{"id":43091,"date":"2026-07-27T11:31:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T16:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=43091"},"modified":"2026-07-27T11:31:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T16:31:13","slug":"state-to-lay-off-hundreds-at-troubled-southern-illinois-mental-health-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/43091-state-to-lay-off-hundreds-at-troubled-southern-illinois-mental-health-facility\/","title":{"rendered":"State to Lay Off Hundreds at Troubled Southern Illinois Mental Health Facility"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>CHOATE MENTAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL CENTER (FILE PHOTO BY WHITNEY CURTIS FOR PROPUBLICA AND CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS)<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center to reduce patient population, staff amid operational changes<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Article Summary<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About half of the staff of 524 employees will be laid off at the Choate Mental Health and Development Center in southern Illinois amid operational changes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Illinois Department of Human Services stated the changes are part of a three-year plan aimed at repurposing the facility.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is now a greater need for mental health beds in northern Illinois, according to IDHS.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By JACKSON BRANDHORST\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Saluki Local Reporting Lab<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><a href=\"mailto:jbrandhorst@dailyegyptian.com\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">jbrandhorst@dailyegyptian.com<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ANNA \u2014 The Illinois Department of Human Services announced Thursday that the Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna will lay off staff and undergo several operational changes in the coming months, including the elimination of the state-run facility\u2019s entire general residential program for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees \u2014 the union that represents the majority of Choate staff \u2014 IDHS said it intends to lay off about 250 of the facility\u2019s more than 500 employees over the coming months.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a letter to Choate staff, IDHS said that the changes are a result of the \u201csuccess\u201d of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.state.il.us\/page.aspx?item=150439\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">state&#8217;s three-year plan<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which aimed to repurpose the facility over three years in partnership with the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the letter, IDHS plans to cease operations for the intellectual and developmental disabilities general units by Sept. 30. The department will also \u201cphase down\u201d 75 civil mental health beds at Choate while adding beds to the Madden Mental Health Center in Chicago.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This phase-down, says IDHS, which is planned to be completed by March 2027, is because the \u201cneed for mental health beds is greater in northern Illinois.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In its letter, IDHS did not specify how many employees would face layoffs as a result of these reductions, but acknowledged that layoffs will occur.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe will work with our labor partners to support employees,\u201d the IDHS letter states. \u201cThis includes working closely with directly impacted staff who may be subject to the contractual layoff process.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.state.il.us\/page.aspx?item=58712\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choate<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> currently serves 58 total general and forensic I\/DD patients and an additional 75 mental health patients while employing roughly 524 people across its campus. Of those employees, 468 are represented by AFSCME Council 31. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AFSCME responded to the announcement in a news release with comments from Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch, who said that IDHS should have consulted with the union to develop a more rational plan that would be more fair to Choate\u2019s employees and the individuals in their care.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cUnfortunately, the department chose to forge ahead with a plan which will weaken services for the most vulnerable mentally ill individuals and upend the lives of hundreds of Choate employees and their families,\u201d Lynch said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choate\u2019s 40-bed forensic developmental disabilities unit will continue operations, as will the other IDHS administrative offices on the Choate campus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Culture of cruelty<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The IDHS decision to reduce operations at Choate comes after <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/category\/investigations\/culture-of-cruelty\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">decades of documented issues<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at the southern Illinois facility, including resident abuse, neglect, criminal investigations and repeated failures by employees and administrators to report or stop misconduct.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/a-disabled-young-patient-was-sent-to-get-treatment-he-was-abused-instead-and-he-wasnt-the-last\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A 2022 investigation by Capitol News Illinois<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and ProPublica found that residents had been beaten, sexually assaulted, humiliated and dangerously neglected at Choate for roughly a decade. At least 26 employees have been arrested on felony charges connected to their work at the facility while they were entrenched in a \u201ccode of silence\u201d in which workers withheld information, coordinated their accounts or protected colleagues accused of abuse.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In March 2023, Gov. JB Pritzker announced a three-year \u201ctransformation\u201d plan that would move about 123 residents \u2014 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/illinois-to-relocate-at-least-half-of-current-residents-at-choate\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">roughly half of Choate\u2019s population at the time<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 into community placements, family homes or other state-operated facilities. The state also promised stronger oversight, additional training, cameras in common areas and a partnership with the SIU School of Medicine to help determine how Choate\u2019s remaining programs should operate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Officials said at the time that the plan was not a closure and did not include layoffs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/a-security-camera-caught-an-employee-beating-a-patient-it-took-11-days-for-anyone-to-take-action\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In February 2024<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a newly installed security camera recorded an employee throwing a resident to the floor and punching him. The incident went unreported for 11 days and was discovered only after an anonymous letter prompted investigators to review the footage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choate\u2019s general developmental disabilities population has since fallen from 199 residents at the beginning of the transformation to 16. IDHS now characterizes the elimination of those units and the phaseout of Choate\u2019s civil mental health beds as the completion of that plan \u2014 though the layoffs mark a departure from the state\u2019s original assurance that the restructuring would not cost employees their jobs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AFSCME said the administration assured the union during the recent legislative session that its proposed fiscal year 2027 budget would not include layoffs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHad we been aware of the planned layoffs, we certainly would have opposed the budget as introduced,\u201d Lynch said. \u201cThe AFSCME collective bargaining agreement with the State of Illinois includes well-defined rights for employees slated for layoff and AFSCME intends to ensure that all such requirements are fully met if the department continues down this irresponsible path.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Legislators respond<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">State Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, called the IDHS decision a devastating blow to southern Illinois, saying in a news release that it will cost the region hundreds of jobs, uproot vulnerable patients and create chaos for families and employees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI have consistently advocated for Choate to continue serving our most vulnerable residents here in Southern Illinois,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cI am disappointed to see those calls ignored through this announcement. The people who depend on Choate deserve to be treated as individuals, not numbers on a spreadsheet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Republican state Sen. Paul Jacobs of Pomona also called the decision devastating, saying in a news release that he is disappointed that southern Illinoisans are being left to deal with the consequences of a state decision.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Newly appointed Republican state Rep. Scott Doody, an Anna resident who represents Illinois\u2019 118th District, condemned the IDHS decision in a press release Friday, calling on Pritzker and IDHS to immediately halt the implementation of these reductions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Taxpayers invested tens of millions of dollars to improve Choate&#8217;s facilities, and they have decided to walk away from that investment and the employees, residents, and families who depend on Choate,\u201d Doody said in the release.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;After years of promises to transform Choate, the administration&#8217;s answer is now to eliminate services, relocate residents, and lay off hardworking employees. Southern Illinois deserves better.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jackson Brandhorst is a student at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and a senior member of the Daily Egyptian, SIU\u2019s student newspaper. Brandhorst can be reached at <\/span><\/i><a href=\"mailto:jbrandhorst@dailyegyptian.com\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">jbrandhorst@dailyegyptian.com<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Capitol News Illinois<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHOATE MENTAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL CENTER (FILE PHOTO BY WHITNEY CURTIS FOR PROPUBLICA AND CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS) Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center to reduce patient population, staff amid operational [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":43092,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>State to Lay Off Hundreds at Troubled Southern Illinois Mental Health Facility - 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