The federal Health and Human Services Department often failed to perform required background checks on workers at emergency holding centers for migrant children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border alone during a surge in 2021, the agency's internal watchdog has found.
The inspector general's report released Thursday raises questions about how better prepared authorities will be for the next emergency, especially with coronavirus pandemic-related asylum restrictions scheduled to end this coming week and expected to result in more arrivals.
The report, based on a sampling, found that 200 workers did not have background checks for child abuse or neglect and only 29 did, though 20 of those were not done in a “timely manner.”