'That Is Bad News For America's Kids': Ron Wyden Grills HHS Nom Over RFK Jr.'s Measles Response

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During a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) asked Alex Adams, President Trump's nominee to be Assistant Secretary for Family Support in the Department of Health and Human Services about Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s response to the Measles outbreak.

Transcript

00:00Senator Wyden. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Adams, do you agree with Secretary Kennedy's

00:09approach to dealing with the measles epidemic? And I would like a yes or no answer. I know

00:15time is short and you and I got a lot of stuff to cover. Do you agree with Senator Kennedy

00:19on the Secretary's approach to the epidemic? Senator Wyden, as we talked previously, there's

00:24more measles cases in Mexico and Canada. So we've had one case in Idaho. It was a

00:31Canadian who flew into Salt Lake, drove up to Idaho, sequestered, generally

00:36compliant. I ask, do you agree with Secretary Kennedy's approach to the measles

00:43epidemic? We have the highest number in 30 years. That's why I'm asking for a yes

00:50or no answer. Senator Wyden, I was describing our case in Idaho. We got

00:54white glove service from the CDC. We're very grateful for the federal support

00:58that we got. Secretary Kennedy has advocated for the MMR vaccine as the most

01:03effective way of preventing the spread of measles. And I agree with that. I asked

01:08you twice to tell me whether you agreed with his approach on the measles epidemic.

01:13And clearly you do. And I think that is bad news for America's kids and families.

01:18So let's talk about the residential treatment facilities that you and I talked

01:24about. As you know, and I gather you read our report, Warehouses of Neglect, it finds

01:31that federal restraints and seclusion regulations are often overlooked, that

01:36there's often unqualified trained staff, and it's hard to have the oversight

01:43that's unnecessary. So my question here is, what are you gonna do specifically to

01:52stop kids and residential treatment facilities from getting hurt? Senator, I

01:59appreciated our conversation on this the other day. I think it's an area where you

02:02and I have a lot of thoughts that align, and I look forward to working with you on

02:07this topic, if confirmed. What we did in Idaho was, we followed the lead of your

02:13Warehouses of Neglect report, as well as the Spirit of the Family First Prevention

02:17Act. We want to use congregate care as a tool of last resort, and for the shortest

02:22amount of time, only when it serves a therapeutic purpose. When I started at our

02:27state HHS agency, I had 268 kids in congregate care. Today I have 173. We reduced

02:33congregate care 35%. We talked about regulation and zero-based regulation.

02:38Another way of saying it is right-touch regulation. We want the right

02:42regulations where they make sense. We have not... I'm still not clear what you're

02:46gonna do to keep kids from getting hurt in these facilities. Like, for example, would

02:54you use independent investigators to make unannounced visits to facilities if there

03:03was some concern that the kids weren't getting decent care?

03:08Senator, so the licensing of residential facilities is at the state level. There's

03:13three ways in which these facilities intersect with an agency like mine. There's

03:17licensing, Medicaid provides... This is just a policy. I want to get a sense because when you talk to me,

03:26you made it out like you were up and down supporter of the work that we've been

03:31doing. Now, if you find out you agree with Robert Kennedy about, you know, measles,

03:36I want to find out what you'd do if there was a facility that was, you know,

03:41problematic, whether there'd be unannounced inspections. And so, why don't you answer

03:46that question if you would? Senator, I build it up to that. So, we have Medicaid

03:50provider agreements as well as child welfare contracts. What we do is, since I

03:55started, we went from one announced inspection a year to two inspections a year,

04:00including one unannounced. We now randomize the inspectors in Idaho, and the

04:05reason we do that is there is no greater need than to protect the most vulnerable

04:10kids, and the most vulnerable kids are those in congregate care settings. So, I do

04:14believe those are very appropriate decisions for states to make. I think the

04:18role of ACF is to follow the spirit of family first, provide best practices, provide

04:23guidances to states, and then I think through the 4E dollars, as well as the

04:28Medicaid dollars. So, to answer my question, I believe you have said on occasion you

04:33use an unannounced inspection. Is that right? That is something new that we've

04:39done in Idaho since I started. I have one last question and my time is going to be up.

04:44We're adding to the report that you read that sets out specific abuses against

04:52LGBTQ young people that we have been able to document. We've collected over a

04:58hundred personal stories, and it's clear these kids suffer from extreme isolation

05:02in facilities. They get verbally abused often. They face things withheld from them

05:08that doesn't apply to other young people. What would you do to make sure that the

05:14laws are complied with and they are treated with dignity? Senator Semple, all kids, all

05:19kids deserve respect and dignity. So, what would you do though, given the

05:26problems that we've documented? Would you make special efforts to reach out? I mean,

05:32you are very articulate, you are very articulate in the office, but it's really

05:36hard to understand what you stand for and what you would do. These are kids who are

05:42being discriminated against now, right now. Hundred cases, we've documented them, and

05:48you say, all kids deserve, you know, a fair shake, but I don't know what it is you

05:53would do to make sure they got one. So, why don't you take one more crack at that?

05:56Senator, my operating principle in Idaho has been, when there's a fork in the road, I'm

06:00going to do what's in the best interest of the child. Not knowing the cases, I'd be happy to review those cases,

06:06but following the best interest of the child and ensuring all kids are treated

06:13with respect and dignity and protected from harm, and following the law, is my

06:17operating principle. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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