Chambana Sun

Illinois State Rep. Mike Marron (R-Fithian) demanded state legislative hearings over a new report alleging abuse and neglect at several care facilities in addition to Choate Mental Health and Development Center. He shared a link to the latest reporting by ProPublica, Lee Enterprises and Capitol News Illinois in a July 14 Facebook post.

"In February 2023, every member of the House and Senate Republican Caucuses signed on to a letter demanding joint committee hearings to investigate reports of abuse and neglect at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center," Marron wrote in his post. "This week, ProPublica released shocking details of the abuse of residents living in state care at multiple facilities. We cannot delay any longer, we need immediate hearings and action to protect residents in state care."

The July 11 report by ProPublica, Lee Enterprises, and Capitol News Illinois said the discovery of abuses at other facilities followed the state's announcement of plans to repurpose the Choate facility and move residents to community settings or one of six developmental centers around Illinois. The Illinois State Police division that investigates allegations of crimes by state employees has investigated more accusations involving residential center workers than any other state department, including the prisons, the article said.

"It has opened 200 investigations into employee misconduct at these developmental centers since 2012 — most of them outside of Choate," the article said.

Last year, ProPublica and Lee Enterprises published an article that focused on the investigation into the 2014 beating of a 24-year-old at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center. The 700-page investigation by the Illinois State Police said the 24-year-old victim, who had a diagnosis of autism, told investigators it felt as if he had been punched 100 times. The article also examined other, more recent complaints, including one in 2020 in which an employee was charged with battery after he was accused of using his belt to whip a resident. Another employee was charged with the criminal sexual assault of someone who lived at Choate last year.

Earlier this year, the state announced Choate would be repurposed, and current residents could either be moved to other state-run facilities or transition into a community-based setting. WSIL reported that the so-called transformation initiative would include new safety enhancements at Choate and other facilities, as well as expanded support for families and people interested in community-based living.

The Office of the Inspector General of the Illinois Department of Human Services had called for a "fundamental overhaul" at Choate in its report on the facility, according to NPR Illinois. “There are repeated instances of CMHDC staff conspiring to knowingly and deliberately cover up misconduct that they either engaged in or witnessed," the report stated. "In addition, other CMHDC staff, fearing retaliation from their fellow employees or the loss of their job, have repeatedly failed to report misconduct or sought to report that misconduct anonymously. A fundamental overhaul of the system is needed to establish a new culture where the reporting of abuse is automatic and not an act of courage."

Marron has served in the Illinois House of Representatives since being elected in 2018.