Sponsored by Rep. Cam Cavitt (R-Cheboygan), House Bill 5514, if passed, would bar transportation companies from using blindfolds, hoods, handcuffs and other forms of restraint while picking up youths to take them to residential programs. It would also bar companies running such programs from picking up youths during nighttime hours, between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Unsilenced, a nonprofit organization which supports survivors of the troubled teen industry, said the programs often recommend transportation services, which the group calls “legal kidnapping” due to the lack of regulation around the practices. The process often includes forcefully seizing youths in the middle of the night and handcuffing them.
“How is simulating a kidnapping going to help a child who is at risk?” Cavitt said in a statement. “These tactics are clearly hurting kids, and our efforts to step in should not be controversial. We need to put a stop to this.”
On Tuesday, the committee voted 11-0 to refer the bill back to the House floor with its recommendation to pass. If the bill is approved by the majority of representatives, it will move to the Michigan House for further consideration.
