Kids at boot camps often abused, report finds

By Donna Smith

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Troubled children who are sent to boot camps and other residential treatment programs to straighten them out often suffer horrific abuse and neglect, congressional investigators said on Wednesday.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said its investigation of these programs -- often referred to as boot camps and wilderness programs -- found extreme abuse and neglect, in some cases involving the deaths of children.

Investigators told the House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee they found examples of youths being forced to eat their own vomit, being thrown to the ground and kicked or forced to stand for hours in the hot sun by staff who lacked proper training.

"Today's testimony reveals disturbing facts about the world of residential treatment programs," Greg Kutz, managing director of forensic audits and special investigations at the Government Accountability Office, told the committee.

"If you walked in part way through my presentation, you might have assumed that I was talking about human rights violations in a third world country. Unfortunately these human rights violations occurred right here in the United States of America," he said.

Kutz said these programs marketed appealing outdoor experiences to "desperate parents," charged high fees and operated with little government oversight.

The committee also heard from some parents of children who died while attending these programs.

Cynthia Clark Harvey said her 15-year-old daughter Erica, who was enrolled in a program after becoming suicidal, died of heat stroke and dehydration in 2002 during a Nevada wilderness trek, after staff failed to recognize the symptoms.