State Care Gone Missing

Nevada’s latest audit of children’s facilities reads like a manual on how not to run one. Across 25 inspected sites, nine delivered conditions that would make a halfway house blush and a parent reach for a lawyer.

At one foster home, inspectors found a loaded firearm resting in an unlocked bedroom, accessible to children and apparently unknown to the agency meant to supervise the placement. The explanation offered was that they didn’t know, an excuse that flies poorly.

Elsewhere, the tour continued.

A marijuana grinder in a child’s bathroom. Lighters within easy reach.

Empty alcohol containers about. A card promoting prostitution in a bedroom.

A mature-rated video game. Medications left unsecured.

Meanwhile, records were incomplete or inaccurate, and manitory training logs had gone missing, perhaps in search of better management.

The State’s “advanced” foster care program, designed for children with severe emotional disturbances, added its own improvements, including unsecured psychotropic drugs, accessible knives and chemicals, and fire safety concerns that existed mostly on paper. Policies were inconsistent with both the licensing agency and the foster parents’ understanding, which is a polite way of saying no one was steering the wagon.

At psychiatric residential facilities, the pattern held. Complaint logs were missing at all locations.

In some homes, there were no complaint forms, no complaint boxes, and no posted rights for the children, which is an underhanded way to reduce complaints on paper. Files lacked evidence of parental involvement, employee background clearances were undocumented, and after at least one suicide attempt, there was no record of increased supervision.

One facility even reported no restraint incidents; however, their paperwork disagreed.

Many of these same deficiencies were flagged the year before, suggesting the system’s chief strength is consistency. One operator eventually lost its license in December, long after the problems had taken up residence.

Lawmakers have now accepted recommendations for improving oversight, complaint reporting, and staff training. It is the customary remedy: more rules for a system that has shown a talent for ignoring the ones it already has.

When the State assumes custody, it assumes responsibility. The responsibility includes securing firearms, locking up medications, maintaining records, and being aware of activities inside the licensed homes.

None of these tasks needs innovation, just competence. The audit suggests that, for now, competence remains an optional feature.