Federal Judge Orders Migrant Children Be Removed From TX Treatment Center

 

 

 

 

Federal Judge Dolly Gee has ordered the transfer of all children out of the Shiloh Residential Treatment Center in Manvel, Texas, due to allegations of widespread abuse in the immigrant detention center. Judge Gee condemned the detention center for injecting children with psychotropic drugs without their parents’ consent, imprisoning some children in overly restrictive confinement and prohibiting the children from making private phone calls. She also explicitly ordered that the detention center must obtain permission from a legal guardian before giving any psychotropic drugs to detained children.

A pending class-action lawsuit alleges immigrant children housed at the Shiloh Treatment Center were held down and forcibly injected with drugs, rendering them unable to walk, afraid of people and wanting to sleep constantly.  Court documents allege troubling practices in which children claim they were tackled and injected and forced to take pills identified as vitamins that made them dizzy and drowsy.

U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee found conditions at the nonprofit Shiloh Treatment Center, in violation of a 1997 settlement, called Flores vs. Reno, requiring immigration officials to place detained minors “in the least restrictive setting appropriate to (each Class Member’s) age and special needs.” Gee ordered that all children involved in the suit be removed from the Shiloh facility “unless a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist” determines that a particular child “poses a risk of harm to self or others.”  She also ordered the government to seek consent before giving psychotropic drugs to any detained migrant child. Without consent, the facility may administer such a drug only in an emergency or under a court order, she said.

The Shiloh Residential Treatment Center in Manvel, Texas, was founded in 1995 by Clay Dean Hill.   In 2013, the resettlement agency began funding the shelter, sending it more than $26 million in grants over five years to house migrant children.  The company that operates the facility south of Houston has a history of problems, including deaths of children in its custody and allegations children were systematically drugged with psychotropic medications.  The children were allegedly drugged with pills and injections at the residential treatment center.

The center, a mobile home complex-turned-child care center, is licensed to serve kids ages 3 to 17, is run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement and the office is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  The center has been cited eight times for by Texas inspectors in the last three years.  Some of the infractions include overdue background check renewals for staff, children being able to get into medication and go to the restroom with it, and children who were inadequately supervised due to staff members being distracted on their cellphones.

Children have continued to be placed there despite the center being plagued with serious accusations for years.  In 2001, Stephanie Duffield, 16, died after being restrained by staff. Following her death, Shiloh was found to be “in compliance” with state requirements, according to the refugee resettlement office. Children have died at two other programs affiliated with Clay Hill, Behavior Training Research Inc. and the now-closed Daystar Residential Inc. Between 1993 and 2010, three children died after being restrained at those facilities. In 2002, Latasha Bush, 15, died from asphyxia. Eight years later, Michael Keith Owens, 16, died after being restrained inside a closet. Both deaths were ruled homicides.  In most cases, the children were hogtied. Beyond these deaths, there were reports of sexual abuse and staff making developmentally disabled girls fight for snacks.