{"id":611820,"date":"2018-08-08T15:36:06","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T21:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=611820"},"modified":"2018-08-09T16:42:47","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T22:42:47","slug":"federal-agency-sent-immigrant-kids-to-dangerous-youth-facility-despite-serious-warning-signs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/08\/federal-agency-sent-immigrant-kids-to-dangerous-youth-facility-despite-serious-warning-signs\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal agency sent immigrant kids to dangerous youth facility despite serious warning signs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_611835\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-611835\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/EDIT-DJI_0003-1024x575-771x433.jpg\" alt=\"Shiloh Treatment Center\" width=\"771\" height=\"433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/EDIT-DJI_0003-1024x575-771x433.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/EDIT-DJI_0003-1024x575-336x189.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/EDIT-DJI_0003-1024x575-768x431.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/EDIT-DJI_0003-1024x575.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Brandon Wade \/ for Reveal<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shiloh Treatment Center, shown in an aerial photograph, is in the same area and run by the same person who operated the Daystar Residential Inc. facility, which the state of Texas shut down in 2011. State officials allowed Clay Hill to continue running Shiloh, even though state law should have stopped him from operating any residential child care centers for five years.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>By the time the federal government started sending immigrant children to Shiloh Treatment Center in 2009, the warning flags were waving blood red.<\/p>\n<p>Three children had died after being physically restrained at Shiloh and affiliated facilities in rural Texas run by the same man, Clay Dean Hill. A teenager from California <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sandiegouniontribune.com\/sdut-mother-questions-why-son-was-sent-to-facility-2004feb22-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">died<\/a> after running away and getting hit by a truck. Texas officials repeatedly had cited Hill\u2019s residential centers for troubled youths after caretakers were found to have slapped, punched and kicked children.<\/p>\n<p>Yet nine years ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent its first delivery of federal tax dollars to Hill, a onetime longshoreman-turned-millionaire entrepreneur specializing in the care of vulnerable children. The federal government wanted Hill to take immigrant children with mental health problems who were caught crossing the border without parents or papers.<\/p>\n<p>The funding started a couple of months before a male caretaker in his 40s was caught preying on a 15-year-old girl from California, sexually abusing her at one of Hill\u2019s all-girl dormitories, where he was assigned overnight. He\u2019s now a convicted sex offender.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt shows you how disgraceful the place was,\u201d said the former resident, now 25, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revealnews.org\/article\/former-resident-at-troubled-youth-facility-shares-story-of-sexual-abuse-by-live-in-counselor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told her story<\/a> publicly for the first time to Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This story was originally published by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revealnews.org\/article\/federal-agency-sent-immigrant-kids-to-dangerous-youth-facility-despite-serious-warning-signs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reveal<\/a> from The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn more at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revealnews.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">revealnews.org<\/a> and subscribe to the Reveal podcast, produced with PRX, at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revealnews.org\/podcast\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">revealnews.org\/podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The federal Office of Refugee Resettlement continued to send immigrant children to Hill\u2019s care after another teenager was killed during a restraint and the state of Texas shut down one of his facilities, deeming it unsafe for children. And this year, after immigrant children said in court declarations that they were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revealnews.org\/blog\/immigrant-children-forcibly-injected-with-drugs-lawsuit-claims\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> forcibly injected<\/a> with psychiatric drugs, federal officials claimed there was no problem. In all, the federal government has paid Shiloh more than $33 million for the care of immigrant youths.<\/p>\n<p>It took a federal judge to force the refugee office to take action. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revealnews.org\/blog\/judge-orders-government-to-release-immigrant-kids-from-troubled-shelter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ruled<\/a> July 30 that the Office of Refugee Resettlement must remove children from Shiloh unless a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist determines they pose a risk to themselves or others.<\/p>\n<p>It didn\u2019t have to get to this point. The history of death and abuse at Hill\u2019s rural outpost for troubled children was no secret. Hill, 69, has remained a go-to provider for the Office of Refugee Resettlement even after multiple <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstonchronicle.com\/news\/article\/Federal-agency-s-shelter-oversight-raises-5969617.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">expos\u00e9s<\/a> by Texas newspapers, calls by members of Congress for Shiloh to be shut down and warnings from the local district attorney.<\/p>\n<p>The story of Shiloh shows just how bad it can get at a child care operation the federal government deems worthy of taxpayer dollars and acceptable for immigrant children. Reveal previously\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.revealnews.org\/article\/migrant-children-sent-to-shelters-with-histories-of-abuse-allegations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found<\/a> that private companies operating immigrant youth shelters across the nation have racked up citations for serious lapses in care. A ProPublica <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/immigrant-youth-shelters-sexual-abuse-fights-missing-children\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">analysis<\/a> of police reports found hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse, fights and missing children at these shelters.