U.S. department says it won't use Arkansas site as temporary shelter for migrant children
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is no longer looking to use the former Ouachita Job Corps facility near Hot Springs as a temporary shelter for migrant children, according to a news release.
The vacant, federally owned site in Royal was previously identified by the department as a potential location to house unaccompanied Central American children apprehended at the U.S. border, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
The Arkansas National Guard had plans to use the space to expand its program targeting at-risk youths, but the state agency said it is several months away from making that happen, the paper reported. That left room for the federal health department to consider using the facility as a shelter for unaccompanied youths in the interim.