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* Background is here if you need it. A group of Republican legislators held a press conference today demanding legislative hearings on the long-troubled Choate Developmental Center. Here’s Assistant House Republican Leader Charlie Meier…
We’re here today because we have a plan and we want to protect these residents. Our first is installing temporary cameras in common areas. … Implement ongoing staff training to include residents’ rights, abuse and neglect definitions, reporting for Office of Investigator General mandatory reporting and documenting as well. Educate staff on past abuse issues experienced at Choate and train them to be aware of the issues to report incidents and how to take appropriate action.
A mass, and I say a mass hiring of qualified staff. We’ve done hirings before because of COVID bringing in a mass hiring so that we have a group of new workers there that won’t feel threatened maybe from a few bad apples of the past workers that threaten to try to cover up abuse. Let’s train them. Let’s get them in there. Let’s not hire two or four or 10 at a time. Let’s bring in a group of 50 workers or more immediately to help take care of the shortage of workers and to bring some new life blood in there and get things turned around.
Track staff incidents by location and trends. By using the data collected to implement changes, monitor staff identified in the tracking and incorporate supervisory management staff to increase overall observances. Number five, increased administrative and security inspections. The center director and assistant center director along with other professional staff must make unannounced visits on all three shifts, morning, noon, Saturdays, Sundays, four in the morning, two in the morning. This is their job, this is what they’re being paid for. They need to be out there walking the halls seeing their residents and should be after sharp while on a first name basis with them. Security staff must report all incidents of improper behavior. Any staff who bullies or intimidates or threatens residents or other staff should be immediately removed from their job station. There must be zero tolerance of staff intimidating other staff or residents.
Six, improve overall accountability of staff performance to include job duties, Investigator General reporting, active treatment and adherence of policies and procedures. This would require accountability from the administration and the professional staff. Seven, remind employees if they see something is wrong, report it. Employees are mandated reporters. Their position is protected under the Whistleblower Act. They don’t have to be revealed who released this but they need to report it. Too much is going on unreported. Increase the amount of active treatment and activities for the residents. Why? Because individuals who are busy and active have much fewer behavioral issues, which should lead to less negative interaction with staff and individuals. And if additional activity staff is needed, then hire them.
Nine, encourage and welcome parents, guardians and visiting their loved ones by telling them ‘be in there.’ They shouldn’t have to call and set up a time when they’re coming. These are their loved ones. They should be able to visit their family members in their family members home whenever they want. Encourage more groups like the grandparents groups, where individuals come and adopt the resident there and act as a grandparent to them. So we have more oversight going in there. More people around to be seen. Staff should continue to be reminded that Choate is home for these individuals and they should be retreated with respect and dignity. Encourage the decorating of the hallways and room. This is a small thing, but the more the homes are clean, well decorated and welcoming the more staff and residents will take pride in their home. Designate a specific phone line for guardians and families to contact that is available all hours and does not go unanswered for days when they’re trying to get a hold of their loved one or tell them that there’s been a medical change that their doctor wants. …
Assign an interim director, assistant director to Choate Development Center. This director should be someone who has previously supervised employees at another center and is well trained on state rules, regulations and expectations. This interim director can monitor and help retrain the president, director and assistant director reevaluate the Office of Inspector General reporting system as it currently operates. Staff who are mandated reporters are not protected or kept anonymous during the investigation process. This turns into cases has a tendency in reporting. The OIG involvement in allegations needs more protection for the employees and the investigators and they need to happen within a month. We have investigations that don’t start till nine or 13 months later. These employees are placed on paid leave. The state of Illinois paying for them, they’re not working. And we’re not finding out what happened to these residents. Put a person in there permanently from the office and let them start and get these investigations done within a month. If they’re found guilty, they need to be fired immediately.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
Leader Meier said bills have been filed and more will be. He pointed to legislation he’s worked on for several years.
From the reporting, it looks like the biggest problem is a tight-knit cover-up culture of really horrible acts. Everybody knows everybody in that little town. Too many people appear to protect each other no matter what. Employees should be required to report misdeeds and should be severely punished if they don’t, or if they perjure themselves. That’s essentially what the IG wants. And it ought to be in more places than Choate.
