LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- In April, a Louisville family court judge 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, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services housed the child in the L&N Building, a 116-year-old office building at Broadway and 9th Street with no beds, showers or food providers.
He slept on a cot, was taken to a local YMCA to shower and received no treatment from April 19-27.
In an Oct. 2 ruling, Judge Gina Kay 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.
It's been more than a year since Kentucky social workers began removing some troubled kids from their homes to temporarily live in government buildings because there are not enough foster homes or residential treatment facility beds available.
Now, unsealed documents from the case and testimony from state officials show the situation is far more problematic than has been previously revealed.
"The public is generally aware that the Cabinet is temporarily housing children in an office building – the L&N Building," Calvert said in an order last month to open the typically closed family court case to the public and media. "The public is not aware of the very real risk of potential danger and trauma to these children."
Beyond the issues with the boy's case, cabinet officials have testified that there are myriad problems with the current situation and no easy fix.
"A very real crisis exists at the Cabinet and that crisis threatens the safety of every child before the (judge)," wrote Calvert, one of 10 Jefferson Family Court judges.
Among the concerns revealed by the state in August testimony in front of Calvert:
- The state has no specifically trained employees to watch the children staying at the L&N building for a 24-hour period
- There are also gaps where no one properly trained is available to give the children their medication, de-escalate arguments or fights, or restrain a child if necessary
- The cabinet does not keep a record of the children housed at L&N or how long they stay
- It is unclear if specific orders from judges are being passed along to the workers watching over children staying in office buildings
- It is also unknown, at least from testimony in Calvert's case, as to whether fire departments have been made aware that children are living in these buildings
The first instances of abused, neglected or delinquent children being temporarily housed in office buildings started last year. Court records and other testimony haven't identified how many buildings are being used to house children.
Attorney Macauley Campbell, who is representing children in Calvert's court, said the situation is more dire than the cabinet has said publicly.
"I'm afraid the cabinet is more interested in protecting themselves, as to liability, than to just come out and say, 'We are in crisis and we need a solution,'" she said in an interview with WDRB News. "When (kids) are taken into state care, they need to be given the care they deserve and need to get better."
In July, Cabinet Secretary Eric Friedlander told lawmakers that nearly 90 Kentucky foster children were staying in government buildings.
"It's a tragedy," he said at the time. "It's something that none of us wanted."
In an update to legislators on Oct. 25, cabinet officials said the situation was ongoing and that 38 children in state care have now been sent to other states because of the lack of available placement in Kentucky. He said all states are currently having trouble placing kids.
"It's a national issue," Friedlander said to the interim Joint Committee on Families and Children on the problems.
Rep. Stephanie Dietz, R-Edgewood, said she had heard from social workers and family court judges that they were no longer removing children from their homes "because we have nowhere to put them.
"... I find this to be probably one of the most atrocious things that I've heard since I've been here," she said during the hearing. "We have kids sleeping on the floor and we have family court judges that aren't removing kids and are afraid to because we have nowhere to put them."
'Crisis'
In July, the mother of the child in Calvert's court, who reportedly sexually abused his siblings, requested the case be opened to the public and media to shed light on how the cabinet handled the case.
In her ruling to unseal, Calvert said the cabinet "has had more than sufficient time to put appropriate policies and procedures in place" and indicated the public should know about the ongoing "crisis."
She pointed out that the child, who she ordered into treatment, was "offered no services while housed in limbo."
In addition, the mother was "concerned that he was around younger children and not properly supervised," Calvert wrote in her 11-page ruling.
In an interview, Campbell said cabinet officials did not know whether Calvert's orders were passed along to the workers who watch over the children while they are in the L&N Building.
"Without having records of who is staying there, there is no way to know," she said.
Campbell also said it is unlikely other children are receiving treatment while staying at the L&N Building. The cabinet has offices in the L&N Building.
In an Aug. 30 hearing in the case, a social worker for the cabinet testified that children are staying in other business buildings without showers where they sleep on cots, and there is no one trained to "watch" them full-time or ensure they are properly given their medicine.
In addition, the cabinet doesn't have employees trained to de-escalate dangerous situations watching over the children full-time. In one instance, police were called to the L&N building and a child was charged with aggravated assault of an officer, according to court records.
In her ruling, Calvert said the fact that "supervisors" can apparently be anyone who works for the cabinet, regardless of training or knowing the needs of each child, is "dangerous to both the children and the 'supervisors.'"
The cabinet worker testified in Calvert's court that there are usually two adult supervisors with the children 24 hours a day.
And a cabinet administrator testified that while there initially were no guidelines or plans when children were first placed in the L&N building, there are now required protocols, such as information sheets on each child and supervisory training on how to give medications.
In addition, during the October update in Frankfort, cabinet officials said they have added more positions to help care for children placed in the office buildings and are trying to "buy beds" in facilities full time so they are always available.
Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Benton, asked if the state needed to build or purchase a new facility to house these children.
"I really don't want to answer yes to that question," Friedlander said, pointing out that it's tough to fund the upkeep of such a facility long-term. "But if we can't figure out some way for these kids to get placed, I don't know what else we are going to be able to do."
When told that dozens of children have now been housed out of state, Sen. Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville, asked what the long-term plan is if Kentucky doesn't have adequate care for troubled kids.
"We will pay what it takes," Friedlander said.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has called the situation "unacceptable." He announced earlier this year an influx of $41.5 million in additional funding to support children and the people providing care to them. The goal is to ensure that there are plenty of providers who are "ready, willing and able to serve every child in the commonwealth," Beshear said at a news conference in May.
The cabinet has fought to keep the case in Calvert's court closed to the public, arguing it "would expose inappropriate subject matter for a public forum" and could reveal intimate details about children or their issues.
A cabinet attorney argued the public already knows the state is having to house children in office buildings when there is no other place for them to stay, and that opening the case to the public was a form of punishment.
Calvert's ruling includes stipulations that the names and ages of the family, among other sensitive information, is kept sealed.
She wrote that the "inappropriate boarding of a child that is potentially a danger to other children and in very real need of immediate treatment in the L&N office building and not immediately offering him services is a poor choice."
Campbell said the child in Calvert's case is now in a therapeutic foster home and is doing well. The next hearing in the case is in December.
But Campbell said it seems the state is no closer to finding a long-term solution than it was a year ago.
"These kids need to be taken care of and the cabinet is not doing it," she said.
Legislators expressed the same belief.
"This is beyond crisis at this point," Carroll, the state senator, said during the hearing last week with the cabinet.
Friedlander responded that Kentucky officials are "trying different things."
"We have yet to find full success. ... We will continue to work until we do."
The Cabinet for Health and Family Services housed the child in the L&N Building, a 116-year-old office building at Broadway and 9th Street with no beds, showers or food providers.
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