The Arc Submits Letter of Support for the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act

Dear Member of Congress,

The Arc of the United States writes in strong support of the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act (SICAA) H.R.2955 & S.1351.

The Arc of the United States has nearly 600 state and local chapters across the United States. These chapters provide a wide range of services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), including individual and systems advocacy, public education, family support, systems navigation, support coordination services, employment, housing, support groups, and recreation. The Arc chapters are committed to improving the lives of people with IDD and their families, including the youth with disabilities who experience disproportionate harm at youth residential programs.

An estimated 120,000-200,000 of our nation’s most vulnerable youth are pipelined into youth residential programs each year by state child welfare and juvenile justice systems, mental health providers, federal agencies, school districts’ individualized education programs, and by parents. These facilities, including but not limited to boot camps, wilderness programs, therapeutic boarding schools, residential treatment facilities, or group homes, cause harm at a higher rate to youth who are Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) and youth with disabilities.

These programs receive an estimated $23 billion dollars of public funds annually to purportedly “treat” the behavioral and psychological needs of vulnerable youth yet there are systemic reports of youth experiencing physical, emotional and sexual abuse including but not limited to prolonged solitary confinement, physical, chemical, and mechanical restraints, food and sleep deprivation, lack of access to the restroom or personal hygiene, “attack therapy,” forced labor, medical neglect, and being denied a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). Public records and news reports have documented more than 350 preventable child deaths in these programs.

The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act aims to lift the curtains on this opaque industry by enhancing national data collection and reporting and facilitating information sharing among every agency who interact with these programs. Transparency and accountability are critical in our mission to ensure the safety and well-being of youth in institutional care settings.

The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act will establish:

A Federal Work Group on Youth Residential Programs to improve the dissemination and implementation of data and best practices regarding the health and safety, care, treatment, and appropriate placement of youth in youth residential programs.
A complementary study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to examine the state of youth in youth residential programs and make recommendations for the coordination by Federal and State agencies of data on youth in youth residential programs; and the improvement of oversight of youth residential programs receiving Federal funding.

If you have any questions about the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act or would like further information, please email Rebecca Mellinger, Paris Hilton’s Head of Impact, at impact@1111media.co.

Respectfully,

Robyn Linscott

Director of Education and Family Policy

The Arc of the United States

Postawko v. Missouri Department of Corrections

State: Missouri

Filed: 2018

Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

Overview: The brief supported a class of Missouri prisoners seeking life-saving medical treatment while in prison and alleging that the state’s Department of Corrections refused to treat thousands of inmates with Hepatitis C in defiance of medical standards and in violation of the ADA. The brief argued for the importance of class action lawsuits as a tool for civil rights enforcement.

Excerpt: “An unlawful policy or practice will always cause differing degrees of actual injury to individual class members, depending on their vulnerabilities, and some may be lucky enough to escape harm altogether. One foster child will be placed in a family rife with abuse and another with loving foster parents; one person will have disabilities that necessitate 24-hour support while another is able to live independently; one immigrant in detention will suffer lasting health consequences without regular medication and monitoring while her cellmate will stay healthy. If such variations were sufficient to defeat class certification, system-wide relief from illegal policies and practices would almost always be out of reach, and shifting populations in the custody of the government would have lost a vital tool for vindicating their rights.”

Case Documents

Amicus Brief: Postawko v. Missouri Department of Corrections

Eighth Circuit Opinion

Ortiz v. United States

State: Missouri

Filed: 2010

Court: U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

Overview: The briefs before the Eighth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court, argued that the Courts must consider the consensus of the scientific community that only Mr. Ortiz’s adaptive deficits and not his adaptive strengths are relevant to an intellectual disability determination. The Arc also submitted a clemency letter to President Barack Obama requesting the commutation of Mr. Ortiz’s sentence.

Excerpt: “Like everyone else, individuals with intellectual disability differ substantially from one another. For each person with intellectual disability there will be things he or she cannot do but also many things he or she can do. Because the mixture of skill strengths and skill deficits varies widely among persons with intellectual disability, there is no clinically accepted list of common, ordinary strengths or abilities that preclude a diagnosis of intellectual disability. Thus, in assessing an individual’s adaptive behavior—the aspect of intellectual disability at issue in this case—the focus must be on deficits. Adaptive strengths are irrelevant to this analysis…Broad acceptance of the district court’s mistaken reasoning would deprive individuals with intellectual disability of the protections and supports to which they are entitled under state and federal law and the U.S. Constitution.”

Case Documents

Eighth Circuit Brief

U.S. Supreme Court Brief

Clemency Letter

Related Media

Press Release: “Justice For Abelardo Arboleda Ortiz In the Final Days of a Presidency

Press Release: “The Arc on Commutation for Death Row Inmate Abelardo Arboleda Ortiz In the Final Days of Obama’s Presidency”