Some of our most vulnerable youth have been the victims of alleged abuse at Streamwood Behavioral Health Center – one of Illinois’s largest psychiatric hospitals.
The Chicago Tribune reportsthat the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) has found that DCFS children being treated at Streamwood Behavioral Health Center have been “chemically restrained” and given dangerous combinations of drugs in an attempt to control their behavior. The UIC report went on to find that Streamwood is “so understaffed as to be counter-therapeutic.” Children who were in desperate need of counseling and positive behavioral intervention plans were instead provided with high doses of drugs, physical restraints and seclusion to deal with their behavior. The UIC study also reports on drug overdoses being provided to a child as young as 6 and on serious psychotropic medications being provided to children without the required DCFS permission.
Streamwood has provided care to approximately 475 Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) children since 2007. Streamwood is owned by Psychiatric Solutions Inc. – a large for profit behavioral health company. DCFS has reacted strongly to the UIC report and has put Streamwood on notice that it must change its ways or DCFS will find other appropriate placement for children needing psychiatric hospital care.
Unnecessary chemical restraints are a form of abuse. Providing medication without the guardian’s consent and providing incorrect doses of medication to children are forms of medical malpractice.
As citizens of Illinois, we should all be concerned about the treatment of one of our most vulnerable populations. They deserve adequate medical care – as do all patients of psychiatric hospitals. If you, or a loved one, have been hurt at Streamwood or any other psychiatric facility in the state of Illinois then we encourage you to contact an experienced Illinois medical malpractice attorney to discuss your rights.