Deshaun Eli Mack, identified by OMG as a Family Services Specialist with the Nevada DHHS, told an undercover journalist at OMG that he has assisted minors in obtaining sex change treatments “a lot of times.” He explained an instance of helping a trans-identified male seeking “feminization surgery,” including advising the minor that “the best way to get it would be to make sure that your doctor says that it’s medically necessary. So that Medicare pays for it.”
When asked what happens if the child’s parents disapprove or are unaware of the sex change, Mack said, “We do not actually tell anyone.”
“I can’t even tell you that your child is receiving benefits. Because you’re not on that case,” he explained. “The parents don’t need to know that you’re transitioning. You can just go to the doctor.”
Mack talked about using the state’s “runaway youth” provision to bypass the requirement for parental consent. “At that point, I would just treat them as a runaway youth,” he said if a minor came asking for sex change surgery but did not want their parents to know.
According to Mack, under this approach, children can be removed from their parents’ case file and placed into the system independently to receive state-funded services. He also noted that the process does not trigger alerts to other agencies, stating, “I don’t even think in that circumstance we let our sister agency, DCFS, Division of Child Care and Family Services, I don’t even think we alert them at that point.”
Mack further stated that if a parent sought information about their child’s medical care, including benefits or records, he would deny the request. When asked if this was official policy or a personal practice, he said, “That’s something personally that I would not do, whether it was on the books or not. I’m not giving that information.”
A separate undercover video from OMG shows Mack admitting to bending rules to provide extended, taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal immigrants, OMG reported.
Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo responded to the video in an official statement, saying he is “aware of the allegations of misconduct stemming from a recent viral video” and said the matter would be investigated.
“If the investigation determines that an unlawful act has been committed, we will seek prosecution to the fullest extent of the law,” Lombardo said.
