Attorney Amanda Simmons of Ambika Law, PC speaks at the 2023 Children’s Mental Health Advocacy Conference hosted by Lives in the Balance

The 2023 Children’s Mental Health Advocacy Conference was attended by over 3,000 individuals focused on eliminating the use of punitive and exclusionary disciplinary practices -- including restraint and seclusion -- on children. The conference featured a wide-range of speakers, including Oklahoma State Representative John Talley, Oregon Senator Sara Gelser Blouin, and Lives in the Balance’s founding director, Dr. Ross Greene.

In collaboration with 11:11 Media Impact’s policy strategist Caroline Cole and investigative reporter Chelsea Maldonado, Amanda provided attendees with a through understanding of the “troubled teen industry” and the need for Federal policy reform, beginning with The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act (SICAA).

SICAA is bipartisan Federal legislation that takes the first step to address widespread institutional child abuse and neglect in youth residential programs across the county. Through the creation of an interagency work group and complimentary study, SICAA will collect much-needed Federal data on the “troubled teen industry” and the hundreds of thousands of youth housed in residential programs every year. In addition to improving data collection practices and fostering improved collaboration between agencies, SICAA will also lead to the development of data-driven policy solutions and best-practices that State and local governments can use to better protect youth from Institutional child abuse and neglect.

Amanda Simmons is a California and Utah based attorney focusing on children’s rights, juvenile mental health, educational law, disability rights, special needs estate planning, school injury and conservatorships.  As one of the only attorneys to publicly identify as both a survivor of childhood sexual assault and institutional child abuse in the “troubled teen industry,” Amanda is uniquely qualified to advocate for youth in residential programs. 

Drawing upon her lived experience and legal expertise, Amanda provided attendees of the 2023 Children’s Mental Health Advocacy Conference hosted by Lives in the Balance with the tools and information needed to effectively advocate against institutional child abuse and neglect in youth residential programs.

View the conference recording here.