases were cited at the hearing today. This is depressing news...I believe all programs need to abandon behavior mod punitive models and adopt process models that don't presume kids are "faking it". The only "boot camp" I know of in Montana is the Challenge Program affiliated with the National Guard and I don't think they use a wilderness component. All programs should read this report, listen to the hearing, and address all of the issues brought forward with their staff.

Wilderness programs will always encounter serious medical emergencies in the field. As professionals, it is our duty to treat every incident as a potential emergency and respond accordingly, taking the most precautionay approach available in order to alleviate unnecessary risk. Any of these incidents cast a very grim light on our work with at-risk kids and such exposure at the congressional level will likely have dire consequences in terms of public relations and punitive regulation.
It is also true that all outdoor programs will expose students to a certain level of inherent risk, including well established programs like Outward Bound, USA. I was on the safety review team for Outward Bound and we visited different Outward Bound schools to conduct safety reviews and make suggestions for improvements. No program was perfect and all benefited from the internal debrief after the review. I think this is lacking in the private program industry and maybe essential at this point.

Paul Clark

Sent by Paul Clark | 8:26 PM ET | 10-10-2007

And there are many very fine, reputable programs. The predatory, abusive practices of a few bad actors should rightly be addressed with better oversight. But there are many 10s of thousands of families out there whose children have been saved by the "good actors." Our firm has successfully placed literally thousands of children in the good programs for 28 years! We travel the country and investigate these places constantly. Please also share this side of the story.

Sent by Douglas Bodin | 10:28 PM ET | 10-10-2007

I am pleased to see the issue of the "treatment programs for troubled and at risk youth" brought to the limelight. For years the lucrative industry consisting of Residential Treatment Centers, Wilderness programs and boot camps has been untouched. Although there is a definate need for such restrive facilities and programs, there is an overwhelming overuse of the option. Youth should be sent to a psychiatric hospital following a suicide attempt or ideation. Upon medical clearence, there should be an aggressive exploration of intensive counseling options in his/her community.
Having said that, the issue of regulating Wilderness and othr types of restrive therapeutic programs sidesteps the problem by focusing on the symptoms and not the holes in the continuum of care. The fact is that there can be more immediate, effective and by far more efficient ways to address the emerging and imposing mental health and substance abuse issues in adolescents than simply sending them away. One of these effective methods is to realize the fact that schools are and have been for long, the primary care providers for our youth. As such, these venues can host the most intensive Treatment programs by bringing the same quality of programs and professionals available in psychiatric facilities and offer the services to the clients, their families and the community. Clinically as well as financially they can be far more effective than taking the youth away from their environment, placing them in a "sterrile" environment under the auspices of clinical intervention.
I know this all too well. I was the CEO of a Residential Treeatment Center for adolescents with severe emotional and/or behavioral disorders for nearly ten years. A majority of our clients could have successfully used a more immediate and more systems oriented approach.
I have since focused on designing school based Intensive Therapeutic programs. It is our goal that we will serve more clients in their own communities, involve their parents in the process and safely transition them back into their normal lives by bringing services, professionals and programs to them.
Sending our kids away to simply recieve shock value is just not always the answer.

Sent by siamak khadjenoury | 2:42 PM ET | 10-11-2007

A very large number of treatment options are available for the troubled teens such as boarding schools, boot camps, wilderness programs and therapeutic programs etc. These schools and programs can change the behavior of your child and come back them on right track.
http://troubledteensearch.com/

Sent by Jessica | 4:31 AM ET | 03-06-2008

Boot camps are good choice for troubled teens. These camps can change the life of troubled teens. Boot camp are effective only when if your child have behavior problem at starting level. Many sites are available which gives information about troubled teens.
http://troubledteensearch.com/

Sent by Jessica Lopez | 5:40 AM ET | 03-06-2008

It???s really a helpful site. It helps the parents of troubled teen to select an appropriate school for their troubled teen. Parents should do a proper investigation to choose a boot camps. The tips you have presented here are really excellent.

Sent by jenifer | 7:19 AM ET | 03-19-2008

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