Also, where are they gonna get the qualified people the Republicans want to hire? It’s easy to snap your fingers and say “Let’s bring in a group of 50 workers or more immediately.” Actually doing that is quite another thing in the current labor market, and particularly in an area where not enough qualified people live.
Leader Meier blamed this on “bad apples.” I’m sure there are some very good employees at Choate, but the bad apples appear to have long ago spoiled the barrel…
That collusion led the inspector general to find Choate itself negligent. The facility, the OIG said, must be held responsible for “failing to prevent the establishment of a culture in which so many employees chose to protect their fellow employees instead of protecting an abused individual and apparently felt comfortable doing so.”
The OIG report concluded: “That so many employees participated in the cover-up of the abuse of [the patient] suggests that this type of conduct may be endemic at Choate.” Previous reporting by the news organizations revealed credible abuse allegations in which the state’s attorney declined to bring charges because he said that employees would not cooperate in determining what happened.
* The Republicans said today that they want to prevent a Choate closure. Here’s Rep. Paul Jacobs…
We cannot and will not accept a blanket policy that throws our hands up in the air in disgust and close down the facility that means so much to residents in my area and in that area. We have not begun the process of trying to fix the problems, let alone exhaust every single solitary legislative and administrative option that we have. We cannot and will not accept the attitude that nothing can be done. So, Governor, we’re asking you to work with us work with us. Work with your Democrat and Republican partners in the legislature.
* I asked the governor’s office this morning to send me a list of things the administration has done at Choate so far…
Increased security and surveillance
• Cameras installed in approved indoor and outdoor areas that do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy (ongoing).
• Increased security staff by 5 positions including one security officer chief.
• Increased internal security staff by 2 positions.
• Increased management presence in living areas and professional staff presence after hours.Independent, Third-Party review
• Equip for Equality investigation staff conducting chart reviews, staff interviews, and monitoring of unit conditions.
Training and consultation
• New and re-training sessions for all staff
• Illinois Crisis Prevention Network has provided ongoing consultation to develop individualized behavior plans for residents in need of enhanced support.Visible, physical improvements to Choate living areas and homes.
• Completed a pilot environmental improvement project in 2 homes – Redbud and Dogwood – which are rolling out Center-wide.
Senior Onsite Visitor/Leadership Reporting Liaison:
• Brought retired CMS Assistant Director Steve McCurdy to report to DD Director to perform an on-site, on-the-ground, common-sense, immediate-term review of the Center.
• Met extensively with residents, families/guardians and staff, focusing on the health and safety of these individuals.Illinois State Police (ISP) Collaboration
• ISP’s Division of Internal Investigation came on-site to conduct an assessment of the Center including a review of security, physical structure needs, etc.
• Supported updates to staff training with a focus on team building and collective accountability.NASDDDS Technical Assistance:
• Used ICDD funding to receive technical assistance from the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS) on building additional I/DD community capacity.
• Technical assistance grew from FY22 capacity report – An Evaluation of Community Capacity Barriers and Opportunities for Expansion in Illinois for Adult DD Waiver Services – focusing on support for residents and capacity for SODC system improvements.
…Adding… AFSCME Council 31…
“As the union of Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center employees, we welcome the support and partnership of anyone of good will who wants to work to improve it. Long before the current attention paid to the facility, AFSCME has urged legislators and the Department of Human Services to increase staffing (allowing for more programs and activities), expand staff training and invest in repairing and maintaining the buildings and grounds.
“For some 270 people with multiple challenges that require intensive supports, Choate is home. Its services have no analog elsewhere. That’s why residents’ families value Choate so highly, and it’s a tribute to the dedicated employees who provide compassionate, attentive, round-the-clock care.
“It’s regrettable that it took disturbing media reports of past misconduct to underscore the need for improvements at Choate, but the wrongful actions of a few cannot overshadow the deep commitment of the overwhelming majority of employees to Choate’s residents and to making the facility the best it can be. That must begin with reversing its staff shortage and investing in its physical infrastructure.”
