South West Illinois News

State Rep. Paul Jacobs (R-Pomona) recently led a press conference detailing issues of abuse at the Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna.

Jacobs said that Choate Mental Health and Development Center has been the subject of more than 1,500 complaints to the Illinois Department of Human Services since 2021, and it is necessary to tackle the concerns. 

“We’ve got an opportunity to implement a plan to help the residents and employees at Choate to once again make it a safe, healthy, and respectable facility,” Jacobs said. “But we must start by bringing in officials from Choate and from the Department of Human Services and gathering members of the relevant House and Senate Committees so we can have our questions answered about past abuses and ongoing problems at the center. It is the proper role of the legislature to investigate and offer oversight and solutions into matters that are this important.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said any incident of abuse at the facility is deeply concerning and if they can't be prevented in the future "then obviously that's not a facility that should remain open."

“Gov. Pritzker has only recently made threats to close down Choate," Jacobs said. "I want the governor to know that I share his frustration and stand ready to work collaboratively to fix these issues and keep Choate open. We can and will not accept a policy that gives up, a policy that throws our hands in the air in disgust and says nothing can be done. And I will fight every attempt to close down a facility that means so much to the residents of Choate and their families.”

All members of the House and Senate Republican caucuses penned a letter to legislators overseeing House committees responsible for the Illinois Department of Human Services. “It is our sincere hope that as the chairpersons of the House and Senate Committees charged with the duty of overseeing the operations of and funding for the State of Illinois’ various mental health facilities, you would act with urgency in cooperation with us to get to the bottom of, and eventually solve, the many problems at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center. It is vital that we address these issues immediately so that this critical facility can continue to serve the 270 residents who depend on it. This is their home. We cannot displace these vulnerable individuals because for many of them this is their last resort. The state of Illinois has a duty to them. They deserve better, their families deserve better, and the staff that serves them deserve better,” the GOP legislators wrote. 

All 59 Republican General Assembly members are asking for an investigation into the facility, ProPublica reported.

Choate is one of 13 such facilities statewide. It has the capacity for 270 residents with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities, according to WGLT.

The environment at Choate has been called a “Culture of cruelty” by ProPublica, which reported a series of abuses at the facility. “Over a 10-year period running through 2021, the state police opened at least 40 criminal investigations into alleged employee misconduct at Choate, more than at any of IDHS’ other facilities in Southern Illinois,” ProPublica wrote. “Using court records and Illinois State Police case files, reporters found that at least 26 Choate employees were arrested on felony charges over roughly the same time period, including four who were connected to the Reichard case. Employees have since been accused of whipping, choking, punching and raping residents.”