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CCHR Demands Urgent Reform to Stop Child Abuse in Youth Behavioral Facilities

LOS ANGELES, Calif., June 9, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Amid a surge of reported abuse and deaths in psychiatric and behavioral residential programs for youth, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) is urging immediate and sweeping federal intervention. CCHR warns that continued inaction by state and federal agencies endangers lives and enables a mental health system where vulnerable children and adolescents are subjected to trauma, neglect, and avoidable harm.

Image caption: “Children should not be warehoused, abused, or silenced. What is happening now is a humanitarian crisis hiding in plain sight.” – Jan Eastgate, President, CCHR International.

In December 2024, Congress passed the bipartisan Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, calling for a study by the National Academies of Sciences into the state of youth in institutional programs. However, the legislation granted a three-year window to complete the investigation—a delay CCHR deems unconscionable now, given ongoing reports of harm.

“Children are dying. Others are being restrained, secluded, forcibly drugged, or sexually abused,” said Jan Eastgate, President of CCHR International. “How many more cases of tragedy must occur before regulators respond with urgency? A three-year timeline is a death sentence for some of these children.”

A 2024 peer-reviewed study in Psychiatric Services confirmed that the use of seclusion and mechanical restraints remains widespread in U.S. psychiatric hospitals, despite the documented trauma and risk of death. The study called on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and The Joint Commission to implement reforms to end the practice.

A previous New York Times investigation estimated at least 86 deaths in youth behavioral programs from 2000 to 2015, noting that children in these institutions are often subjected to conditions that would be unlawful for prisoners—including isolation, and physical and chemical restraint.[1]

In just the past few weeks, a string of new incidents has surfaced from across the U.S. involving youth facilities, including:

Two girls, aged 12 and 13, died by suicide in May in a North Carolina behavioral treatment facility, forcing its closure.[2]
Reports of hundreds of prolonged restraint incidents in a single California psychiatric facility within months.[3]
A teenage boy was repeatedly sexually abused by staff at a New Mexico behavioral facility.[4]
Seclusion and restraint of children as young as five; Vermont state authorities confirmed over 500 cases.[5]
New legislation was passed in Maryland restricting the use of physical restraints during youth transport to psych facilities.[6]

Although multiple federal investigations have led to substantial fines and civil settlements, CCHR asserts these penalties have failed to deter misconduct, patient harm, and deaths. “Financial penalties are clearly not enough. Many of these settlements are treated as the cost of doing business,” Eastgate noted. CCHR also emphasizes that current tools used by government agencies—such as consent agreements or Corporate Integrity Agreements (CIAs)—do not work. These measures allow institutions with a history of serious violations to remain operational after promising internal improvements. “Voluntary promises are violated again and again, and children suffer the consequences,” Eastgate said. “These agreements create a dangerous illusion of accountability.”

The organization is calling on Congress and the Administration to take such actions as:

Accelerate the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act investigation.
Withhold CMS and Medicaid funding from facilities with substantiated abuse records.
Freeze new licenses or bed expansions for companies under investigation.
Establish criminal penalties for executives and staff found complicit in systemic abuse.
Prohibit the use of further Corporate Integrity or improvement agreements for known violators.

In June 2024, a U.S. Senate Finance Committee report into several for-profit youth behavioral hospital chains described the harms children experienced resulted, in part, from financial models that prioritize revenue over safety. The Committee urged “bold intervention” to prevent further tragedies.

Prominent legal professionals agree. KBA attorney Kayla Ferrel Onder stated: “More effective oversight systems need to be in place to protect patients. This includes stricter penalties for facilities found guilty of abuse or fraud. Jail time for executives and significantly larger financial penalties may be necessary to curb misconduct prevalent in the behavioral healthcare industry.”[7]

Attorney Tommy James cites horrendous physical abuse and emotional trauma in behavioral residential facilities, stating, “those responsible must be held accountable.”[8] Another attorney, Kayla Ferrel Onder said the abuse is so extensive that it reflected a “systemic failure,” which needs to stop.[9]

CCHR maintains an extensive record of documented youth abuse in psychiatric facilities, including seclusion, restraint, sexual assault, and forced drugging. “Children should not be warehoused, abused, or silenced,” said Eastgate. “What is happening now is a humanitarian crisis hiding in plain sight.”

Quoting lawmakers who have supported the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, Rep. Ro Khanna stated: “The industry has gone unchecked for too long.”[10] Senator Tommy Tuberville added: “We need more sunlight… to stop the waste, fraud, and abuse in the system.”

