Press Briefing on Unregulated Private Residential Treatment Facilities

Washington (October 13, 2005)-- On October 18, leading experts in children's mental health will hold a press briefing to report on the unlicensed and unregulated residential treatment programs being sold to desparate families as the best treatment for their children's mental health needs.

The Alliance for the Safe, Therapeutic and Appropriate Use of Residential Treatment ("A START"), a multi-disciplinary taskforce coordinated by the Florida Mental Health Institute and the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, is seeking a GAO investigation into these facilities because of the shocking lack of information available on these unregulated "therapeutic boarding schools." A START is also calling on members of Congress to co-sponsor the End Institutionalized Abuse Against Children Act and the Keeping Families Together Act.

The press briefing will take place at the U.S. Capitol Building, Room HC-9 on Tuesday, October 18, 2005, 3:00-4:00 pm. Media representatives who cannot attend may participate by phone. To request the call-in number, denises@bazelon.org or 202-467-5730 ext 110.

Below is a list of planned speakers:

Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), introduced the Keeping Families Together Act.

Cheryl Johnson, staff of Rep.George Miller (D-CA), who introduced the Ending Institutional Abuse of Children Act.

Robert Friedman, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Child and Family Studies, Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida.

Charles Huffine, M.D., former President of the American Association of Community Psychiatrists, currently assistant medical director for child and adolescent programs at King County Mental Health in Seattle, WA.

Christine Gomez, parent of a child who was placed in two unlicensed residential treatment facilities, one in the US and another in Jamaica.

Kathryn Whitehead, placed in an unlicensed residential treatment facility as an adolescent, regularly communicates with other young people around the country about their experiences in such institutions.

Nicki Bush, former staff member at a residential treatment facility, where she worked as a program evaluator, and currently in a Ph.D. program at the University of Washington.

Tammy Seltzer, Esq., a senior staff attorney at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, works on a broad array of issues that affect children with emotional and behavioral problems, including Medicaid/EPSDT, special education and their increasing incarceration.

For more information:
Tammy Seltzer, 202-467-5730 ext 116, tammy@bazelon.org
Allison Pinto, 310-428-7515 (cell) apinto@fmhi.usf.edu

Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
1101 15th Street, NW, Suite 1212
Washington, DC 20005

Phone: 202-467-5730
Fax: 202-223-0409
Email: webmasteratbazelon.org

The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law

For Immediate Release: October 13, 2005

Contacts: Tammy Seltzer, 202-467-5730 ext. 116, tammy@bazelon.org Allison Pinto, 310-428-7515 (cell) apinto@fmhi.usf.edu

Press Briefing on Unregulated Private Residential Treatment Facilities

Contacts: Tammy Seltzer, 202-467-5730 ext. 116, tammy@bazelon.org
Allison Pinto, 310-428-7515 (cell) apinto@fmhi.usf.edu