Report: Texas foster kids left in state psychiatric hospitals for weeks or months

Hundreds of Texas foster children are languishing for weeks or months in psychiatric hospitals because they have nowhere else to go, hurting them psychologically, endangering them physically and costing the state millions of dollars.

Nearly 600 foster kids in fiscal year 2017 spent a total of almost 14,000 days in psychiatric hospitals after doctors said they were ready to leave, according to a new report by Disability Rights Texas, an advocacy group for people with disabilities.

More >> Report: Texas foster kids left in state psychiatric hospitals for weeks or months

New Lawsuit Accuses DCFS of ‘Warehousing’ Children in Psych Hospitals

Fifteen-year-old Skyler was placed inside Hartgrove Behavioral Health System, a psychiatric hospital on Chicago’s West Side, for what was supposed to be a three-month stay in November 2014. But three months came and went, and Skyler wasn’t allowed to leave the hospital.

More >> New Lawsuit Accuses DCFS of ‘Warehousing’ Children in Psych Hospitals

Federal Judge Puts Independent Review of Troubled Psychiatric Hospital on Hold

A federal judge Friday suspended an independent inquiry at a troubled Chicago psychiatric hospital that is set to lose its federal funding.

After pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and state lawmakers, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services had agreed to the review of Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hospital after multiple allegations of abuse and neglect of children treated at the facility in the city’s Uptown community.

More >> Federal Judge Puts Independent Review of Troubled Psychiatric Hospital on Hold

A Chicago Psychiatric Hospital Will Lose Federal Funding Over Safety and Abuse Issues Involving Children in State Care

At the same time, a federal judge said he will appoint a monitor to oversee the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. “The stakes cannot be higher,” the judge said.

More >> A Chicago Psychiatric Hospital Will Lose Federal Funding Over Safety and Abuse Issues Involving Children in State Care

9-Year-Old Alleges Staff Member at Chicago Psychiatric Hospital Choked and Restrained Her

As Illinois’ child welfare agency works to clear out its remaining patients at a Chicago psychiatric hospital beset by allegations of sexual abuse and assault, problems continue to emerge.

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services on Monday opened an investigation into a 9-year-old girl’s allegation that a staff member at Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hospital choked and restrained her.

More >> 9-Year-Old Alleges Staff Member at Chicago Psychiatric Hospital Choked and Restrained Her

Chicago Foster Children Allege Multiple Sexual Assaults at Chicago Lakeshore Hospital

A Chicago psychiatric hospital responsible for treating children in state custody with the most serious psych conditions is facing serious allegations of sexual assault from its patients.

Chicago Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital, located in the city’s Uptown neighborhood, has served as a lifeline for Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), taking foster children with psychiatric issues that other hospitals just wouldn’t treat. Since at least 2008 DCFS has been aware of incidents of loose supervision of its young patients, resulting in sexual abuse and assault by fellow residents and even staff. A government agency created to protect the safety and welfare of our children not only knows about these cases of abuse and neglect, but for at least 10 years have allowed these problems to persist, continuing to send children entrusted to their care to the hospital.

More >> Chicago Foster Children Allege Multiple Sexual Assaults at Chicago Lakeshore Hospital

• ACLU of Illinois demands removal of children in DCFS care from troubled Chicago hospital

ACLU demands removal of children in DCFS care from troubled Chicago hospital

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois on Friday took the state’s child welfare agency to federal court to attempt to force the removal of all children in its care from a troubled Chicago psychiatric hospital after additional claims of sexual abuse there.

A sexual assault allegation involving a 19-year-old patient, cited in the ACLU’s emergency court filing, comes as Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hospital faces intense scrutiny following a string of disturbing accusations of sexual and physical abuse. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services sends hundreds of children to the hospital each year, relying on Lakeshore to treat those with severe mental illness who are sometimes turned away by other hospitals.

More >> ACLU demands removal of children in DCFS care from troubled Chicago hospital

DCFS steps up monitoring, discharges at psychiatric hospital after ACLU threatens court battle

Facing legal pressure, the state’s beleaguered child welfare agency said Friday that it will station staff around the clock inside an Uptown psychiatric hospital to monitor young patients until they can be safely removed in the wake of rising hotline complaints alleging physical and sexual abuse.

More >> DCFS steps up monitoring, discharges at psychiatric hospital after ACLU threatens court battle

Kids in Raeford psych center abused, fed so little ‘your stomach will shrink,’ report says

Less than a week after the 9-year-old boy arrived at the Hoke County psychiatric center, the bruises and abrasions started to spread across his body, state documents show.

Before he left Canyon Hills Treatment Facility roughly two weeks later, the boy says, a staff member grabbed him by the shoulder, rubbed spit across his face and kicked him in the groin.

More >> Kids in Raeford psych center abused, fed so little ‘your stomach will shrink,’ report says

Illinois Child Welfare Agency Agrees to Stop Sending Children to Psychiatric Hospital Where Children Reported Abuse but Balks at Full Investigation

The state’s child welfare agency Friday agreed to stop sending children in its care to a Chicago psychiatric hospital where children have reported being sexually abused and assaulted, but said it would not seek the full independent investigation advocates had requested, setting up a possible court fight.

The decision by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services came one day after state lawmakers and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois demanded the agency allow an outside expert to conduct a comprehensive investigation of Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hospital on the city’s North Side.

