South West Illinois News

Republican lawmakers are demanding hearings in the wake of reports of abuse at state-run group homes. Rep. Dave Severin (R-Mount Veron) shared a press release in a July 13 Facebook post, about a press conference in which Republicans demanded action.

"We are here today in part because our request for hearings into the abuses at Choate were ignored by the Democrats," Severin said. "With new and horrific reports of abuse and neglect at multiple facilities throughout the state, we must provide rigorous oversight and accountability, starting with holding immediate House and Senate hearings. The hearings must be open, honest, and transparent, and we need to hear from administration officials, facility officials, and officials from the Department of Human Services. Republicans have put forward a plan to fix many of the issues we are experiencing in this space and will not wait to continue our work to protect these vulnerable citizens."

The news release, which is also available on Severin’s website, notes that that the representative worked in his family’s nursing home in Benton. He spoke out in February 2023, when the state decided to close Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center. And on July 12, he joined his colleagues in a press conference calling for change.

In 2022, ProPublica and Lee Enterprises published an article on abuse of patients at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center. The article included reports of a 24-year-old patient with a diagnosis of autism who told investigators that during one assault it felt like he had been punched 100 times. The article also looked at other more recent complaints, including a 2020 incident in which an employee was charged with battery for allegedly using his belt to whip a resident and a 2022 occurrence in which an employee was charged with criminal sexual assault of an individual who lived at Choate.

According to a July 11 report by ProPublica, Lee Enterprises Midwest and Capitol News Illinois, “The Illinois State Police division that looks into alleged criminal wrongdoing by state employees investigates more allegations against workers at these seven residential centers than it does at any other department’s workplaces, including state prisons, which house far more people, according to an analysis of state police data. It has opened 200 investigations into employee misconduct at these developmental centers since 2012 — most of them outside of Choate.”

The article also said that these facilities are short-staffed, and house about 1,600 individuals.

In March, the state announced that Choate Mental Health Center would close and residents would be moved. It also announced a “critical transformation initiative” to “reshape the way the state approaches care for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” according to a report by WSILTV. 

The state said that Choate will be repurposed, then, additional safety enhancements would happen at Choate and all of the developmental centers operated by the state. There would be support for families and those supporting community based living, as well as investment in provider capacity, the WSIL TV report said.