A recent Chicago Tribune article highlights findings from a report by University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) that expose harmful and chaotic conditions at Hartgrove Hospital on Chicago's West Side. The UIC Department of Psychiatry has been working with the ACLU of Illinois to conduct reviews of local psychiatric hospitals as a result of a consent decree reached in the case of B.H. v. McEwen that aims to improve care and services for children in DCFS custody.

Ben Wolf, an ACLU attorney, said he was troubled by the situation. The ACLU oversees the services provided to the state's estimated 15,000 foster children as part of the consent decree.

"The scope of the problem and some of the issues of violence and inadequate training were even more troubling than expected," Wolf said. "These are kids who come to a psychiatric hospital in a very vulnerable situation. We need to make sure, either that Hartgrove improves or we stop using it for our clients."

Read the whole thing.