Dover Behavioral Health System

"The doctors and most of the staff here are helpful and truly care about the patients. Inpatient rehabilitation is dependent upon your intake and which wing they deem you competent for. The lack of care from certain staff especially tech’s at a low level is evident. The food in the cafeteria is adequate but sometimes they use not going to meals as a form of punishment. This is entirely unacceptable especially since sometimes this is the only time a patient may leave the unit all day. The amount of time given to talk therapy is not sufficient especially on the stabilization wings like “West”. Visitation hours vary by wing and can change times at the drop of a hat. Be sure to confirm with a trusted staff member. My doctor while I was inpatient was Dr Mirza who is thorough and knowledgeable but he has too much workload and paperwork requirements with little help from outside sources. He definitely needs more time to not rush thru the caseload. Tessa is a very good social worker. The techs that deserve a shout out for their use of de-escalation techniques are Eric, Mr. Brown and mostly all the male techs especially evening and night shift on west. The day shift including the charge nurses other than Ashley are horrible. The one even threatened me to say if she ever saw me on the “outside” - she would “punch my lights out”!! So unprofessional and uncaring. Somebody needs a job replacement or deserves to be fired."

"The staff at Dover Behavioral Health are outstanding. Our 16 year old daughter appreciates the consistent schedule, the group therapy and opportunity to earn privileges. Michele, the main psychiatrist, checks on her every day. Our daughter likes her very much! Her case worker, Nicki, is both kind, smart and challenges our daughter. The caring staff have helped our daughter go from an out of control crises to a calm, thoughtful and positive outlook with much hope for the future. Everyone we have met and communicated with are a 5 PLUS in our book. We are so very grateful at how they have much such a positive impact on our daughter."

"I really wish to give zero stars. Was inpatient twice at 14 and 16 (I am 22 now) and came out worse each time. The first time the doctor I had drugged me up to the point I couldn't keep my eyes open and when my parents brought it up all he could day was, "she can't kill herself if she's asleep." Second visit was yelled at by full grown adults about how they should be in there instead because of how much worse their lives were and was promptly booty juiced (a tranquilizer that isn't even allowed on full grown inmates) because I told her to go inpatient then."

"If I could give zero stars I would. My adolescent child came for an evaluation for telling their therapist they had a suicide plan. We came. We did the evaluation. They said she should stay, she would be with other kids her age dealing with depression and suicidal ideation, have therapy all day, get her school work and most importantly be safe and that she was NOT in prison. The exact opposite happened. They increased her dosage of anti depressants to the next level. That is all. I could have done that. She was verbally assaulted, bullied and threatened by her room mate who was aggressive, violent and talked about hurting and killing others. There were other children who threatened violence to the non violent children. A child threatened to stab my child with a spork. That same boy threatened to stab others with pencils. Children had to physically fight off their attackers until staff EVENTUALLY broke up the attacks. My child’s room mate punched the wall next to my child. It took staff up to 10-15 minutes to check in on the altercations and separate the aggressor from the victim. They housed violent, aggressive children with non violent children. How is a child supposed to focus on healing when they are scared and in survival mode?!?!?! They can not. My child was denied tylenol for almost two days for an earache. I was never notified that she had an earache. She was never brought to a doctor. The child that punched the wall had a swollen and discolored hand. They have not gotten her medical care. A child fell playing in the gym and hurt their wrist. Again, no medical care was given. My child was told they could receive visitors and phone calls from friends and family whenever they needed. That was a lie. They had one hour once a week with two people, one having to be a parent, and no minors. My child was not allowed to call minors or receive phone calls. My child could make one phone call after 6pm for 10-15 minutes. My child was LOCKED IN the “day room” all day. Kids fought over the television. Kids fought over the music. There was no school work from my child’s school. They had a small window to be outside. They were locked out of their bedrooms after wake up. There was NO SAFE SPACE FROM THE VIOLENCE. This is NOT A MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY!!!! THIS A DANGEROUS PRISON!!!! We were told she could leave when she wanted because she was admitted voluntarily and that the average stay is 3-5 days. The social worker told me AFTER MY CHILD WAS ADMITTED, VERBALLY ASSAULTED AND THREATENED WITH VIOLENCE that the minimum stay is 10 days. TEN DAYS. My child now has a trauma they need to process and heal from. My child will be afraid to communicate suicidal ideation due to this trauma. I have to combat that, and work on this new issue instead of simply moving forward from a healthy place. Rockford is guilty of negligence and endangering minors. They are guilty of fraud by telling parents one thing yet doing another. Rockford should be gutted if not closed completely. Rockford should be ashamed of their staff, of their procedures and of the harm they inflict on those that come to them for hell. DO NOT GO HERE FOR HELP!!!! This is a place where people dump those they feel can not be helped or are “throw aways”. This is not a place that focuses on healing, building strategies or safety. There is zero social emotional learning. Rockford was a living hell for my child which I stupidly, willingly, let her be voluntarily admitted into. It is my biggest regret, and will be for life."