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Worried By What You See In The Media About Tough Love Programs?
Jan 7, 2008, 09:57
Worried By What You See In The
Media About Tough Love Programs?
Know the Facts
Contact:
Bob Pegler
Manager of Community Relations and Recovery Services
865-970-3255 www.peninsulavillage.org
January 06, 2008
Worried By What You See In The Media And On The Internet About Adolescent ‘Tough Love’ Programs?
I wish to speak about a serious issue that currently faces the adolescent treatment field and to share with you my perspective on that issue. You likely have heard that the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor conducted a hearing in October on “tough love” type programs for adolescents. Committee Chairman, George Miller of California seeks to eliminate programs that abuse and neglect children in the name of therapy. The impetus for the hearing was a series of allegations regarding the abuse and death of youth enrolled in residential treatment programs across the country.
I wish to applaud the committee for its efforts and to assure you that Peninsula Village is 100% supportive of its goals. As a society of people, we simply cannot tolerate the things that have occurred in some facilities. There are two things, however, that are occurring in relation to these efforts that are problematic.
First, there is much confusion in the general public about the kinds of facilities where these things have occurred and facilities such as Peninsula Village. That confusion has caused some parents to not place their children in residential treatment when needed. Such decisions will certainly cause some adolescents to spiral further out of control and face even greater dangers because of the lack of treatment. Below are some distinctions I believe are worth noting:
The Government Accountability Office report presented to the House committee in October included a discussion of 10 deaths that occurred between 1990 and 2004. All of them occurred in programs that refer to themselves as wilderness therapy programs, boot camps or academies. These are relatively new designations with less universal definition and therefore little regulation. By contrast, Peninsula Village is classified as a “residential treatment facility” – a designation that has existed in the mental health field for decades, is universally understood, and is well regulated.
Generally those programs where abuse and death have occurred are not licensed by the state in which they operate nor are they accredited by a national healthcare accreditation body. By contrast, Peninsula Village is licensed by the State of Tennessee as a residential treatment facility and is accredited by the Joint Commission, the most prestigious national accrediting agency for healthcare facilities.
Most of those programs have very limited involvement of professionally trained and licensed mental health staff. By contrast, Peninsula Village employs a licensed doctoral level psychologist as our full-time Clinical Director. We also employ eight masters prepared mental health therapists and two masters prepared activities therapists.
Most of those programs have even less involvement of medical professionals. By contrast, Peninsula Village employs a full-time, Board Certified Child Psychiatrist who is also Board Eligible in Addictions Medicine. We employ a psychiatric nurse practitioner and a staff of eight psychiatric registered nurses. We also have family practice physicians who come to the Village daily as needed to treat our children with general medical problems.
My second concern is about a parallel movement occurring across the country that seeks to destroy the reputation of adolescent treatment providers and thereby limit the number of adolescents who access such treatment. This movement is being driven by a variety of people including former patients and their families – most often those who did not have a successful treatment experience. The internet is full of postings that either distort the facts about a specific treatment facility or make allegations that are 100% fabricated. Some have even posted entries on blog sites posing as staff of treatment facilities and saying outrageous things. All of this saddens me deeply, because it will once again prevent some families from getting the help for their adolescents that is needed. Making that decision is already one of the toughest experiences of a parent’s life, and these distortions only make that decision tougher.
For those parents facing such decisions at this time, I encourage you to dig a little deeper in your research to ensure that you have the facts straight. If you are considering Peninsula Village, I suggest that you know as much about us as possible. Below are a few tips I offer:
Visit us early in your search. Stay as long as you like. Ask as many tough questions as you like. Talk to as many people as you like.
Ask us about our excellent treatment outcomes.
Ask us about mental health treatment in general, our philosophies in specific, and what we believe are the most critical determinants of success.
Go to our web site and listen to the testimonials of real former patients and their families. Ask us to overnight mail you a DVD of those testimonials if you are unable to access the web.
Attend one of our parent support groups in Knoxville, Atlanta or Raleigh. Phone in to the Raleigh group if you live too far away to travel to one of these locations.
Ask us to put you in touch with one of our former parents who has offered to have such conversations because they know the difference Peninsula Village made for their child and they are distraught that this movement may prevent some families from getting the help that their child needs.
I will close by offering myself or any other Peninsula Village staff member to you. You may e-mail, call, or visit us in person to discuss our 22-year history of helping to restore families and mend young lives. We do not claim to be a perfect organization because such an organization does not exist anywhere in any field. But we do proudly deliver excellent mental health treatment. We are in a continual process of examining our practices and seeking to become even better. We take very seriously the trust that parents place in us relative to the well being of their most precious resources.