June 26,2024

Wyden Statement on HHS Watchdog Report on Lack of Oversight at Youth Residential Treatment Facilities

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today released the following statement on the new U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG) report, “Many States Lack Information To Monitor Maltreatment in Residential Facilities for Children in Foster Care,” which Wyden and colleagues requested in 2020:

“This is the latest of several investigations – including my own – underscoring the failures of a system that is doing more harm than good. The rampant abuse and neglect at youth residential treatment facilities will only continue until meaningful action is taken to strengthen oversight, raise the floor for standards in these facilities, and refocus federal dollars into community-based services. As I continue my work on comprehensive legislation to put an end to taxpayer-funded abuse, I urge ACF and the other federal agencies with oversight and enforcement authority to act now to protect vulnerable kids across America.”

The HHS OIG’s findings on lack of proper monitoring and oversight of mistreatment of foster youth in the care of residential treatment facilities (RTFs) reinforce the findings of Wyden’s two year investigation into taxpayer-funded child abuse and neglect in RTFs. Earlier this month, Wyden released “Warehouses of Neglect” revealing that RTFs receive billions of dollars in federal funding – including Medicaid and child welfare dollars – and provide substandard behavioral health care while also subjecting kids to abuse and neglect. Wyden’s report also calls for Congress, industry, federal agencies, and states to raise standards for congregate care, strengthen oversight, and invest more in community-based alternatives.

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