The Question: Do you think Choate Developmental Center is redeemable? Please explain your answer. Thanks.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 11:32 am
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Shutting down Choate seems like a solution to a political problem, and not a solution to the actual problem. There should be a state appointed monitor sent into the facility for 12 - 18 months…make the effort to recruit the employees needed…just mothballing the place and walking away, for the same problems to be relocated to some other part of Illinois doesn’t pass any common sense test.
Comment by Chicago Republican Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 11:36 am
I don’t know.
My first thought is that any place / organization can be redeemed / reformed. But my second thought was: how many people will have to be replaced to change the current culture?
As Rich and others have rightly pointed out, the labor pool is relatively shallow in the immediate area. However, Carbondale is about a half hour drive, and Paducah,KY is about an hour. So that may not be insurmountable.
There is always a think outside the box alternative of paying qualified people to move to the area. However, I don’t know if the State could deal with something like that kind of incentive program. And there would have to be some kind of clawback if the people didn’t stay for some number of years.
So I guess I’m going to land on maybe yes, if the State is creative enough on recruitment.
Comment by RNUG Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 11:49 am
No. It is simply located in a place without an adequate labor pool. It should be moved to a larger population center, adequately staffed and that staff well-compensated to help with retention. And independently audited by a company that checks for patient treatment and makes surprise inspections.
Comment by cermak_rd Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 11:56 am
No. I don’t think the agency is capable of hiring qualified staff in the relevant geographic area, because they simply aren’t there. They should move it to a more densely populated area where they will have a wider candidate pool.
Comment by Larry Bowa Jr. Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 11:56 am
No. It should be closed and moved to another part of the state.
Unless the state plans to also physically relocate large amounts of new people from out of the area to work there.
Simply hiring from the existing area is not going to solve the problem, it will simply put new faces on it.
>the biggest problem is a tight-knit cover-up culture
That’s the culture of many of the people in the town too, not just this one location.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 12:01 pm
No. Please close it. Inadequate labor pool, poor geographic location for families, and staff culture that is not redeemable. On an added note Union County obviously has (had) a Sheriff and States Attorney that is more interested in not enforcing state rule and regulations than in protecting the clients of Choate.
Comment by Stormsw7706 Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 12:13 pm
The story of Pekin has been making the rounds again lately, but the, let’s say, cultural problems down in Anna have really been flying under the radar.
Comment by 48th Ward Heel Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 12:23 pm
“the biggest problem is a tight-knit cover-up culture
That’s the culture of many of the people in the town too, not just this one location.”
That. Right. There.
Comment by btowntruth from forgottonia Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 12:25 pm
Meier will find anyway to keep the institutional model of DD care open. Other states have and continue to move away from this model but Meier wants us to remain in the 1950s just protect those jobs in southern Illinois.
Instead of pouring money into a campus full of out-of-date buildings, many of which have been empty for years and hiring new staff, how about Illinois move into this century and use those funds to fully fund a community system?
And no, CILAs are not a “end all answer” but for the Love of Pete, Illinois clings to a system that is out dated and expensive to operate and at the same time underfunds the community level system of care. It needs to stop now. Pouring money into Choate is simply not smart public policy or use of tax payer funds.
Comment by Give Me A Break Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 12:26 pm
== where are they gonna get the qualified people the Republicans want to hire? ==
The Department can work with the regional universities. Sociology, Psychology, Human Services and Social Work majors can be steered to those jobs. In such cases, additional training could be easily introduced in senior level courses.
I think it is possible to do so in “relatively” short order. There is a potential labor market of recent graduates and near graduates that can be tapped, if we wish to do so.
Bringing in outside workers also will create a new sense of professionalism that seems to be desperately missing at present.
Comment by H-W Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 12:28 pm
==It should be moved to a larger population center==
Yep. Too bad they closed the Tinley Park Mental Health Center.
Comment by Jocko Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 12:29 pm
My 18-year-old step daughter is severely cognitively impaired. She’s institutionalized out of state and I’m terrified about what happens when her time runs out at 22 and we’re supposed to find a permanent placement for her in Illinois. Will there exist a safe facility for her? The families of Choate residents are the people who need to be posed with this question about whether it’s redeemable. How do they feel about the prospect of shuttering Chaote? How many years will it take to build something new and better from the ground up? What happens to residents in the interim?
