H.R.6358 - Federal Government

Bryan K said

I read the document and if you amend the exemption and exclusions in Section (B) to include the protection of church or faith based community organizations from HR6358 I am for it. Quite honestly the separation of state and church was already muddied when the government enacted Faith Based programs for financial grants to churches. If religious organizations do avoid HR6358 I see no feasiblity in throwing $230,000,000. out to an agency or group of agencies that are already supposed to be protecting our children in the public and private sectors. That's alot of money, in my opinion, to use for the persecution of Christians and begin an end to our religious freedoms in America. Facism and bigotry wear a mask that once it rears its ugly head out from under it...it'll be too late for any of you to send it away.

Lorraine K said

If I could only tell you what my daughter was doing to herself before she and I drove the 2400 miles or more with our church deacon and his wife. I had enough money in my pocket that I even thought about taking her and running from my family at home in Idaho. Just about died of a broken heart from her angriness at me for doing this.
I had never told her and I damn sure don't want to tell you strangers but if you can only understand that in my daughter's case. She had gotten into alcohol, drugs, cutting and running away at only 13. She lived with every relative we had and my husband and I were always there when her dad brought her back. Oh, let me make myself clear. She was never sent away by me but is a master story teller. He'd show up and "rescue" her and then after two weeks of fun with dad he'd leave her where ever he could and she'd start in accusing others of things that never happened but I'm still glad she was a liar about some things because if the stories had been true...A lie's guilt will pass quicker than shame.
At 14 she'd had some run ins with the law over her alcoholism. She and another boy had managed to get Vodka and the boy snorted powdered cold medicine. The kind that you warm up in hot water.
He almost died and my daughter knew if she got caught again drinking that this time will be juvenile hall. She opted to help this boy and in fear of incarceration she took off. I had people, police and well doers searching for her to come home.
She's very pretty and very vulnerable. After 5 days I assumed the worst and reported her to the Amber alert people. I caught a call and went and brought her back. She'd been at a drug dealer's house in Montana and was scared.
Unlike her I grew up in Los Angeles. Little did she know that although I had a good home and even better grades I turned to the streets and the scene at an early age.
Have any of you been inside Los Padrinos or Central Juvenile halls in California? There was gang bangers, rats, concrete and sorrow. I was in one time when an 8 year old girl was brought in for murdering a rival gang member. She was so proud, held her head high knowing in her mind that she got her older brother's enemy and what were they going to do to her at 8?
When we walked out of our cells there was no talking. If you didn't keep your hands at your sides you got locked down with no meal. Gang signs...There were boys in the other units but no eye contact was allowed. I kept my head down, my eyes on my feet and my hands flat against my thighs when ever I left my cell. This place had a mix of truant teens, runaways (it was illegal then), cigarette smokers, kids that were taken from their parents and the foster homes were too full so they kept us in there with gang bangers, murderers, armed robbers, you get it?
I'm white too on top of it. Even on the streets I took my life in my own hands going to school and being a good girl. That's why we left.
So, when I hear this about HH and this is old news if even 100% truth. I had my momma send me to bed with a smack on my rear end and an empty belly. I was reassured they did away with corporal punishment. Just like my school did in the late 70's. I had to write. I had to write and tell you what I saw when I first arrived at the school. I took a lengthy tour and it only took Dr Ron's firm handshake to calm my nerves. When I saw the living quarters and the living room areas with all the stuffed animals and the nice ladies in modest clothing and being teens I started to cry. I told her (my girl) she may never have to know the places I spent time in if she could just follow their program.
God commands us to raise our children in the admonition of the Lord. When a child is trained up in the way they should go it will follow them into maturity and not depart from them.
I talk freely with her in letters and appointed calls but when you take in children as broken as some of these are/were it is psychologically imperative to get them into a routine. Get them to clean up after them selves and be on time and be modest so you can have a pure body for a godly husband. The schedule and the consistency was the first thing any parent has to get into a child so they become could employees and reliable leaders in their adult years.
Public school teens use serious peer pressure to cause your children to do bad things. Shoplifting, drinking, smoking, staying out late, sex even! IF HH uses the silent treatment as a nonthreatening or nonphysical way to get these girls to be in a positive peer acceptance situation then I commend them.
How did my girl get away with all this bad stuff? You tell me! I was the mom who showed up unannounced at games, dances and went on the youth outings but she'd still get in trouble. When she ran away the last time before the HH I heard so many things about me and my husband that it all became very clear very quick. She told her friends that it was my husband and I supplying her with booze and drugs. So in a community of 560 population and families new or old we had severe scrutiny on top of heartache. The principal used to follow me around whenever I came to the school. I knew why later.
The distance wasn't a choice there are only two schools of the quality of education and aligning of our doctrinal beliefs that took girls who don't want to be there. This has been the hardest but she has been there almost long enough to come home and when I got my last package of photos from HH I saw my girl like I hadn't seen her since before her dad's divorce. She's 15 now and obviously a young lady coming into womanhood but she's there behind those eyes and smile. I have all her school pictures down both sides of my hallways as many proud moms do and now others can see it too.
Regulation isn't a bad idea but when the state interferes with the church then we are both on uneven ground. As far as the girls being loved. I know they are! Fear doesn't put back into my daughter what these faithful missionaries have. Money? My husband lost his job and in September I wasn't able to make the monthly tuition which is exactly what HH gets charged for the PACE packets because I had to find out to follow through after she returns here. The deacon paid a few months until an economical situation interrupted his income too. So don't make up another doubt for obviously involved and compassionate people that do care enough to do what they have thus far.
So we both sit and wait. She will face a judge still but then there's the extra blessing in HH. After taking her to HH the judge will be aware that as parents and Christian parents we went above and beyond to ensure her safety rehabilitation and opportunity to overcome her personal crisis. If we are even 1/10 as committed to her after care it still would fall short of their loyalty and dedication.
As I close this lengthy email which is being sent to all the other officials involved I would beseech you to have compassion on those young ladies before you go storming in their with camera crews and NBC Nightly news. They are young children who've strayed and are recovering to the narrow path and not to be made pawns in some bitter, unforgiving others feud. If my girl ends up on TV because of your lack of discretion and an equally lacking respect for her privacy. What the future might be like for her to be flaunted in the public eye and have another obstacle to deal with I am pretty sure that as her parent, with her being in HH staff care under my permission and authority plus a minor in a private facility that it is the parents constitutionally guaranteed right to do any and all that we can as care givers to keep them from detrimental harm of any form. Psychologically from your TV indiscretion. Psychologically if you decide to do a "Cops" style raid on the perfectly legal and US code protected religious organization and drag the girls out and traumatize them as they await transportation home, you might want to reconsider all this bravado and hype that these now grown woman are stirring up in you men in position of leadership.
Just remember that it wasn't a man who first disobeyed God in Eden. It was one of us, Eve that did and took Adam down with the rest of us. Be kind and do what you have the power of the law to get done but I promise you as a US patriot I will make this the biggest scene nationwide for the state of Indiana as Hurricane Katrina accomplished if if you cause any interruption or interference with custodial rights.
We got skinheads here home schooling their kids and teaching them to shoot guns, make bombs and hate anybody who isn't 100% white. They have their babies in the same room as they cook their meth and we done a fine job of putting a lot of them in jail or drug court. With their kids taken away into foster care but that was criminal. Definitely not in the best interests of a child.
This situation you leaders and enforcement folks have is a thin line between custodial interference and Child protection. It's also on the verge of 4th amendment right to privacy. Just because you made HR 6358 a bill so you could hide behind it as law won't protect you from the repercussion of that type of invasion of privacy which has been illegal a lot longer than this type of good ole boy politics.
Most Seriously and Sincerely Concerned,
HH Parents Mr & Mrs. Lorraine Kenitzki

