Co-Sponsor The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act (S.1351 / H.R.2955)

As a constituent, I am writing to urge you to co-sponsor the bipartisan Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act (S.1351 / H.R.2955). Youth residential treatment facilities receive an estimated $23 billion dollars of public funds annually to purportedly “treat” the behavioral and psychological needs of vulnerable youth yet there are systemic reports of youth experiencing physical, emotional and sexual abuse including but not limited to prolonged solitary confinement, physical, chemical, and mechanical restraints, food and sleep deprivation, lack of access to the restroom or personal hygiene, “attack therapy,” forced labor, medical neglect, and being denied a free and public education. Public records and news reports have documented more than 350 preventable child deaths in these programs. The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act would provide increased oversight and data transparency of institutional youth programs by implementing urgent recommendations from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). These include developing robust information sharing systems among states that also promote the dissemination of best practices for identifying and preventing institutional child abuse. I hope your office will stand by their constituents and co-sponsor the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act. We can’t have another child die in the name of treatment in the United States. Please let me know if this is a possibility. Thank you.