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