Scott said

This bill would stop some teen abuse, but it is overkill. It will also shut down Christian ministries where no abuse is going on. The federal red tape of 24 hour hot line and any type of discipline that hurts teens "self image" is over the top. Any type of discipline that includes making teens responsible to clean up their mess can easily be viewed by an inspector as damaging their self image. This should be handled on the state level and not the federal. Faith based ministries are helping thousands - they should be left alone. This bill should be revised or killed

Maria said

My son is incarcerated an the Delta boot camp in Katy, Tx right now. The children there are enduring physical abuse, verbal abuse, forced exercise, and have no way to speak to their parents about any of it as outgoing mail is read, phone calls are supervised and limited to two minutes every other week, and visits are not permitted untill a child has attained a level so close to release that they are unwilling to jeopardize their approching freedom by reporting this abuse. Please, if anyone who reads this knows of an agency that will help then respond in this comments section.

Joe said

I was imprisoned for a year and a half in one of these horrifying institutions. Many times throughout my stay I was locked in rooms for hours and the same songs were played over and over again. I was required to take part in strange rituals that were supposed to somehow help people heal from emotional trauma. Most of the time, the people running these organizations have no qualifications or degrees. Often a long list of acronyms will be spat at parents to convince them of a programs validity, when in reality most of the acronyms cited are "degrees" that can be earned at a weekend seminar, or "accredidations" from just random private organizations. This is a very important law and I hope that it goes through because we cannot allow people to be wrongfully imprisoned in the United States of America, and I will never get that year and a half back.

annonymous said

I have a child right now being abused in an institution and am trying to get some one to do something about it.