Pass the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act (SICAA)
Recommendation
Congress should pass the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act (SICAA).
Background/summary
In the United States, as many as 200,000 children are placed in residential treatment facilities each year [1]. Currently, residential treatment facilities for adolescents are largely unregulated, which has created a muddled system with a spectrum of programs that can be life-saving on one end, and abusive on the other. Congress should pass the Stop Institutional Abuse Act to initiate the process of regulating residential treatment for adolescents, including data collection, implementation of best practices, use of evidence-based risk assessment tools, and regular reporting to the federal government [2]. Importantly, SICAA directs the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to study the use of seclusion, restraints, and restrictive and punitive interventions during treatment [3].
Additionally, Congress should authorize the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute SICAA violations by residential treatment facilities and their affiliates, such as transport services, providing criminal-level sanctions for violations.
citations
- Simmons, Amanda. “Resolution 605, the Troubled Teen Industry, and Institutional Child Abuse.” American Bar Association. Last updated August 21, 2023.
- “SICAA.” Stop Institutional Child Abuse. Last Accessed August 24, 2024.
- Mapa, Kati. “Bipartisan Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act Introduced.” Child Welfare League of America. Last accessed August 24, 2024.