Bellwether Behavioral Health Is Controversial Group Home Operator AdvoServ — With a New Name

After two deaths of teenage residents in less than four years, AdvoServ has quietly taken a new name that makes it harder to follow the trail of media coverage, including ours.

Camera Catches Shoving Match with Group Home Worker Before Teenager’s Heart Stopped

A video shows a healthy 15-year-old going into her bedroom at a for-profit AdvoServ facility. Thirty-two minutes later, she had no pulse. Nobody’s saying what happened.

Maryland’s Move to Pull Children From Group Homes Came Too Late for Teenager Who Died

After unannounced inspections revealed deficiencies, Maryland stopped placing young people at Delaware facilities owned by AdvoServ.

Teenage Girl Dies After Incident at For-profit Group Home

The 15-year-old was a resident at a Delaware facility owned by AdvoServ, which has faced decades of reports of abuse.

Florida Cracks Down on Troubled For-profit Facility for the Disabled

After years of reports of abusive treatment, Florida is moving residents out of Carlton Palms.

FDA to Massachusetts Group Home: Stop Shocking Disabled Residents

The government questions whether The Judge Rotenberg Center has been straight with families about the risks of its electrical shock devices and alternative treatments.

Florida Lawmakers Look to Roll Back Favored Status For For-Profit Group Home

Kids Get Hurt at Residential Schools While States Look On

Some residential programs for kids have settled on better ways to handle children. But the best practices are almost entirely self-imposed.

Restraints

It took one mother seven years to learn that the for-profit school she trusted with her son had strapped him down again and again, one time after not picking up his Legos.

What Happened to Adam

It took one mother seven years to learn that the for-profit school she trusted with her son had strapped him down again and again, one time after not picking up his Legos.

Unrestrained

While evidence of abuse of the disabled has piled up for decades, one for-profit company has used its deep pockets and influence to bully weak regulators and evade accountability

Washington Legislature Moves to Limit Schools Pinning Down and Isolating Kids

It’s the latest in a national trend to reduce restraints of school kids.

New York City Lays Out Limits on Restraints And Suspensions

Amid recent calls for reform, New York City’s Department of Education is introducing new restrictions on suspending and restraining kids in city schools.

Connecticut Schools Pin Down and Restrain 'Staggering' Number of Kids

A new state report found one public school student was restrained more than 700 times in one year.

Virginia Passes Bill to Rein in Restraints of School Kids

Many schools in the state still have no policies or rules around pinning kids down.

Massachusetts Tightens Rules on Restraining, Secluding Students

Under new rules, Massachusetts schools will not be allowed to use certain techniques to restrain or isolate students as frequently and will have to report all restraints and injuries.

New York City Sends $30 Million a Year to School With History of Giving Kids Electric Shocks

New York City kids make up the vast majority of the students at Massachusetts’ infamous Judge Rotenberg Center, and keep getting sent there despite repeated evidence of abuse.

Los Angeles and New York Pin Down School Kids and Then Say It Never Happened

All school districts in the country are required to tell the federal government how many times kids have been restrained in their schools. But some districts aren't following through.

Federal Investigators Crack Down on Two Virginia Schools’ Use of Restraints

Investigators found that children were being regularly pinned down or isolated and that their education was suffering as a result.

Meet the Groups Fighting Against Limits on Restraining School Kids

Republicans say it is a matter of states' rights.