<\/p>\n<p>Hill and Shiloh employees have not returned multiple calls by Reveal seeking comment.<\/p>\n<p>A July statement on Shiloh\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shilohtreatmentcenter.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">website<\/a> says it has been investigated by various government agencies and \u201call of the widely distributed allegations about Shiloh were found to be without merit. The children have been found to be properly cared for and treated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump administration officials also maintain that the children are in good hands at Shiloh and other facilities paid to supervise immigrant children. Scott Lloyd, director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, said in a June press briefing that his agency is \u201cproud of its partnership with our UAC care providers,\u201d using the acronym for unaccompanied alien children.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve witnessed firsthand the good work they do throughout the U.S. to ensure UACs receive proper care and services,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The government\u2019s defense of Shiloh also points to a fundamental problem with federal oversight. In court filings this year, government lawyers made it clear that the federal agency responsible for the children puts much of its faith in state officials to monitor immigrant shelters such as Shiloh.<\/p>\n<p>But Reveal has found that Texas licensing officials apparently failed to properly implement their own\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/texreg.sos.state.tx.us\/public\/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&amp;app=9&amp;p_dir=&amp;p_rloc=&amp;p_tloc=&amp;p_ploc=&amp;pg=1&amp;p_tac=&amp;ti=40&amp;pt=19&amp;ch=745&amp;rl=907\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">regulations<\/a> when they shut down Hill\u2019s Daystar Residential Inc. facility and allowed Shiloh to continue. The law should have stopped Hill from operating any residential child care centers for five years.<\/p>\n<p>It was a far-reaching failure that let Hill salvage his operation. Just as Texas stopped sending its foster children to Hill, the federal government was tossing him a new source of money: immigrant children.<\/p>\n<p>Former employees told Reveal that they loved working with the children but were concerned that Hill has been allowed to stay in business, taking in a vulnerable population after decades of problems. Four said they were disturbed by the abuse that happened there while management looked the other way. They also said they didn\u2019t want to use their names for fear of retaliation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of these guys, they were just so rough and brutal,\u201d said a former employee who worked for years as a caretaker at both Daystar and Shiloh. \u201cThey seemed like they just wanted to always provoke the clients and get them to act out, get them to fight each other. They would abuse them.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Drugging kids<\/h3>\n<p>Clay Hill now faces a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4622011-Court-order-children-out-of-Shiloh.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">court order<\/a> to stop drugging children without proper consent. Immigrant children, many traumatized by violence in their home countries, told of being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revealnews.org\/blog\/forced-drugging-migrant-childrens-accounts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> threatened<\/a> that if they didn\u2019t take pills, they would be punished with more time in Shiloh. Some said they were held down and forcibly injected with medication despite their objections.<\/p>\n<p>Parents of the children said they never were asked permission to administer the powerful drugs.<\/p>\n<p>This should not have been a surprise. Medication problems at Hill\u2019s facilities go back many years, Reveal found.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf they get mad, they\u2019re gonna get a shot,\u201d said a former employee who worked with foster children at Daystar and immigrant children at Shiloh. \u201cIf they start talking like, \u2018I\u2019m not going to do this,\u2019 they\u2019re gonna get a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A Texas Education Agency review in 2015 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4619079-2015-03-16-Renewal-Findings-REDACTED.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cited<\/a> Shiloh for requiring parents of special education students to consent \u201cto the use of \u2018emergency\u2019 medications as a condition of acceptance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome parents stated to the district that they did not feel their concerns were being heard by the facility doctors,\u201d the findings state. \u201cIt also was reported by some district representatives that they have observed a Shiloh staff member threaten to give students \u2018a PRN (emergency medication)\u2019 for misbehavior.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_611836\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-611836\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Brielle_006A-1024x684-771x515.jpg\" alt=\"Brielle Gillis\" width=\"771\" height=\"515\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Brielle_006A-1024x684-771x515.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Brielle_006A-1024x684-336x224.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Brielle_006A-1024x684-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Brielle_006A-1024x684.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Cheryl Gerber \/ for Reveal<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brielle Gillis arrived at Clay Dean Hill\u2019s youth residential treatment centers in the 1990s as an 11-year-old foster child, removed from an abusive home. She says getting beat up was a part of life at Hill\u2019s facilities.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Ten years earlier, the Texas Department of State Health Services issued a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4592726-Daystar-TX-DSTS-Review-Feb-21-2005.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">scathing report<\/a> on medication practices at Daystar. A team of experts found a troubling pattern: \u201cThere was no evidence of documented, informed consent for prescribed medications.