Every year, thousands of children are sent against their will – often ripped out of their beds in the middle of the night by strangers – to private facilities to be treated for various mental illnesses, addiction issues, and perceived behavioral problems.

The spread of this largely unregulated industry has given rise to the widespread inhumane treatment of youth. Many times, these programs are labeled as boot camps, behavioral modification schools, wilderness therapy, secured group homes, religious boarding schools, and conversion therapy.

Abuses uncovered in many facilities include but are not limited to the following:

-Use of isolation/solitary confinement room
-Emotional, physical, and sexual abuse
-Dangerous use of physical, chemical, or mechanical restraint methods
-Forced and excessive exercise
-Deprivation of base necessities such as food, water, sleep, and/or access to a bathroom
-Restricted social interaction or social ostracization

-Exposure to harsh elements like extreme heat, snow, or rain
-Use of attack therapy, group attack therapy, aversion therapy, and/or conversion therapy
-Forced labor
-Sexual shaming and/or forced sexualized behavior/sexual abuse as a part of “treatment”
-Peer hierarchies where children are responsible for punishing each other

While program deaths are not officially tracked by a single authority, we have been able to find records of 350+ children who have died while in these facilities. Thousands more have passed due to suicide completion after the program. For years, thousands of survivors have come forward and spoken out about the abuses they received or witnessed while interned in programs. It is time to believe the survivors and take action.

Whether you’re a survivor or ally, you can take action to help in the fight against institutional child abuse. The resources provided on this site are provided to drive positive self-advocacy, reporting, and spreading awareness in the community.

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