Children in residential treatment facilities are at risk of sexual and emotional abuse, physical restraint and excessive medication, a new Senate report finds.
O reportconducted by the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, was created after an investigation examined allegations of abuse and neglect at residential treatment facilities (RTFs) operated by four companies.
The committees concluded that children are in danger due to the facility’s operating model, which “incentivizes providers to optimize revenue” at the expense of appropriate treatment. The companies examined are Universal Health Services, Acadia Healthcare, Vivant Behavioral Healthcare and Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health.
In an affirmationSenate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) criticized the facilities, arguing they are warehouses to store as many children as possible while keeping costs low.
“Too often, abuse and neglect are the norm at these facilities, and they are prepared to allow it to happen,” their statement said. “These findings demand bold action.”
The report gained bipartisan support, as ranking member Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) comments delivered at Wednesday’s hearing, urging his colleagues to intervene. He said work needs to be done to make RTF placement a “last resort” and that efforts are made to reintroduce children into the community “as quickly as possible.”
Children placed in RTFs often need mental and behavioral help, but organizations are unable to individualize treatment to adequately treat each child, the report concluded.
Additionally, the report concluded that children “routinely experience harm” within the facilities, such as sexual, physical and emotional abuse; unsafe and unsanitary conditions; and inadequate behavioral health treatment.
The report detailed an incident in Oklahoma where an employee admitted to molesting a girl, but the facility transferred the employee to another location after the misconduct was reported rather than firing the employee. The staff member continued to stand outside the patient’s room window every night, the report said.
Physical restraints and isolation are often used as punishment and can hurt children. It is often used without documentation, the report concluded. At one Arkansas treatment center, staff “routinely simultaneously restrained and chemically isolated children.”
The report noted that the facilities are understaffed and often unqualified, and states that this has “led to tragic incidents,” including child deaths.
It also found that many facilities isolate children from parents and external community support, rather than allowing them to maintain connection in an unfamiliar environment.
In a statement sent to The Hill, Universal Health Services said it cooperated with the two-year investigation and considers the report “incomplete and misleading.” The company also acknowledged that “there have been incidents” but said “rates of such occurrences” are rare and refutes the committee’s “inaccurate portrayal.”
The company’s CEO, Marc Miller, declined Wyden’s invitation to testify at Wednesday’s hearing in a letter. NBC News got the letterwhich stated that the company provided more than 12,000 pages of documents and spent hundreds of hours answering questions.
In a statement to NBC, Acadia said the stories in the report “are moving.” The company said the industry “can and must do better” and said it is committed to ensuring all Acadia patients receive compassionate care and support.
Leah Yaw, senior vice president at Devereux, said in a statement to The Hill that it was an honor for the nonprofit to work with the committee on the issue, but said it was “unfortunate” that it was grouped with the other three non-profit organizations. companies. The company denied that children in its care were placed in abusive or unsanitary conditions.
Devereux said he is “extraordinarily careful” about medication use and helps fund university programs to address staffing shortages.
NBC reported that Vivant said in a statement that controlling staffing levels is a normal business concept and is not synonymous with understaffing, and the company complied with the committee.
The commission outlined several recommendations to recognize the “dignity and worth” of every child and to ensure that “federal dollars are spent as Congress intended.”
The senators said standards at facilities must be high at all levels. Government funding must be prioritized on community-based solutions to decrease the number of children entering facilities, and facility oversight mechanisms must be implemented “at all levels.”
“At its core, the RTF model typically optimizes profit at the expense of children’s well-being and safety. The rampant civil rights violations that children experience in RTFs are a direct consequence of the industry model,” the report states.
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