Abuse Allegations Lead To Closure of Aurora School

AURORA, IL — Allegations of sexual, physical and emotional abuse against students living at a residential school in Aurora have led to the shutdown of the facility.

Northern Illinois Academy (NIA) announced that the for-profit therapeutic day school will terminate its contracts with the state of Illinois and relinquish its license with the Department of Children and Family Services.

NIA houses youth ages 6-21 who have mental illness and behavioral issues. After noting problems occurring within the facility, the state contracted with non-profit Equip for Equality to monitor and report on what was happening behind closed doors. The organization advocates on behalf of people with disabilities.

The group's investigators fanned out, doing on-site monitoring, video review, as well as interviews with students, guardians, police and NIA staff.

NIA is operated by Sequel Youth and Family Services. The for-profit company has announced closures of 12 facilities since 2019. NIA will be added to that list.

A 41-page review released last week by the non-profit shows accusations of battery by NIA staff (students being thrown on the ground and dragged to their rooms), isolation (being barricaded inside their rooms), sexual assault, improper restraint and failure to report significant incidents to DCFS when necessary.

Monitors spent approximately 1,600 staff hours at NIA on five separate days this February conducting their review.

The group also interviewed approximately 23 staff members, 19 students served by NIA (past and present), 19 guardians and family members and seven stakeholders, many of whom had negative things to say about the school.

Despite the report’s findings, NIA officials maintain that they did nothing wrong.

When contacted Tuesday about the accusations, NIA would not entertain questions, instead referring reporters to a written statement issued by the school.

In the statement, school officials denied allegations laid forth in the Equip for Equality review and said they are “deeply troubled by what appear to be extensive factual inaccuracies and mischaracterizations about our program.”

NIA said it plans to prepare a more in-depth response to the allegations once it fully reviews the report’s finding.

“At this time, our number one priority is to ensure the safe transfer of youth to appropriate placements,” the NIA statement read. "It has been our privilege to help make a meaningful difference in their lives, and the lives of so many others.”

Several academy students, however, claim in the review that there was no “meaningful difference” made inside the facility. In fact, several guardians describe their students’ worsening behavior as a result of incidents that occurred at NIA — incidents that students were too afraid to report for fear of retaliation, they said, and incidents that some are still afraid to address.

The problems occurring at NIA are not unknown to the Aurora Police who said they were “very concerned” about the safety of the children at the school. Police recalled several instances where students had fled the facility, including one student who left the property twice while naked.

On a cold day in March of this year, another student was found wet and shivering outside a local business wearing only shorts, a T-shirt and socks. Another runaway student ended up the victim of human trafficking.

Aurora police also reported occasions where NIA staff would “dump” students off in a local psychiatric unit and refuse to allow them to come back.

Meetings with the school to address and resolve these issues have “not been productive,” police said.

But, it wasn’t always this way. An Illinois Screening, Assessment and Support Services (SASS) worker told Equip for Equality that the school “used to be a good facility” that would submit paperwork and be responsive to complaints, but that changed over the last 12 to 18 months following the departure of the former NIA director.

Since then, calls have gone unanswered, and NIA’s responsibility to report neglect has become a non-priority for staff, the state worker said. She called NIA “detrimental” to student health.

Equip for Equality monitors did note some positive efforts being made at the school, like some staff engaging with students and carrying out their duties. This was an improvement over NIA’s 2019 review.

“An over-arching theme was that NIA has some good staff, just not enough of them,” the group said.

Understaffing has led to students running away from the facility, often leading to dangerous situations. The lack of supervision has also allegedly led to fights between students, self harm, sexual abuse and preventable physical behavior interventions, Equip for Equality said.

Many of these offenses should have been reported to DCFS but were not. This practice leaves state agencies with “the inaccurate perception that these extremely concerning events are not a daily occurrence at NIA,” the report noted.

Staff members were reported to be sleeping during shifts and playing on their cell phones instead of watching the students. Students were also sent to their rooms so staff could avoid dealing with them, Equip for Equality said.

Guardians reported that incidents concerning their students were not always reported to them and that communication from the school was sparse.

Under the impression that her son had been restrained two times at NIA, a mother was shocked to hear from her son that the actual number was 10. The boy said he did not tell his therapist about the staff’s neglect because he was afraid.

Students also complained about having little private time to talk to their families. They were allowed five minutes a day on the phone and 15 minutes on the weekends. The phone calls, however, took place in the middle of the room instead of in private where students might feel safer disclosing abuse and neglect to family members, Equip for Equality said.

The NIA facilities were described in the reports as “dirty and uninviting.” Monitors found broken water fountains, a lack of shower curtains, no first aid kit, and other infractions. Parents reported a lack of hygiene, including overgrown hair and nails and poor oral hygiene habits.

Equip for Equality also noted that NIA’s educational and therapeutic services are not meeting the needs of its students.

Interviews with NIA employees showed that they were generally unaware of the children’s treatment goals, communication accommodations and safety plans, Equip for Equality said.

A student who had spent a year and a half at NIA said he had 10 different therapists during that time and that treatment plans were never followed up on.

Outside the therapeutic aspect of NIA, students are also supposed to receive an education. On-site monitoring showed that students were not being assisted during the online learning portion of their day, and the only activity offered to students during a span of multiple monitor visits was a single, 4 minute activity.

Between alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse, the conditions of life inside the facility prompted the NIA review, and ultimately led to the school’s closure. Students will now be transferred to new facilities where they can hopefully get the treatment and education they need Equip for Equality said.

Patch has reached out to the Aurora Police Department requesting documents regarding all calls from and regarding NIA.