More than 300 Kentucky foster children were housed in state office buildings, hotels, state parks and other nontraditional settings over a recent 22-month period, according to an examination released Monday by Auditor Allison Ball and state Ombudsman Jonathan Grate.
The report, which reviewed 304 cases involving “nontraditional placement settings,” found the Cabinet for Health and Family Services placed children in unlicensed or makeshift locations that auditors say exposed them to a heightened risk of running away, abuse, sex trafficking and other mistreatment.
Ball called the findings “heartbreaking” and said the cabinet is “failing foster children across Kentucky,” according to the release.
The examination found:
Seventeen children in nontraditional placements were 6 years old or younger, including four infants younger than 1.
The group ranged from children without prior placements or serious diagnoses to those needing extensive supervision and medical care.
Eighty-three children with suicidal thoughts or behaviors were housed in office buildings without documented psychiatric care, suicide-safe design or trained clinical supervision. Those children stayed in nontraditional placements for an average cumulative period of more than a week, longer than children without increased suicide risk.
In 247 cases — about 81% of the total — documentation was so limited that auditors could not readily determine whether children received medical care, medication management, therapy or attended school while in nontraditional placements.
Nearly 40% of 12- to 17-year-olds in these placements had behaviors indicating a likelihood of running away. Among children with documented runaway histories, 89 were placed in cabinet office buildings and about 10 in hotels, settings that auditors said lacked controlled access points and security features.
The report cited several specific incidents, including a child who ran from a placement and was found 51 days later living in a tent with a middle-aged man wanted for murder, a child who was physically assaulted by a provider and a child who reported being sex trafficked after fleeing a placement.
Auditors also noted that at least two children were placed for long periods in out-of-state facilities that had documented investigations and allegations of neglect, sexual misconduct by staff and use of chemical injections as restraints. Some children were housed in facilities without showers or other basic living accommodations, and some buildings were not zoned for residential use. It was not clear, the report said, whether local fire departments had been notified that people were staying overnight in office buildings.
One child reported being given a Ouija board by a social worker despite it contradicting her faith, according to the examination.
The report said the use of nontraditional placements has persisted for four years despite public committments by cabinet leaders to resolve the issue.
Under state law, the cabinet must submit a written response to the Ombudsman addressing the findings by March 24, 2026. Within 60 days of that response, the cabinet is required to notify the Ombudsman which recommendations it has implemented and which it has not, along with its reasons.
Source: WAVE
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