More >> Illinois Child Welfare Agency Agrees to Stop Sending Children to Psychiatric Hospital Where Children Reported Abuse but Balks at Full Investigation

New Allegations Of Sexual Abuse, Neglect Of Children In State Care Surface At Psychiatric Hospital In Chicago

Federal authorities have told the Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hospital it will cut off funding vital to staying open if it doesn't implement immediate changes. Other hospital news comes from Texas, Virginia, Arizona and Georgia.

More >> New Allegations Of Sexual Abuse, Neglect Of Children In State Care Surface At Psychiatric Hospital In Chicago

• Chicago psych hospital under investigation over reports of alleged child abuse

Why children in institutional care may be worse off now than they were in the 19th century

Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s national apology to the victims of child sexual abuse was a moment of reckoning for the government – an admission of the country’s failures to protect children from abuse in institutions ranging from churches and schools to orphanages and foster homes.

We too often hear about child protection when there is a scandal or crisis. For young people who grow up in out-of-home care, however, we need to go beyond simply reacting to terrible incidents like these and focus more attention on whether our systems are delivering the outcomes they should on a daily basis and for the long-term benefit of young people.

More >> Why children in institutional care may be worse off now than they were in the 19th century

Illinois lawmakers hear complaints about children staying in mental hospitals longer than needed

Illinois lawmakers heard sharp criticism from mental health providers for allowing at-risk youth to stay in mental health facilities longer than they should.

The Senate Human Services Committee invited several providers to talk this week about the issue of Illinois’ youth-in-care finding themselves in facilities beyond medical necessity, commonly called BMN.

More >> Illinois lawmakers hear complaints about children staying in mental hospitals longer than needed

Illinois Lawmakers Search for Solutions for Children Stuck in Psychiatric Hospitals

Illinois lawmakers Tuesday heard testimony from nearly a dozen doctors and child welfare advocates describing circumstances facing children who languish in psychiatric hospitals even after they had been cleared for discharge — circumstances so harrowing that some children chose jail over another night at a psychiatric facility.

State Sen. Julie Morrison, a Democrat from Deerfield, called for the Senate Human Services Committee hearing following a ProPublica Illinois investigation that revealed that hundreds of children in care of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services spent weeks or months at a time locked in psychiatric hospitals after doctors had cleared them for release.

More >> Illinois Lawmakers Search for Solutions for Children Stuck in Psychiatric Hospitals

Fairfield County JFS sent one child to treatment center later accused of abuse, neglect

Fairfield County Child Protective Services has confirmed sending one child to a facility that the state has since shut down amid allegations of child abuse, neglect, and unsanitary living conditions.

The Eagle-Gazette first reported the closure of The Heritage of Hannah Neil's residential center on July 20 — the day it was ordered to have every child removed from its custody. The majority of the children were sent to Hannah Neil by child protective service agencies across Ohio, including one from Fairfield County placed there on April 20.

More >> Fairfield County JFS sent one child to treatment center later accused of abuse, neglect

Scotland’s child abuse inquiry to investigate ‘additional institutions’

The judge leading Scotland’s child abuse inquiry has said a “significant number” of additional institutions are to be investigated by her team.

More >> Scotland’s child abuse inquiry to investigate ‘additional institutions’

Illinois Lawmakers Demand Explanation on Children Stuck in Psychiatric Hospitals

Illinois lawmakers have asked state child welfare officials to explain why they routinely fail to find better homes for hundreds of children in psychiatric hospitals, leaving them trapped for weeks and sometimes months.

State Sen. Julie Morrison, a Democrat from Deerfield, called for a public hearing after a ProPublica Illinois investigation last week revealed that children in the care of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services are confined to psychiatric hospitals after physicians have cleared them for release.

More >> Illinois Lawmakers Demand Explanation on Children Stuck in Psychiatric Hospitals

ProPublica Illinois Investigates ‘Stuck Kids’ in Psychiatric Hospitals

A ProPublica Illinois investigation co-published this month with The Atlantic outlines a disturbing pattern when it comes to the care of children in Illinois psychiatric hospitals.

Hundreds of children between 2015 and 2017 were forced to stay in these hospitals after they should have been released, the investigation found. They were under the care of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, which had nowhere else to send them, according to the report. In some cases, they stayed for months longer than medically necessary.

More >> ProPublica Illinois Investigates ‘Stuck Kids’ in Psychiatric Hospitals

Hundreds of Illinois children left in psychiatric hospitals weeks or months longer than necessary, report says

Hundreds of children in the care of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services who are admitted into psychiatric hospitals have been left there long after they have been cleared to leave, according to a new report.

A ProPublica Illinois investigation found that out of nearly 6,000 psychiatric hospitalizations of children in DCFS care between 2015 and 2017 nearly 30 percent were held beyond medical necessity, instead of going into foster care or a residential treatment facility.

More >> Hundreds of Illinois children left in psychiatric hospitals weeks or months longer than necessary, report says

Kids in psych center say staff sexually, physically abused them. Why didn’t officials listen?

In April, a 17-year-old with a history of suicide attempts and depression escaped from a south Charlotte psychiatric hospital. Staff members who caught him used unnecessary force, the teen said, and threatened to beat him up if he told anyone.

At the same facility in September, according to court and police records, a teenage girl said she had sex with a staff member. A grand jury later indicted the Strategic Behavioral Center employee on a charge of statutory rape.

More >> Kids in psych center say staff sexually, physically abused them. Why didn’t officials listen?