“This is not a policy debate—it is a moral imperative,” Eastgate concluded. “We are calling on legislators, prosecutors, and health agencies to act now. No more broken promises. No more promises of avoidable deaths. No more children forgotten in the system.”

About CCHR: The government-acclaimed watchdog and award-winning advocacy group was established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and Professor of Psychiatry, Dr. Thomas Szasz.

To learn more, visit: https://www.cchrint.org/2025/06/06/children-abused-dying-in-psychiatric-hospitals-while-u-s-agencies-stall/

Sources:

[1] Alexander Stockton, “Can you punish a child’s mental health problems away?” The New York Times, 11 Oct. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/10/11/opinion/teen-mental-health-care.html

[2] Jeffery Collins, “Residential treatment school closes in North Carolina after deaths of 2 girls,” AP News, 3 June 2025, https://apnews.com/article/therapy-school-closes-north-carolina-asheville-academy-9854c3ca7cda11cc06f05d9fccef4112

[3] “California watchdog finds for-profit psychiatric hospital abused patients,” San Francisco Chronicle, 19 May 2025

[4] “Suit alleges teen repeatedly abused by worker at former youth residential treatment center,” Santa Fe New Mexican, 29 May 2025, https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/suit-alleges-teen-repeatedly-abused-by-worker-at-former-youth-residential-treatment-center/article_be37888c-4bbe-41db-bd35-c76f3c8eb6c1.html

[5] “Youth in Vermont custody have been physically restrained hundreds of times in recent years,” VT Digger, 22 May 2025, https://vtdigger.org/2025/05/22/youth-in-vermont-custody-have-been-physically-restrained-hundreds-of-times-in-recent-years/

[6] https://legiscan.com/MD/text/SB400/id/3232730

[7] https://kbaattorneys.com/acadia-abuse-behavioral-health-facilities/

[8] Erica Thomas, “Tuskegee youth facility dubbed ‘House of Horrors’ in latest lawsuit,” 1819 News, 27 Aug. 2024, https://1819news.com/news/item/tuskegee-youth-facility-dubbed-house-of-horrors-in-latest-lawsuit

[9] “Letter: The alarming pattern of abuse at Acadia Healthcare facilities,” Springfield Daily Citizen, 29 May 2025, https://sgfcitizen.org/voices-opinion/letters/letter-the-alarming-pattern-of-abuse-at-acadia-healthcare-facilities/

[10] https://www.cchrint.org/2024/12/27/paris-hilton-congress-praised-for-teen-behavioral-treatment-abuse-prevention-and-oversight/ citing https://khanna.house.gov/media/press-releases/khanna-merkley-cornyn-tuberville-and-carter-joined-paris-hilton-celebrating

MULTIMEDIA:

Image link for media: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/25-0609-s2p-cchrcrisis-300dpi.jpg

Image caption: “Children should not be warehoused, abused, or silenced. What is happening now is a humanitarian crisis hiding in plain sight.” – Jan Eastgate, President, CCHR International.

NEWS SOURCE: Citizens Commission on Human Rights

This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (Citizens Commission on Human Rights), who is solely responsible for its accuracy, by Send2Press Newswire. Image, if any, was provided by the news source and not this website or the wire service. Information is believed accurate, as provided by the news source, but is not guaranteed.

To view the original story, visit: https://www.send2press.com/wire/cchr-demands-urgent-reform-to-stop-child-abuse-in-youth-behavioral-facilities/

Debut author, Barbara Lane, launches ‘Fictitious Truths’ – a podcast to increase the awareness of child abuse and neglect

WINCHESTER, Va. /ScoopCloud/ -- A captivating storyteller, Barbara Lane, hosts a new Podcast where she uses her powerful writing and storytelling skills to share Lucy's Story, a chronical in which she casts a five-year-old fictional character as the voice of the children she represents - a compilation of the true-life events experienced by the abused and neglected children the author has worked with over the course of her career.

"Fictitious Truths" presents beguiling tales created to speak for the voice of abused children, stories that should be told, but often cannot. Timely interview segments with professionals in the field of child welfare will be presented to raise awareness and provide opportunities for listeners to be of service to children in need.

Launching February 16, 2021, the audience can listen-in to the "Fictitious Truths" presentation of Lucy's Story on Amazon, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple or wherever they get their podcasts.

About Barbara Lane:

Barbara Lane has worked in the field of family therapy for over thirty years with a focus on child abuse and neglect. She is currently authoring a memoir regarding a reunion with her ten biological sisters after forty years of separation.

