If you are the parent of a teen who was sent to one of the hundreds of so-called “trouble teen” residency programs across the US – sometimes called “boot camps,” “wilderness therapy,” “behavior-modification facilities,” “religious treatment programs,” or other names – you trust that the program will treat your teen in a humane way. You may expect your teen to be less than happy about being in a residency treatment program but don't expect that the program will abuse or harm your child. Unfortunately, many of these programs have a long history of doing just that. In a situation where you believe your child has been emotionally, physically, or sexually abused at a troubled teen program, contact the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to schedule a consultation with one of our experienced attorneys.
The Teen “Boot Camp” Industry
There are hundreds of residential programs around the country that claim to provide various types of therapy to teenage residents who have been enrolled at the request or requirement of parents, courts, juvenile justice programs, mental health professionals, and clergy. These can involve teens finding themselves in an outdoor camp-like environment, a boarding school setting, or a facility resembling a low-security prison. Estimates for the number of teens residing in these types of treatment centers range anywhere from 120,000 to 200,000 across the country (one study estimated the number to be 137,000 in 2018, with approximately 57,000 of them having been placed by their parents).
In a typical boot camp placement scenario, the parent contacts the facility and enrolls their teen without the child's knowledge. Camp representatives will often arrive at night, wake the teens, forcibly remove them from their homes, and transport them to the camp. Once there, the teen's clothes, phone, and other personal possessions may be taken from them, and they will be given clothes, a uniform, and a few personal care items by the camp. Communication with family and friends is typically severely restricted, especially at first. Discipline can be strict and, in some cases, severe.
The contract that the parents sign with the camp will typically provide the camp with a significant amount of latitude in terms of how the teen is treated while there. In many cases, the document will also waive the parents' rights to sue the camp in court for any reason and may instead require any disputes to be mediated or arbitrated, sometimes by a religious-based dispute resolution program that is affiliated with the group that operates the camp.
An Unregulated Area
There are no federal regulations that apply to teen boot camps. The Federal Trade Commission has advised parents that these “programs are not regulated by the federal government, and many are not subject to state licensing or monitoring as mental health or educational facilities, either.” The FTC cautions parents to carefully evaluate a program before enrolling their child, and provides a long list of questions for parents to help them determine if a particular program is right for their child.
While data on abuse lawsuits is scarce, back in 2005, the US Government Accountability Office counted more than 1600 boot camp staff members who were involved in resident abuse lawsuits in 33 states; some of the cases were filed after a child died while a resident in the program. Because there is no organized data collection of information about boot camp lawsuits, it's difficult to say with certainty exactly how many abuse lawsuits have been filed.
Types of Abuse at Boot Camps
Teens enrolled in boot camps and other types of residential behavioral modification programs have been subject to a wide range of abuse. This can include:
- Physical abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Physical restraint, sometimes for long periods of time
- Isolation, also for long periods of time
- Psychological abuse, including shaming, taunting, mocking, threats, and sexist or homophobic comments
- Inadequate food and liquids
- Sleep deprivation
- Inadequate medical treatment
Teens enrolled in boot camp programs may also be exposed to dangerous conditions, particularly if the program involves intense outdoor activities. Inadequate or negligent supervision can lead to the teen suffering injuries even in cases where there was no intentional abuse.
What to Do if Your Teen is Injured at Boot Camp
If you learn that your child has been injured or is ill at their boot camp, the first thing you will want to do is to make sure their injury or illness is properly treated. Relying on the assurances of boot camp administrators – whose primary concern may be for the potential liability of their camp, not your child – is often a mistake. There is no guarantee that the camp personnel will give your child the same level of care that you would if your child were injured or ill at home.
This is where the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help. Our experienced attorneys can contact the camp and arrange for independent medical professionals to examine your child in a safe, secure, and private setting. In cases where the camp refuses or delays access, we may be able to take the matter to court, seeking an order directing the camp to allow your child to be properly examined, or requiring them to relinquish custody of your child, either to you or to someone you designate.
Recovering for Your Child's Physical Injuries
If your child is injured while attending a teen boot camp, you may be able to recover damages on their behalf. Whether you can do so depends on the facts of the situation, but you may have claims for:
- Assault or physical abuse. This can include actual physical contact that results in injury, but may also include food or liquid deprivation, physical restraint that results in injuries, and forced exposure to extreme heat or cold conditions that hurt your child. It can also cover situations where your child's illness or injury wasn't properly treated, for example, where the camp fails to allow your child to be seen by a doctor. If your child was harmed by the physical actions of a camp staff member or was injured because they obeyed a staff member's orders that put them in a dangerous situation, you may be able to bring a civil assault claim against the staff member responsible for your child's injuries and against camp staff and administrators that allowed it to happen.
