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House panel passes tougher law on
wilderness therapy programs
By Matt Canham
May 14, 2008
WASHINGTON - A House committee
signed off on a bill Wednesday that would toughen regulations on
residential treatment programs, including the wilderness therapy
camps that operate throughout central and southern Utah.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. George
Miller, D-Calif., comes in reaction to a Government Accountability
Office investigation that highlighted thousands of cases of abuse
and maltreatment in these programs nationwide, along with misleading
marketing practices and uneven state oversight.
"What we have learned is shocking,
infuriating and heartbreaking," said Miller, chairman of the House
Education and Labor Committee. "We have heard from parents of
children who died preventable deaths at the hands of untrained,
uncaring staff members."
That includes the death of Ian
August, who succumbed to heat exhaustion while hiking as part of the
Skyline Journey program in July 2002. Skyline Journey has since been
closed. Charges were filed against the owner, but were later
dismissed. Utah reported no deaths in 2006, according to the full
GAO report, released Tuesday, and the state reported no abuse cases
in 2005, though dozens of other states had severe problems. The
report indicated that one-fourth of all wilderness therapy camps are
in Utah, which take more teens from outside its borders than any
other state. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, speaking against the bill said
he worried it could undermine states that already have strong
oversight programs.
"My state of Utah does have a law
in place that is far stricter than these proposals," he said.
The bill gives the federal
government the primary oversight role for three years as states
develop matching regulations on nutrition, staff training and abuse.
After that time, the states would take over, though federal
officials would still conduct on-site inspections every two years.
The federal government would also
create a toll-free abuse hotline and develop a Web site that would
allow parents to review substantiated abuse claims levied against
programs.
"It can be extremely difficult for
parents to tell the good programs from the bad," Miller said.
The House Education and Labor
Committee passed the bill over the objections of Republicans who
believe that setting up a federal regulatory system and a state
system is redundant. The committee rejected a series of amendments
that would have limited the federal oversight role.
"This is duplicative and totally
unnecessary," said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C.
The committee did approve an
amendment placed by Bishop that would remove identifying information
about victims from public documents.
The bill now goes to the full
House.
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