By GARANCE BURKE AND MARTHA MENDOZA
Associated Press

SAN BENITO, Texas (AP) - An Associated Press and FRONTLINE investigation finds the Trump administration has started shifting the caretaking of some migrant children toward the private sector and contractors instead of the largely religious-based nonprofit grantees that have long cared for the kids.

On a recent day at one for-profit shelter, a caregiver tried to soothe a toddler, offering him a sippy cup. The adult knew next to nothing about the little 3-year-old whose few baby words appeared to be Portuguese. Shelter staff had tried desperately to find his family, calling the Brazilian consulate and searching Facebook. Nearby, infants and babies in strollers were rolled through the building, pushed by workers in bright uniforms lettered “CHS,” short for Comprehensive Health Services, Inc., a government contractor whose parent company includes former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on its board.

FRONTLINE reporters Daffodil Altan and Andrés Cediel, and AP Data Journalist Larry Fenn contributed to this report. Mendoza reported from Washington.

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