Justice Department Explores Taking Action On Violent Illinois Youth Centers
From the Chicago Tribune
Illinois' troubled residential treatment centers for children and teens are drawing the attention of federal authorities after the Tribune documented hundreds of rape and assault allegations and found that state officials kept sending juvenile wards to the most violent facilities.
The Justice Department is exploring whether to intervene in Illinois to ensure the safety of youths at the centers and to improve services for disadvantaged children with mental health problems, according to three people familiar with the matter who described the ongoing discussions on condition that they not be identified.
In a separate action, Illinois' Republican U.S. senator, Mark Kirk, is drafting a letter to the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services requesting an immediate investigation into facilities with numerous cases of physical and sexual assault among patients, his office said. With 1,500 investigators, lawyers and auditors, the inspector general digs out fraud in federal health care programs nationwide.
Kirk also will ask Medicaid officials to consider suspending unsafe and poorly run facilities from the federal health care program, according to his office.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Chicago Tribune
Illinois' troubled residential treatment centers for children and teens are drawing the attention of federal authorities after the Tribune documented hundreds of rape and assault allegations and found that state officials kept sending juvenile wards to the most violent facilities.
The Justice Department is exploring whether to intervene in Illinois to ensure the safety of youths at the centers and to improve services for disadvantaged children with mental health problems, according to three people familiar with the matter who described the ongoing discussions on condition that they not be identified.
In a separate action, Illinois' Republican U.S. senator, Mark Kirk, is drafting a letter to the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services requesting an immediate investigation into facilities with numerous cases of physical and sexual assault among patients, his office said. With 1,500 investigators, lawyers and auditors, the inspector general digs out fraud in federal health care programs nationwide.
Kirk also will ask Medicaid officials to consider suspending unsafe and poorly run facilities from the federal health care program, according to his office.
Read more in our daily News Update...