Developmental center layoffs spur calls to investigate abuse of disabled
[September 01, 2026]
By Sean Reed | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Illinois is laying off more than 500 workers at a
mental health and developmental center in Southern Illinois, coinciding
with a decrease in patients and prompting criticism from Republicans.
The Illinois Department of Human Services announced it would be laying
off half of the staff, about 524 people, from the Choate Mental Health
and Development Center in Southern Illinois.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker defended the decrease in patient and staff numbers at
the facility Friday.
“This is one facility with one set of issues, and I said this a couple
of years ago that if we couldn't resolve some of the challenges there,
that the only option that we really would have is to stand down that
facility,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker noted that residents of the facility will be able to choose
their preferred placement elsewhere as the facility’s scope shrinks.
According to a March memo from IDHS and Pritzker’s office, the Choate
facility’s scale down is part of a wider plan to repurpose the facility
in partnership with Southern Illinois University, while “expanding
support for families and individuals to pursue opportunities for
community-based living.”
Community Integrated Living Arrangements, or CILAs, are a newer solution
the state has moved patients toward in the wake of developmental centers
being wound down statewide.
State Rep. Charlie Meier, R-Okawville, a staunch advocate for disability
rights in Springfield, spoke at a town hall alongside some Republican
colleagues, responding to the state announcement.
Meier argued that community living doesn’t properly support many
developmentally disabled Illinoisans, and they have a right to choose
where they are treated under federal law.
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“They are breaking federal law. The Olmstead Rule clearly states
everybody has a choice to where they want to be,” Meier said. “That
population that we’re serving, most CILAs don’t want.”
Meier noted he’s seen evidence of abuse and neglect of disabled
residents in CILAs, which are privately operated facilities that
IDHS regulates. He also said the department has not investigated
specific cases, even after he’s passed legislation requiring more
investigation efforts.
“They have to report every 911 call to the state of Illinois. But in
two years’ time, because I got that bill through, they don’t have to
look at them because DHS has not been able to determine the
definition of an emergency call, so they sit on the thing,” Meier
said.
On Monday, Meier’s office released a statement reiterating some of
his criticisms and calling on IDHS Secretary Dulce Quintero’s
resignation.
Director of Behavioral Health for Southern Illinois Healthcare,
Laura Herzog, also addressed community members at the town hall and
noted the significance of the facility.
“Every level of care in behavioral health has its place, and the
level of care that is provided at Choate is singular. There’s
nothing else like it in Southern Illinois,” Herzog said. “The
patients that are treated at Choate are separate than the patients
that I would see.”
She said the available resources at any given psychiatric hospital
are not the same, and Choate provides services for patients with
more serious illnesses that other area hospitals can’t handle.
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