Metro East Sun

Rep. Charlie Meier (R-Okawville) and the Illinois House of Representatives formally congratulated the Chicago Tribune for its award-winning coverage of documented harm in state-funded group homes.

"The three-part series published by the Chicago Tribune, which exposed the abuse and neglect that unfortunately occurred in group homes throughout the state, was in part due to the Murray Parents Association bringing their concerns to light,” Meier said. “The story had to be told in order to further prevent these incidents of abuse and neglect from ever happening again.”

The Tribune won the 2016 Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism for the series. Told in three parts, “Suffering in Secret” exposes 1,311 cases of documented harm in group homes for the developmentally disabled, including at least 42 deaths connected to abuse or neglect, in the past six years.

“This Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism will help ensure the story of abuse and neglect that occurred is not forgotten as it will be printed in newspapers throughout the country,” said Meier. “I am hopeful this story will cause other states to reevaluate how they care for the developmentally disabled by making sure what happened in our state doesn’t occur in their state.”