Pritzker s oversight of social services questioned amid abuse allegations at Choate mental health facility HEAD TOPICS
Pritzker s oversight of social services questioned amid abuse allegations at Choate mental health facility
10/21/2022 4:47:00 PM Problems at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center raise questions about the Pritzker administration s oversight of social service agencies
Source Chicago Tribune
Abuse at a developmental and mental health facility in downstate Anna raises questions about the Pritzker administration’s oversight of social service agencies. Problems at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center raise questions about the Pritzker administration s oversight of social service agencies “What I am presently seeing occur at Choate and hearing occur at other facilities concerns me more than it has my entire career in relation to the safety of the vulnerable populations that we serve,” he wrote to IDHS Secretary Grace Hou.(Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) Kollias added that Smoot was in regular contact with other leaders at IDHS and “had several other avenues to raise any concerns,” including with state police and the watchdog that oversees executive offices across the state. Smoot told the Tribune he wrote to Hou directly because going up IDHS’ chain of command had been unsuccessful. Read more:
Chicago Tribune » Daywatch: Pritzker’s oversight of social services questioned amid abuse allegations at facility Christina Aguilera Releases Powerful New ‘Beautiful’ Music Video Focused On The Impact Of Social Media On Teens Jail officials across Pa. sound alarm as mental health crisis puts people at risk, survey finds Biden awkwardly tells Gisele Fetterman she will be a ‘great lady in the Senate’ Into America
Into America is a show about being Black in America. These stories explore what it means to hold truth to power and this country to its promises. Told by people who have the most at stake. Read more >> Daywatch: Pritzker’s oversight of social services questioned amid abuse allegations at facilityGood morning, Chicago. Here are some top stories to start your day: - Lakeview East leaders want more police - Why your Chicago-style hot dog is so expensive - Fall colors in the Chicago area are the best in years You forgot: the Tribune is a fake newspaper endorsing the very people destroying Chicago. You are not serving the city anymore Wait, I thought liberal Chicago was defunding the police? Christina Aguilera Releases Powerful New ‘Beautiful’ Music Video Focused On The Impact Of Social Media On TeensChristina Aguilera’s new ‘Beautiful’ video addresses social media’s negative impact on mental health Jail officials across Pa. sound alarm as mental health crisis puts people at risk, survey findsA statewide survey of county jails by Spotlight PA and the Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism revealed many facilities admit they are not equipped for the growing mental health crisis. Biden awkwardly tells Gisele Fetterman she will be a ‘great lady in the Senate’President Biden on Thursday said John Fetterman’s wife Gisele would make a “great lady in the Senate” in an awkward stumble amid questions over the Senate candidate’s health after a stroke. Not my meme. So good. I had to share it. Does this clown even own a suit? He always looks like he just got out of bed. What a slob. .Chicago police in the 3500 block of North Clark Street in Wrigleyville, Oct.famed video ‘Beautiful,’ showing powerful imagery of what today’s world can feel like for our kids — and how being online affects their self-esteem.Sign up for our free newsletters . Advertisement While serious issues at group homes can be found systemwide, some of the problems at Choate are acute — and since Pritzker has taken office his administration has been made aware of them. Among those who rang alarm bells was Barry Smoot, a former security chief at Choate who emailed the head of IDHS with an urgent message in late May 2021. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) In wake of Wrigley Field abductions, Lakeview East leaders want more police In advance of a busy Halloween weekend, which will feature a parade in Northalsted and a late-night bar crawl on North Clark Street, neighborhood leaders and business owners are calling on the Chicago Police Department to increase patrols, staffing and resources to the area after five kidnappings and armed robberies occurred near Wrigley Field last weekend . “What I am presently seeing occur at Choate and hearing occur at other facilities concerns me more than it has my entire career in relation to the safety of the vulnerable populations that we serve,” he wrote to IDHS Secretary Grace Hou.” The original video, which quickly became an anthem for mental health and healthy body positivity, featured a young Christina Aguilera, among other depictions of bullying, body image, sexuality, gender norms, and societal taboos, and represented all ages. Smoot had worked for IDHS for decades, including as the statewide training coordinator for the office’s inspector general and as head of security at the Chester Mental Health Center. Two other abductions were also reported in a community alert Monday. In the email, he requested an in-person meeting with Hou to “discuss possible solutions that will greatly reduce instances of abuse and neglect. “It’s frustrating, stressful on all — the deteriorating individual and the staff. ” A Pritzker appointee to the role, Hou was formerly IDHS assistant secretary between 2003 and 2012, when both the Equip for Equality and DOJ reports landed.m. In one powerful take, young girls wearing heavy makeup posing in front of their phones. Hou replied to Smoot within hours, offering a meeting with her chief of staff and the director of the division that oversees state-operated developmental centers, known as SODCs. IDHS Secretary Grace Hou speaks alongside Gov. A char dog is prepared with all the toppings Oct. J. The evolution of returning back to the basics in this is palpable.B. