LOS ANGELES - TelAve -- The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International warns parents against hiring companies to forcibly transport troubled teens to psychiatric residential treatment facilities (RTFs) and wilderness camps, citing devastating reports of trauma and abuse. Jan Eastgate, the group's international president, says, "The average experience of troubled youths in wilderness camps starts with legal kidnapping, terrorizing them and adding to their trauma." Misguided and distraught parents hire these transport services to stage kidnappings of their children, who are violently extracted from their homes in the middle of the night and delivered to RTFs thousands of miles away, according to The Regulatory Review.[1]

The National Youth Rights Association (NYRA) reports: "Despite the seemingly innocuous name, the business of abduction is anything but, and it is perfectly legal in most states. Escort services could range from politely asking your child to go with them to the child being woken up in the middle of the night by strangers with handcuffs and violently staging what is essentially a kidnapping. Forcefully removing a child from their home often involves traumatic experiences, especially when the child doesn't know what's happening."[2]

The Journal of Legislation described the abduction process: "These men ask if you want to go 'the easy way or the hard way' before restraining you and carrying you out of your home, as you scream for help. They take you to the airport, eventually transporting you to an isolated facility for rebellious teenagers. Once at this facility, you are subject to a multitude of physical and mental abuse." This can include being forced to take psychotropic drugs.[3]

CCHR says this practice should be investigated as a possible violation of 18 U.S. Code §1201, "Federal Kidnapping Laws," which states: "Whoever unlawfully seizes, confines, decoys, kidnaps, abducts or carries away and holds for ransom or reward any person, or when the person is willfully transported in interstate or foreign commerce across a state boundary is guilty of kidnapping…." One law firm states, "Kidnapping is generally described as taking someone away against their will. Sometimes, it will involve confinement or detaining them in false imprisonment," preventing an escape.

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Children and teens, even of consenting age, are kidnapped, transported across state lines, and held against their will under the guise of psychiatric or behavioral care. Transport companies typically charge fees ranging from $2000 to $4000. Parents may also incur a case management consultant fee costing up to $10,000, while the wilderness camps charge an upfront admissions fee ranging from $1500 to $5000. Financial institutions offer loans for this, with amounts reaching as high as $100,000.

Researchers say Involuntary Youth Transport (IYT) "relies on the implicit or explicit use of force," and against young people who may "have no legal right to refuse treatment." The system has been criticized as a form of social control or "strong-arm rehabilitation."[4]

NYRA estimates the industry profits $1.2 billion a year from a process that "dehumanizes youth and quite literally deprives them of freedom." In extreme cases, young people have experienced solitary confinement, sexual abuse, and even death. In February 2024, a 12-year-old boy transported from New York to a North Carolina wilderness camp died undergoing a restraint procedure. His death was ruled a homicide.

The Alliance for the Safe, Therapeutic and Appropriate Use of Residential Treatment also explains the long-term damage: "Many survivors who have been 'escorted' to a residential program say they experience years of nightmares, flashbacks, emotional 'numbing,' inability to concentrate, angry outbursts, difficulty sleeping or other symptoms" primarily because of the trauma of being forcibly taken against their will.[5]

A recent case was that of a 17-year-old transported to a North Carolina wilderness camp, where she was held for 77 days. "I was falling behind, and my parents were concerned about me graduating on time or being able to go to college. At the time, my parents felt it would be beneficial to my mental health to get out of the school system for a break," she said. Once admitted, "We were yelled at and mocked for being upset," she said and described conditions as "absolutely criminal."[6]

Eastgate says the crux of this child abuse industry is the delinquent behavior of teens being labeled as a "mental disorder" justifying their involuntary incarceration. An arbitrary list of teen "symptoms" includes loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities; a significant decline in academic performance; increased irritability; changes in sleep patterns and increased defiance/ disobedience.

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CCHR wants the involuntary youth transport business included in federal and state investigations of the $23 billion troubled teen treatment industry. Eastgate says,  "It is a legalized child abuse industry that stretches from labeling teens as mentally disordered, to kidnapping and dumping them into abusive psychiatric and behavioral facilities with impunity. It deceives parents who are unaware that their children are being subjected to potential criminal abuse in the name of care."

CCHR was established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and eminent professor of psychiatry, Dr. Thomas Szasz and has helped achieve hundreds of laws to protect individuals. This includes the federal Prohibition of Mandatory Medication Amendment banning the practice of children being forced to take psychiatric drugs as a requisite for their education.

Sources:

[1] Evelyn Tsisin, "The Troubled Teen Industry's Troubling Lack of Oversight," The Regulatory Review, 27 June 2023, www.theregreview.org/2023/06/27/tsisin-the-troubled-teen-industrys-troubling-lack-of-oversight/

[2] "The 'troubled teen' industry," National Youth Rights Association, www.youthrights.org/issues/medical-autonomy/the-troubled-teen-industry/

[3] Morgan Rubino, "MORE THAN TROUBLING: THE ALARMING ABSENCE OF 'TROUBLED TEEN INDUSTRY' REGULATION AND PROPOSALS FOR REFORM," Journal of Legislation, Vol 50, 2024, p, 431

[4] "Involuntary Youth Transport (IYT) to Treatment Programs: Best Practices, Research, Ethics, and Future Directions," Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, Vol 39, 6 Nov. 2019

[5] "The 'troubled teen' industry," National Youth Rights Association, www.youthrights.org/issues/medical-autonomy/the-troubled-teen-industry/

[6] Emily Mikkelsen, "Former Trails Carolina camper recounts stay at embattled 'wilderness therapy' camp; 'I have nightmares that I'm still there.'" Fox News Greensboro, 4 July 2024, www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/former-trails-carolina-camper-recounts-stay-at-embattled-wilderness-therapy-camp-i-have-nightmares-that-i-m-still-there/ar-BB1pmOWk