Government
There is a bill dealing with child abuse that has been making a decent amount of progress on a federal level this year. The “Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009″ was introduced on February 9th of this year and was passed by the House of Representatives on February 23rd. It is now November and we are still waiting for a Senate vote to pass so that this act can go on to help the United states youth.
The purpose of this act, as the title of the bill explains, is to put an end to abuse of those under the age of 18 years old in programs in their local areas. The programs that they are referring to are for behavior modification, boarding schools, boot camp type programs, and others in the same vein. This legislation will also pertain to programs that aim to help children with behavioral, emotional, or mental health problems, as well as problems with alcohol or substance abuse. This act does not, however, cover hospitals or foster homes.
All of the punishable offenses are stated within the act itself. Child abuse of any kind is disallowed in these programs (or anywhere for that matter), disciplinary techniques may not include withholding basic human needs such as food, water, shelter, or medical care, and children may not be restrained physically. Any type of abuse that is intended to humiliate or degrade a child and affect their self-respect is no longer legal, and all members of these programs should have a reasonable amount of access to a telephone as well as informed of when they have this access.
What is also guaranteed by this legislation is that program administrators and directors will not be able to plead ignorance for any of these issues. All staff members are required to know what constitutes child abuse and neglect and how to report it. They will also be responsible for being aware of the signs for heatstroke, dehydration, and hypothermia as well. Most importantly though, all staff members will have a background check to see if they have been violent towards children or involved with sexually inappropriate conduct with minors. Provisions such as these should keep unqualified or undesired persons from becoming a member of a staff that regularly works with children and teens.
These are all very basic needs that the act is helping to provide for children, and there should not be a question of whether the “Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009″ passes the vote in Senate or not. Contact your state’s senators to find out what they are doing to make sure that this bill is put into effect as soon as possible.
