Status: Introduced
The Better Results through In-community Delivery, Greater Enforcement, and Stronger Services, BRIDGES for Kids Act, is federal legislation focused on reforming youth residential treatment facilities and expanding community-based mental health services for children and teens. The bill increases oversight and accountability for institutional care settings, strengthens protections for youth in foster care and residential treatment, and invests in alternatives that allow children to receive support closer to home and within their communities. It also includes measures to support kinship care, improve care coordination, and strengthen the youth mental health workforce.
Read the legislation here.
Status: Passed Law
The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act is a study bill that establishes a Federal Work Group on Youth Residential Programs. This group is tasked with researching and developing recommendations to improve the health, safety, and care of youth in residential programs. The work group will explore best practices, consider the creation of a national database to track processes and outcomes, and focus on training and education for personnel in these settings.
While the bill lays the groundwork for addressing institutional child abuse, it primarily emphasizes studying the issues rather than implementing immediate reforms or accountability measures. Read the legislation here.
Status: Stalled in the House, re-introduced in 2026
The bill prohibits the use of seclusion and limits physical restraint in federally funded schools and Head Start programs. It bans involuntary confinement of students and any restraints that restrict breathing or are life-threatening. Physical restraint is only allowed when a student's behavior poses an imminent danger, and staff must be trained in state-approved crisis intervention. The bill includes enforcement provisions, such as withholding payments for violations, and requires state educational agencies to implement and enforce relevant policies, supported by a grant program. Read the legislation here.
Status: Stalled in the Senate
This bill reauthorizes and revises the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 through FY2027 to enhance services for preventing and treating child abuse. It mandates the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to set uniform national standards for tracking and reporting child fatalities and near fatalities due to maltreatment and to create an electronic interstate data exchange system for sharing child abuse registry information between states. Read the House legislation here. Read the Senate legislation here.
Status: Stalled in the House
This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to require programs designed to modify behaviors of children in a residential environment (covered programs) to prohibit child abuse and neglect and meet other specified minimum standards.
HHS shall: (1) implement a review process for overseeing, investigating, and evaluating reports of child abuse and neglect at covered programs; and (2) establish a process to assist states in the oversight and enforcement of this bill. HHS must refer any violation of minimum standards to the Department of Justice for appropriate action. The bill amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to establish additional eligibility requirements for grants to states to prevent child abuse and neglect at residential programs. Read the legislation here.
Status: Stalled in Senate Committee
The Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008 mandates that the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families establish minimum standards for residential programs affecting interstate commerce. A "covered program" is defined as one providing a residential environment for children with emotional, behavioral, or substance abuse issues, operated by either public or private entities. The Assistant Secretary is tasked with implementing ongoing reviews of child abuse reports, creating public websites and a national hotline for complaints, and establishing civil penalties for non-compliance. Additionally, the Act requires violations to be referred to the Attorney General, authorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2013, and amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to ensure states develop preventive policies in line with the Act's standards. Read the legislation here.
The Youth Residential Facility Abuse Prevention Act required registration of all youth residential facilities including faith-based organizations providing services. The bill required transparency to guardians of program and services additionally requiring access to medical care and mandated reporters. Legislation can be found here.
SB 1043 requires the State Department of Social Services to create an online dashboard of restraint use reports at short-term residential therapeutic programs that the public may access on the department’s internet website. Legislation can be found here.
SB 524 requires DSS to license private or public residential care facilities for youth. Legislation can be found here.
SB0132 amended current law to protect students from sexual misconduct, by prohibiting sexual conduct between a student and staff; memorializing that a student cannot provide consent to any employee, contractor, or volunteer of a school. Legislation can be found here.
SB0267 transfered the responsibility of licensing and regulating private alternative adolescent residential or outdoor programs from the Board of Private Alternative Adolescent Residential or Outdoor Programs to the Department of Public Health and Human Services. The Department issues licenses, create and enforce standards for health and safety, and conduct inspections. Legislation can be found here.
HB0218 revises laws related to private alternative adolescent residential or outdoor programs in Montana. It introduces additional requirements for licensure, including mandatory criminal and child protection background checks for all personnel with direct access to program participants. The bill increases the frequency of unannounced onsite inspections by the Department of Public Health and Human Services to twice a year, ensuring compliance with health and safety standards. It also mandates rules for reporting restraints, reviewing policies, and ensuring communication between youths and their parents or guardians. Legislation can be found here.
This rule change from the Office of Training Investigations and Safety (OTIS) strengthens protections for youth participating in outdoor youth programs. New rules can be found here.
Senate Bill 749 from the 81st Oregon Legislative Assembly requires residential care referral agents to be registered with the Department of Human Services and adhere to specific standards and reporting requirements. It mandates that referral agents provide detailed disclosures to clients about facilities, including licensing status and any violations. The bill also designates referral agents as mandatory reporters of child abuse and classifies violations of its provisions as unfair trade practices. Legislation can be found here.
Washington state legislation allows public funding for special education services in approved private schools. School districts determine which students qualify and develop service plans. Private schools must meet standards set by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to gain approval and receive funding. This ensures public resources are used for qualified programs that meet the needs of students with disabilities. Legislation can be found here.
