[NYRA] Teen Torture Bill Passes House 318 - 103!

Fri Jun 27 17:36:29 CDT 2008

On Wednesday the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of the  
"Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008" by an  
impressive margin of 318 to 103.  The bill will set standards for teen  
behavior modification programs to limit many of the worst abuses that  
occur in these facilities.

This is a bill NYRA has worked on and tracked since it was first  
introduced three years ago.  NYRA members have been active writing  
their Representatives about this bill.  In total nearly 350 letters  
were sent from NYRA members in support of this bill.

This is a huge victory for the rights of youth and for NYRA!

This is the most successful legislative victory NYRA has ever seen on  
the national level.  Yet at the same time as we were pushing for  
national legislation to limit the harmful abuse teen residential  
treatment centers cause, we were also campaigning on the local level.

On Tuesday, the same day the House debated HR 5876 (later changed to  
6358) NYRA members also attended and testified at a hearing before the  
DC City Council about the harms of behavior modification facilities.   
The only person offering testimony that day who had actually been  
through such a program was a NYRA member.  The bill would prevent the  
District of Columbia from sending youth to programs that use "aversive  
methods" such as electric shock, food deprevation and others.

Not only does NYRA strongly support this bill, we believe strongly  
that the views and experiences of young people who have been through  
these programs needs to be represented.  We were proud to bring that  
personal expertise to the table.

Our work is far from done however.

If you are a DC resident, tell the City Council to support Bill  
17-0654 the "Protection of Students with Disabilities Amendment Act of  
2008"

Also, there still is no Senate companion bill for the bill that sailed  
through the House on Wednesday.  So please tell your Senator's to  
introduce the "Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act  
of 2008" in the Senate.

Together we can do this!

Alex Koroknay-Palicz
Executive Director
National Youth Rights Association
http://www.youthrights.org