TAMPA, Fla. — What IS life like for migrant children in federal custody without their parents?
Comprehensive Health Services Inc. is a Cape Canaveral based healthcare provider contracted by the federal government to run its Homestead shelter for unaccompanied migrant children.
Its job postings are offering some insight.
Approximately 40 Homestead-based positions are being advertised on its website. Some of those jobs were posted as recently as June 5, others were posted as far back as mid-April. The jobs include assisting with, "unaccompanied alien children" or UAC, according to the website.
"It tells me they're starting from scratch when you have that many openings at a facility that wasn't housing children that is now housing children, said Robin Rosenberg, Deputy Director of Florida's Children First, a resource provider for sponsor families who take in unaccompanied migrant children.
"When the government takes a kid, they're responsible for taking good care of that kid because they've eliminated the ability for the parents to take care of that child. So that means so they have to meet their medical needs, they have to meet their housing needs, their clothing, their well-being, their education," she said.
Vacant jobs on the company's website include registered nurses, clinical counselors, youth care workers and teachers.
Duties shed light on what children in federal custody go through once they arrive. A physician assistant is described as having duties that include performing physical exams, diagnosing disease and having the ability to "recommend appropriate isolation as needed to protect the health of child and others," it described.
"That's acknowledging that some have very serious mental health concerns and serious trauma that they suffered on the way over," said Rosenberg. "They need to be taken care of the way your children are taken care of and my children."
A spokesperson for Comprehensive Health Services Inc. would not respond to our questions. Instead, she referred us to the Administration for Children & Families within the Department of Health and Human Services. We are still waiting for a response.
