Thread by @reveal

1/ SCOOP: The federal government is relying on a collection of black sites to hold unaccompanied minors, in possible violation of the long-standing rules for the care of immigrant children. revealnews.org/article/us-gov…

2/ The Office of Refugee Resettlement, the government agency that cares for unaccompanied minors, has never made the shelters’ existence public or even disclosed them to the minors’ own attorneys in a landmark class-action case.

3/ It remains unclear how many total sites are under operation, but there are at least five located in Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Virginia, holding at least 16 boys and girls for the resettlement agency, some as young as 9 years old.

4/ Minors being held at the facilities were initially placed at known shelters around the country but were later transferred to these off-the-books facilities that specialize in providing for youth with mental health and behavioral challenges.

5/ ORR’s own standards state that the agency “makes every effort to place children and youth within the ORR funded care provider network.” But it makes room for out-of-network transfers.

6/ What we’ve uncovered appears to violate long-held standards of the Flores Settlement Agreement, a 1997 pact that sets the standards for how unaccompanied minors are treated while detained and calls for their swift release.

7/ Under the agreement, the federal government is supposed to provide attorneys representing detained children with a regular and detailed census of each minor in ORR custody.

8/ Holly Cooper is an attorney who represents the class of unaccompanied minors in ORR’s care.

She says the government failed its obligation to report every minor’s location.

9/ "Detained unaccompanied children with mental health issues are some of the most vulnerable children, and when the government does not provide access to their whereabouts, it calls into question the basic underpinnings of our democratic institutions," she said.

10/ Here’s what we know about the facilities so far …

11/ Millcreek Behavioral Health in Fordyce, Arkansas, operates as a residential treatment center and is holding at least eight children in ORR custody.

Its inspection reports do not show any serious state violations.

millcreekbehavioralhealth.com

12/ But Rolling Hills Hospital, in Ada, Oklahoma, does have a record of problems. Patients there complained of broken bones, along with “allegations of sexual harassment and physical abuse.”

13/ A 2017 inspection report describes multiple violations, including unreported deaths, failure to provide staff orientations and a lack of necessary assessments.

documentcloud.org/documents/5772…

14/ Both Millcreek and Rolling Hills are owned and operated by Acadia Healthcare. We’ve determined that 50 of Acadia’s facilities – operating in 23 states and Puerto Rico – provide residential care for minors. It’s unclear how many of those facilities serve youth in ORR custody.

15/ In November, a critical investor detailed a litany of abuse allegations at Acadia-run facilities including Rolling Hills.

seekingalpha.com/article/422278…

16/ A December 2017 lawsuit accused Acadia and Rolling Hills of permitting ongoing sexual abuse inside a facility for children, destroying video evidence and refusing access to a state investigator.

dropbox.com/s/r176pfukfflk…

17/ We’ve also confirmed that a non-profit behavioral health organization called Devereux is housing children in one of these off-the-books shelters. Its board includes James H. Schwab, who according to his LinkedIn profile was the president of @VICE until December.

18/ Our team of immigration reporters remain focused on investigating how children are treated in the immigration system.

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