Investigative Research

Former students of Atlantis Leadership Academy, along with parents and lawyers, describe rampant abuse. Five employees have been charged with child cruelty. Read here.

MartyG Reports covers D.O.J. and judicial misconduct, cybersecurity, politics and institutional abuses, Martin Gottesfeld has been featured by Rolling Stone, The Intercept, Peacock and more. Read here.

This 3-part ABA webinar series explores the history, policy solutions, and legal challenges and presents practical solutions for effective change.  Resolution 605 was adopted by the American Bar  Association in 2023 because of decades of well-documented abuse within the Troubled Teen Industry and youth residential treatment centers.  Despite this awareness, little has been done to protect children in institutional settings.  Available here.

Articles Include: Running My Anger: Legacy of the CEDU Cult, CEDU Records and CEDU Archive by David Safran. Read here. 

A team of reporters from three news organizations has spent the last year digging into the untold stories of Utah's massive teen treatment industry. Some 20,000 teenagers facing depression, delinquency and other problems have been sent there from every state in the country over the last six years. Sent Away investigates how the government failed to keep all those kids safe — through the voices and stories of the teens who lived it. Available here.

This multi-part ABA webinar series explores the 'troubled teen' industry. Available here.

THE LOST KIDS podcast produced by David Safran (Medium Anonymous) and Todd Nilssen, dives deep into the search for a missing teen, uncovering the dark and twisted business of tough-love programs for “troubled teens” and their ties to one of America's most dangerous cults. Listen here.

Multi-piece investigative journalism into Montana's residential programs for youth by the Missoulian. Read series here. 

Five-part NPR Illinois series on the 'troubled' teen industry by Dusty Rhodes. Read series here. 

The British Journal of Social Work, Volume 53, Issue 3, April 2023, Pages 1426–1444 by Sarah Golightley highlights the impacts of conversion therapy as epistemic injustice and ways in which the former students adapted to and resisted institutional harm. Read report here.

Global Studies of Childhood 2020, Vol. 10(1) 53–63 by Sarah Golighley highlights case study interviews with former US-based therapeutic boarding school students demonstrating the role of sanism, adultism and epistemic injustice in constructing and regulating the ‘troubled teen’. Read the report here.

A thesis presented to the graduate school of The University of Florida by Marcus Chatfield. Read research here. 

Chatfield, M. (2014) Institutionalized Persuasion: The technology of reformation in straight incorporated and the residential teen treatment industry. slideshow. Read here.

Maia Szalavitz's Help at Any Cost is the first in-depth investigation of this industry and its practices, starting with its roots in the cultlike sixties rehabilitation program Synanon and Large Group Awareness Training organizations likeest in the seventies; continuing with Straight, Inc., which received Nancy Reagan's seal of approval in the eighties; and culminating with a look at the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs-the leading force in the industry today-which has begun setting up shop in foreign countries to avoid regulation. Szalavitz uncovers disturbing findings about these programs' methods, including allegation of physical and verbal abuse, and presents us with moving, often horrifying, first-person accounts of kids who made it through-as well as stories of those who didn't survive. The book also contains a thoughtfully compiled guide for parents, which details effective treatment alternatives. Available for purchase 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.

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-20-110 was generated because there are more than 1.2 million school-age military dependents worldwide, per DOD, the department's organizations work to prevent, respond to, and resolve incidents of child abuse.  GAO is making 23 recommendations, including that the military services develop a process to monitor how reported incidents are screened at installations, that DOD expand the membership of the IDC to include medical personnel, and that DOD establish processes that help ensure timely access to certified pediatric examiners overseas.   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.

The GAO-16-367 was generated due to The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 directed HHS to expand the program and included a provision for GAO to review the child advocate program. Read the report here.

This GAO report GAO-15-351 was generated because VOCA programs are designed to help improve the investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases, largely by providing funding, training, and technical assistance to Children’s Advocacy Centers (CAC) throughout the nation. The Senate committee report accompanying the Departments of Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies’ Appropriations Bill (2014) included a provision for GAO to conduct a review related to the administration of OJJDP grant programs. Read the report 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.