Mount Bachelor Academy Closed Due to Abuse and Neglect of Children with Mental Health Needs

December 3, 2009-- In February, we told you about a case before the Supreme Court, Forest Grove v. T.A., which involved parents seeking reimbursement for sending their son to a residential treatment center (RTC), Mount Bachelor Academy (MBA), after special education was denied to him in a public school.  MBA, like many other RTCs, was licensed to provide both educational services and 24 hour careto children with mental health needs.

While Bazelon did not take a formal role in the case, we came out in opposition to the placement of children with mental health needs in RTCs like MBA, citing not only the many instances of mistreatment and abuse of children in these facilities, but also their failure to provide appropriate mental health services to the children. 

RTCs Do Not Meet Children’s Mental Health Needs

Following an investigation by the State of Oregon, MBA was closed permanently this month. The State’s report found “conditions present that pose a serious danger to child safety” and substantiated child abuse and neglect, including:

• Lack of qualified staff to diagnose and address children’s mental health needs.
• Lack of individualized treatment for children with mental health needs.
• Engaging in “emotionally damaging” group therapy sessions.
• Engaging in abuse in the name of “treatment,” including forcing some children to reenact abuse that the child had experienced and to listen to offensive remarks.
  

An expert who served as a consultant in the investigation noted that, "In general, coercive, degrading and humiliating treatment is harmful to young people, especially those with psychological vulnerabilities…It has the risk of reinforcing self-blame and self-loathing attitudes already present in traumatized individuals. It is essentially retraumatizing."

The findings substantiate our concerns about MBA. But, we also know that similar abuse, neglect, and inadequate treatment is endemic to RTCs. And as is evident from the investigation, even good regulations do not prevent RTCs from neglecting mental health needs and abusing residents.

Children Need Community-Based Mental Health Services

The Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health found that nearly a quarter of funds used to treat children in our nation is spent on RTCs. Our fact sheet on this issue details how RTCs, like MBA, do not meet children's mental health needs. As our fact sheet urges, funds now spent on RTCs should be used instead for community-based services that have proven more effective and less costly than RTCs.

For more information on how children can be better served in their own homes and communities instead of in restrictive institutions like RTCs, please view our fact sheet.