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WASHINGTON (AP) -- A congressional committee advanced legislation to regulate wilderness-therapy programs for troubled adolescents. Many of the private outfits operate in southern Utah.
The House Education and Labor Committee approved the legislation Wednesday. It bans physical or mental abuse, opens a hot line for complaints, sets training standards for staffers, tracks the programs performance on a government Web site, and provides funding to carry it all out.
Utah officials told the Deseret News they already have regulations in place for programs that have been criticized for going rough on teenagers. They say Utah is ahead of most states on this.
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Information from: Deseret News
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
