Considering a Private Residential Treatment Program? Part 1 of 4
Private residential treatment programs for young people offer a range of services, including drug and alcohol treatment, confidence building, military-style discipline, and psychological counseling for a variety of addiction, behavioral, and emotional problems.
Many of these programs are intended to provide a less-restrictive alternative to incarceration or hospitalization, or an intervention for a troubled young person.
If you are a parent or guardian and think you have exhausted intervention alternatives for a troubled teen, you may be considering a private residential treatment program.
These programs go by a variety of names, including "therapeutic boarding schools," "emotional growth academies," "teen boot camps," "behavior modification facilities," and "wilderness therapy programs.
" No standard definitions exist for specific types of programs.
The programs are not regulated by the federal government, and many are not subject to state licensing or monitoring as mental health or educational facilities, either.
A 2007 Report to Congress by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found cases involving serious abuse and neglect at some of these programs.
Many programs advertise on the Internet and through other media, making claims about staff credentials, the level of treatment a participant will receive, program accreditation, education credit transfers, success rates, and endorsements by educational consultants.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency, cautions that before you enroll a youngster in a private residential treatment program, check it out: ask questions; ask for proof or support for claims about staff credentials, program accreditation, and endorsements; do a site visit; and get all policies and promises in writing.
Many of these programs are intended to provide a less-restrictive alternative to incarceration or hospitalization, or an intervention for a troubled young person.
If you are a parent or guardian and think you have exhausted intervention alternatives for a troubled teen, you may be considering a private residential treatment program.
These programs go by a variety of names, including "therapeutic boarding schools," "emotional growth academies," "teen boot camps," "behavior modification facilities," and "wilderness therapy programs.
" No standard definitions exist for specific types of programs.
The programs are not regulated by the federal government, and many are not subject to state licensing or monitoring as mental health or educational facilities, either.
A 2007 Report to Congress by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found cases involving serious abuse and neglect at some of these programs.
Many programs advertise on the Internet and through other media, making claims about staff credentials, the level of treatment a participant will receive, program accreditation, education credit transfers, success rates, and endorsements by educational consultants.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency, cautions that before you enroll a youngster in a private residential treatment program, check it out: ask questions; ask for proof or support for claims about staff credentials, program accreditation, and endorsements; do a site visit; and get all policies and promises in writing.
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