Bermuda spent nearly $1.8 million on overseas assessments and placements for vulnerable Bermudian children last year, with one Florida institution receiving more than $700,000.

Newly released figures from the Department of Child and Family Services show that youngsters with mental-health needs that could not be met on the island attended five facilities in the United States since March 2023.

The department listed ten payments for its psychoeducational programme in an Official Gazette notice on January 12, in accordance with the Public Access to Information Act, which requires public authorities to disclose contracts of $50,000 or more.

The total figure of $1,796,104 for last year compares with $1,720,005 for 2022.

The 2023 figure represents a more than 200 per cent increase from spending of $591,660 in 2021.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Child and Family Services said yesterday: “More Bermudian children are being identified with various psychological, social/emotional, and psychiatric conditions beyond the ability of our local service providers.

“The psychoeducational programme allows DCFS to have external input concerning clinical therapeutic intervention and aftercare services.

“Overseas therapeutic programmes utilised are selected based on specific areas of expertise and specialised service they are licensed to provide.

“All therapeutic facilities are accredited by the Joint Commission National Quality Approval Organisation and vetted yearly by the Director/Assistant Director and Psychological Education co-ordinator.”

The DCFS revealed last month in response to a Pati request that only two of 12 youngsters in care sent abroad since 2021 had an independent advocate, known as a litigation guardian, or lawyer before the decision to send them off island was made.

The Royal Gazettereported in 2018 that almost 50 children were sent to overseas institutions in the previous five years without their wishes being taken into account by the courts.

The following year, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Government had shown a “flagrant disregard” for children by failing to introduce a scheme to fund litigation guardians for such matters.

Tinée Furbert, the Minister of Youth, Social Development and Seniors, told a press conference this month that her ministry had budgeted for legal counsel and litigation guardians for young people involved in such court proceedings.

The DCFS spokeswoman said yesterday that litigation guardians and counsel were appointed by the courts in specified proceedings and “any further questions of understanding about appointments of litigation guardians or legal counsel should be directed to the courts and not DCFS”.

Questions were sent by the Gazette this month to Senior Magistrate Maxanne Anderson and were followed up last week but there was no response by the time of publication.

The new notice on spending on overseas placements includes three listings of $241,560 each for Devereux Advanced Behavioural Health, Florida, for July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, totalling $724,680.

The institute provided “residential, academic and educational services” as well as psychiatric care and therapeutic programmes.

Bermudian boxer Tyler Christopher spoke to the Gazette in 2019 about his time in care, including at Devereux’s Viera campus, where he said he was sent by the DCFS at the age of 13 having thought he was being taken to Disney World.

He described how the year he spent there changed him into a more manipulative person, as he learnt how to gain “special privileges”. Mr Christopher said he feared that the benefits he got from therapy sessions there were short-lived.

His story was reported as part of The Royal Gazette’s Who Cares? investigation into children in care, which shone a light on residential facilities in Bermuda and on institutions in the United States where Bermudian youngsters were sent.

The latter included University Neuropsychiatric Institute in Utah, which assesses children with complex psychological problems, and is now called the Huntsman Mental Health Institute.

Huntsman received $511,675 from Bermuda — listed as two separate payments of $298,375 and $213,300 — in 2023 for comprehensive assessments and treatment programmes.

RedCliff Ascent, also in Utah, received two payments totalling $188,679, for mental health residential treatment programmes, while Harbor Point Behavioural Health Centre, in Virginia, received two payments totalling $269,730 for comprehensive assessments.

Family First Adolescent Services, in Florida, received $101,340, also for “residential, academic and educational services”, psychiatric care and a therapeutic programme.

In cases where the DCFS determines that children in its care cannot receive the treatment they need here or have exhausted the available local options, social workers ask the Family Court to make an order allowing the youngsters to be taken overseas.

The three-person court panel, of a magistrate and two lay people, also determines if the child needs legal representation.

The DCFS spokeswoman said: “All overseas placements are accredited and vetted annually, and children are visited in the environment every six months or more if needed, in addition to having access to weekly and monthly virtual sessions with the child, professionals, parents and guardians.”