Children Sexually and Physically Abused at Chicago Psychiatric Hospital

Federal and state authorities are investigating the Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hospital for physical and sexual abuse of children. Many have been placed their while under the care of CPS. Some have even been cleared for release but CPS couldn't find anywhere else to place them.

_{Source, CC BY 2.0}

There have been 16 allegations of neglect and child abuse made so farm which the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has investigated. The abuse ranges from physical assaults, sexual abuse and rape of children by other patients or staff themselves. The Illinois Department of Public Health also conducted inspections and found failures to ensure the safety of suicidal patients, inadequate supervision and not obtaining consent before giving powerful medications.

If changes are not applied immediately, federal authorities will cut funding to the hospital by the end of November, forcing it to close. The hospital has had failures to care for patients in the past. a DCFS review of Lakeshore hospital in 2010 reported allegations of sexual assaults of peers. Now the sexual assaults have moved onto patients, even children. Maybe they were going back then as well. That same year, the Chicago Tribune revealed children had been sexually assaulted as well.

Special assistant to the DCFS Acting Director, Neil Skene, said the agency is addressing the issues:

"We are fulfilling our responsibility to oversee the care of youth who are our responsibility. We believe that the current monitoring bodies will let us know if their concerns rise to a level where we need to stop using the hospital."

But acting inspector Mary Paniak at the DCFS disagreed, saying in a memo that she had "significant concerns for the care and safety of the children." A list of actions was given in that memo, but none of them included the obvious step of not taking children from parents in the first place. She did suggest "bringing in an independent expert to do a comprehensive review of the treatment and mental health services at the hospital." This "independent voice could provide expertise and objectivity". The agency decided not to seek such an independent review, which Paniak said disappointed her, saying:

"I don’t think that the department has done enough to ensure the safety of the kids there."

The new allegations are repeats of the past. In September, A 7-year-old girl "reported that a 12-year-old boy pulled down her pants, sexually assaulted her with his finger and 'made her bleed'". She also said an employee a Lakeshore "had kissed her on the mouth and sexually assaulted her with his finger". Social workers noted the delays in Lakeshore reporting the incident and seeking medical care for the girl.

The same employee was reported for an earlier incident in August. A 12-year-old girl said he "locked her door, grabbed her by the shirt and touched her breasts." She tried to get away, but he pulled her down, sat her on his lap and made her "touch his penis." Chicago police have opened an instigation, and the employee is thankfully no longer working there.

Another incident was with an 11-year-old patient who acted sexually to 4 other girls, and a 17-year-old boy who was left bruised and bloody after 2 male employees dragged him and pinned him down, threatening to break his arm. His mother said:

"It’s never easy sending your child to the hospital, but the thing that helps you sleep at night is at least you know they’re safe. But he was far from safe. He was hurt and scared... I knew I could rescue him from there. But most of the kids there are wards of the state. There is no one to rescue them"

Another 12-year-old boy was fondled by a 17-year-old in January. Five other patients were also sexually assaulted by the teen. H e has since been sent to a juvenile detention center. A transgender 16-year old from Honduras said they had sex with another patient this summer. An 8 year-old-boy reported a roommate climbing on top and started "to hump" him, while another masturbated.

Charles Golbert, Cook County acting public guardian, said in an interview:

"It’s just an awful lot of very serious red flags in a very short period of time."

And added that DCFS can't be objective because it depends on Lakeshore to care for many of the children in DCFS custody, adding "that’s a conflict of interest." The inability of DCFS to place children into "residential treatment centers, foster homes and other placements" makes them very dependent on Lakeshore.

The adult building at the psychiatric hospital also has trouble with abuses. Two people have filed lawsuits "alleging sexual assaults", with one where an employee followed a women "into a bathroom and raped her".

DCFS continues to send children to Lakeshore. Skene said 1/2 of the allegations "have not been substantiated", saying:

"The question for DCFS is whether children are safe there. Nothing that we are seeing gives us concern for their safety."

Yet, DCFS has left children there, despite prior allegations from 2010. In 2017, about 1,100 children and adolescents were treated at Lakeshore, and 41% of them were in state care.

Many foster children have reported similar incidents to the one reported here. They often get forced into psych wards, group homes or juvenile detention centers, where they then suffer sexual and physical abuse. In most cases, the reports from these children are ignored as no one listens to them. They are often bullied or shamed into silence and left to suffer at the hands of their abusers. All the while, taxpayers finance the institutional abuse.

---

References:

• Chicago Psychiatric Hospital Is Under Fire Over Reports Alleging Abuse of Children
• Kids sexually assaulted at psychiatric hospitals, reports say
• Lawmakers Call for Independent Inquiry at Psychiatric Hospital After ProPublica Illinois Report on Abuse of Children

---

Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.

---

_{If you appreciate and value the content, please consider: Upvoting, Sharing or Reblogging below.
me for more content to come!}

---

_{My goal is to share knowledge, truth and moral understanding in order to help change the world for the better. If you appreciate and value what I do, please consider supporting me as a Steem Witness by voting for me at the bottom of the Witness page.}