Kentucky auditor begins investigation into 'crisis' of foster kids housed in government buildings

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky Auditor Allison Ball's office started its investigation into foster kids who temporarily live in government buildings because there are not enough homes or residential treatment facility beds available.

Ball filed a lawsuit in August against Gov. Andy Beshear and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services in an effort to gain access to a state database that houses case information on elder and child abuse.

"My office has continued to receive numerous complaints of foster children and teenagers sleeping on cots and air mattresses in office buildings, often not supervised by trained staff," Ball said in a news release Tuesday. "I have instructed the Ombudsman’s Office to investigate this issue to uncover the problems associated with this ongoing crisis. The vulnerable children of Kentucky deserve to be placed in nurturing environments where they are provided with the resources, stability, and care they need."

Earlier this year, WDRB News won access to documents and court testimony while also obtaining information through Kentucky's open records law that sheds light on an issue that has been widely criticized by judges, attorneys, legislators and advocates for children.

In April 2023, Judge Gina Kay Calvert ordered the state to place a boy removed from his home in a treatment center or "therapeutic foster home" with no children under the age of 16, both for the safety of that child and others.

Instead, cabinet officials housed the child in the L&N Building, a 116-year-old office building at Broadway and 9th Street in Louisville with no beds, showers or food providers. He slept on a cot, was taken to a local YMCA to shower and received no treatment for more than a week.

In a ruling last October, Calvert called the cabinet's move a "poor choice ... in direct contravention of this Court's order, and potentially illegal."

And this is just one of dozens of examples of kids having to spend days or even weeks living in office buildings around the state.

State data obtained in public records requests show 144 children had spent at least one night at a hotel or state office space from July 2022 to July 2023.

And from then until Feb. 1 of this year, 137 more kids stayed in those places for a night or more, amounting to 281 children in less than two years.

In a statement, Beshear's office said the administration has "taken action to address the challenges that come with placing youth with severe mental and behavioral problems or a history of violence or sexual aggression with foster families or facilities."

That includes "efforts to expand bed capacity to treat high-acuity youth held by the Department of Juvenile Justice," but funding wasn't approved by the state's General Assembly during its last session.

"We've publicly addressed this many times with lawmakers and have offered more funding to secure additional safe, short-term care options for youth," the statement continued. "When one of these placements are necessary, we work to make sure each youth has a safe place to stay until a placement can be made."

In the statement, a spokesperson for the governor's office said the latest Child Maltreatment report from the Children's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services showed Kentucky ranks 14th in the nation for child victims of maltreatment, with "a 48% reduction in child victims of maltreatment from 2018 to 2022."

"This is the third year in a row that the state's rate has improved though we recognize it's still far too high as no child should suffer abuse or neglect," the statement continued.

The spokesperson also noted that the space being used in the L&N Building in Louisville has bedrooms and an activity room, providing videos of both.

The governor's office is encouraging people to become a foster parent to help "meet the needs of all our youth." More information can be found by clicking here.

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