CW: Institulization & Abuse
Aaron Bass appreciates some aspects of Shapiro Developmental Center, a facility home to over 500 others on a property along the Kankakee River. It initially housed Illinois residents with disabilities nearly 150 years ago. He enjoys spending time outside, playing bingo, and visiting Burger King, the dollar store, or the local library to watch scary movies.
But Bass, a 39-year-old with a mild intellectual disability, says he wants something more. “I want to see what it looks like … freedom,” he said in an interview at the Kankakee Public Library, about a mile from the sprawling Shapiro campus. Bass is one of hundreds of people living in state-run developmental institutions who have asked to be moved, usually to smaller group homes in the neighborhood that provide more independence.
While some applaud Gov. JB Pritzker for bringing increased attention to the issue, the battles for placement in many cases highlight the state’s persistent struggle to provide options for people with complex needs. In January, a watchdog group discovered “concerning barriers” for people attempting to move out of the Choate Developmental Center nearly two years after the Pritzker administration announced plans to relocate roughly half of Choate’s residents following years of reported resident abuse that resulted in more than a dozen criminal charges against staff members.
One resident, Blaine Reichard lived at Choate Developmental Center. He refused to pull up his pants one morning. According to a 700-page state police investigation obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, many witnesses informed the Illinois State Police that immediately after this discussion, Reichard was brought to the floor, restrained by four mental health technicians, and repeatedly hit in the face.
In the United States, about 16,000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, or IDD, live in institutions. According to a report from the University of Minnesota published last year that tracked such institutions serving more than 15 people, Illinois was behind Texas in the number of people housed in state-run residential facilities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in fiscal year 2020.
Institutional care is also very expensive. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that home and community-based services cost 50% less than institutional care. In 2020, KFF, which was formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that the average annual cost per person for home and community-based services averaged slightly more than $36,000, whereas institutional costs averaged more than $47,000.
Disabled people deserve to live in their communities rather than being institutionalized. Institutional care is much more expensive than care in the community. Disabled people should be able to have a say in where they live.
Sources:
Chidambaram, Priya, and Alice Burns. “How Many People Use Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports and How Much Does Medicaid Spend on Those People?” KFF, KFF, 14 Dec. 2023, http://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/how-many-people-use-medicaid-long-term-services-and-supports-and-how-much-does-medicaid-spend-on-those-people/.
Hundsdorfer, Beth, and Molly Parker. “A Disabled Young Patient Was Sent to Get Treatment. He Was Abused Instead. And He Wasn’t the Last.” ProPublica, ProPublica, 2 Sept. 2022, https://www.propublica.org/article/illinois-choate-mental-health-abuse-beatings?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=majorinvestigations&utm_content=river.
Olander, Olivia, and Jeremy Gorner. “People with Developmental Disabilities Can Wait Years for Community Placements, State Records Show.” Chicago Tribune, Chicago Public Media, 3 Mar. 2025, http://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/03/03/sodc-cila-transitions/.
Roppolo, Michael. “16,000 People with Disabilities Are in State-Operated Institutions. This Is How Experts Say Health Care Should Change.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 30 Apr. 2024, http://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/16000-people-disabilities-institutions-no-place-like-home-cbs-reports/.