A mother is demanding change after her child was beaten while at a state-run mental health hospital.
Jamie Vaughn brought her child to the Hawthorne facility, which is being housed inside the Walter Reuther Psychiatric Hospital in Westland.
Vaughn said after three weeks, her 10-year-old was beaten, and injured, and that state employees allowed the attack to occur. She is taking her fight to Lansing and demanding change.
“No child should ever have to endure what my son did. No parents should have to deal with it either,” Vaughn said.
Vaughn said her son was beaten by another mental health patient, a minor who was allowed to chase her son down through the halls of the state-run hospital and then beat him. There is footage of the staff stomping on the child’s fingers before the attack.
Vaughn, her attorney, and Rep. Jamie Thompson are asking lawmakers to make changes at state-run hospitals.
“I am calling on Democrat leadership in the House, including committee chairs, and the speaker of the house to do the right thing. Move forward on these hearings. We need to be a voice for these families and these children, their safety and their well-being depend on it,” Thompson said.
Vaughn said her son still feels the effects of the attack. He keeps asking what happened. She fears that it will happen to another family if things don’t change soon.
There is still no word on if hearings will be held. In the meantime, an audit is being done of the state-run hospitals and that begins in April.
Hawthorn was the child’s psych hospital where they held the unannounced active shooter drill that frightened staff, and child patients. You can find all of our investigations into the facility here.