Amanda Simmons Moderates ABA Judicial Division Program on “Judicial Solutions to Institutional Child Abuse”

On November 12, 2024, the American Bar Association’s Judicial Division hosted a national program titled “Judicial Solutions to Institutional Child Abuse,” a timely and highly attended discussion addressing the urgent need for judicial leadership in responding to abuse within youth residential treatment facilities. The program, moderated by Amanda Simmons, founder of Ambika Law, brought together distinguished judges and national experts to examine the legal, structural, and ethical challenges surrounding institutional child abuse—and the critical role judges play in protecting vulnerable youth. 

Amanda opened the program by situating the issue within its historical and legal context. Drawing from the comprehensive presentation she prepared for the Judicial Division, she traced the roots of the troubled-teen industry from early institutionalization movements to the deinstitutionalization era, highlighting how youth residential treatment centers evolved with minimal oversight and how private equity investment and public funding dramatically expanded the industry’s reach. Her slides demonstrated that, despite widespread reports of abuse, thousands of children continue to be placed into facilities each year through the education, child welfare, mental health, and juvenile justice systems. 

The program featured a distinguished panel of leaders with deep experience in juvenile justice and child protection. Hon. Ernestine S. Gray, retired judge of the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court, brought decades of judicial insight into how placement decisions intersect with children’s rights and court oversight responsibilities. Hon. H. Lee Chitwood, Chief Juvenile Judge of Virginia’s 27th Judicial District, discussed his creation of tools—including his widely referenced judicial bench card—to help judges ask critical questions before authorizing placements in youth residential facilities. Joey Orduna Hastings, CEO of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, offered a national perspective on judicial education, systemic reform, and the need to expand safe, community-based alternatives for high-needs youth. Summer Stephan, District Attorney of San Diego and Chair of the National Association of Women Judges’ Human Trafficking Committee, contributed her expertise on the ways residential treatment centers can become sites of labor trafficking, sexual exploitation, and criminal victimization when oversight is lacking. 

Amanda’s presentation delved deeply into the legal regimes governing these facilities, underscoring the complexity of federal, state, and local authority. Through her slides, she explained how oversight is fragmented across agencies ranging from the Administration for Children and Families, Medicaid, and the Department of Education to juvenile justice and disability rights enforcement bodies. She illustrated how gaps in nomenclature, licensing categories, and statutory definitions allow facilities to circumvent regulation by rebranding themselves as boarding schools, academies, or faith-based programs exempt from state oversight. 

The program then moved into an examination of abuses within treatment centers—strip searches, injuries from restraints, sexual assault, educational neglect, medical neglect, and deceptive marketing—each grounded in case law, federal statutes, and investigative findings referenced in Amanda’s materials. She highlighted research showing the ineffectiveness and trauma of juvenile strip searches, including documentation that thousands of searches have yielded almost no contraband. Her discussion connected these abuses to broader civil rights frameworks, including violations of the ADA, Section 504, Title II, and child labor laws, as well as potential trafficking claims under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. 

The panelists then engaged in a rich discussion about judicial solutions, building on the final section of Amanda’s presentation. Judge Chitwood described how judges can use structured inquiry—such as his bench card questions regarding strip search practices, restraints, reporting processes, education delivery, visitation policies, and staffing—to make better-informed placement decisions. Judge Gray emphasized the judiciary’s unique role as a safeguard when other systems fail, urging judges not only to scrutinize individual placements but also to advocate for stronger community-based alternatives. Summer Stephan spoke about identifying trafficking indicators within institutional settings and encouraged judges to treat unexplained injuries, isolation, labor practices, and lack of communication access as potential red flags. Joey Orduna Hastings reinforced the need for judicial leadership in demanding accountability and increasing safe placement options. 

Amanda closed the program by connecting judicial practice to broader systemic reform. She emphasized that the legal system cannot meaningfully protect children unless judges are empowered with accurate information, clear standards, and practical tools for evaluating the risks associated with residential placements. Her materials underscored that child abuse in treatment settings is not an isolated phenomenon but a national systems issue that intersects with education law, disability rights, juvenile justice policy, and trafficking prevention.

The ABA’s program reflects a growing national movement to confront the harms of the troubled-teen industry and to equip judges with the knowledge and tools necessary to prevent further abuse. Amanda’s leadership and scholarship—including her published work on strip searches, educational neglect, and institutional accountability—played a central role in shaping this discussion and advancing solutions that protect youth across the country.