SB 5515 aims to increase state oversight of residential facilities and private schools to protect children from abuse and neglect. It mandates that the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and the Department of Health work together to monitor these facilities. Licensing requirements will be imposed on residential private schools unless they are accredited by an approved body. Additionally, it requires facilities to share records and information with DCYF during investigations of child abuse or neglect and outlines a reporting process for oversight effectiveness. Legislation can be found here.
GAO-26-107592 found 26 of 49 states have not decreased congregate care use for foster youth despite the Family First Act, and that HHS guidance on funding exemptions is unclear enough that states apply it inconsistently. Read here.
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden's legislative reform proposal following his multi-year RTF investigation, including changes to Medicaid matching rates and federal oversight requirements. Read here.
A Senate Finance Committee report drawing on testimony from over 130 LGBTQIA+ youth, documenting additional layers of discrimination and abuse this population faces in residential treatment. Read here.
Findings: The RTF providers optimize per diems by filling large facilities to capacity and maximize profit by concurrently reducing the number and quality of staff in facilities. The Committee’s investigation found that children at RTFs suffer harms such as the risk of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse at the hands of staff and peers, improperly executed and overused restraint and seclusion, inadequate treatment and supervision, and non-homelike environments. These harms amount to acute safety concerns and have long-term effects, including suffering, trauma and even death. Taken together, the Committee finds that these harms are endemic to the RTF operating model. Read the report here.
This GAO report GAO-24-107625 was generated because for over 20 years, GAO has reported on youth in the foster care system who are placed in residential facilities, including concerns with the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of these youth. In multiple reports, GAO has recommended that HHS enhance the support it provides to states, which are primarily responsible for oversight of residential facilities. Read the report here.
Senate Finance Committee hearing record and testimony from the June 12, 2024, hearing where Chairman Wyden's staff presented findings on restraint and seclusion use, understaffing, and inadequate treatment across four major RTF operators. Read here.
DOJ's statutorily mandated CRIPA report to Congress, covering federal civil rights investigations into state-run juvenile facilities among other institutionalized populations. Read here.
This GAO report GAO-22-104670 was generated due to news media reporting several incidents of youth being maltreated by staff employed at residential facilities. Some of these youth were in the child welfare system and some had special needs. States oversee these facilities, and often contract with private providers to operate them. Little information is publicly available about incidents of maltreatment in federally funded residential facilities for youth. Read the report here.
This GAO report GAO-19-388 was generated because trauma is a widespread, harmful, and costly public health problem, and its effects are especially detrimental to children. While not every child who experiences trauma will suffer lasting effects, trauma significantly increases the risk of mental health problems, difficulties with social relationships and behavior, physical illness, and poor school performance. GAO was asked to review selected states' efforts to support children affected by trauma. Read the report here.
GAO-16-85 examines why states continue placing foster youth in congregate settings and what federal support could reduce reliance on institutional care. Read here.
This GAO report GAO-14-42 was generated because sexual abuse by school personnel raises particular concerns because of the trust placed in schools. Federal laws prohibit sexual harassment, including sexual abuse, in federally funded education programs and set minimum standards for state laws on reporting suspected child abuse. Read the report here.
This GAO report GAO-13-170 was generated because in fiscal year 2011, over 675,000 children were found to be victims of abuse or neglect. Title IV-B of the Social Security Act is the primary source of federal funding designated for child welfare services that is available to states. In fiscal year 2012, Congress appropriated $730 million under Title IV-B. GAO also reviewed state fiscal year 2011 expenditure data from selected states and administered a data collection instrument to selected localities. Read the report here.
This GAO report GAO-11-599 was generated because children’s deaths from maltreatment are especially distressing because they involve a failure on the part of adults who were responsible for protecting them. Questions have been raised as to whether the federal National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), which is based on voluntary state reports to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), fully captures the number or circumstances of child fatalities from maltreatment. Read the report here.
This GAO report GAO-08-719T was generated because GAO recently testified before the Committee regarding allegations of death and abuse at residential programs for troubled teens. Recent reports indicate that vulnerable children are being abused in other settings. Read the report here.
This GAO report GAO-08-696T was generated from survivors testifying to Congress for passage of the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Teen Programs Act of 2008. Read the report here.
This GAO report GAO-08-713T was generated because Nationwide, federal funding to states supported more than 200,000 youth in facilities seeking help for behavioral or emotional challenges in 2004. Recent federal reviews and investigations highlighted maltreatment in some facilities, resulting in hospitalizations and deaths. Read the report here.
This GAO report GAO-08-146T was generated because there are allegations regarding the abuse and death of youth enrolled in residential treatment programs. This was prompted from survivors of TTI ICA testifying to Congress for passage of the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Teen Programs Act of 2008. Read the report here.
These hearing records were generated from survivors testifying to Congress for passage of the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Teen Programs Act of 2008. Read the report here.
Senator Sam Ervin presented this report to Congress in 1974 after widespread abuse claims were reported from survivors of The Seed. Read the report here.
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