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The Galveston County Health District (GCHD) recently shuttered its facility for abandoned, abused, neglected and exploited children in response to alleged unsanitary conditions, Houston-based media outlets reported.
The Children’s Center was ordered closed earlier this month after officials discovered the sleeping areas to be riddled with bed bugs, fleas, spoiled food and rat excrement, Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported.
Dr. Phillip Keiser, the health authority for Galveston County, said the GCHD launched its investigation following a complaint about a child at the center suffering from lead poisoning, per KHOU.
Keiser’s multiple visits to the facility revealed that the children were staying in uninhabitable conditions, the station reported.
"It was basically filthy,” Keiser said in the report. “There was dirt all over the place. There was uneaten food and food debris all over the place. There was evidence of severe rat infestation. There were rat droppings everywhere.”
Keiser said subsequent investigations found four children to have tested positive for lead poisoning, and the soil on the property contained high levels of lead, Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported.
According to KTRK, GCHD officials deduced the lead came from paint used for the facility’s exterior, which people coming inside purportedly tracked.
The station reported that the Galveston fire marshal noted the shelter’s fire suppression system wasn’t working in addition to the absence of several smoke detectors.
Per Houston NBC affiliate KPRC, Hilda Torres, board chair for The Children’s Center, said it was known about the lead, but other issues were just coming to light.
“I’m going to do everything in power to find out what wasn’t informed of what was happening,” Torres said in the report.
KPRC reported that Kaiser said the children and families at the center were placed in temporary housing.
The shelter’s website said it has been in existence for at least 140 years.