Reforms need to be ongoing regardless of whether the ultimate decision is to close Choate. The residents at these facilities have levels of impairment that most of us cannot fathom. They cannot just be placed back with their families or in group homes. My daughter is loving and bonds with her caregivers. She also needs routine, stability, and 1:1 staffing care around the clock. She can *never* be left alone. She cannot speak, bathe, toilet, or feed herself. She thrives in occupational therapy activities and needs access to programming taught by experts.
Providing this level of sophisticated, intensive care is a challenge anywhere. If Choate cannot do it, I pray another facility is created that can, but there’s no way it will happen soon enough to serve people like my daughter. Families like ours have no other option, not even in home care with 24/7 staffing (if we could afford this, we cannot). She will likely outlive her parents by decades. She needs to be institutionalized for the rest of her life. This is a source of intense anguish for our family that is only mitigated by knowing she is safe and well cared for. She currently is, but what happens next is completely unknown.
Comment by Dr. M Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 12:37 pm
My answer is a combination of RNUG and cermak’s. Unless a facility has actual structural issues (asbestos, lead pipes, crumbling foundations, etc) any facility can be redeemed. The question is the practicality and the cost.
Many social services have run on woefully inadequate budgets for years. Facilities like this (as well as juvenile facilities that often are discussed in the DCFS posts on here) simply don’t have the money to be competitive employers most of the time, even before recent austerity attempts.
Now combine that with a facility located in a place that doesn’t already have a burgeoning local labor pool to support it, and you end up with a problem similar to the lack of rural medical care.
Unless or until the state implements some sort of military-style approach to healthcare where you sign up for X years and the state can ship you anywhere that you are needed to provide services, these sorts of facilities will always be victims of supply and demand.
Comment by Homebody Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 12:37 pm
To all of you who are saying there is not an adequate labor pool, you are wrong. SIUC is 30 minutes away. Shawnee College has a campus in Anna. It has been difficult to get people to apply for several reasons one being the shot mandate another being the uncertainty of the closure, and yet another is everyone knows how difficult the work conditions are when you are mandated 3, 4 and even 5 times a week for double shifts. This facility can and should be saved. This state is bending over backwards to ensure inmates are placed close to their families, but this state thinks DD individuals should be moved out of their homes to places far from their families? Disgraceful!!
Comment by Southern Belle Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 12:38 pm
Give Me A Brake nailed it.
Someone please FOIA those McCurdy emails and reports - I’m guessing they are insightful. /s
Comment by We’ll See Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 12:44 pm
No. Above comments about the limited labor pool are correct. There is no way that even a scaled-down version of Meier’s proposal would work there, because there are not enough people. Missing from the list of state actions are active, current efforts to recruit and train the kinds of staff necessary for placing Choate residents in CILAs located in larger populations areas with a wider pool of labor. And frankly, the Governor could have been taking action on this from day one instead of sitting on it due to pressure from AFSCME.
Comment by Quill Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 12:45 pm
It doesn’t sound like the Republican legislators think it’s redeemable. If they’re saying fire everybody and start fresh, then they should also say why we should limit ourselves to people who live in the area to hire and train for those duties. Maybe there’s a better pool of employees elsewhere in the state.
Comment by Socially DIstant watcher Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 12:55 pm
Not sure how the Republicans can find the staff; that’s not a high-density population. Anybody know if the IL Nat’l Guard medical units can handle a temp deployment to a nursing home while a longer-term staffing solution is worked out? Relocating the residents an hour or so away won’t help the family and friends trying to act as ad-hoc facility monitors either. Maybe new staff through the local community college district training programs for CNAs and other care or support staff? Got to get the misbehaving staff out of the building and away from patient care as soon as possible. Not everybody can be in a CILA either.
Comment by thisjustinagain Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 12:58 pm
No.
Start with what matters most: A safe environment for providing the proper level of care to Choate’s residents.
Can this be done, and quickly, in the present location? Unlikely given the apparently shallow labor pool and a deeply rooted negative organizational culture. Neither of these limitations can be easily overcome.
