The high demand for treatment for children with behavioral and substance abuse problems has led Montana health officials to spend Medicaid funds to send kids, including those who are foster children and wards of the state, to residential programs in other states with less stringent oversight.
Some of those children have been sent to out-of-state programs that have been accused of abuse and mistreatment, according to documents from state agencies and media reports.
Shipping those kids out of state for treatment for behavioral and substance use disorders comes with a high price tag, and often the children’s issues are not resolved or are even worse, said Michael Chavers, CEO of Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch. “When they return to us, they return with worse outcomes and for higher cost,” Chavers told Montana lawmakers last fall.
