The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) recently announced plans to significantly reduce operations and staffing at the Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna.
Under the plan, Choate’s general residential units serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities will cease operations by September 30, 2026. IDHS will also phase out all 75 civil mental health beds at the facility, stating in a letter to Choate staff that “the need for mental health beds is greater in Northern Illinois.” The reduction is expected to be completed by March 2027, with civil mental health capacity instead being added at Madden Mental Health Center in Chicago.
The announcement comes less than two months after the Pritzker Administration revealed that Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln will eventually close and be replaced by a new women’s correctional facility in the Chicago suburbs. Construction of the replacement facility is expected to take approximately five years.
The Administration’s repeated decisions to move state services and employers away from downstate communities are costing the region valuable jobs and creating uncertainty for employees and their families. In the case of Choate, the changes will also disrupt the lives of vulnerable residents and patients who will be relocated from the facility, in some cases all the way to Chicago.
Choate’s 40-bed forensic developmental disabilities unit will remain in operation.
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