Teens in AA

The Washington Post ran a feature on teens in a DC-area Alcoholics Anonymous group who were systematically subjected to sexual and financial predation by their sponsors and others in the group.

Whatever the merits of the allegations in this specific case, the story suggests several questions that may be relevant for the adolescent treatment system in Tennessee:

1. Under what circumstances is it appropriate for teens to participate in Alcoholics Anonymous programs with adults?
   
   
2. What are the ethical obligations and legal liabilities of treatment professionals if they recommend a teen participate in AA and the group turns out to be abusive in the ways described in this article?
   
   
3. Given that the national AA program does not manage or supervise chapters in any meaningful way, does this influence the level of "due diligence" that providers, case managers, or others must demonstrate before connecting youth to AA? Surely addictions professionals or service managers cannot fall back on, "Hey, we just said they had to go to AA, we didn't tell the youth which AA group to attend." Can they?