Death & Rape Forces "Care Facility" To Close Their Doors

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

So let's talk about this New York Times story. It's suicides and rapes at prized mental health center.

Yeah. There was this mental health center called Timberline Knolls in Chicago, run by this massive group, Acadia, that basically ran these treatment facilities across the country. And what we saw in Chicago, which took place for years and years, which it has now been shut down, but, rape, they had fight clubs with some of these people, overall abuse, people dying accidentally, people being allowed to unalive themselves intentionally due to a complete lack of supervision. But it was mostly the sexual assaults that went unreported. These women would go to the higher ups at the place and say, listen, this therapist is raping us. They waited weeks before they even bothered to call the police to look into it. Meanwhile, the therapist got to stay there and possibly still commit more sexual assaults on these very vulnerable women who couldn't leave. They had nowhere else to go, and this is what was happening to them and the business did virtually nothing.

You know, I can't say I'm shocked. Here at Leven Papantonio, I have sued these facilities all across the country. We've had 'em shut down. We've gotten money for victims, from a children's perspective, right. So some of these places house children. This is a facility for an adult. But when you have the juxtaposition of money and lack of regulation and vulnerable people, this is what we see. And Acadia, their name pops up a lot in these lawsuits, as well as a handful of others that have started these for-profit mental health/prison facilities around the country. This is just one of the most recent examples.

And what we've seen a lot too with these organizations is that it mainly was for substance abuse. People going for rehab or people with mild mental disorders that they wanted to get worked out and then obviously would be able to leave, re-enter society. But recently they said, you know what? We're not getting enough money, so let's reach out to their little salespeople, I guess you would call them. Go talk to families with a family member that's autistic. Go talk to these families with somebody who really is not that bad, but maybe there's a problem we can exploit. Maybe they go to the casino a little too much, let's bring them in and get this money, because it's all about profit. It's not about helping any of these people. It's pack the beds. We won't hire as many staffers, so we save money there while we're making more over here. And the lack of proper staffing, the lack of vetting for the people they're bringing in is what leads to all of these problems that we have seen. Again, not just with Timberline Knolls, but in these institutions across the country in every state. This is not limited to, oh, this is only up North. It happens in Alabama. It's happened here in Florida, in California, in Texas, everywhere, this is taking place.

Well, I've certainly had to fly all across the country, both working at legislative fixes. In fact, one of the heroines of this story, oddly enough, is Paris Hilton. We've had her speak and we've worked with her charity organization to change the laws in some of these states. I want to be clear, the hiring practices of some of these places is what I like to call the mirror test. They hold a mirror under your nose, and if it fogs up, you're qualified. And these are the people that are working 12, 15 hour shifts that are supposed to be supervising them. They're not doing background checks. The sexual assault, the suicides, the beatings at these facilities is truly horrific and the states are not doing enough to regulate and supervise them. And then when you take them into court, they say, oh, well, we're certified by some organization that is owned by the industry. And then they try to confuse juries. It's really disgusting and I'm glad our viewers are being educated about this, because if you or a loved one is suffering with mental health or behavioral problems, or drug addiction, do your research. Read the reviews online. Talk to somebody who's been there if you can, because they're selling you on something.