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The diagnoses and treatment plans were \u201ccanned\u201d and often didn\u2019t correspond to the patient, the report said. Children and their families were not being told why they were being given the drugs. Many children were developing weight problems and some as young as 10 years old had high cholesterol.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn almost none of these children were the elevated laboratory tests addressed,\u201d the review found.<\/p>\n<p>Daystar\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4635872-Daystar-990-2005.html#document\/p10\/a444762\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">psychiatrist<\/a> at the time was Dr. Javier Ru\u00edz-Nazario, a longtime fixture of Hill\u2019s operation and the same man immigrant children at Shiloh said was giving them medication. In fact, all four psychiatrists listed on a 2007 organizational <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4631569-Daystar-Org-Chart.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">chart<\/a> for Daystar also are named on Shiloh\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4635874-Shiloh-Medication-Information.html#document\/p1\/a444764\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">forms<\/a> for dispensing medication to immigrant youths.<\/p>\n<p>Still, federal officials assured a judge in May that Shiloh didn\u2019t need more oversight.<\/p>\n<p>Jallyn Sualog, deputy director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, said in a court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4567199-Sualog-Declaration.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> declaration<\/a>: \u201cTo my knowledge, Texas state licensing officials have not reported any concerns regarding Shiloh\u2019s compliance with state guidelines concerning the administration of psychotropic medications\u201d to detained immigrant children.<\/p>\n<p>Sualog\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4567200-Flores-Defendants-Response-in-Opposition.html#document\/p21\/a433590\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">asserted<\/a> that \u201cthe board certified child and adolescent psychiatrists\u201d at Shiloh use \u201cbest practice guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ru\u00edz-Nazario, however, hasn\u2019t had board certification to treat children and adolescents for years, Reveal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revealnews.org\/blog\/exclusive-shiloh-doctor-lost-board-certification-to-treat-children-years-ago\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> found<\/a>. After Reveal\u2019s story, Sualog filed a revised declaration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4637059-Sualog-Revised-Declaration.html#document\/p11\/a444859\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> acknowledging<\/a> that.<\/p>\n<p>Another federal official said in an April\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4567203-ACF-Letter-to-Flores-Attorneys.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter<\/a> to attorneys for the children that the Office of Refugee Resettlement has a medical team that monitors treatment and has visited Shiloh. In a footnote, he\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4567203-ACF-Letter-to-Flores-Attorneys.html#document\/p4\/a433566\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">admitted<\/a> the agency \u201cdoes not, however, employ child and adolescent psychiatrists who would have the training to scrutinize the specific medications prescribed by Shiloh experts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Overmedicating the children to keep them in line was common practice, said three former employees. Two said caretakers would ask doctors to boost the medications to make the children sleepy and easier to deal with.<\/p>\n<p>Even if federal officials were not paying attention to the findings of Texas agencies, they should have seen the Houston Chronicle\u2019s 2014\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstonchronicle.com\/news\/article\/Federal-agency-s-shelter-oversight-raises-5969617.php#photo-7296954\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">investigation<\/a> of Shiloh, which raised questions about the use of psychotropic medications. The story prompted U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, to call for Shiloh to be<a href=\"https:\/\/jacksonlee.house.gov\/media-center\/press-releases\/shiloh-treatment-center-in-manvel-should-be-closed-by-hhs-for\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> shut down<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Jackson Lee told Reveal that she reacted to the recent news of problems at Shiloh with \u201ca combination of disbelief, disappointment and outrage.\u201d She had assumed the government stopped sending immigrant children there after the previous outcry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sure there are some nice people there, but the overall record makes it inappropriate to send traumatized children to this facility. So it is very much a great disappointment to me,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m kind of taken aback.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Who is Clay Hill?<\/h3>\n<p>Clay Hill has a special education degree from the University of Houston and a <a href=\"https:\/\/secure.sbec.state.tx.us\/SBECONLINE\/virtcertdisplay.asp?spid=408210&amp;mode=C\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> teaching certificate<\/a>, according to a deposition he gave in 2003. After college, Hill started working with an autistic child and later ran a treatment center in Dallas.<\/p>\n<p>In the 1990s, Hill founded <a href=\"https:\/\/assets.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4639101\/Daystar-Residential-Articles-of-Incorporation.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Daystar<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/assets.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4639102\/Shiloh-Articles-of-Incorporation.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shiloh<\/a>, building a sprawling campus out of trailers and houses off country roads south of Houston. He created a variety of interrelated corporate entities, but Hill was behind it all.<\/p>\n<p>He took in the most vulnerable children: emotionally disturbed foster kids, nonverbal autistic children and special education students school districts couldn\u2019t handle. Many were from Texas, but some were sent there from California and Guam.<\/p>\n<p>The operation thrived because he would accept children no other facility would, former staff members said. Some were extremely disturbed and volatile, at times attacking caretakers.