Hawthorn's Childrens Psychiatric Hospital 1901 Pennsylvania Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63133

"I was a patient here 8 years ago. It was by far the most traumatic experience I've ever had. The workers there didn't actually care for the patients, some even taunting the kids when they were upset. They were always looking for a reason to restrain the kids and put them in "the quiet room" which had a window so all the other kids could see what was going on inside. The food was not great, but that's what you can expect from a state hospital. The "outside time" you had was almost like a prison yard; barbed wire on top of the 10ft fence they had. They advised us to make friends with the other students, and then once you would establish a relationship with said kids, you'd be carefully watched in every. single. setting. The educational class they had was garbage. I was 12 and they were giving me addition and subtraction lesson... And when I told them that I had already learned that in school, they'd become argumentative and demanded you finish what they'd given you otherwise you'd get your yard time taken away. I stayed in the adolescents side for a few weeks before they switched me to a cottage. (I'll admit, the cottages were a lot better than the rest of the facility but it came with catches.) They were a total of maybe 5 workers total that you could tell actually cared about the kids. Most of the workers are abusive either mentally, physically, or emotionally. I'm still recovering over the "treatment" I received here to this day. Reading the other reviews and seeing that nothing has changed over the 8 years of me being there breaks my heart for the hundreds of other kids that had to go through the same thing I did. By far the worst place you can send ANYONE to, let alone children. If you care about your child and their mental wellbeing, PLEASE I'm begging you, don't send them here. They could be permanently emotionally damaged from their stay in this hell hole. I have diagnosed PTSD from this place, I've been in therapy and on medications for years now. I would never recommend this place even to my enemies. This place needs to be shut down. EDIT: I even remember one girl that had gotten restrained clearly. The nurses were laughing at her when they restrained her in her room and sedated her, making jokes about what had just happened. They'd even show the other kids the girl in this state as a warning. It made me sick to my stomach."

"I worked at this facility at around 2016!!! I was absolutely appalled by the way these unwell young people were treated. It was like a military camp, with very little compassion. I eventually reported a member of staff for child abuse as I overheard her telling another member of staff how she enjoyed upsetting the children to the point they would need restraining as she enjoyed restraining them. When I reported this and other staff for harassment the person in that interview laughed it off. The issues here are from the top down. Unless the management style is overhauled and drastically changed they will always be recruiting less than desireable people, because the good and effective staff just leave due to the intolerable working conditionsl oved all of the kids and wanted so badly to make things better for them, they called me Miss Harry Potter as I'm from the U.K. I think of the children I worked with often and hope what little interaction I had with them made a positive impact. Please if you can find another facility"

"I spent around 9 months here when I was 17 in 2011-2012 and I still have nightmares about it. The staff range from ineffective to down right abusive. I was there to get help for my mental health issues, however they treated me as if I had no illness and was simply acting bad. They would tell us being there was not a punishment meanwhile treating us like delinquents being punished. If you have a child who needs help, I beg you, PLEASE do not send them here. It will not help, and may cause more harm. I cannot stress this enough...."

"When my son needed psychiatric care children's hospital told us hawthorn was our only option due to my insurance. When we first got there we met with a team and my son was evaluated and came up with a plan for therapy. The staff discussed resources for support and plans for when he got discharged. Everything seemed on the up and up but I quickly discovered that these people have no interest in helping children. The therapists will argue and act like children themselves. One of the therapists tried to get me to lie to my child. At one point I called at the designated time to talk to my child, and they wouldn't let me speak to him because he had his hood on inside the building. Another therapist told me your child shouldn't be here it's traumatic for him, you need to take him home and seek care on the outside. When I asked about having him discharged I was told he could only go to another psychiatric facility and my insurance would only cover two weeks at which time he would be discharged and they would report me to dfs for not seeking medical care for him. They said that dfs would then take custody of him and he would just wind up back at their facility. His therapist told him "fake it till you make it." He was held there for 8 agonizing months and they still wouldn't discuss the possibility of releasing him. Then one day out of the blue, suddenly he was well and going to be released. I learned from one of the staff that they hold onto their patients until they have another child to take their place. They put three meals in front of him and shoved pills down his throat. It wasn't a positive experience for any of us. Seek other options."

"My son who is now 15 years old, was there for about a year when he was 13-14 years old. My son has some severe mental disabilities with aggressive behaviors. At first this place seemed great but after time the therapy just seemed repetitive, no help at all in that area. The psychiatrist were great and were wanting to try different medications, which most of the time I was agreeable. I got a call from the psychiatrist about adding an injection, which after much consideration, I agreed. Then all of a sudden the therapist want to discharge him, stating they cannot help my son any longer because he was destroying their newly redone cottages, isn't it supposed to be made safe for children with mental disorders? They gave me one week to set up psychiatrist, school (he got kicked out of the school he was in for behaviors), and therapy. I explained that I couldn't get all of that done in such a short time frame and they told me that there was nothing they could do. I had to go to the director just to request an extension and finally got everything in order for him to be discharged. I explained to them that he wasn't safe to be there then how is he safe to be in the community?!?!? They would not hear anything that I had to say. Since then my son has been hospitalized at 4× and now has criminal charges for assault. Do not waste your time and effort if your child needs real help!"