Migrant children separated from their parents at the US border are in desperate need of “adequate mental health care,” an inspector general report said Tuesday.
A temporary shelter in Tornillo, Texas, is grossly understaffed and does not properly screen the criminal backgrounds of their employees, according to the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Tornillo does not employ a sufficient number of staff clinicians to provide adequate mental health care for [Unaccompanied Alien Children],” the report from Daniel R. Levinson stated.
The facility houses more than 2,000 kids, a significant number of which were separated from their parents after the implementation of President Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy.
The investigation found that the facility only staffed one clinician for every 55 children.
“The disproportionately high number of children to clinicians is especially worrisome in light of the continued increase in the number of children and length of stay at Tornillo,” the report said.
In addition, the inspector general discovered that a waiver was supplied to the Tornillo camp that exempts them from conducting child abuse and neglect background checks on their employees.
The reasons given for the exemption included “the urgent time constraints that the facility was under in order to be operational in a short time.”
Another finding was that Tornillo has not conducted FBI fingerprint background checks on their employees. Instead, the facility relies on a private contractor that does not have the access to all criminal records.
The practice, the report said, heightens “the risk that an individual with a criminal history could have direct access to children in [the facility’s] care.”
The inspector general has asked that the Administration for Children’s Services — a division of the Department of Health and Human Services — provide a written response “as soon as possible.”