Senator Calls for DOJ to Investigate Private Companies Providing Residential Treatment for Youth

Sara Tiano, The Imprint •

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden is calling on the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether Medicaid fraud has been committed by private, taxpayer-supported residential facilities housing vulnerable youth in abusive conditions — and whether states that sent the children have violated their civil rights.

In a pair of Oct. 9 letters sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Wyden highlighted the results of his two-year investigation into four multi-state companies that operate centers funded to provide treatment. Senate investigators instead found “sexual, physical, and emotional abuse,” conditions that were “unsafe and unsanitary,” and substandard education and behavioral health care.

“Vulnerable children are being used as pawns to maximize the profits of these facilities — and American taxpayers are footing the bill,” Wyden said in a Wednesday press release. “More often than not, these kids aren’t even getting the basic care they need, and instead are in many cases experiencing serious neglect and abuse.”

Specifically, Wyden requested that federal justice officials investigate whether the facilities’ operations constitute Medicaid fraud, because they are billing the government for “substandard and inadequate care” that he described as “worthless services.” The Oregon senator also wants an inquiry into whether states are violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal protections because they shuffle kids in crisis into centers that are “segregated” from their communities.

“With the health and safety of kids involved — and pages of evidence — it’s time for the DOJ to get involved,” said Wyden, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance. 

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About the Expert

As Youth Advocacy Program Manager, Cathy manages, coordinates, and facilitates the office's youth advocacy programs: Advocates Transforming Youth Systems, Advocates for Youth Justice, and the Youth Speakers Bureau. Additionally, Cathy supervises the yearly social work intern.

Malik Pickett is a staff attorney at Juvenile Law Center who joined the organization in 2020. He advocates for the rights of youth in the juvenile justice system through litigation, amicus and policy advocacy efforts. Prior to joining Juvenile Law Center, Pickett worked as an associate attorney with the law firm of Wade Clark Mulcahy, LLP where he litigated personal injury and construction defect cases and as a legislative counsel for the Honorable Pennsylvania State Senators Shirley M. Kitchen and Jay Costa. 

With nearly a decade of dedicated service at Juvenile Law Center, Alexandria Rivera is currently a Stoneleigh Youth Advocacy Fellow working within the Treating Kids as Kids team. Her unwavering commitment to amplifying the voices of youth fuels her mission to effect meaningful change within communities and the systems that serve them. 

In addition to her work at the center, Alexandria actively represents various organizations focused on youth homelessness, advocating for those often overlooked. She is eager to raise awareness about the complexities of the juvenile justice system and the foster

Bree Hood is a Stoneleigh Youth Advocacy Fellow at Juvenile Law Center. Bree has worked with the organization for eight years. She is a Youth Safely Home Team fellow and will be working with them to improve conditions for youth in the juvenile legal and family regulation systems, while also working to abolish those systems. The Youth Safely Home Team uses a mixture of policy/legislative advocacy and litigation to accomplish these goals. 

Bree is proud of all the work that she has done and accomplished while working at Juvenile Law Center because everything she does takes the organization one

Jihid Maye is a Stoneleigh Youth Advocacy Fellow at Juvenile Law Center. Jihid has been a youth advocate with Juvenile Law Center since 2017. As a youth advocate, Jihid has been making changes where they are needed. He worked on projects to help foster kids go to college for free, bring a youth ombudsperson to Philadelphia, and is still trying to make change fighting for PA House Bill 1381, a juvenile justice reform package. 

He is also a Certified Peer Specialist Community Health Worker and Researcher and consultant with Johns Hopkins University through mental health and trauma informed care

Aqilah David is a Stoneleigh Youth Advocacy Fellow at Juvenile Law Center. She joined Juveniles for Justice (now called Advocates for Youth Justice) back in 2018 after being incarcerated for 11 months. She learned that she could use her experience and voice to change the system and bring awareness to many hardships that youth face when in the juvenile justice system. She is proud of her advocacy to pass the credit transfer bill in Pennsylvania, establish the local youth ombudsman office and make legislators hear youth voices. She is currently working with with the economic justice team and