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) Not relishing inflation? Here’s why your Chicago-style hot dog is so expensive. Only six counties — Allegheny, Centre, Chester, Huntingdon, Lawrence, and Philadelphia — rated themselves a four or higher. Pritzker during a news conference in Chicago on Sept. 14, 2022. Old-timers may remember when they could pay for their Chicago dogs with coins instead of bills; the Tribune archives recall a Depression-era deal of a hot dog and fries from Fluky’s for 5 cents, or four for those who couldn’t spare the extra penny. This needs to change. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) But seven months later, on his last day of work with the state in December 2021, Smoot wrote again to tell Hou no one in her office had ever reached out or met with him about the issues he raised in his earlier email. Advertisement Earlier this month, IDHS spokesperson Marisa Kollias said in a statement that the agency had “determined, based on information gathered after the Secretary’s message was sent to Mr. >. Smoot, that it was inadvisable for IDHS management staff to communicate with him any further. These things are like cigarettes: teenage brains are still developing, and kids say: I know these platforms make me feel bad, and I can’t stop, but if I leave, I’ll be ostracized.” District Attorney Peter Acker serves as president of the prison board in Mercer County, where he said nearly half of the people incarcerated in the local jail are taking psychiatric medication. ” Kollias added that Smoot was in regular contact with other leaders at IDHS and “had several other avenues to raise any concerns,” including with state police and the watchdog that oversees executive offices across the state. Smoot told the Tribune he wrote to Hou directly because going up IDHS’ chain of command had been unsuccessful. Kollias declined to elaborate on the department’s decision to not meet with Smoot. Boys’ body dissatisfaction has simultaneously increased, and research has demonstrated that exposure to images of extremely muscular models contributes to body dissatisfaction and muscle dysmorphia in young men. IDHS personnel records do not indicate any reprimands. He is named among multiple defendants in a pending civil suit brought by a former Chester resident alleging that Smoot “turned a blind eye” to a culture of intimidation, harassment and retaliation. “The jail acts as a de facto social worker,” wrote David Kratz, director of corrections in Bucks County. Smoot has denied any wrongdoing and said during his years of service he had “a history of showing that I didn’t cover anything up … I did everything by the book and what was required.” [ Gov. J.B. Pritzker vowed to overhaul state’s child welfare system. “The manifestations of [serious mental illness] in jail might translate to disciplinary infractions, while the same behaviors in a therapeutic setting would be viewed as symptoms of that illness. Despite additional funding, some say it’s in worse shape than ever. ] This March, Smoot self-published a book titled “Failure to Protect,” which detailed a code of silence at Choate and scant reporting of abuse and intimidation. In an email to officials in the governor’s office, an official from the state Guardianship and Advocacy Commission said Smoot’s accounts “jive with” many of the reports released by the Illinois Human Rights Authority. The GAC provides legal representation and guardianship to those with disabilities and investigates complaints of rights violations. Bryant, the state senator from Murphysboro, also reached out to IDHS leadership after hearing a resident had been beaten by an employee with a belt and that the incident had been seen through a window from outside.” Staffing varies widely Every jail that responded to the survey said they employ staff or contractors to treat mental health needs among incarcerated people. The employee, Kevin Jackson, was Choate employees arrested in October 2020. Advertisement “When I first brought this to (IDHS’) attention, I believed that they were doing something about it,” Bryant, a former Department of Corrections employee who knows two families with adult children at Choate, told the Tribune. She later learned that paper was placed over the upstairs windows. After driving to Choate to confirm it, Bryant called an IDHS legislative liaison “and said, ‘I think you guys need to check this out.’ He called back and said, ‘That’s not the case. This allows staff to consider a patient’s treatment history when determining a new course of care. ’ I said, ‘I’m sitting outside the facility, the paper’s on the windows.’ ” Bryant said she was taken aback by the denial, and the presence of the paper at all. “Their response to someone saying I’m standing outside and seeing someone getting whipped with a belt is to put butcher paper over the windows,” she said. IDHS said the paper was put up for residents’ privacy after curtains were damaged and removed. “When the use of paper was brought to the attention of Choate administration, it was investigated, removed and new window fixtures were purchased and put in place,” Kollias said. Even facilities with access to a large network of health care professionals identified problems with recruiting and retaining staff, a problem they said worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three top administrators at the facility were later charged with official misconduct and interfering in a state police investigation of the alleged belt beating. Bryant and others in Springfield pushed publicly to have the accused administrators fired or placed on leave until the allegations were fully investigated. State officials later opted to reassign them. Charges against all three were later dropped, though the Union County state’s attorney has left the door open to recharging them. Dozens of heavily redacted communications obtained through an open records request show several people in the governor’s immediate orbit were aware of those arrests and other issues dating back to January 2020. This treatment is usually provided at two state-run hospitals with extremely limited beds. Advertisement Sol Flores, Pritzker’s deputy governor for Human Services, approved