Every year more than 50,000 children in foster care across the country are sent to

residential treatment facilities, some for mental health services, but some

simply because the foster care system is out of room.

A Senate investigation looked into four of the largest operators of these facilities

and found that children in their care are sometimes subjected to abuse and neglect.

Here's Ali Rogan.

Children in the care of residential treatment facilities are at risk for sexual, physical, and emotional

abuse as states fail to track mistreatment in centers

run by some of the country's largest behavioral health companies. These places

house children and teens who need specialized care and mental health treatment

as well as young people from foster care and the juvenile justice system.

A recent Senate investigation revealed that despite receiving payments from Medicaid and taxpayer-funded programs,

many of them have put profit before safety.

We spoke to a handful of people who lived in these types of facilities when they were younger.

There wasn't a immediate need for me to be in a treatment facility.

It was just my foster parent

didn't want to deal with me anymore and there was nowhere else to place me so it was just

the easiest place to put me in. My sister and I abruptly were moved to a residential treatment

facility. We were placed in this high-level facility not because of any

behavioral concerns but because there was a lack of any other placement

options.

My mom was working three jobs at the time

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