Choate Mental Health and Development Center

At a remote mental health facility, a culture of cruelty persists despite decades of warnings

September 4, 2022 | By MOLLY PARKER, Lee Enterprises Midwest and BETH HUNDSDORFER, Capitol News Illinois

This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Capitol News Illinois and Lee Enterprises. Over a year ago, the security chief at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in southern Illinois sent an email to the head of the state agency that operates the facility, warning her of dangerous conditions inside. “What I…