<\/p>\n<p>Hill <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638439-Hill-Depo-Pg-16.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">set up<\/a> Daystar as a nonprofit at the suggestion of state officials, to allow for the use of federal tax dollars, according to his deposition. Daystar then <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638441-Hill-Depo-Pg-28-31.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">leased<\/a> the land, buildings, furniture and vehicles and contracted services from Hill\u2019s for-profit entities.<\/p>\n<p>Hill even served as <a href=\"https:\/\/assets.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4639105\/Daystar-Pharmacy-Hill-President.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">president<\/a> of the now-defunct Daystar Pharmacy, a for-profit that provided drugs to his programs. Years ago, the pharmacist there got caught using fake prescriptions to steal some 15,000 pills, including more than 7,000 doses of opioids, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/assets.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4639126\/Daystar-Pharmacy-Inc-PHY-14613-ABO-I-99-002-B.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">state records.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Daystar and Shiloh sat near each other, sharing some staff and leadership. The children living at Daystar often went to school at Shiloh. At one point, their administrative headquarters were different parts of the same trailer.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, Hill created a <a href=\"http:\/\/columbiaangels.com\/staff\/clay-hill\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">baseball team<\/a> for elite high school players that claims big-leaguers Josh Beckett and Matt Carpenter as <a href=\"http:\/\/columbiaangels.com\/mlb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">alumni<\/a>. Hill ran a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4636003-Texas-Tournament-990-2007.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">nonprofit<\/a> called Texas Tournament Baseball <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638442-Texas-Tournament-Baseball-Articles-of.html#document\/p4\/a445298\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">with<\/a> a former banker who went to prison for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638443-Michael-v-Neff-Criminal-Docket.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fraud<\/a> and later worked at Hill\u2019s treatment facilities. Ex-employees said ballplayers without experience caring for troubled children would sometimes work there, too.<\/p>\n<p>Former employees said Hill seemed to care more about making a profit than improving the lives of children.<\/p>\n<p>Hill took in compensation of $680,000 in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4635943-Texas-Tournament-990-2006.html#document\/p22\/a445299\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2006<\/a> and $720,000 in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4636003-Texas-Tournament-990-2007.html#document\/p21\/a444791\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2007<\/a>, the most recent years he reported the amount in public tax filings. That was down from a salary of more than $1 million that he\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4635944-Daystar-990-2001.html#document\/p18\/a444785\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> in 2001. Meanwhile, children had limited facilities for recreation, former workers said, and lived in buildings sometimes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638444-Daystar-Residential-Inc-GRO-Compliance-History.html#document\/p54\/a445300\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cited<\/a> by state regulators as grimy and dilapidated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was all about money with him,\u201d said Caroline Laifang, who worked as a special education teacher at Shiloh for several years in the 2000s. \u201cIf you\u2019re trying to explain to him this is not in the best interest of the students, he\u2019ll let you know \u2013 this is a business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hill, for his part, said he was constantly working for Shiloh and Daystar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I work 24 hours a day, seven days a week because I\u2019m on call all the time,\u201d he said in his 2003 deposition, \u201cand I respond to every call.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Dangerous restraints<\/h3>\n<p>In October, David, a 13-year-old boy from El Salvador, didn\u2019t feel safe at Shiloh Treatment Center.<\/p>\n<p>Fearful of employees who screamed at him, David packed a bag to escape. When he tried to open a window, he said in a court declaration, a supervisor threw him against the door and pinned him against the wall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis made me feel like I was choking and it was hard for me to breathe. I told the supervisor to stop because I couldn\u2019t breathe,\u201d David\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4548705-Flores-v-Sessions-Exhibit-14.html#document\/p3\/a431405\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">declaration<\/a> states. \u201cI briefly fainted. As I recovered consciousness a staff person violently threw me on my bed and this caused my head to bang against the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was eerily reminiscent of scenes described in medical examiner reports when U.S.-born children died in Clay Hill\u2019s care.<\/p>\n<p>Dawn Renay Perry had been struggling with depression, aggressive behavior and low mental function when she was placed at Hill\u2019s Behavior Training Research facility, in the same area outside the town of Manvel where Shiloh sits now.<\/p>\n<p>In April 1993, the 16-year-old was held face down on the floor by four people, records show.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter restraint was applied multiple times, the decedent relaxed and rolled up into a ball as she usually did when she quit fighting,\u201d medical examiner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638447-Perry-Death-Excerpt.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">records<\/a> state. Then she vomited, turned blue and stopped moving.<\/p>\n<p>Stephanie Duffield was also 16 when, in 2001, she became upset that a Shiloh staff member didn\u2019t escort her to the bathroom quickly. There was a struggle, and the assistant held her down, face to the carpet, putting her weight on Duffield\u2019s shoulders, according to medical examiner records.