Southwest Key, a contractor that houses immigrant children detained at the border, has surrendered its license for two Arizona locations after alleged misconduct involving staff.
As part of the agreement with the Arizona Department of Health Services, Southwest Key is also paying a fine of $73,000. Additionally, the statement says Southwest Key will hire a "third-party health care consultant" and stop accepting migrant children at its other Arizona locations without state approval.
The two locations are Casa Phoenix (near 7th Avenue and Buckeye Road) and Hacienda Del Sol (near 111th and Alabama avenues in Youngtown).
The Youngtown facility was the location of a mid-September abuse incident involving staff and three children, Southwest Key has confirmed. The circumstances of that incident have not been released, but operations there were suspended and staff members were fired in the wake of the abuse.
A former employee at a Mesa location was also sentenced in September on 10 sex charges stemming from abuse of detained children between 2016 and 2017.
"DHS's priority of keeping all children in our care safe is one we not only share but embrace," said spokesperson Jeff Eller in the statement.
The company's six other Arizona locations will continue to operate as normal without accepting new children.