By Barbe Stamps
Founder and Director of Teen Advocates USA
The selling of private (meaning parent funded) for-profit specialty schools and programs is big business and getting bigger - thanks in large part to the Internet where for a few bucks virtually anyone can set up a website and claim to be an expert at connecting parents with safe and effective treatment options or "resources" for their children -- free of charge.
Better known as "parent resource consultants" these Internet-based for-profit businesses are open for referrals 365 days a year, 24 hours a day and cater almost exclusively to middle-to-upper-class parents who can afford the hefty price tag attached to specialty schooling.
Indeed, with tuition costs in the range of $30,000 to $70,000 a year and more, speciality schooling is not an inexpensive option - an important consideration which helps to make "no fee" referral services seem that much more beneficial to parents who turn to them in the hope of finding "the best program at the best price".
Unfortunately, in their haste to save valuable time or money parents can fail to take into account the inherent (meaning ever-present) risk that comes with placing their trust and ultimately their child 's safety and well-being in the hands of strangers who do not have the professional credentials or training to properly assess the behavioral or emotional needs of children much less the safety and efficacy of the schools and programs they recommend as resources.
Second and equally problematic is the fact that many parents who rely on the Internet as their primary (or only) source for placement referrals are often in a state of panic and under great emotional stress. This can leave them especially vulnerable to errors in judgment and being pressured into making hasty decisions resulting in the placement of their child into a program far from home or one they have not even seen.
As a parent and a children's rights advocate with nearly 10 years experience monitoring the care and treatment of youth (and their parents) by the troubled teen industry, I can not emphasize enough how vital it is for parents to maintain a healthy skepticism about anyone who is not a child or adolescent behavioral healthcare professional yet claims to have a special "calling" or "talent" for helping teens or families-in-crisis.
This isn't just a red flag that should prompt parents to think twice about relying upon the advice of self-proclaimed teen help consultants it also raises troubling questions about parent resource companies who tell parents their "consultations" are free, then charge the "pre-screened" specialty schools and programs they recommend thousands of dollars for the referral and placement of their child.
While this practice of "cash for kids" isn't illegal it is clearly unethical and even dangerous given the inherent potential for conflicts of interest arising as a result of the competition between programs for placements (AKA "heads in the beds") and unscrupulous consultants steering parents toward choosing programs who pay the highest, most lucrative finder's fees.
"It is not uncommon for the operators of these programs to lie about the fact they are receiving fees. There are also no federal laws requiring ‘parent resource experts’ or agents to reveal child abuse or neglect that has occurred at the programs they have just referred someone to — it’s buyer beware, at its height. One program may refer to another, with the parent not understanding the connection between the two companies. The sites all look very different from one another, giving the appearance they are independent of one another. This is an obvious conflict of interest. We know of cases where owners are up on criminal charges or in the middle of criminal investigations for child abuse, but the ‘expert or agent’ turns a blind eye because they may be friends with the owners and they have been paid. It’s very dangerous for children." - Shelby Earnshaw [ISAC]
"Once you're being regularly paid by a program, it’s hard to be objective about its quality. This is why codes of ethics in psychology and psychiatry typically bar such "dual relationships." - Maia Szalavitz (see "Tough Love and Free Speech)
While parent awareness is a good way parents can protect their children and themselves from "exploitation in the name of salvation"-- it's not foolproof. Parents must also be mindful of the sophisticated and highly seductive marketing tactics and techniques (or as some might say "tricks of the trade") commonly used in the teen help referral industry to sell everything from wilderness therapy programs and therapeutic boarding schools to teen-escort-transport companies and financial lending insitutions.
Professional-looking websites, free consultations, glossy brochures, "cry & buy" (get out the tissue box) personal stories, glowing testimonials, scary sounding statistics, self-promotional press releases and infomercial-style videos can be hard to resist by anyone but especially desperate or frightened parents who are an easy mark for smooth-talking but hard-selling referral agents.
"So what's a parent to do?" comes the inevitable question posed by parents seemingly at their wits end with a child who can not (or will not) comply with the expectations and/or demands of their parents no matter what the consequences.
First and foremost, parents need to be aware that currently, the only information available about most of these programs comes from their own marketing efforts rather than systematic, independently collected descriptive or outcome data to prove their safety and efficacy.
Second, parents must also consider that contrary to what a parent resource consultant may tell them about the features and/or benefits of long term residential schools and programs research clearly shows that community-based treatment and support is effective and indicated for most youth and families, even those with serious problems who need intensive support.
To learn more about what does work for teens and how parents can empower themselves to better understand and support the individualized needs of their children without sending them away to a facility that may do more harm than good, parents should read "What Works for Troubled Teens" by Maia Szalavitz.
As underscored in this article the most effective treatments for troubled teenagers have three things in common: they use family-based therapies; they treat adolescents with empathy, dignity, and respect; and, except for very short periods of emergency stabilization, they keep teens at home.
"Since most problems involve fractured family relationships, recovery requires repairing those bonds — connections that can be harder to rebuild if a child spends years away from home. Youth will modify their dangerous behavior in response to practical, problem-solving, behavioral therapies—if they feel respected and cared for by the therapist," explains Charles Huffine, a child and adolescent psychiatrist in private practice in Seattle.
"Getting youths to change their behavior often takes longer than parents realize (or hope for)," says Dr. Huffine who recommends avoiding programs that promise too much, as well as those that exaggerate the danger of problematic but common teen troubles such as poor grades, bad attitudes, and experimentation with drugs. "Such programs" says Huffine, "exploit parents who feel desperate".
In the case of a child who is at risk of harming themselves or another or is psychotic, parents should heed the advice of behavioral mental health experts and use resources such as local mental health centers, mobile crisis units, or hospitals in their own community to reestablish a safe environment for their child and family and give them time to make a careful and well-informed decision that truly is in their child's best interest - not someone in cyberspace who specializes in child referrals for profit.
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Please See Resource Library for further information and resources.