<\/p>\n<p>Duffield protested, saying she couldn\u2019t breathe. Then she did stop breathing. The medical examiner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638448-Duffield-Autopsy-Cover-Page.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">called<\/a> it \u201csudden cardiac death following hyperactivity and physical exertion during restraint,\u201d ruling it an accident.<\/p>\n<p>Hill said in a 2003 deposition that he didn\u2019t think his staff did anything wrong.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought it was just another horrible, horrible incident,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638449-Hill-Depo-166-167.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a> a lawyer representing Duffield\u2019s family. \u201cI happen to be \u2013 considered myself a friend of Stephanie\u2019s, had worked with her two days before. She bit my hand and scratched it and all the things that she could do. And we were friends. It \u2013 it broke my heart to see the kid die.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, you know, I thought she died of a heart attack,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t think the length of the restraint had a lot to do with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He didn\u2019t see a pattern when, a year after Duffield\u2019s death, 15-year-old Latasha Bush also died following a restraint.<\/p>\n<p>The girl, who was diagnosed as bipolar with the emotional age of a 6-year-old, had told her one-on-one caretaker, Tisha White, that she wet the bed at night <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638450-White-Depo-Pg-25.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">because<\/a> she was afraid of her.<\/p>\n<p>White said in a deposition that Bush was restrained by other caretakers after it appeared she was going to throw a flashlight and then threw herself against the wall, cracking it, and repeatedly asked to be left alone. White said the employees put Bush on her side, but a youth in the house <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638451-Brinkley-Depo-51-52.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> one of them was sitting on Bush and she was screaming that she couldn\u2019t breathe.<\/p>\n<p>The medical examiner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638452-Bush-Autopsy-Cover-Page.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">called<\/a> it homicide by asphyxiation. State licensing officials said she suffocated as a result of being restrained with excessive force. The district attorney told The Dallas Morning News in 2003 that she considered prosecuting but lacked hard evidence of criminal intent.<\/p>\n<p>Hill called Bush\u2019s death \u201ca horrible tragedy\u201d but saw no fault in his operation\u2019s methods.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBased on the information we had, we felt like the restraint was done the way it was supposed to be done,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638454-Hill-Depo-202.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a> a lawyer for the Duffield and Bush families, who ended up settling their lawsuits.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not willing to agree that the restraint caused the suffocation,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638453-Hill-Depo-Pg-215.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Those deaths had been well publicized by the time federal officials awarded Shiloh $480,000 in May 2009 to start sheltering immigrant children.<\/p>\n<p>What they didn\u2019t know was there would be another.<\/p>\n<p>In November 2010, Michael Owens, a 16-year-old battling depression and behavioral problems, gasped for air in a closet smeared with blood. Daystar employees had taken him to the floor, pulling his arms behind him, when he began \u201chuffing and puffing,\u201d medical examiner records show.<\/p>\n<p>He died from asphyxiation, the medical examiner found, also noting \u201cblunt impact trauma of face, torso and upper extremities.\u201d Like Bush\u2019s death, it was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638455-Owens-Autopsy-Cover.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ruled<\/a> a homicide.<\/p>\n<p>His death was one too many for the state of Texas. Officials stripped Daystar of its license, cut off its multimillion-dollar contract and moved out all the children who lived there in 2011.<\/p>\n<p>Texas\u2019 foster care agency wouldn\u2019t send any of its own children to Shiloh, either. In response to concerns from the district attorney, the Department of Family and Protective Services wrote in a 2011 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4636064-DFPS-Letter-to-Brazoria-County-DA-2011.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter<\/a> that it \u201chas no intention of contracting or placing any CPS children with Shiloh, Inc. and staff has been instructed accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Hill got a big break from the state. Licensing officials kept Shiloh open for business, and that was good enough for the federal government, which was ramping up its delivery of immigrant children and millions of taxpayer dollars.<\/p>\n<p>A month after Owens\u2019 death, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded $1.8 million to Shiloh to take in detained immigrant children. The address on <a href=\"https:\/\/taggs.hhs.gov\/Detail\/RecipDetail?arg_RecipId=CP2m3QM1O%2FFxud6Dg%2FM7dQ%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">federal funding records<\/a> is the same as the one on Owens\u2019 autopsy report.<\/p>\n<p>Problems continued. In 2011, state officials <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638445-Shiloh-Treatment-Center-Compliance-History.html#document\/p89\/a445301\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found<\/a> a Shiloh caregiver restrained a child without justification, causing \u201can injury to a vital body area.\u201d He had lifted up and then dropped the child to the ground, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638445-Shiloh-Treatment-Center-Compliance-History.html#document\/p90\/a445302\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">records<\/a> show, putting his body weight on top. Within two months, the federal government <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638456-FPDS-Records.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">awarded<\/a> Shiloh $2 million more.<\/p>\n<p>With the influx of immigrants, state investigators started finding a new twist on an old problem: Shiloh didn\u2019t always have employees present who could speak the child\u2019s language.