Content warning: This article contains references to abuse and the molestation of children, which some might find distressing. If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673 (HOPE) or visit RAINN.org.

Before attorneys filed a lawsuit alleging widespread physical and sexual abuse in Nevada's juvenile detention facilities, state inspectors published a report finding welfare and safety concerns in about a third of the children's facilities they reviewed.

The report, dated December 2025 and presented to lawmakers in April by the Legislative Counsel Bureau's audit division, found that in nine of the 25 facilities reviewed by state officials, inspectors questioned whether facility management or the licensing agency adequately protected the children in their care. Facilities subject to inspection include hospitals, group homes, foster homes and detention centers.

Inspectors flagged:

• Nine facilities for concerns related to notifying physicians about medication refusals
• 15 facilities for concerns related to fire safety
• 13 facilities for concerns related to legally responsible consent documents
• Seven facilities for concerns related to the denial of rights reporting
• 11 facilities for concerns connected to fingerprint submission documentation
• Seven facilities for concerns related to mandatory reporting requirements
• Five facilities for concerns related to the completion of medication administration records in real time. 

In one instance, the report highlighted that a loaded firearm was unsecured and accessible to children in a foster home. The foster agency indicated that it was unaware that the parent possessed a gun.

"The frequency of these concerns suggests more attention is needed to improve the care of children in select areas," the report noted.

Though the audit covers a different set of facilities than those identified in the federal lawsuit, which focused on juvenile detention, children's welfare advocates have criticized the state for underinvesting in its children, particularly those in government care. 

The Children's Advocacy Alliance has pointed to a settlement reached between the state and the Department of Justice, forcing the state to overhaul its behavioral health care system, as well as the April lawsuit brought by 96 defendants who say the state was negligent in protecting kids in juvenile detention from sexual abuse.

"These are not isolated incidents. They are a pattern. Nevada chronically underinvests in children and waits to be sued before it changes course," said Elisa Cafferata, executive director of the Children's Advocacy Alliance. 

Athar Haseebullah, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said the allegations made in the juvenile detention lawsuit, combined with the government reports issued over the years, "shows the failures of a system in which the government is responsible for investigating itself."

The nine facilities in which children's protection was called into question by the state report were all in the Southern Nevada area. They included Sandria Foster Care Agency, four Moriah Behavioral Health facilities (Ignite Teen Treatment, LLC Lone Mesa; Ignite Teen Treatment, LLC Bahama Bay; Eden PRTF Edna; and Eden PRTF Dutch Valley) and four Clark County Family Services Advanced Foster Care Homes.

Under Nevada law, the inspections could apply to establishments owned or operated by a governmental or private entity and that have physical custody of children pursuant to a court order. They included discussions with management, reviews of personnel and child files, and observations along with interviews.

There are 108 governmental and private facilities with a population totaling more than 1,552 as of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, that were subject to inspections. The report focused on 25 of them, identifying the most at-risk facilities. It stated that the inspections were not a full audit and therefore were not conducted in accordance with government auditing standards.

In addition, the authors wrote that 62 Nevada children were placed in 19 out-of-state facilities across eight states. Since 2024, the report found that fewer children have been placed out of state, but the length of their stays has increased.

Children are sometimes sent out of state if their behavioral health needs are too complex for what Nevada facilities are able to provide, and all in-state options have been exhausted. Critics say sending children out of state can harm their relationships with their families and communities, and that providing services closer to home is the best policy.

The report noted inspectors reviewed complaints from out-of-state facilities and followed up when necessary.

'The only recourse left'

Haseebullah said he believes the public views self-investigations conducted by government agencies as "largely illegitimate," and are frustrated when very little comes of them.

"The only recourse that's left is for civil lawsuits to emerge," he said. "The government operates by its own separate playbook."

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, inspectors reported receiving 1,547 complaints regarding 43 facilities in Nevada. Sixty-five Nevada facilities reported no filed complaints. State and county licensing agencies monitor most of the 108 facilities, which may include reviewing documents and policies, on-site observations or investigations. 

The report specified that if issues are identified, the licensing agencies "may communicate or follow up with the facilities to ensure compliance with policies, regulations, or statutes."

Haseebullah said often, children in the juvenile detention system are vilified, dampening the public's interest in seeing justice done and prompting officials to punt blame instead of addressing problems. 

He added that although more than 1,500 complaints were filed, many are likely largely unreported or underreported out of fear. He pointed to tactics alleged by the 96 complainants in the juvenile detention center lawsuit — one complainant alleged an abuser threatened to sodomize him if he told anyone about the abuse, saying the plaintiff would be unable to walk for a week.

"What is a person who's detained that already feels hopeless left to do in a circumstance like this?" he said. 

In the December report, inspectors recommended that state lawmakers create a more rigorous, better-defined policy governing complaint reporting. It noted that the collection, documentation, review and resolution of complaints vary by facility, and there are "different interpretations of what constitutes health, safety, welfare, and civil and other rights of a child."

"In July 2025, we communicated our expectations for complaint reporting to the facilities, including the need for reporting both complaints and their resolutions," auditors wrote. "We also informed facilities that abuse or neglect allegations made against a facility or its employees while a child is placed at a facility are considered complaints, as they pertain to the child's health, safety, welfare, and civil and other rights."

Beyond recommending a better complaint reporting policy, the report's authors added that some employees at licensed health facilities are not required to have training specific to children and suggested lawmakers may want to require certain training across the board. 

When the report was presented to state lawmakers on April 15, Hailey Cornelia-Swift, a senior child welfare specialist in the legislative auditor's office who contributed to it, said facilities without multiple violations or infractions were not listed; instead, inspectors communicated problems to them directly. 

If there are more egregious concerns, Cornelia-Swift said the practice is to contact the licensing agency.

"We are not the licensing agency and we don't require the remediation of the issues," Cornelia-Swift said. "We rely on the licensing agency to be able to do that."

On specific issues, such as the unsecured, loaded weapon, Cornelia-Swift said they addressed it immediately by locking it up and following up later, but licensing agencies are in charge of licenses and other matters. Those licensing agencies include the Aging and Disability Services Division and the Clark County Department of Family Services, among others. 

Haseebullah said he worries that reports such as the one from the auditors are not taken seriously. Very rarely, if ever, Haseebullah said, can he recall a scenario in which internal investigations without additional requirements actually led to major structural changes necessary to overhaul systemic civil rights abuses. 

"One of society's greatest failures is the inability for the government to actually protect the children it claims to be able to protect," he said. "And in doing so, it only continues to exacerbate a problematic pipeline."