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Teen escort company, also called a youth transport firm, is a term used in the United States to describe a business that specializes in forcibly transporting teenagers from their homes to various facilities.
Parents may use this type of service when they believe their child needs treatment outside the home, but are not willing to travel there. [citation needed] In 2004 it was estimated that there were more than twenty teen escort companies operating in the United States.[3][2]
Often teens to be transported are picked up during the night to take advantage of their initial disorientation and to minimize confrontation and flight risk. [citation needed]
The use of such services is controversial, because the services are subject to little or no government regulation[3][4][5] and because they are associated with treatment services which are themselves controversial. For teenagers seized in the middle of the night by strangers, being abducted by a teen escort company may result in permanent trauma.[5]
