Michigan state representative calls for action amid alleged abuse at state-run mental health facilities
LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - One Republican Michigan state representative says she's been working on getting answers to disturbing allegations of abuse at state-run mental health facilities for children but says her party affiliation is preventing her from gaining much traction.
State Rep. Jamie Thompson called for action on how state-run mental health facilities operate. Thompson's latest attempt comes after a lawsuit alleges that a 9-year-old patient at the Hawthorn Center was assaulted and employees did not intervene.
"There have been allegations of gross neglect, over and over, and these concerns have not only been reiterated by one family member but by the multiple family members I have spoken to over the last eight to ten months," Thompson said. "I am holding this press conference today to call for action and accountability."
Thompson says that despite her work to draw attention to these problems, she hasn't seen any progress. So far, she says, she has gone to the state auditor general and the chairs of House committees, but the issue hasn't received a hearing.
"If I have been beating the drum on this since June, either someone is being protected within the Department of Health and Human Services Community Mental Health, or they are not addressing my concerns because I have an "R" behind my name. I don't know what other answer we can come up with," she said.
"It is very frustrating because how do you just let something like this go?" asked Jami Vaughn, the mother of a child who was injured in a fight at the Hawthorn Center in 2023. "How do you allow something like this where somebody could be even more seriously hurt than my son or die? How do you just ignore this? It's unacceptable."
READ: Lawsuit seeks $100M, claims employees allowed 9-year-old Hawthorn Center patient to be attacked
Vaughn's son wound up with injuries to his face and mouth after a fight inside the Walther Reuther Psychiatric Hospital in Westland.
"What happened in there was a fight night," said Arnold Reed, an attorney for the Vaughns. "The adults, what they did was completely reprehensible. They not only instigated, they allowed another 15-year-old to attack and brutally beat our 9-year-old client."
Speaker Joe Tate and Democratic leadership within the House Committee on Behavioral Health were unavailable Thursday to comment.