Texas asked to remove foster children from facilities under investigation

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A federal judge has asked Texas to cooperate with a new investigation into allegations of child abuse at youth treatment centers across the country, including 11 that house out-of-state Texan children.

Two US senators launched an investigation last week at the largest organizations operating youth residential treatment facilities across the country – Vivant Behavioral Healthcare, Universal Health Services, Acadia Healthcare and Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health. Institutions have until August 5 to provide records of operations and reports of mistreatment and abuse over the past five years.

U.S. District Judge Janis Jack, overseeing the 11-year lawsuit against Texas’ ailing foster care system, ordered the state to develop a plan within 60 days to remove children residing in managed facilities by the organizations under investigation.

Texas may send some of the foster children in its care to out-of-state facilities, including treatment centers that provide mental health services and support for children with disabilities. The organizations under investigation have facilities in Texas, but none of their residential treatment centers house foster children in the state.

Jack criticized the state for allowing the placement of children in outside facilities run by organizations with allegations of abuse. At least 48 Texan children in long-term state care are being housed in facilities run by the groups the senators are investigating, but that number may be an underestimate, Jack said.

Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health is facing a class action lawsuit over allegations of abuse between 2003 and 2019, according to a report by the National Disability Rights Network. A New Mexico facility operated by Acadia Healthcare closed in 2019 due to allegations of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and another Acadia facility in Montana closed after reports surfaced of the use of antihistamines to restrain children.

Vivant Behavioral Healthcare opened in 2021 and continued operations of Sequel, a group that closed after being told children were being improperly isolated and physically restrained. Sequel co-founder Jay Ripley is the CEO of Vivant.

And Texas hospitals overseen by Universal Health Services have faced a litany of security breaches. Mayhill Hospital in Denton threatened to detain a teenager in solitary confinement in 2017, and Millwood Hospital in Arlington detained an 11-year-old boy without consentreported WFAA-TV.

Jack has previously criticized the state for not shutting down unsafe child care centers or ending sexual abuse of children in state care.

Jack also raised concerns Tuesday about inconsistencies in how the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services legally classifies children in its care.

Children who have been in the foster care system for more than a year should be classified as permanent state custody. But court-appointed monitors report that as of June 6, nearly 3,500 children are in temporary care status, even though they have been in state custody for 13 months or more. Court-appointed watchdogs found at least 497 children had incorrect legal status, Jack said.

The decade-long lawsuit to reform the state’s foster care system protects only children in permanent state care, which means keeping accurate records of the legal status of foster children Foster care is key to determining whether the state is complying with court orders, Paul Yetter, the attorney representing the children, said Tuesday.

A child’s legal status also dictates their rights: only children in permanent state care, for example, are eligible for adoption.

Jack ordered the state to provide the correct legal status of each child in foster care within 30 days, which court-appointed watchdogs will then verify.

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