hiring a replacement interim director at Choate after the accused administrators were reassigned, emails show. Flores also was sent at least 20 e-newsletters from a disability industry insider with blaring headlines about the facility last year. The author of those newsletters, Ed McManus, has a daughter with a disability and works as a consultant for disability agencies, law firms and families. A former Chicago Tribune editor and reporter who later worked at DCFS and IDHS, McManus began sharing details of the criminal cases with clients and others in March 2021. Though he applauds the reforms, McManus was disappointed they took so long. They called on the state to provide alternatives to jail or increase the number of hospital beds available to treat people with competency issues. “I found out about this in March of last year,” he told the Tribune in July. “They never lifted a finger — to my knowledge, at least they certainly didn’t make it public — to do anything about it.” Pritzker’s office said the June memo announcing interventions at Choate “documented several years of reviews and work,” and that “robust internal policy improvements are ongoing,” including training and administrative oversight. The governor’s general counsel, Ann Spillane, was in frequent contact with IDHS attorneys about Choate dating back to at least October 2020. Emails indicate she was kept apprised of legal developments surrounding the administrators’ arrests, policies around facility leadership access to investigatory files and a separate whistleblower suit. Jails are not equipped to handle serious mental health issues. Advertisement Spillane’s monitoring was not unusual, a Pritzker spokesperson said. She oversees the attorneys at all executive agencies and is “regularly updated on all legal matters throughout agencies and works closely” with other attorneys “to respond to critical issues.” Media questions about Charles Mills’ employment at Choate made their way to Flores and Pritzker’s communications staff and soon thereafter Spillane, her deputy and IDHS counsel John Schomberg drafted the “email to the governor to give him some background,” titled “choate — privileged and confidential.” Pritzker’s spokesperson declined to say whether that email was the first time the governor was made aware of issues at Choate. She similarly did not disclose the nature of the other redacted discussions, saying they contain attorney-client privileged discussions, and that it is “important to ensure staff can freely express opinions and make recommendations.. ” Mills, who was charged two years after he allegedly orally penetrated “E.K.” in 2020, is scheduled to go on trial later this year. He’s pleaded not guilty. The changes at Choate that Hou and IDHS announced in June included independent monitoring from Equip for Equality, increasing security staff by four positions, boosting afterhours staffing and monitoring from regional developmental center personnel, and temporarily assigning a psychologist “to provide staff support. ” Advertisement They also announced they would install 10 cameras at the facility, which advocates and the GAC had sought. In addition, the IDHS inspector general repeatedly recommended cameras be installed at Choate between 2015 and 2021, according to the ProPublica investigation . Aside from helping to quickly rule out false allegations, cameras can serve as eyes and ears for residents who could not advocate for themselves, some advocates argue. Of Choate’s roughly 230 current residents, 10% are nonverbal. Four months after the June announcements, however, cameras have yet to be installed at Choate. A contract to buy them “is being finalized,” IDHS’ Kollias said, and they will be put “in public locations where there is a low, or no reasonable expectation for privacy.” Specifically, the cameras will be placed outside, which critics like Smoot say defeats their purpose. While cameras can’t catch everything, the critics say surveillance of hallways and common areas in other state-run residential facilities has improved the quality and speed of some investigations. But some parents and guardians have pushed back on installing them at all. Liz Gersbacher, a guardian of two Choate residents, said it is debatable whether cameras deter abuse and could make the facility feel less like a home to residents. Beyond cameras and extra security, experts and advocates say, the Pritzker administration has not addressed the larger problem of whether the state continues investing in Choate and places like it. Pritzker has faced criticism for in past budgets, and the state remains under a federal consent decree that seeks to make community services more accessible to those with disabilities. Advertisement It’s “disappointing” many of the problematic conditions Equip for Equality and the Justice Department identified more than a decade ago still exist, Equip’s Program Vice President Stacey Aschemann told the Tribune. That includes a lack of adequate programming and resident engagement as well as psychiatric and psychological treatment. Creating long-term improvement is “going to require a lot of attention by the state to get things where they need to be,” she said. As part of the Choate reforms, the Illinois Crisis Prevention Network has been brought in to train staff on topics such as de-escalation, and to counsel residents who want to successfully transition into a smaller community home. But there often isn’t enough capacity, according to Caitlin Crabb, a researcher with the University of Illinois Chicago’s Institute on Disability and Human Development, which helps evaluate certain IDHS services and has been contracted by IDHS to study barriers to access. “People in SODCs are living in SODCs because there’s not really a lot of other places to go,” she said. A lot of the problems at Choate stem from the lack of community-based options, Crabb said. Best practices equate to supporting people with disabilities to live like people who don’t — from having locks on doors to the ability to host guests and hold jobs, according to Crabb. Community-based settings also aren’t perfect. Illinois has its own .