Thread by @IAmAmnaNawaz

New report from HHS watchdog group on #separatedchildren in US govt custody has this stunning takeaway: "thousands" of kids may have been separated at the border *before* administration began tracking. In other words:the 2,737 # administration provided could be massive UNDERcount

The court order forcing the administration to reunite separated kids came down June 26, 2018. Before that, the agency responsible for the care/custody of migrant kids (ORR) saw a 'steep increase' in the # of separated kids coming into their shelters.

The administration initially said (when they had to count) that 2,654 kids had been separated. They revised that figure *UP* twice over the next few months, as they got their arms around new information for specific cases.

Pres Trump's executive order ending his administration's policy of family separation came down June 20, 2018. This report finds that between July 1-Nov 7, 2018, at least 118 separated kids came into govt custody, "with limited information about the reasons" for the separation.

Report also confirms govt has no "existing, integrated data system" to track separated kids and their parents. That's why additional separated kids were being identified months after a court order compelled govt to produce a list.

Among the failures to adequately track separations, there was *no specific place* in the online database to note if a child coming into govt custody had been separated. Not a checkbox, not a y/n option, nothing....

I got a look at that database last year. The only way to know if child was separated was if ICE officer chose to include relevant info in the "notes" section, or if intake officer got that info from the child & input it. Then the backwards forensics of locating parent would begin

How bad was the government tracking of separated kids? The report note it was "informal" - first in an Excel spreadsheet, later a SharePoint database, but "use of these tools was not formalized in procedures, and access was limited."

"Overall, [govt] officials estimate that thousands of separated children entered ORR care and were released" before the court order compelling reunification. But they're "unable to provide a more precise estimate or specific information" on where kids were released/placed.

"ORR staff stated that from November 2018 onward, the tracking spreadsheet would include all children with a separation indicator." The first uptick in separations was in Summer 2017. It took *over a year* before they added a standard, systematic way to track separation.

In govt response, they note new steps to better track separated kids now in place:
-database checkbox to indicate separation
-new procedures for shelter staff to look for signs of separation during interviews w/ kids
-"data personnel" tracking info on potentially separated kids

Govt also agrees with finding that "continued efforts to improve communication, transparency, and accountability" for separated kids are necessary. But there are still unanswered questions here...

Exactly how many children were separated from their families at the border by the Trump administration? Were any of those children ever reunited with their parents/guardians or were they all placed with sponsors/other relatives? And what is the government doing to get answers?
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