{"id":942,"date":"2021-12-27T23:43:37","date_gmt":"2021-12-27T23:43:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unsilenced.org\/?page_id=942"},"modified":"2023-12-24T19:56:18","modified_gmt":"2023-12-25T03:56:18","slug":"red-flags","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.unsilenced.org\/red-flags\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Flags"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Red Flags<\/h1><\/span>
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If you are considering out-of-home treatment or intervention for your child, it may be tempting to consider residential placement. Below is a list of red flags for parents to use when considering residential placement or wilderness programs. If a program incorporates or encourages any of the following practices, you may want to reconsider. Many of the practices used by the so-called \u201ctroubled teen industry\u201d are unethical, dangerous, and a violation of human rights. If you are considering treatment for your child, please feel free to review our\u00a0Safe Treatment<\/a>\u00a0page for a list of evidence-based community treatment models and methodologies.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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  • The program recommends involuntary admittance<\/li>\n
  • The program recommends forceful \u201ctransportation\u201d or \u201cescort\u201d services<\/li>\n
  • The program is not state-licensed or accredited for at least three components: educational, mental\/behavioral health, and residential<\/li>\n
  • The educational aspect of the program is nationally accredited, not regionally \u2013 regional accreditation is considered the gold standard for schools<\/li>\n
  • The program uses a contract with terms that ask the parents to sign over their custodial rights or agree to not report child abuse<\/li>\n
  • The program employs mostly uneducated or untrained staff to handle the majority of the day-to-day care of the children<\/li>\n
  • The program uses high-pressured sales tactics urging parents to \u201cact now\u201d or else their child will be harmed<\/li>\n
  • The program restricts family communication and parental rights<\/li>\n
  • The program allows only monitored and\/or limited telephone communication with parents<\/li>\n
  • The program allows only monitored, limited, and\/or censored written communication with parents<\/li>\n
  • The program denies the child the ability to contact law enforcement or advocates upon request or to report abuse<\/li>\n
  • Certain staff at the program receive bonuses or commissions for having a high headcount of children enrolled<\/li>\n
  • The program unethically uses restraints (i.e. to punish a child, use without attempting de-escalation, and\/or restraining them when they are not an imminent risk of harm to themselves or others)<\/li>\n
  • The program uses restraints in a manner to hurt the child in the hopes they will comply (i.e. pressure points)<\/li>\n
  • The program uses dangerous and unethical physical, chemical, or mechanical restraint methods such as prone restraints, pepper spray, etc<\/li>\n
  • The program allows regular staff to have the discretion to use chemical restraints that are \u201crubber-stamped\u201d by a doctor and\/or nurse at a later point in time<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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    • The duration of the internment at the program is ambiguous \u2013 creating an indefinite detainment<\/li>\n
    • The program punishes the child by restricting social interaction, socially ostracizing them, and\/or forcing \u201csilence\u201d<\/li>\n
    • The program requires children to initially \u201cearn\u201d the right to have normal social interactions (i.e. needing to be at a certain level in the program in order to have basic conversations with their peers)<\/li>\n
    • The program requires prolonged isolation from society<\/li>\n
    • The program punishes the child with forced labor<\/li>\n
    • The program uses fear, shame, humiliation, and\/or intimidation as part of their behavioral modification practices<\/li>\n
    • The program punishes the child by forcing them to sit or lay in stress positions<\/li>\n
    • The program deprives the child of basic necessities such as food, water, sleep, and\/or access to a bathroom<\/li>\n
    • The program denies medical care (i.e. refusal to allow children to see a doctor or accusing them of attention seeking)<\/li>\n
    • The program punishes the children by denying them access to school<\/li>\n
    • The program structure has a peer hierarchy where children are responsible for punishing and restraining other children<\/li>\n
    • The program uses isolation\/seclusion\/solitary confinement rooms<\/li>\n
    • The program uses an overstructured routine for the children which allows little-to-no free time<\/li>\n
    • The program uses attack therapy or group attack therapy on children<\/li>\n
    • The program uses aversion therapy on children<\/li>\n
    • The program provides conversion therapy or any \u201ctreatment\u201d that claims to change a child\u2019s sexual orientation<\/li>\n
    • The program forces sexualized behavior\/sexual abuse as part of \u201ctreatment\u201d<\/li>\n
    • The program sexual shames the child as part of \u201ctreatment\u201d<\/li>\n
    • The program\u2019s school curriculum is textbook\/self-study dependent \u2013 a lack of qualified teachers, tutors, and regular class structure<\/li>\n
    • Requires “Christian arbitration” to resolve legal conflicts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":47,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unsilenced.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/942"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unsilenced.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unsilenced.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unsilenced.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unsilenced.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.unsilenced.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/942\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unsilenced.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}