Adopted and Locked Away: Kids promised ‘forever homes’ instead confined in for-profit institutions

Claire Galofaro and Sally Ho - The Associated Press

This Associated Press investigation reveals how many adopted children in the U.S. are placed in for-profit residential treatment centers, where they are often subjected to abuse, neglect, and prolonged confinement despite being promised supportive “forever homes.” It finds that weak oversight and profit-driven incentives within the “troubled teen industry” can lead to further trauma, with adoptees disproportionately represented and sometimes leaving these facilities worse off—or not leaving at all.