Will Choate’s residents experience trauma if relocated? Yes. But there are ways to address this trauma, which will in any case disappear as residents begin experiencing better living conditions and therapy.
Are better facilities and staff available elsewhere? I can’t answer for facilities, but it’s hard to believe better staff can be found in an area with a deeper labor pool.
It really doesn’t matter how many current local jobs might be lost or how much the Center is a part of the local community. The Center isn’t there to be provide jobs, it’s there to provide care for its residents. Focus on what matters and stop prevaricating.
Comment by Flapdoodle Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 1:02 pm
“Yep. Too bad they closed the Tinley Park Mental Health Center.”
TPMHC was not a good building. At a minimum it needed to be demolished and rebuilt from the ground up.
https://abc7chicago.com/tinley-park-dan-lipinski-real-estate-abandoned-land/5873905/
Comment by Odysseus Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 1:04 pm
Almost 20 years ago I worked at the Murray Center, another downstate DD facility. At that time everyone in the agency was aware that the culture at Choate made it a nightmare for residents. 10 years ago employees were making residents fight and taking bets on which would win. The state has attempted to fix Choate for years without success. It’s time to close the place. Don’t want to lose jobs? Don’t let vulnerable people be mistreated.
Comment by transplant Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 1:08 pm
If the Pritzker administration had a efficient hiring system there would be no problem hiring state workers for Choate. There are limited job opportunities in that part of the state, but there has never been a problem hiring people in southern Illinois. That can be used as an excuse to close Choate, but if the administration made a real effort to hire the workers are there. Rep. Meier is not my representative but he has advocated across the state for quality care for the disabled whether they live in SODCS or CIlSs. At least he has the integrity to try to do something. There’s been little from the Governor’s office.
.
Comment by Grateful Gail Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 1:10 pm
Redeemable if moved. Relocate to Carbondale for better employee pool. Hire new administration/management. Partner with SIUC’s psychology department. My friend, who’s a veteran, received great care at Choate many years ago and he’s doing very well to this day because of it. It’s important for families in the area to have a facility that’s close to them and important for patients to have family and friends visiting often. Disclosure- I know someone who currently works there; they haven’t been implicated in any of the abuse.
Comment by Jimmy H Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 1:33 pm
People who insist there is not a labor queue currently are missing the point. The state can create a labor queue through incentives.
Nurses became “traveling nurses” during the pandemic when wages elsewhere encouraged relocation. The same can be done for college graduate willing to locate to Choate.
There currently exists a large pool of behavioral sciences majors (SOC, PSY, HS, SW, etc.) in our universities across the state. These students will graduate in May (three months).
If the state is willing to invest in signing bonuses, and highly competitive wages for those willing to located to Southern IL, some will sign on. If the state is willing to offer housing assistance for the first year (e.g., a typical lease obligation), perhaps even more will be willing to relocated.
This is not rocket science. It is simple economics. It is about creating fiscal policy that establishes the necessary enticements to create a permanent labor force. Governments across American do this often for major corporations. Illinois can do this too, for our citizens most in need.
Like others here, I worked two years in a DD facility (a group home in Virginia before moving to IL). I know the work, and I know the clients. What is needed here is fresh hopes, new blood, and committed on the ground leadership.
In this policy, the Republicans have offered a significant point of bipartisan agreement. It is up to the Governor to turn this to a bipartisan commitment.
But finding reasons to not commit has been the problem all-along. We need to do better, and we can do better.
Comment by H-W Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 1:42 pm
Having had a relative work at Choate for quite a while and hearing about this culture first-hand, I have my doubts that Choate can be saved without moving it from the area.
Comment by Sarbanharble Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 1:56 pm
@Southern Belle =To all of you who are saying there is not an adequate labor pool, you are wrong…. the shot mandate another being the uncertainty of the closure, and yet another is everyone knows how difficult the work conditions are when you are mandated 3, 4 and even 5 times a week for double shifts.=
All those examples and trickle down impacts are evidence of a small and limited labor pool. If you have more people to hire from - those aren’t issues. Simply the mandated overtime indicates that you can’t hire enough people.
And my ears are good enough to pickup the whistle on the “shots” and “inmates”.
