The problems at Illinois’ development service centers apparently are much bigger than initially suspected.

It was just a month ago when reports of physical abuse of patients at the Choate Mental Health and Development Center were reverberating around the state.

Following a scathing inspector general’s report on conditions there, the Pritzker administration announced grand plans for positive changes.

“The ongoing care, health, and welfare of our residents remains our top priority and we will continue to work diligently to provide the highest quality care,” pledged Grace Hou, director of the state’s Department of Human Services.

But now comes a news report that “shows the the problems at Choate are common throughout the statewide system.”

Reporters working jointly for Lee Enterprises and Capitol News Illinois came across evidence that the governor’s pledge to “reshape the way the state approaches care for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities” will require more work than initially acknowledged.

“People with developmental disabilities living in Illinois’ publicly run institutions have been punched, slapped, hosed down, thrown about and dragged across rooms; in other cases, staff failures contributed to patient harm and death, state police and internal investigative reports show,” the news report states.

Illinois operates seven centers that are home to about 1,600 residents and run from the bottom to the top of the state. They have been the subject of roughly 200 criminal investigations into employee misconduct since 2012.

Department overseers announced policy changes to both discourage misconduct as well as make it easier to investigate. But it’s a sad state of affairs when cameras are required to protect residents of these facilities from those who are supposed to be looking out for their welfare.

Under the category of “particularly surprising” comes the news that chieftains have retained the top three managers at Choate after promising, among other things, new leadership.

Hou explained her decision to retain these administrators by saying the facility needs leaders “who know Choate inside and out, who have relationships with the residents and the parents and the staff to lead us through this challenging time.”

Group blame is not a good thing. People need to be judged on their own merit.

But the problems revealed at these seven facilities are systemic, reflecting the quality — or lack of it — of leadership.

Reports by both the inspector general and news outlets reveal that it was common for abuse to be covered up by means either of intimidation or conspiracies of silence.

But what’s the solution?

Because of its nature, working at developmental centers can be difficult and frustrating. Staff vacancies are a big problem, but so, too, are some of those who are on the job.

A step up in security is mandatory, just as is additional training and resources. At the same time, the state must embrace an open atmosphere that encourages reporting of misconduct.

One problem investigators have found is that targets of abuse make perfect victims because they are often unable to describe what happened to them and who did it.

In other words, these men and women are mostly helpless. It’s the state’s job to reverse the disgracefully failed status quo and see they are properly cared for.