Ariz. for-profit looks to shelter undocumented kids in ABQ

Company has faced allegations that it mistreated minors

A for-profit Arizona company dogged by allegations it has in the past mistreated young people in its care is looking to open an Albuquerque facility to house undocumented children who entered the country without their parents.

An email recently sent to some Albuquerque residents describes VisionQuest’s plan to house up to 60 undocumented minors at an existing building on Central Avenue and Ash. Boys between the ages of 11 and 17 who crossed the U.S. border without a guardian would stay at the facility between 30 and 90 days “while they are transitioning to a more permanent home,” according to the letter obtained by the Journal.

“VisionQuest will provide educational services, health care services including vision and dental, community engagement, and recreation for the participating children,” says the letter signed by Michael Vos of the Albuquerque consulting firm Consensus Planning.

The letter says the company is working under an award from the federal government’s Office of Refugee Resettlement, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families.

VisionQuest in July received a $2.9 million award for “residential shelter care services for unaccompanied minors in New Mexico,” according to the HHS website. It’s one of several VisionQuest awards for sheltering or running foster care programs for undocumented children, according to the website.

A VisionQuest spokeswoman said the company aims to open the Albuquerque site — which it’s calling the Sam Mahan Center — by January.

The children remain in federal custody while in VisionQuest’s care, though both the company and HHS say it is not a “detention” facility.

“VisionQuest was not contracted to operate a detention center, and hence is not detaining children,” company spokeswoman Amanda Burton said in an email to the Journal, adding that the company was contracted to offer temporary shelter, medical treatment and education.

The HHS communications office did not answer specific questions about VisionQuest’s funding or obligations under the grant.

But the agency said in an unsigned email that the Office of Refugee Resettlement “in general operates a network of state licensed residential centers, NOT detention centers.”

HHS currently has responsibility for 7,600 unaccompanied, undocumented children who were apprehended by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The refugee office operates a network of approximately 170 facilities and programs around the country, the email said.

A spokesman for the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department said VisionQuest has submitted application documents that are currently under review.

The company does not have any CYFD-licensed facilities in New Mexico presently, CYFD spokesman Charlie Moore-Pabst said.

The state agency has not before licensed any group home specifically for undocumented, unaccompanied children, he said. However, the state welcomes the opportunity to be involved.

“We’re looking at it as a good thing that they’re requiring the (state) licensing” for these facilities, he said of the federal government.

The prospect of VisionQuest establishing a local shelter for undocumented children is already causing some alarm.

Felipe Rodriguez of the New Mexico Dream Team, which advocates for immigrant rights, said VisionQuest’s history is concerning and that his and other organizations are beginning to coalesce in opposition.

“There’s many allegations of mistreatment, neglect and abuse at their facilities,” Rodriguez said.

A plan to open a shelter for undocumented, unaccompanied boys in Philadelphia has met fierce opposition, prompted a legal battle with the city over zoning and generated multiple media investigations into VisionQuest’s past operations.

The company previously ran a juvenile-justice center in Philadelphia, but shut it down in 2017 when the city — which was contracting the company for services — halted intake to the facility.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, state records show that VisionQuest had fired at least three employees for hitting or physically handling children in the facility between 2011 and 2017 and that inspectors had noted various other problems, including staff who lacked first aid certification and issues like mouse droppings in cafeteria heaters.

VisionQuest’s CEO Peter Ranalli told the newspaper last year that juvenilejustice centers often face abuse complaints and not all those about VisionQuest were accurate.

“Did we have staff do inappropriate things?” the Inquirer quoted Ranalli as saying in 2018. “When you have 130 staff, somebody is going to do something inappropriate.”

The public media organization, WHYY, reported that multiple VisionQuest employees speaking anonymously described “a hostile work culture rife with verbal discord and threats of violence between staff, and a lack of job-specific training.”

Asked about past accusations of negligence and abuse at its facilities, VisionQuest’s Burton said the company has served over 100,000 youth since its 1973 founding.

“VisionQuest currently has 11 successfully operating residential child care licenses and responds immediately to any issues brought forth from youth staff and stakeholders,” she wrote.

In addition to a state license, VisionQuest would need approval from the city of Albuquerque to use the Central Avenue property as a large “group home” since that would be a conditional use under current zoning.

The building, located about two blocks west of the University of New Mexico, appears currently vacant.

Brennon Williams, interim director of the city’s Planning Department, said last week that VisionQuest had not yet filed such an application. Obtaining approval for the group home would require a public hearing before the city’s Zoning Hearing Examiner, he said. The examiner makes the determination, though his or her decision can be appealed to City Council, Williams said, which would mean a review by the city’s Land Use Hearing Officer and potentially a hearing before City Council.

Mayor Tim Keller’s office said it “opposes family separation policies and detention centers for children.”

“If the proposed facility is for those purposes, it is not within the spirit of inclusion that we champion here in Albuquerque,” Keller spokeswoman Jessie Damazyn said in a written statement. “The Planning Department will carefully review the details of any application that is submitted.”