I found a secret child prison in my neighborhood using OpenStreetMap.
A little bit of derping, and you too can find a secret detention facility.
This story was held for a long time. I wanted to get it in the hands of an Immigration Journalists that covers these issues, but none of them wanted it.
I just saw this property on OpenStreetMap.
Using the satellite imagery, I can see that it’s now got stuff happening in and around it including a not-mapped soccer field in the top right.
This looks familiar. I look at the history for this node.
I remember this. You can see immediately that it was added by EvanCarroll — me. This is an old psychiatry hospital named HopeBridge that had a ton of scandals. I digitized it after it closed as a disused hospital. Now it’s back, but with a soccer field, presumably with different owners. Nothing new there.
I want to update the listing so I go searching for information on the address “5556 Gasmer, Houston TX 77035.” I can’t find anything. I turn to HCAD. I search there. HCAD lists the owner of the property at 5556 GASMER MANAGEMENT LLC.” They’re intentionally trying to keep this anonymous. Fishy. Not the end of the world but this is sketch.
I search on Google Maps which knows them as “Children first residential care Gasmer.” Interesting. No website in their Google Maps listing. Nothing. What kind of hospital relies on word-of-mouth?
There is a website for Children First Inc. But, it’s not clear it’s the right group. The Google Maps listing is for Children First Residential Care. That website is Children First Clinical Care.
Searching for permutations on that name I was able to find this this PDF, which tells me its Project Name “Children First Residential Care - CFRC - Gasmer”. This confirms the address is still “5556 Gasmer Dr., Houston, TX 77035”.
Doing more research on this I find this case filing, and it says this,
GHIRP has been providing legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children in Galveston and Houston since 2020, when the organization was founded. Since the organization opened, our legal services dedicated to unaccompanied immigrant children have expanded each year. In 2020, we provided direct representation to approximately 35 unaccompanied immigrant children. In 2021, GHIRP initiated services in a newly opened ORR facility in Houston (Children's First Residential Care TX Gasmer), providing KYR presentations, intakes, direct representation, social services, and referrals for children who were released to other jurisdictions. In 2023, GHIRP began providing the same legal services to unaccompanied children in a second ORR shelter named LSSS Upbring Krause Children's Center. GHIRP’s direct representation services dedicated to children who are not in custody have also expanded, from 35 cases in our first year of existence (2020) to now serving approximately 300 clients per year (2025). Currently, GHIRP serves a combined annual number of nearly 1,500 children per year, including approximately 1,500 children detained in ORR custody, approximately 300 children receiving direct representation services per year, 120-150 children receiving social services per year, and approximately 35-50 children receiving pro se assistance per year.
GHIRP = Galveston-Houston Immigration Representation Project
KYR = Know Your Rights
It turns out this is one of the detention prisons for unaccompanied kids managed by a contractor for the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
I found a secret kid prison in my neighborhood using OpenStreetMap.
I believe a similar story in 2018 was published about these with Amy Goodman’s reporting.