June 2024:
The MLO Minute: “Senate Report Details Staggering Levels of Abuse and Neglect of Children in Residential Programs”
By Dennis McAndrews, Esq., Founder and Managing Partner Emeritus, and Michael Connolly, Esq., Supervising Partner of The Special Education Department —
As part of our representation of children and adults with disabilities, we have handled a great many cases involving physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of vulnerable populations. These cases can be difficult to prove, and often involve high standards of proof under federal law to establish liability. Therefore, some of the most prestigious personal injury lawyers in America request that we act as co-counsel in these matters due to our extensive experience in representing persons with disabilities and their families and in meeting the significant legal standards involved.
And just this month, a United States Senate Finance Committee report supported what so many families have long suspected – that many children and adults with disabilities are subject to serious abuse and neglect in residential programs. In this scathing new report, U.S. Senate investigators say that residential treatment facilities serving children with developmental disabilities and behavioral needs are guilty of high levels of such abuse and neglect.
A two-year investigation conducted by the Senate Committee found that children regularly experience physical, sexual and verbal abuse at such facilities. Improper use of restraints and seclusion are commonplace, conditions are often unsafe and unsanitary, staff are poorly trained, and the promised behavioral health care is missing, according to investigators.
The findings detailed in the 136-page report issued this month focus on four of the nation’s largest providers of residential treatment facilities — Universal Health Services, Acadia Healthcare, Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health and Vivant Behavioral Healthcare. The companies provide specialized programs for children with intellectual disabilities and those with various behavioral/mental health needs.
Investigators reviewed more than 25,000 pages of company documents, media reports, conversations with dozens of experts and they conducted site visits. Their report describes a business model that’s built on maximizing profit at the expense of the children who need care.
“Too often, abuse and neglect is the norm at these facilities, and they’re set up to let this happen,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who chairs the Committee.
The report cites examples of a facility where 110 restraints and seclusions occurred in just 30 days and another where a staffer who was found to be routinely sexually assaulting a child was moved to a different wing instead of being fired. The staffer then came to the child’s window every night and planned to continue the abuse after the child left the facility, investigators said.
In other cases, children have died due to the actions of staffers or by suicide, the report found.
The report calls on state and local governments, federal agencies, accrediting bodies and residential treatment facilities to take steps to improve standards and oversight and prioritize community-based services. Wyden said he plans to introduce federal legislation to advance the recommendations.
If you believe that a child or adult in a residential or day program has been the subject of serious abuse and is suffering the consequences of these acts, please contact us for a free consultation. In these cases, we pursue the matter on a contingency fee basis, and we only obtain fees when we successfully resolve the case.
