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فيلم تاج

Transcript

00:00I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to discuss how to improve care for

00:04the nearly 400,000 children that are living in the foster care system as we

00:08speak. While my experience was not through the foster care system, I know

00:13from personal experience the harm that is caused by being placed in youth

00:16residential treatment facilities. When I was 16 years old, I was ripped from my

00:22bed in the middle of the night and transported across state lines to the

00:26first of four youth residential treatment facilities. These programs

00:30promised healing, growth, and support, but instead did not allow me to speak, move

00:35freely, or even look out a window for two years. I was force-fed medications and

00:40sexually abused by the staff. I was violently restrained and dragged down

00:45hallways, stripped naked, and thrown into solitary confinement. My parents were

00:51completely deceived, lied to, and manipulated by this for-profit industry

00:55about the inhumane treatment I was experiencing. Today, residential

01:00facilities are continuing to warehouse over 50,000 foster youth, an unknown

01:05number of adopted youth, in lockdown facilities. Innocent kids who have not

01:10committed crimes. Kids whose parents didn't have resources to support them.

01:15Kids whose parents passed away. Kids who have already experienced trauma. This

01:21$23 billion a year industry sees this population as dollar signs and operates

01:27without meaningful oversight. It costs approximately $800 to $1,000 per day to

01:34place a foster youth in a facility, significantly more expensive than

01:38serving them in their own communities. What is more important, protecting

01:43business profits or protecting foster youth lives? Why can't we as a society

01:48see that these kids are hurting? They need love and kindness, not beatings and

01:53restraints. As a mom, these stories break my heart. Progress isn't an option

01:59anymore. It's a life or death responsibility. If you are a child in the

02:04system, hear my words. I see you. I believe you. I know what you're going through and

02:12I won't give up on you. You are important. Your future is important and

02:16you deserve every opportunity to be safe and supported. Congress, please join me

02:22in creating a world where all children have a right to family, love, education,

02:27and the support they need. You know, I was only sent there because I was getting

02:31bad grades. I was just ditching classes. I had ADHD. I have ADHD and that was

02:39something that they weren't really talking about back then, so somebody

02:43recommended that I go to these schools. My parents had no idea. They just thought

02:49it was going to be a normal boarding school and when I got there, there was no

02:55therapy. We would just constantly be torn down, abused, screamed at, yelled at, no

03:03education whatsoever. I learned nothing there except trauma.