GAO Report: State and Federal Oversight Gaps May Increase Risk to Youth Well-being Apr 2008  – Youth maltreatment and death occurred in government and private residential facilities across the nation, according to states we surveyed; however, data limitations hinder efforts to quantify the full extent of the problem. State-reported data collected by HHS in 2005 showed 1,503 incidents of maltreatment by facility staff in 34 states, including physical abuse, neglect or deprivation of necessities, and sexual abuse. Moreover, 28 states responding to our survey reported at least one death in residential facilities in 2006, with accidents and suicides among the most common types of fatalities. These reported data, however, did not capture information from all facilities. Many states lack authority under state law to collect data on exclusively private facilities, and data that states did report were often incomplete. As a result, the number of adverse incidents was likely more numerous and widespread than reported.