- Emotional abuse. In cases where a staff member repeatedly subjected your child to emotional abuse such as taunts, shaming, forced isolation, physical restraints, repeated strip searches, and similar tactics designed to affect your child's mental well-being, you may be able to sue the staff member as well as other staff and administrators who were aware of the abuse and failed to stop it.
- Sexual abuse. Incidents of sexual abuse in teen boot camps are not uncommon, unfortunately. The staff member responsible for the abuse can be sued, and in many cases, the camp administrators and other staff members who looked the other way or allowed the abuse to happen can also be named.
- Negligence. Even in cases where the camp administration claims it was not aware of particular incidents of abuse, you may be able to sue the camp for negligence in connection with their hiring, training, and supervision of camp staff. There are typically few or no regulations that require camps to hire trained or certified staff members, or to perform background checks on staff members. The camp may also be liable for negligence if it fails to provide adequate medical care for your injured or sick child.
- Malpractice. In a situation where a medical professional employed or hired by the camp fails to properly treat your child for injuries or illness, you may be able to sue the professional for malpractice.
You may be able to recover damages for the cost of your child's care and their physical and mental rehabilitation; for their pain and suffering; for the effect the abuse has had on their life, such as a reduced capacity to make a living; and for their loss of enjoyment of life. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help you review the facts of your child's case and determine the best way to help them recover for the damage they suffered.
Statutes of Limitation Are Important
Tort claims such as these all have limitation periods (typically called the “statute of limitations”) that can vary from state to state and from one type of claim to another. A limitation period is the time after a certain event occurs during which the victim can file a lawsuit to recover damages for their claim. After the limitations period expires, in most cases, the victim will lose their right to sue for the harm they suffered.
There are different limitation periods for different types of claims. In some cases, such as for a tort claim of assault, you may have only one year to bring a lawsuit against the responsible person. For negligence, a 3-year limitations period is typical. For sexual assault or abuse, the limitations period can be quite a bit longer. The limitation periods for different types of tort claims can also be different depending on the state where the harm occurred.
In addition – and important in these cases – special “tolling” provisions typically apply when the victim is a minor. These tolling laws essentially put the limitations period on hold until the minor turns a certain age, typically 18. Once the child reaches that certain age, the limitations clock begins ticking, and they have until the limitations period expires to bring claims against the person who harmed them, even if that harm took place several years before.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help you and your teen evaluate the status of any claim they may have for abuse that took place while they were enrolled in a teen behavior modification boot camp. Our experienced attorneys understand the various types of civil claims that can be filed in these cases, the limitations periods that apply to each, and how to bring and effectively pursue those claims in court.
What About Lawsuit Waiver Clauses?
As part of enrolling your child in their behavior modification boot camp, the forms you signed may have included a waiver of your right to bring a lawsuit against the camp for a wide range of issues. Instead, you may have agreed to mediate or arbitrate those disputes with a private arbitration agency, sometimes one that is indirectly affiliated with the camp. This doesn't necessarily mean, however, that you can't bring a lawsuit against the camp if they injure or abuse your child.
It is not unusual for broad waivers to be held unconscionable by the courts and for the court to allow a lawsuit to proceed despite the fact that the plaintiff signed a waiver. Whether any particular court will rule that way depends on the language of the waiver, the laws of the state in which the waiver applies, the types of claims that are being brought in the lawsuit, and the way that particular judge interprets that state's law based on that fact scenario.
In addition, the fact that a parent has signed a document waiving the parent's right to sue doesn't necessarily mean that the waiver prohibits the child from bringing the suit. As with many other aspects of tort law, whether a parent can sign away their child's right to sue can vary from one state to another. Some states prohibit this practice; others allow it.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team Can Help Your Child Recover for Boot Camp Wrongs
If your child has attended a behavior modification boot camp where they were physically or emotionally harmed, suffered sexual abuse, were refused medical treatment for injuries or illnesses, or were abused or harmed in any other way, contact the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team to learn how our experienced attorneys can help. Our experienced attorneys understand the different types of claims that can be brought against these camps when a teen has needlessly suffered as a result of the camp's abuse or negligence, and we are prepared to fight for your child's right to recover damages from the camp and those who are responsible.
Call the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team today at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to set up a confidential consultation to learn more about how we can help your child recover from the harm they suffered.