<\/p>\n<p>A Honduran boy was bleeding from his mouth and screaming in Spanish that he was in pain while being held down in 2013, <a href=\"https:\/\/assets.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4639124\/2013-Account.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according<\/a> to witness accounts described in state records. One of the employees restraining him <a href=\"https:\/\/assets.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4639125\/Did-Not-Speak-Spanish.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">admitted<\/a> that he did \u201cnot speak Spanish and he would not be able to understand if (the boy) was complaining.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The federal Office of Refugee Resettlement and its parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services\u2019 Administration for Children and Families, declined an interview and did not respond to repeated requests for comment.<\/p>\n<h3>Slapping, punching and kicking<\/h3>\n<p>In November, an 11-year-old girl said in a signed declaration that she\u2019d rather live on the streets in her native Honduras than stay at Shiloh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn at least two occasions staff members have tried to hurt me,\u201d she\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4548712-Flores-v-Sessions-Exhibit-48.html#document\/p3\/a431413\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">stated<\/a>. \u201cOne time a staff member put her two thumbs up to my throat and her hands around my neck. It hurt and I was gasping for breath. The staff member said she was just \u2018playing\u2019 but I felt scared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Such testimony should come as no surprise to government officials.<\/p>\n<p>On several occasions over the years, Texas investigators <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638444-Daystar-Residential-Inc-GRO-Compliance-History.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found<\/a> that employees at Hill\u2019s facilities slapped, hit and kicked children. In one case, an employee bit a child during a restraint. In two others, employees punched children in the head.<\/p>\n<p>An employee bathing a 16-year-old resident caused severe bruising to the teenager\u2019s buttocks. Another child, a nonverbal 8-year-old boy, was found with multiple marks to his lower back and bottom. Years later, a cellphone video surfaced\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/abc13.com\/news\/teachers-aide-accused-of-hitting-special-needs-student\/434416\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">showing<\/a> a Shiloh employee slapping a nonverbal autistic child.<\/p>\n<p>At one point, a Daystar supervisor and another employee instructed seven developmentally delayed residents\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2010\/06\/06\/staff-forced-disabled-girls-to-fight-in-youth-home\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">to fight<\/a>, using snacks as a reward for the winner. The staff \u201claughed and cheered as the residents fought,\u201d leaving multiple injuries, according to state <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638444-Daystar-Residential-Inc-GRO-Compliance-History.html#document\/p74\/a445303\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">records<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Former employees said there were some people working there who were doing their best. But they also told of abuse by co-workers that they couldn\u2019t forget: the ones who beat up a foster child, the one who frightened an autistic boy with sexual comments, the one who offered to teach how to choke children to \u201cput them to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A former Shiloh caretaker said other employees would antagonize children to get them to act out, prompting a painful restraint.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was just like they got a kick out of it,\u201d said the former worker. Some of them were longtime employees, and no one would get in trouble, she said. She ended up quitting because, she said, \u201cI didn\u2019t want to be a part of any of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even in the early years, getting beat up was a part of life at Hill\u2019s treatment centers, said Brielle Gillis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was to a point where you got beat so much that you felt like you deserved it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_611837\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-611837\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Brielle_008-1024x715-771x538.jpg\" alt=\"Brielle Gillis\" width=\"771\" height=\"538\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Brielle_008-1024x715-771x538.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Brielle_008-1024x715-336x235.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Brielle_008-1024x715-768x536.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Brielle_008-1024x715.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Cheryl Gerber \/ for Reveal<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brielle Gillis, who spent her adolescence at Clay Dean Hill\u2019s youth residential treatment centers, says complaints of abuse often would get back to the caretakers, who would punish the children.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Gillis arrived in the 1990s as an 11-year-old foster child, removed from an abusive home, she said. Now 35 and transgender, she went by the name Jeremy Keith Gillis at the time. Gillis spent her adolescence at Hill\u2019s facilities until she got out in 2001.<\/p>\n<p>One time, she said, three caretakers ganged up on her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey was holding me down, folding me like a pretzel, and they was stomping and kicking me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>An adult witness to the beating confirmed it to Reveal and said nothing came of it.<\/p>\n<p>Any complaints would get back to the caretakers, who would punish the children, Gillis said. In any case, she said, kids were written off as troubled liars.<\/p>\n<p>Many years later, after a state investigator determined that Shiloh employees used excessive force in restraining a 14-year-old Honduran boy who had been abandoned as a baby, Hill defended his staff.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr. Hill stated the kids can be very manipulative and will make up stories to get staff in trouble,\u201d the investigator <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638457-2013-Shiloh-Investigation-Report.html#document\/p4\/a445304\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a> in 2013. \u201cHe stated he trusts his staff in doing the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>\u2018Controlling persons\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Texas has a law to prevent someone such as Clay Hill from running another child care facility when one gets shut down.