Illinois’ plan to transition residents from downstate developmental facility has residents waiting months to leave, report says

Midway through a three-year plan initiated by Gov. JB Pritzker to move out roughly half the residents of Choate Developmental Center in downstate Anna following years of reported resident abuse, a watchdog report has found “concerning barriers” to achieving Pritzker’s goals.

Equip for Equality, a federally mandated independent organization helping oversee the governor’s plan, said Wednesday in a midpoint assessment report that Choate residents who are supposed to be transitioning to more home-like settings are waiting too long to be moved or that Illinois officials are sending those residents to other large, state-run facilities.

Pritzker announced in spring 2023 that Choate residents with intellectual or developmental disabilities, who make up about half of the facility’s population, would be moved into either other state-run developmental centers or smaller homes. The governor’s action came after repeated reports that residents at Choate were abused, neglected and otherwise mistreated, including stories by the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica, Lee Enterprises and Capitol News Illinois.

Among the biggest criticisms from advocates was that Illinois persisted in sending people with intellectual or developmental disabilities to large facilities like Choate, while the vast majority of other states have transitioned to community models, which experts say offer a better quality of life for residents.

But in its midway report, Equip for Equality said more than half of the 123 residents slated to leave Choate already have been or will be moved not to such community homes but rather to larger state-wide institutions, “reflecting significant barriers to the state’s commitment to systemic transformation.”

In addition, the report said, 91% of the 33 Choate residents still waiting to be placed in a community home have waited for more than nine months, with 27 waiting more than a year.

The moves to the other state-run facilities or private institutions were being made “often without real consideration of (residents’) preference or ability to benefit from community living,” the report said.

Besides the 33 residents still at Choate but waiting to move to community settings, 31 others are waiting to go into other state-run centers, and six are undecided. About one-third of the 64 people who have gone or are slated to go to other state-run facilities told Equip for Equality they originally preferred to live in a community center.

Equip for Equality found a shortage of needed community options and placement services for people struggling to find providers, plus “inadequate treatment at Choate, and insufficient mental health services” for those making the move.

The problems are not unique to Choate. There is a shortage of community options in central and southern Illinois, and only one staff coordinator each assigned to help residents trying to transition out of Choate and Shapiro Developmental Center in Kankakee, according to the Equip for Equality report.

Paperwork involving individuals’ treatment — including things like supports that have helped or are needed to ensure they can succeed outside centers like Choate — are “in disarray…outdated, inaccurate” or have unverified information, the report said.

In a response shared alongside the Equip for Equality report, the Illinois Department of Human Services, which manages Choate and other state-run treatment centers, said that halfway through the program 48% of eligible Choate residents have moved out.

Of the 48 people who have left Choate, just 10 have gone to community homes; five went to private facilities or moved in with family. The rest were moved to other state-run facilities.

IDHS also said it agreed with the report’s findings but that many of the recommendations were in the process of being implemented. The transition to providing the “least restrictive living arrangements available,” the department said, “requires long-term culture and systems change.”

In some cases, IDHS said, those who transferred to state-run centers had a long-term goal of moving to a community setting nearby and could more easily tour other potential homes if they lived closer.

The state is also working on streamlining paperwork for transfers and shortening transition timelines. IDHS also announced an incentive for opening new three-bed homes and is increasing funding for specialized services in 2025.