I think the operation needs to be closed down, but I say that and understand where Dr. M is coming from. Many simply have no idea the level of care and staffing that is needed for many of those residents to keep them alive.
So as I vote to close it - I have no answer as to how to comprehensively offer the services that a well run Choate would have supplied to it’s residents.
Comment by Cool Papa Bell Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 1:59 pm
===the shot mandate ===
Imagine working with that cohort and refusing to get a simple vaccine against a deadly disease.
You don’t make much of a case.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 2:06 pm
Yes it can. The claims about the labor pool are false. The labor pool in Southern Illinois may not have the quantity, but it does have quality. Choate has not been able to recruit quality for a long time. Moving it will not improve that. The wages and benefits would be the same no matter where it is moved too, due to the AFSCME contract. Moving it to someplace with a higher cost of living will make the wages even less attractive than they are in Union County. Thus negating the attempt to attract better quality of employees to work in that environment.
Any improvement to the workforce will have to involve AFSCME. Raise the minimum qualifications for new hires. Rework pre-service, and in service training. And be willing to compensate both new hires and existing employees to work professionally in a challenging environment. Moving the residents is not the answer. Closure has been proven to be a bad choice. Change leadership, work rules,training, and oversight.
Comment by SOIL M Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 2:07 pm
===Choate has not been able to recruit quality for a long time===
It shows. And you’re not making a case that this can be reversed except for some union bumper sticker slogans.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 2:09 pm
Rich– I am in no way endorsing AFSCME. I went Fair Share in 2010. I am just acknowledging the fact that all of those things are covered by the contract and can not be changed without negotiations. And those changes would have to be implemented across the State because they would impact everyone in those classifications.
Comment by SOIL M Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 2:17 pm
CLOSE. This is a toxic situation from top to bottom. Action is needed. Start resident relocation planning now.
Comment by Politix Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 2:18 pm
Listening to the press conference they have 525 current employees and should be staffed to 600.
I’m not so sure that hiring 80 people can even begin to fix the problems that have been going on for years at that facility.
The labor pool and local attitude indicates that the labor force IS NOT up to having the place run the right way.
Comment by Cool Papa Bell Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 2:28 pm
I’ve had real long responses, but each time “erased” abd stated over.
Here’s the sitch for me;
It’s a “no”
In a word? Culture.
The culture of those working there, along with this…
=== Imagine working with that cohort and refusing to get a simple vaccine against a deadly disease.===
… there’s no case to be made for those to be redeemed, or the culture there redeemable.
The victims and those in the facilities, they deserve a better culture, it won’t be there.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 2:31 pm
“If the Pritzker administration had a efficient hiring system … .”
Ever heard of AFSME? CMS? And wasn’t there a federal monitor overseeing everything.
Comment by Anyone Remember Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 2:49 pm
Close it. Divert the money to private non profit organizations that know how to do the job, but are prevented by lack of adequate state funding. There are lots of them out there willing to provide the necessary services to assist these folks in living their best lives.
Comment by Papa2008 Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 2:51 pm
Whatever happened to the former security chief who first exposed this? I’d like to hear from him. I guess they found a way to shut him up.
Comment by Concerned Parent Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 3:09 pm
===everyone knows how difficult the work conditions are when you are mandated 3, 4 and even 5 times a week for double shifts===
Why does the state do this? To save on the number of employees on the health insurance? A niece worked as a RN in a somewhat similar facility by Dwight. The patients there were typically adults who were and would always be mentally a 5- or 6-year-old. They need to be cared for for the rest of their lives. The state would not hire enough nurses and require endless mandatory double shifts. The state would burn out the nurses they had but would be able to quickly hire replacements. When my niece gave them notice she was leaving (after 15 years), they brought in a couple rental agency nurses for my niece to train before she left. The temps would work a couple months or so and if they were still there and did a good job, the state would hire them directly as state employees. This makes me think the state could hire ADDITIONAL employees the same way and end the mandatory, involuntary double-shifts. No reason to burn out employees.
Comment by DuPage Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 3:28 pm
I think it’s time to close it down and move it to a place with an adequate supply of potential employees. Of course, that could take years and while we wait, those patients may be subjected to continued abuse and neglect, so bringing in a full-time monitor with actual power to implement changes is needed, and maybe even bringing in temporary employees.
