Urgent Reform Demanded to Stop Child Abuse in Youth Behavioral Facilities

LOS ANGELES - Amzeal -- 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.

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."

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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.

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Sources:

[1] Alexander Stockton, "Can you punish a child's mental health problems away?" The New York Times, 11 Oct. 2022, 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, 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, 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, vtdigger.org/2025/05/22/youth-in-vermont-custody-have-been-physically-restrained-hundreds-of-times-in-recent-years/

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

[7] 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, 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, sgfcitizen.org/voices-opinion/letters/letter-the-alarming-pattern-of-abuse-at-acadia-healthcare-facilities/

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