House panel wants to crack down on wilderness camps

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

A House panel approved a bill Wednesday that would boost federal regulations on residential programs for troubled teens, including the wilderness therapy camps that have thrived in Utah's deserts. The bill is in reaction to a two-year federal audit that found thousands of cases of abuse in residential treatment programs nationwide since the early 1990s, along with misleading marketing practices and uneven state oversight. "It is past time to bring these programs to a level of basic safety," said Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., one of the sponsors of the legislation. The House Education and Labor Committee approved the bill on a vote of 32 to 10. The legislation would set minimum federal standards prohibiting any punishment that includes denying food, water, clothing, shelter or medical care...The bill should be amended to prevent the feds from doing the same things to ranchers.