<\/p>\n<p>The state\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4636077-Daystar-DFPS-Notice-of-Intent-to-Revoke-Permit.html#document\/p3\/a444899\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">warned<\/a> Daystar that its \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/texreg.sos.state.tx.us\/public\/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&amp;app=9&amp;p_dir=&amp;p_rloc=&amp;p_tloc=&amp;p_ploc=&amp;pg=1&amp;p_tac=&amp;ti=40&amp;pt=19&amp;ch=745&amp;rl=901\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">controlling persons<\/a>\u201d \u2013 those determined to exercise control over the facility \u2013 would be barred from running another residential facility for five years.<\/p>\n<p>If there was a person in control at Daystar, it was Hill.<\/p>\n<p>Hill said it himself in his 2003 deposition when the family of Latasha Bush sued Daystar. He said he was the ultimate authority in terms of hiring, giving raises, training staff and accepting patients, though he delegated some decisions to underlings. The executive director of Daystar, Carroll \u201cCal\u201d Salls, reported to Hill, he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638459-Hill-Depo-Pg-230.html#document\/p1\/a445305\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>State licensing officials should have known as much. A 2007 organizational <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4631569-Daystar-Org-Chart.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">chart<\/a> in state files lists Hill at the top of Daystar. And state records <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4638458-Shiloh-Controlling-Persons.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">list<\/a> Hill as a \u201ccontrolling person\u201d at Shiloh.<\/p>\n<p>It was even more clear on the ground, said former employees and residents. From Daystar to Shiloh, Hill ran everything.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s the one who runs the show,\u201d said former employee Caroline Laifang. \u201cNo decision is made without Clay Hill knowing about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But somehow, the state didn\u2019t see it that way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn conducting its investigation, the state found that Daystar Residential and Shiloh Treatment Center did not share a controlling person,\u201d said John Reynolds, spokesman for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement had plenty of opportunities to pull the plug. The Brazoria County district attorney, Jeri Yenne, wrote a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4636069-Yenne-Letter-to-Federal-Officials-2011.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter<\/a> to federal officials in 2011 \u201cout of concern for the safety of children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is due to the fact that there have been a number of deaths over the years of minors placed on the property managed by Shiloh and its affiliate corporation Daystar Treatment Center,\u201d she wrote. \u201cI am requesting increased monitoring of Shiloh Treatment Center and that your agency review the same and consider limiting the number of children placed in Shiloh Treatment Center.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Relying on state oversight<\/h3>\n<p>This year, an attorney representing immigrant minors at Shiloh wrote a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4637060-2018-01-16-Letter-Re-Shiloh-Medication-Redacted.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter<\/a> urging federal officials to stop sending children there. It focused on the drugging problems, but noted Shiloh\u2019s connection to Daystar and the deaths.<\/p>\n<p>An Office of Refugee Resettlement official responded by making a point of distancing Shiloh from Daystar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNotably, Shiloh RTC (Residential Treatment Center) is not operated by DayStar Treatment Center (DayStar), which is mentioned in your letter,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4567203-ACF-Letter-to-Flores-Attorneys.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a> senior federal field specialist supervisor James De La Cruz. \u201cEven when it was still in business the licensure of Daystar was completely separate from that of Shiloh.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The distinction is lost on former employees and residents. And Clay Hill wasn\u2019t the only person who oversaw both institutions during their darkest moments. Kellie Pitts has been in charge of quality control at Shiloh since 1999 and also held that role at Daystar, according to Hill\u2019s deposition. Tisha White, who was briefly suspended but cleared of wrongdoing in the 2002 death of Latasha Bush, appears to work at Shiloh, based on her Facebook profile and accounts of others. Pitts and White could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n<p>When lawyers representing the children asked a federal judge to intervene this year, government attorneys shot back that there is already plenty of oversight.<\/p>\n<p>Federal officials\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4567200-Flores-Defendants-Response-in-Opposition.html#document\/p20\/a433578\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">argued<\/a> that the court \u201cshould not conduct its own evaluation,\u201d but rather \u201cshould rely on the State\u2019s own evaluation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven this extensive level of oversight by the states,\u201d the government\u2019s filing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4567200-Flores-Defendants-Response-in-Opposition.html#document\/p21\/a433579\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">says<\/a>, \u201cthis Court can \u2013 and should \u2013 reasonably rely on the conclusions of those state licensing authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yet state licensing officials, also responsible for the Texas foster care system, have been found to be dangerously ineffectual.<\/p>\n<p>Federal District Judge Janis Graham Jack\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4567257-Jack-2015-Opinion.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ruled<\/a> in December 2015 that Texas was fundamentally failing to protect foster children. Among widespread problems, she\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4567257-Jack-2015-Opinion.html#document\/p208\/a433583\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found<\/a> the state licensing agency was \u201cfailing its licensing and inspecting duties\u201d and \u201calmost never takes an enforcement action.