Were You Abused at Aunt Martha's Integrated Care Center in Chicago?

According to the Chicago Tribune, a former resident filed a civil lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court in late May 2026 alleging that Aunt Martha's Health and Wellness and its security contractor, A-Alert Security Services, failed to protect her from repeated sexual abuse and grooming while she was a minor resident in early 2024.¹ These civil allegations have not been proven in court. An attorney for Aunt Martha's declined to comment on the pending litigation, and the Tribune reported that efforts to reach A-Alert representatives were unsuccessful.¹

In March 2026, a Cook County jury convicted former Aunt Martha's manager Trulon Henry of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child; multiple youths placed at the center reported being groomed and sexually abused while living there.² Through his attorney, Henry has filed a motion for a new trial, which remains pending.^2,1 Court records show Henry worked at the facility from January 2023 to April 2024, and five children ages 12 to 17 disclosed grooming and sexual abuse.² Reporting indicates Henry — a former University of Illinois football player — had a prior armed-robbery conviction and federal prison time before he was hired.^3,4,5

A second worker, Antonio Hopkins, employed through third-party security firm A-Alert, was charged with abuse of a child and later failed to appear for a court hearing.^6,7,4 These remain allegations; charges are not convictions.

DCFS reportedly began investigating allegations at the center in August 2023 but did not stop sending children there until May 2024, when it imposed 24-hour on-site monitoring shortly before closure.^8,4 DCFS logged 3,850 "unusual incident" reports — filed when residents were physically aggressive toward peers or staff — over the center's roughly five and a half years of operation.^4,5 After the closure, records show a longtime DCFS official sought to have child-protection plans backdated during an inspector-general investigation — later described by officials as a "misstep."⁴

Illinois lawmakers filed Senate Resolution 1229 calling for an independent Auditor General review of DCFS's handling of contracts and oversight related to Aunt Martha's and A-Alert.^9,8

Aunt Martha's Integrated Care Center was a DCFS-contracted foster-care and residential placement facility for youth. It was not a juvenile detention center. Young people were placed there through the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, foster care, court supervision, or other residential youth programs.

The facility, located on Chicago's South Side, closed its doors in June 2024.