According to a recent Department of Justice complaint, a well-known nongovernmental group allegedly engaged in “repeated” sexual assault and harassment of unaccompanied minors. “It does not give the actual image of the care and devotion our personnel provide to the youngsters and children,” the organization said in response to the DOJ’s lawsuit.
A nonprofit organization with headquarters in Texas called Southwest Key Programs collaborates with the Department of Health and Human Services to house youngsters who enter the country illegally without the presence of a parent or legal guardian. The nonprofit is “a vital partner in the U.S. response to the immigration issue at our southern border,” according to its website.
“Video footage partially verified the child’s claims.”
The Department of Justice lawsuit claims that “from at least 2015 through at least 2023, several Southwest Key employees subjected children in their care to repeated and unwanted sexual abuse, harassment, and misconduct as well as severe rape, solicitation of sex acts and nude photos, entreaties for sexual relationships, leering, and inappropriate touching.”
The lawsuit claims that the staff members “intimidated” several of the children to “keep their silence” about the mistreatment. The group faced allegations that it had not taken the necessary steps to safeguard the youngsters under its supervision.
The DOJ asserts that children as young as five years old were among those impacted by the alleged abuse.
Once Border Patrol takes in unaccompanied children at the southern border, the HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement assumes responsibility for providing housing and humanitarian care. To deliver these services, the organization collaborates with a number of NGOs, notably Southwest Key.
The HHS distributes grants from public funds to non-governmental organizations as part of its collaboration with the federal government.
Southwest Key is “the biggest private care provider of shelter for unaccompanied children in the United States,” according to the DOJ’s lawsuit. The organization had 29 shelters that housed about 6,350 kids.
It also stated, “Southwestern Key got almost three billion dollars in funding from HHS between fiscal years 2015 and 2023.”
The DOJ asserted that during that time, the group received reports of sexual abuse and harassment “at the majority” of its locations.
An 8-year-old girl alleged that a juvenile care worker from Southwest Key had “repeatedly” entered her bedroom at night and mistreated her in 2022. The employee faced allegations of indecently contacting two girls, ages five and eleven. According to reports, he “threatened to destroy their families if they revealed the torture.”
In 2019, a young girl claimed in a statement to her teacher that a shift leader “repeatedly raped, abused, and intimidated” her.
According to the DOJ lawsuit, the woman expressed her belief that Southwest Key workers were shielding the shift leader because, among other things, he frequently switched assignments with other staff members to spend time alone with her. The video of the shift leader going into the child’s bedroom, as well as the abuse log she kept in her diary, served as evidence to support the child’s claims. Employees also noticed that the shift leader frequently entered the children’s bedrooms for extended periods of time while no other workers were around, in violation of the regulation regarding bedroom checks.
In its lawsuit, the DOJ identified several more alleged instances of sexual assault and harassment perpetrated by NGO workers. We don’t know how many children allegedly suffered abuse.
“HHS has a zero-tolerance policy for all types of sexual assault, sexual harassment, improper sexual behavior, and discrimination,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
“There are grave concerns about patterns or practices raised in the U.S. Department of Justice’s case against Southwest Key. HHS will continue to collaborate with the Justice Dept. and oversight organizations to ensure accountability for its care-giving initiatives, such as Southwest Key. Becerra continued, “We will closely monitor the allocation of children to care-giving programs to ensure the security and welfare of every child in HHS custody.”
The Daily Caller New Foundation made a request for comment, but HHS’s Administration for Children and Families denied it, referring the matter to the DOJ, who likewise declined to comment.
The NGO had not yet made a public statement regarding the case when Blaze News broke the charges against Southwest Key last week. Since then, a Southwest Key representative has informed the DCNF that the company continues to collaborate with the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Southwest Key Programs prioritizes “the safety, health, and well-being of each and every child and youngster we care for,” the spokesman told the DCNF. “We are still examining the complaint, and it does not accurately depict the dedication and care that our staff members give to the young people and children.”