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_611838\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-611838\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/EDIT-DJI_0030-1024x575-771x433.jpg\" alt=\"Shiloh Treatment Center\" width=\"771\" height=\"433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/EDIT-DJI_0030-1024x575-771x433.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/EDIT-DJI_0030-1024x575-336x189.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/EDIT-DJI_0030-1024x575-768x431.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/EDIT-DJI_0030-1024x575.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Brandon Wade \/ for Reveal<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shiloh Treatment Center, shown in an aerial photograph, is near Manvel, Texas, south of Houston, and has received more than $33 million from the federal government for the care of immigrant youths.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>She cited an internal review that found error rates of up to 75 percent in the state\u2019s investigations of abuse allegations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is staggering,\u201d she\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4567257-Jack-2015-Opinion.html#document\/p202\/a433585\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a>, \u201cand it means that many abused children \u2013 for whom a preponderance of evidence indicated that they were physically abused, sexually abused, or neglected \u2013 go untreated and could be left in abusive placements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is the same agency that investigated 30 complaints of abuse or neglect at Shiloh since October 2012 and ruled out every one of them, according to Department of Family and Protective Services records.<\/p>\n<p>Texas, the judge found, \u201chas closed one facility in the past five years, but it is a story of horror rather than optimism regarding enforcement.\u201d She was talking about Daystar.<\/p>\n<p>Texas authorities \u201callowed this facility \u2013 that was responsible for four deaths, numerous allegations of sexual abuse, and unthinkable treatment of developmentally disabled children \u2013 to operate for 17 years,\u201d the judge\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4567257-Jack-2015-Opinion.html#document\/p210\/a433586\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a>. \u201cThe Court does not understand, nor tolerate, the systemic willingness to put children in mortal harm\u2019s way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In January 2018, the same judge\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4567256-Jack-2018-Order.html#document\/p116\/a433582\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">issued<\/a> a grim update: \u201cOver two-years later, the system remains broken.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jack\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2018\/01\/19\/federal-judge-orders-texas-fix-its-broken-foster-care-system\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ordered<\/a> continued monitoring of the state system by appointed special masters. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, where it is pending.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ruling was arrived at by an unelected federal judge who misapplied the law, hijacked control of our state\u2019s foster care system, and ordered an ill-conceived plan by the special masters that is both incomplete and impractical,\u201d Paxton said in an April <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texasattorneygeneral.gov\/news\/releases\/ag-paxton-defends-texas-legislatures-foster-care-system-at-the-5th-circuit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Former federal officials said they were doing the best they could.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was definitely a sense that the problems at Shiloh were problems that could be fixed,\u201d one ex-official said. Given that Shiloh maintained its state license, \u201cworking to address the issues seemed like the right thing to do to keep the capacity on line.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There weren\u2019t a lot of other options for immigrant children with serious mental health problems, said the former official, who requested anonymity: \u201cIt is a specialized facility. We don\u2019t have a ton of those in the system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even one case of child maltreatment is unacceptable, but in a system housing thousands of children, it is also inevitable, said Maria Cancian, who was deputy assistant secretary for policy in the Administration for Children and Families, over the refugee resettlement office, from 2015 to 2016.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes things are going to happen that shouldn\u2019t happen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The refugee resettlement agency tightened oversight, Cancian said, including increasing unannounced visits to shelters by field representatives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas it enough? Almost certainly not,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s almost never a child service organization in this country that is adequately resourced.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cancian said she visited shelters that were \u201coverwhelmingly staffed by people who were trying to do their best, and by and large, they were places that provided high-quality care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe exceptions are absolutely not acceptable,\u201d she added, \u201cand it\u2019s appropriate to shine a light on that.\u201d<span class=\"ctx-article-root\"><!-- --><\/span><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"pixel-ping-tracker\" src=\"https:\/\/pixel.revealnews.org\/pixel.gif?key=pixel.3rdrevnews.federal-agency-sent-immigrant-kids-to-dangerous-youth-facility-despite-serious-warning-signs.lq8bqhuu73dtne7gbywl\" width=\"0\" height=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By the time the federal government started sending immigrant children to Shiloh Treatment Center in 2009, the warning flags were waving blood red.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":611835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[140,234],"class_list":["post-611820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-border-and-immigration","tag-children"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}