Care & Rehabilitation for Springfield

Pros

• He fixed most of those problems on his own after leaving.
• Leaving the facility felt like a blessing.
• He learned to take nothing and make something, as long as it's healthy.
• He is now a CNA.
• The first building felt very relaxed.

Cons

• The food was awful.
• The staff were negligent.
• The hygiene was absurd.
• The place seemed close to shutting down.
• The second building was highly locked down, isolating residents in a fishbowl-like fence.
• The experience felt more like being imprisoned than receiving care.
• The staff appeared to follow rules rigidly and failed to address basic needs.
• The situation caused exhaustion and hopelessness due to lack of basic resources.
• The reviewer's father snapped when asked for water or the bathroom, worsening the experience.

Review

The account paints a starkly negative picture of a place that was supposed to help but instead felt like a nightmare. The writer describes it as a "horrible place" that, in their own words, felt even worse than jail and, at times, like a concentration camp. The intensity of the feelings is clear from the outset: the environment, the care - or lack thereof - and the daily reality all collided to leave a lasting impression of fear, frustration, and disillusionment. The memory lingers not just as a bad chapter, but as a defining period that shaped how the writer sees institutions of care and control.

Two distinct sections of the facility stand out in the narrative. The first building is depicted as "very relaxed but not entirely," a mix of milder routines and restrictions that probably offered a sliver of comfort compared to what came next. The second building, by contrast, is described as tightly controlled, nearly hermetic in its security. The writer recalls being kept inside a "fishbowl of fence," with outside time curtailed and a sense that climbing or escaping would be futile because the space was designed to prevent movement rather than to support well-being. This stark contrast between spaces within the same facility underscores a broader feeling of inconsistency in how care was administered and how safety was prioritized.

Alongside the architectural divide, the narrative places a sharp spotlight on the people running the place. The staff are portrayed as negligent and overwhelmed by rules that sometimes seemed to overshadow basic human needs. Hygiene issues are labeled as absurd, and the overall care is called into question. Food is described as awful, a detail that matters more than one might expect in a setting where nourishment should anchor a child's sense of basic care and dignity. The author's impression is that the systems in place prioritized checkbox compliance over genuine attention to daily comforts and health.

The personal experience inside this environment is told with a raw honesty that moves beyond general critique. Exhaustion and hopelessness are recurring themes, tied to a lack of vitamin D-3 and the sense that the body and spirit were running on empty. The writer mentions faking a smile to endure the days, a common strategy when hope feels scarce. There's a poignant image of keeping small, portable rocks in a backpack, hinting at the feeling of carrying burdens that could be literal, emotional, or symbolic - an outward sign of trying to hold together when the environment around you seems to fracture. The overarching sense is that, despite the staff's adherence to rules, the internal experience was one of constraint, not empowerment.

Family dynamics also cast a long shadow over the experience. The writer recalls moments when requests for basic needs - water or the bathroom - triggered sharp responses from their father, adding another layer of stress to an already taxing situation. The homecoming, while ultimately a blessing, did not erase the trauma but reframed it; the return to "the outside world" carried its own set of challenges. Yet from this difficult period, a resilient thread begins to emerge: the capacity to observe and respond differently once outside the confines of the place. The writer emphasizes a personal transformation - that they learned to take nothing and make something as long as it's healthy - and credits genuine friends and positive influences with helping them find a path forward.

The timeline adds another layer of gravity and hope. The experience occurred around 2018?2019 when the writer was about 14 to 15 years old. Today, at 19, the writer has become a CNA and reflects on the discharge in May 2019 as a turning point rather than an endpoint. The arc moves from a harrowing, life-threatening-feeling environment to a narrative of growth, credentialing, and a continuing effort to build a healthier life. The transformation is not presented as a simple triumph but as a complex journey paved with difficult memories, hard-earned lessons, and the determination to use those lessons to become someone who can care for others.

Beyond personal recollection, the account carries a charged call for accountability. The author's strong wording - highlighting neglect, questionable hygiene, and punitive living conditions - signals a belief that what happened there deserved scrutiny, if not legal action, and that the institution's current state should be reconsidered. The insistence that "this place NEEDS a lawsuit" or shut down reflects a conviction that reforms are necessary to prevent future harm to other young people who might be placed in similar environments. It's a reminder that care systems must be measured not only by compliance with rules but by tangible improvements in safety, dignity, and well-being.

In the end, the narrative is as much about survival and resilience as it is about critique. It's about surviving a period when care felt secondary to control, and about finding a way forward through honest reflection, supportive relationships, and the determination to turn painful experiences into constructive growth. The writer's later path - as a CNA who has learned to build something meaningful from nothing - serves as a testament to healing and the possibility of transformation, even after a deeply troubled chapter.

Pharmacies

• Walgreens (0.3 miles)
• Walmart Pharmacy (1.5 miles)
• Fashioned by Jaye (1.7 miles)
• CVS Pharmacy (2.6 miles)
• Walgreens (2.7 miles)
• Walgreens (2.8 miles)
• Walgreens (3 miles)

Physicians

• QPS Bio-Kinetic (0.5 miles)
• Bethesda Medical Care (1.6 miles)
• Coxhealth (2.6 miles)
• Rex Eugene Taber, MD (2.6 miles)
• Pratibha Agarwal, MD (2.6 miles)
• Krishnendu Ghosh, MD (2.6 miles)
• Mark Edward Stewart, DO (2.6 miles)

Places of Worship

• Grand Oak Baptist Mission Center (0.7 miles)
• Servicio De Educacion CRSTN Springfield (2 miles)
• Jefferson Ave Baptist Church (2.1 miles)
• First & Calvary Presbyterian Church (2.2 miles)
• Messiah Lutheran Church (2.7 miles)
• Solid Rock Church (2.8 miles)

Restaurants

• Tortilleria Perches (1.1 miles)
• China Wok (1.6 miles)
• Springfield Brewing Company (1.6 miles)
• Kai (1.7 miles)
• Waffle House (1.7 miles)
• Black Sheep Burgers | Shakes (1.8 miles)
• Sonic Drive-In (1.8 miles)

Cafes

• Mudhouse (1.8 miles)
• Gailey's Breakfast Cafe (1.8 miles)
• The Coffee Ethic (1.8 miles)

Parks

• Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden (1.9 miles)
• Nathanael Greene Park (1.9 miles)
• Rutledge-Wilson Farm Park (2.1 miles)
• Phelps Grove Park (2.3 miles)

Hospitals

• Bayless Automotive Companies (2.5 miles)
• Cox Medical Center-North (2.6 miles)
• Emergency Department North (2.6 miles)
• Cox North Hospital (2.6 miles)
• Mercy MRI (2.9 miles)
• St John's Regional Health Center (3 miles)
• Mercy Children's Hospital (3.1 miles)