Fort Bliss

Whistleblowers Allege Poor Conditions for Migrant Kids at Texas Shelter

The contractor taking care of thousands of migrant children had no experience in child care, said the federal workers

NBCUniversal, Inc.

Children housed in one of the Biden administration's largest shelters for unaccompanied migrant minors were being watched over by contractors with no Spanish-language skills or experience in child care who usually stood idly at the edge of crowded tents, according to two federal workers who have come forward to file a whistleblower complaint to Congress.

The complaint alleges that many of the contractors from Servpro viewed the job "more as crowd control than youth care" and documented that they used loud music and, at one point, a bullhorn to wake children in the morning.

The contractor for the Department of Health and Human Services, Servpro, specializes in cleanup after water, fire and storm disasters. It shows no record of having handled a contract related to child welfare before it took on the care of nearly 5,000 children who were housed at the facility at Fort Bliss, Texas, in May, NBC News reports.

A spokeswoman for Servpro Industries said that the contract was entered into by a franchise holder without the company's knowledge and the operator was "immediately" advised that "these are not approved Servpro service offerings" when the company became aware of the issue.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com

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