But it’s got to start as soon as possible. What is broken at Choate can’t be fixed there.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 3:59 pm
The facility can’t be redeemed so long as the employee culture stays the same, i.e., no snitching on the bad behavior of other employees. You can’t train that away.
The mandatory overtime issue is complicated. Many employees count on the extra income.
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 4:02 pm
What the Republican are going after there base that votes for them on a regular basis. From the sentator and representatives it always about the jobs, not the poeple who needs the help
Comment by 13th Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 4:04 pm
I’m skeptical Choate can be saved. Ultimately, despite AFSCME’s tone deaf, “the wrongful actions of a few cannot overshadow the deep commitment of the overwhelming majority of employees to Choate’s residents and to making the facility the best it can be” it’s pretty obvious that there are some deep seated cultural issues that cannot be solved by just hiring more staff or capital improvements. The enablers on staff are still there. Just think about how revealing the name of somebody who made a complaint is apparently not a violation that results in termination. Unless bad employees are fired (so union rules need to change) and new employees at all levels are brought in, Choate will continue to be a major problem.
Comment by MyTwoCents Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 4:04 pm
13th……please don’t talk about what you don’t know. HAve you talked to Rep. Meier or Senator Bryant. It is because THEY CARE about the individuals that they had this press conference. They want to make the center BETTER, and that is about the individuals. Please talk to them before you make statements like this. I have spoken to them numerous times in my official capacity, and they have continued to stress safety for the individuals. Pick up the phone and talk to them and you may have a totally different understanding of this.
Comment by Benjamin Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 4:15 pm
Carbondale is only twenty-five minutes away. There is also Marion, and other cities. The labor pool is there.
Comment by Benjamin Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 4:25 pm
===Choate Developmental Center is redeemable? ===
What a question. The facility itself didn’t commit any wrong doing. The facility itself didn’t cover up the crimes of it’s friends and neighbors. The facility itself will never have any moment of atonement. The facility didn’t do this, people did.
People employed by the State of Illinois. Leadership serving in merit comp positions that were at a minimum at least rubber stamped by this current administration to continue on in this roles. Blaming the building or the city that it is in is deflection of what has actually caused the problems that occur at or in Choate Development Center.
The walls. The roof. The floor. They never victimized, harmed, nor abused a single person. Closing the building will not solve a problem if the problem was caused by the people that ran and managed the facility or the people that worked for that facility it will not be addressed by closing the facility, especially since any person that contributed to those problems has been laid off instead of being held accountable.
Closing the facility isn’t a solution, it’s a failure of the Governor to actually govern. It’s someone looking for a quick and easy way out of a situation that isn’t ideal and a situation that the Pritzker Administration has let fester for 4 years.
The Governor should not be seriously considering a proposal to close the facility. He should not be discussing the possibility. He is admitting he has no plan or solution to the problem and is completely unprepared to discuss something that has been festering under his administration for the last 4 years.
He also has no plan for what his administration would do with the 200+ people that are currently being served by Choate Developmental Center that he would seek to evict because that’s easier than leading.
It’s time for the Governor to hold some people accountable or time for the Governor to be accountable.
This isn’t a problem that can be waived away — and even if he decided he wanted to close Choate today it would take months for that to occur, it would take months to arrange care for the people who live there — and for dozens of those patients there will be no equivalent alternative services available to them in Illinois or anywhere else in the country.
The story won’t just be about how Governor Pritzker wasn’t able to effectively lead DHS to perform its mission, it will be about how Governor Pritzker continued to fail those patients and that’s without considering what all of the other stakeholders might say or do in the meantime.
Whether or not Choate is able to be redeemed largely depends on whether or not the Governor’s administration is capable.
It doesn’t matter what I think on the topic if the Governor isn’t going to try and thinks it is easier, simpler, and more politically advantageous to close the facility. And if he thinks any of those things are true then I think he is getting some bad advice.
Comment by Candy Dogood Thursday, Feb 23, 23 @ 11:10 pm
Shut it down. It cannot survive downstate
Comment by The Dude Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 6:25 am