Learn more at: https://barbaralane.info/

Podcast Episode One: https://www.buzzsprout.com/711048/7280101

Audio Trailer (Soundcloud): https://soundcloud.com/user-609250775/trailer-fictional-truths-a

PODCAST feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/711048.rss

A captivating storyteller, Barbara Lane, hosts a new Podcast where she uses her powerful writing and storytelling skills to share Lucy's Story, a chronical in which she casts a five-year-old fictional character as the voice of the children she represents - a compilation of the true-life events experienced by the abused and neglected children the author has worked with over the course of her career.

Are Your Kids in Danger of Being Sexually Abused at School?

SAN MATEO, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- Thousands of children every year are molested, used for pornography or otherwise sexually abused by teachers, coaches or other school employees - according to leading research, school employees sexually abuse one in ten students before the end of high school. New resources from Stop School Sexual Abuse (SSSA) help parents keep their kids safe.

"Children's safety is just not a priority for many schools," said Charles Gleen from SSSA. "Parents need information to know if their school can be trusted."

SSSA has created the School Sexual Abuse Database, the only directory of educator sexual abuse of students in California. SSSA also has published its School Sexual Abuse Hall of Shame, which uses some of the worst examples of schools enabling the sexual abuse of students to highlight how schools fail on children's safety.

"To reduce educator sexual abuse, parents must know if their school has been unsafe and must be able to recognize dangerous practices," said Gleen. "But that information has not been available before."

Schools don't want you to know

The SSSA database includes cases involving the sexual abuse of hundreds of students from kindergarten through high school in more than 65 communities statewide.

"Schools try to hide or minimize sexual abuse of students," said Gleen. "School sexual abuse is a powerful sign that administrators can't handle the most important part of their job - keeping kids safe. They don't want parents to know they have failed in this most basic responsibility."

Even after abuse happens, schools often do not improve safety. Many believe changes are an admission that they failed before.

"Schools don't automatically become safer, especially if the same leaders who neglected safety before remain in charge," said Gleen. "Parents should ask what has changed to make kids safe. Were school leaders held accountable? Have policies or training improved? Parents need to know what happened in order to demand needed changes."

Recognizing unsafe culture

The failings of unsafe schools are often similar from case to case, and parents can recognize the signs - if they know what to look for. The Hall of Shame provides examples of schools where sexual abuse could easily have been prevented, allowing parents to see how schools enable abuse.

"The Hall of Shame shows the failed attitudes and dangerous patterns of leadership that allow abuse to happen," said Gleen.

The Hall of Shame includes private and public schools from San Mateo (St. Matthew's Episcopal Day School), Daly City (Westmoor High School), San Jose (Dartmouth Middle School), Redlands (Redlands High School), Riverside (Liberty Elementary School) and Anaheim (Kennedy High School).

Understanding the risk

To help children stay safe, parents must first understand the risk themselves, and SSSA research provides insight into school sexual abuse.

"The diverse schools in the Hall of Shame highlight that students can be sexually abused at any school," said Gleen. "Other research shows the highest-risk employees - coaches, teachers, aftercare workers, aides and bus drivers - and reminds that predators are found in every school job."

The cases in the database also help parents understand the ways that educators manipulate children into abuse.

Promoting change through knowledge

"Predators are drawn to schools," said Gleen. "Schools give predators a constant supply of vulnerable kids. Parents need to demand that schools take necessary steps to keep kids safe."

Public pressure is the most effective way to make schools take employee sexual abuse seriously, but for that to happen, parents must know if their school failed and what to watch out for.

Search the School Sexual Abuse Database - https://stopschoolsexualabuse.site/.

Visit the School Sexual Abuse Hall of Shame - https://stopschoolsexualabuse.com/topics/school-sexual-abuse-hall-of-shame.

Other Information on School Sexual Abuse is at Key Topics - https://stopschoolsexualabuse.com/topics.

About Stop School Sexual Abuse

Knowledge is power. Stop School Sexual Abuse is a volunteer-run organization that provides victim advocacy services to school sexual abuse survivors and their families, as well as a website where survivors can tell their stories and a database of school sexual abuse cases. Our mission is to advocate and educate to reduce sexual abuse in schools. Stop School Sexual Abuse is a pro bono site supported financially by our team.

To learn more about Stop School Sexual Abuse, volunteer or submit your survivor story, visit https://www.stopschoolsexualabuse.com/.

Thousands of children every year are molested, used for pornography or otherwise sexually abused by teachers, coaches or other school employees - according to leading research, school employees sexually abuse one in ten students before the end of high school. New resources from Stop School Sexual Abuse (SSSA) help parents keep their kids safe.

Related link: https://stopschoolsexualabuse.com/