The Justice Department should investigate the nation's four largest operators of residential youth treatment facilities for civil rights violations and fraud, the senator said. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., made the argument in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday.
In two letters obtained by NBC News, Wyden said that his recent investigation into the Senate corporations – Universal Health Services, Acadia Healthcare, Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health and Vivant Behavioral Healthcare – found evidence of “extensive abuse, neglect and substandard care.” He complained that many facilities “do not provide the treatment they are supposed to provide” and instead provide “useless services” that do not meet federal standards.
Wyden asked the DOJ to investigate whether states violate the Americans with Disabilities Act by placing children in residential facilities while they receive services at home. And it asked the department to look into whether companies cheat by providing substandard care and violating Medicaid regulations, which apply to these facilities as they serve thousands of foster youth and children from low-income families annually.
The latest increment is in letters Congressional lawmakers to crack down on misconduct at youth treatment centers on both sides of the aisle start a wave of activism by former patients and News articles Details allegations of abuse at some facilities. In June, the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Wyden, released a Report Arguably, the benefits were driven by cost-cutting efforts to maximize the benefits of “child maltreatment.”
If the DOJ investigates and finds evidence to substantiate Wyden's allegations, it will have the power to negotiate policy changes and impose financial sanctions on the facility's operators.
Devereux is a non-profit organization, Vivant is a private for-profit company, and Acadia and UHS are publicly traded companies. Most of the examples of problems highlighted in the Senate report came from programs administered by Acadia and UHS.
“It is unfortunate that Devereux continues to align the senator’s thinking with a for-profit corporation for a group that may not operate similarly to ours,” Leah Yao, the agency’s chief strategy officer, said in an email. He said none of the examples of incidents cited in Wyden's letter occurred at the Devereux facility.
A statement to NBC News, UHS disputed the report's characterization of the facilities, calling it “a false narrative” based on isolated incidents and “defending the hard work of the dedicated staff at these facilities, whose sole mission is to improve the lives of residents. .”
Acadia said it strongly disagrees with the report's portrayal of its facilities, which the company said in a statement are “highly regulated and must meet policies and standards established by federal, state and local governments.”
Vivant did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but previously disputed the report's description of its facilities as understaffed and neglected.
The DOJ did not respond to requests for comment.
NBC News coverage of residential treatment centers
Wyden's June report described cases at UHS and Acadia facilities where children were detained for refusing to consent to searches or for stealing staff radios, as well as cases in which children were isolated while given sedatives to calm their behavior. Wyden said these are clear violations of federal Medicaid rules that prohibit residential treatment facilities from disciplining children while also restraining and kidnapping children.
The report also described examples of facilities with unsanitary conditions, including insects, exposed broken glass and broken furniture, which the report characterized as “hazardous environments.”
“In light of the importance of these facts, I am formally referring this matter to the DOJ and requesting that you begin an investigation,” Wyden said in the letter.
Last month, Wyden asked Two other federal agencies, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Administration for Children and Families, set rules that would dissuade states from placing children in these facilities, again citing their Senate investigation.
Acadia AND SUS Both paid multimillion-dollar settlements in recent years to resolve DOJ investigations into their hospitals and psychiatric facilities. However, these cases have not focused on youth facilities operated by the agencies, which Wyden is asking the DOJ to investigate.
Acadia Also The Securities and Exchange Commission paid $1.4 million in settlements last month to collect that dozens of its employees signed agreements not to file complaints against Acadia with government agencies. The SEC noted that Acadia removed this language from its employment contract; Acadia said it “worked quickly to resolve this issue with the SEC.”
