Latest Moves

August 2019: Wagner Left HHS To Join White House Staff. “Wagner, who served as acting assistant secretary for children and families during the migrant-separation crisis, will take a new role at the White House, according to a HHS staffing memo shared with PULSE.” [Politico, 8/1/19]

Recent News

Headline: Buzzfeed News: “Senior Officials Central To The Trump Administration’s Family Separations Failed To Act On Repeated Warnings From Its Staff, According To A New Report.” [Buzzfeed News, 3/5/20]

Buzzfeed News: March 2020 HHS Inspector General Report Found Wagner “Disregarded Specific, Repeated Warnings” About Implementing Family Separation Policy. “Investigators found that for months before the Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy was announced, Maggie Wynne, counselor to the secretary for Human Services Policy, Steven Wagner, the acting assistant secretary for Administration for Children and Families (ACF), and Scott Lloyd, director of ORR, disregarded specific, repeated warnings from staff regarding the possibility that DHS would implement family separation. They no longer hold these positions.” [Buzzfeed News, 3/5/20]

IG Report Found “No Evidence That [Wynne, Wagner Or Lloyd] Took Action To Protect Children’s Interests In Response To The Information And Concerns Raised By ORR Staff.” “Employees within ORR, which manages the unaccompanied minors program, believed they didn’t have enough bed space to accommodate a large increase in separated children and were also concerned about the trauma it would cause. “OIG found no evidence that these three senior HHS officials took action to protect children’s interests in response to the information and concerns raised by ORR staff,” the report said.” [Buzzfeed News, 3/5/20]

Wagner Defended Role In Family Separation Policy, Argued It Would Deter Families From Immigrating. “Wagner, the former acting assistant secretary for ACF, told OIG investigators that HHS shouldn’t try to affect immigration policy, regardless of the impact to the unaccompanied minors program, and that the agency should adopt to the policies put in place. Wagner also believed the zero tolerance policy would deter families from coming and result in fewer children entering government care. “Our participation in immigration policy is very limited and well defined. Our job is to have a bed available for the next child that is brought to us by ICE or CBP. That is what our role is and what we focus on. Our role is limited to that,” Wagner told investigators with OIG.” [Buzzfeed News, 3/5/20]

While Overseeing ORR, Agency Entered Into Agreement With ICE To Share Details About Children In Its Care Including Notes From Therapy Sessions. “This therapy has historically been carried out with the mission of supporting children during a stressful time. In 2017, ORR began modifying that mission. Shortly after being appointed by Trump, then-ORR head Scott Lloyd introduced a policy of moving minors who self-disclosed gang ties to secure detention, and, as he said in congressional testimony, “working to enhance our day-to-day consultations” with ICE. Explaining further in a recent interview, Lloyd said he acted in response to concerns about criminals coming across the border. “There definitely were policy changes,” he said. “I could see there being no downside to just sharing information.” A year later, in April 2018, ORR went a step further and entered into a formal Memorandum of Agreement with ICE to share details about children in its care. Explaining the strategy to Congress, Steven Wagner, who was overseeing ORR at that point, testified that among other things, the agency would be asking its therapists to “develop additional information” about children during “weekly counseling sessions where they may self-disclose previous gang or criminal activity to their assigned clinician.” The agency added two requirements to its public handbook: one that arriving children be informed that while it was essential to be honest with staff, self-disclosures could affect their release and the other that if a minor mentioned anything having to do with gangs or drug dealing, therapists would file a report within four hours to be passed to ICE within one day.” [Washington Post, 2/15/20]

Professional Organizations Including American Psychological Association Stated Practice Was Not Ethically Defensible. “But professional organizations including the American Psychological Association, National Social Workers Association, and American Counseling Association say that while it may be legal to share these notes, it’s not ethically defensible. “The idea of going to therapy is not trying to solicit confessions for other uses. Even if your patient is being accused of a crime, you don’t just share your notes,” said Lynn Bufka, a senior director for the American Psychological Association.” [Washington Post, 2/15/20]