Congress passed the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act in late 2024, but many people misunderstand what the law actually accomplished. Nearly two years later, here's what SICAA requires, what it leaves unchanged, and why families are still waiting for meaningful federal oversight.

Congress passed the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act in late 2024, but many people misunderstand what the law actually accomplished. Nearly two years later, here's what SICAA requires, what it leaves unchanged, and why families are still waiting for meaningful federal oversight.

A Missouri Court of Appeals decision dismissed a Kanakuk survivor's fraud lawsuit based on when the court found he should have discovered the alleged concealment—not whether the alleged fraud occurred. Here's what the ruling means for survivors, the discovery rule, and institutional accountability.

IMG Academy is one of the nation's most prestigious boarding schools for young athletes. A new lawsuit alleges that behind its reputation were serious failures in supervision that allowed student-on-student sexual assault to occur. Here's what the allegations reveal—and why they matter far beyond one school.

A criminal case belongs to the State and seeks punishment. A civil claim belongs to the survivor and can pursue accountability from both the alleged abuser and the institutions that enabled or failed to prevent the harm. The Miss Hall’s School and Circle of Hope cases show why survivors do not have to wait for the criminal process to end.

Missouri lawmakers came closer than they have in years to expanding the time childhood sexual abuse survivors have to file civil lawsuits. Here's what the proposed legislation would have changed, why it failed, and what the law means for survivors today.

More than six years after Missouri investigators identified 163 clergy members accused of abusing children, the lawsuits are still coming. Here's what the Attorney General's report uncovered, why new cases continue to be filed, and what survivors should know about Missouri's civil statute of limitations.

Not every institution accused of failing children calls itself a residential treatment center. The allegations against Missouri Military Academy are a reminder that abuse and institutional failures can occur anywhere children live away from home—including traditional boarding schools that market themselves as safe, structured educational environments.

Missouri's Division of Youth Services has long been praised as a national model for juvenile justice. But reports from the U.S. Department of Justice, investigative journalists, and former staff paint a more complicated picture—one that raises difficult questions about safety, oversight, and accountability inside state-run juvenile detention facilities.

Netflix's The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping tells the story of one abusive boarding school, but its legacy reaches far beyond a single campus. Here's what the documentary gets right—and why the same patterns continue to matter for families in Missouri and Kansas today.

Choosing a residential treatment program is one of the hardest decisions a parent can make. Before you enroll your child, learn the questions to ask, the warning signs to watch for, and the red flags that survivors say should never be ignored.

Adopted children represent only about 2% of American kids but account for as many as 40% of youth in residential treatment facilities. Here's why Missouri's Calo Programs has become a focal point in the national conversation about private equity, questionable diagnoses, and institutional accountability.

A residential treatment facility's current name may reveal very little about its history. As ownership changes, facilities are often rebranded, merged, or renamed, making it difficult for families to uncover past allegations of abuse, neglect, or unsafe conditions before placing a child.

For more than two years, Missouri survivors have asked the state's attorney general to launch a coordinated investigation into abusive boarding schools and residential treatment programs. Despite mounting evidence and ongoing litigation, that investigation has yet to begin.

Congress is considering the most significant federal oversight of youth residential treatment facilities in years. The proposed BRIDGES for Kids Act would create a national public database tracking restraint, seclusion, staffing, inspections, and more—changes that could have a major impact on Missouri and Kansas families seeking accountability.

Provo Canyon School lost its license this week. Agape, Wings of Faith, and Circle of Hope show Missouri has its own troubled teen industry crisis.

For many survivors of abuse within the Troubled Teen Industry (TTI), understanding what happened to them is often a long and difficult journey.

Many young people entered therapeutic boarding schools, residential treatment centers, wilderness programs, behavior modification programs, and other youth facilities believing they were receiving help. Years later, many continue to struggle with the emotional, psychological, and physical effects of experiences that occurred behind closed doors.

At McGonagle Johnson, we have had the privilege of speaking with survivors and families from across the country. While every story is different, a common theme emerges: many survivors spend years believing they are alone.

That is one reason organizations like Unsilenced are so important.

Former residents of Calo Programs, also known as Change Academy at Lake of the Ozarks, have filed lawsuits alleging abuse, neglect, and inadequate supervision. Recent investigations by the Associated Press and Midwest Newsroom raise broader questions about Calo, Embark Behavioral Health, and the troubled teen industry.

Joe White has stepped down as CEO of Kanakuk after decades at the helm. His letter to camp families didn’t mention child sexual abuse once. Survivors noticed.A law named for a Camp Kanakuk victim is spreading state by state — and reshaping how civil settlements in child sexual abuse cases can be written.

A law named for a Camp Kanakuk victim is spreading state by state — and reshaping how civil settlements in child sexual abuse cases can be written.