* From a press release…
Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) Director Candice Jones today issued the following statement:
“The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice today announced it will be closing its Youth Center in Kewanee. The decision to close IYC-Kewanee was difficult, but it is the right decision for the State of Illinois. We considered many factors in arriving at this conclusion, including: national best practices; optimal youth outcomes; ongoing challenges at the facility as highlighted by court-appointed juvenile justice experts and costs to the State. An analysis of each area supported an overall decision to close.
“This decision is about transitioning Illinois to a new model of rehabilitating youth that aligns with national best practices and improves community safety.
“What we know from national research and other states is that youth do best when we work with them in the most appropriate, least-restrictive setting. For misdemeanants and youth with other low-level offenses, that means partnering with proven, effective non-profits to provide resources and work with youth in their communities. It also means that secure custody in state facilities should be reserved for only the highest risk youth who pose a threat to the community.
“The Department’s facilities have historically mirrored adult correctional institutions in policy, programming and procedures, failing to take into account the unique needs of adolescent brain development. By closing this large, maximum-security facility, we will be able to transition to developing smaller, treatment-focused facilities that are proven to be more effective in rehabilitating youth.
“As of February 10, the Department had 436 youth in its care. Our capacity to room youth in single bunks without using confinement, a manner considered to be a best practice, is 989 bunks. Closure of IYC-Kewanee would leave 683 beds. That is enough capacity to comply with best practices, and account for seasonal fluctuations in the number of youth confined. We cannot continue to operate six facilities when the numbers are so clear.
“This closure will also allow IDJJ to reinvest a portion of the cost-savings into community-based programming and reduce overall costs to the State. It will also allow the State to explore repurposing the facility to continue to provide services [to citizens, other populations, etc.]. That’s good for taxpayers, youth, families, our communities and the entire State.”
I’m sure react will be forthcoming.
*** UPDATE *** From the ACLU…
We welcome the announcement that the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice will close the detention facility at Kewanee due to a falling population at the youth center. The ACLU of Illinois always intended our consent decree with the IDJJ (RJ v. Jones) not only to address the services that juveniles receive in facilities like Kewanee, but also to cause the Department to re-examine whether they need to detain so many young people. Clearly that re-examination is yielding results.
With the decision to move youth out of Kewanee, we are hopeful that the IDJJ will now have more resources to improve services and conditions for young people at the remaining five (5) facilities, and to provide necessary services to youth offenders in their own communities. We hope that this is just the first announcement regarding the closing of a youth detention facility, and that we can move to a day when Illinois detains fewer juveniles in far-flung parts of the state.
Edwin C. Yohnka
Director of Communications and Public Policy
American Civil LIberties Union of Illinois
- illinois manufacturer - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 10:43 am:
Downstate loves him? Kewanee lost a 200 plus manufacturer a year or so ago…hang on properity will return when all those companies bring their jobs back because of the turnaround thing.
- Juice - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 10:45 am:
Given the significant reduction in population, this is the right thing to do, though difficult. Find it interesting that Governor Bruce “I’ll take the arrows” Rauner’s name is nowhere in the announcement.
- Anonymous - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 10:48 am:
A logical improvement that should have been made under Quinn.
- tobor - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 10:52 am:
==It also means that secure custody in state facilities should be reserved for only the highest risk youth who pose a threat to the community.==This is where the most dangerous, to others and themselves, were sent. Lock your doors.
- Earnest - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 10:53 am:
>that means partnering with proven, effective non-profits
Assuming one survives the squeeze.
- Juice - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 10:53 am:
Anonymous, Quinn closed two of them.
- 360 Degree TurnAround - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 10:57 am:
Mmm, some more structural reform.
- DuPage - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 11:02 am:
==partnering with proven, effective non-profits==
Translation: Cut state employees and contract out the work.
- @MisterJayEm - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 11:09 am:
“This is where the most dangerous, to others and themselves, were sent. Lock your doors.”
Of course!!1!
When a detention facility is closed everyone in the facility is immediately turned loose! Exactly!! Such a knowledgeable and thoughtful contribution to the discussion.
– MrJM
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 11:10 am:
MrJM +1
- RNUG - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 11:20 am:
== Find it interesting that Governor Bruce “I’ll take the arrows” Rauner’s name is nowhere in the announcement. ==
Probably waiting to see which way the wind blows before claiming it as a victory for his TA …
- MrX - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 11:20 am:
A large part of the population at Kewanee were youth that were facing serious adult charges, but couldn’t be kept in a county jail because they committed the crime while on parole as a juvenile. SB 1560 ended that, now those youth are kept out of IDJJ.
- Ducky LaMoore - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 11:22 am:
I’m from that area. Man oh man. Just go to realtor.com and search Kewanee. Property values can’t get much lower. I feel so bad for those people losing work. Scraps are already pretty thin. I understand the closing, but I don’t like it.
- RNUG - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 11:22 am:
Seriously, Gov Rauner, more actions that this that should be good for BOTH the state and the people being served. This is what the Illinois citizens meant when they voted for your business skills …
- Ducky LaMoore - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 11:31 am:
Next question, the facility was opened in 2001. It is the newest youth facility. Why are we closing the newest facility? (Fighting my regional fight)
- Juice - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 11:49 am:
Ducky LaMoore, I’m also from the area, so I do share some of those concerns. But I imagine most of the youths at the facility are from the Chicago area, and given the steep decline in population my guess is that there is room in St. Charles and Warrenville (which is currently all girls, but I think there are fewer than 15 in the system currently). So yes, it’s new, which is unfortunate, but from a system standpoint, closing Kewanee probably makes the most sense. There’s always a possibility that it can be repurposed for some sort of DOC facility in the future.
- W.S. Wolcott - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 11:53 am:
Can’t wait for the Moffit, Weaver, Anderson react…
- Amalia - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 12:08 pm:
for quite some time now, many juvenile facilities have been on the closure list in Illinois. some were converted to use for adults. There needs to be a more serious discussion of dangerous juveniles and how and where they are handled. victims of crimes by juveniles feel the same pain that victims of adult criminals feel. with fewer facilities for juveniles, placement may be further from the community where they lived. this is also an issue for their fair treatment.
- Stu Padazo - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 12:10 pm:
Yes it is sad to hear that the State is considering closing Kewanee. But, don’t roll over and throw a tantrum like a two year old in the cereal isle! DOC is looking for an answer for their SMI (serious mentally ill)inmates… hmmmm, do you suppose that there is something else in the works for this facility? They are converting the shuttered IYC Joliet facility into an SMI only IDOC facility! Keep your heads up and put this argument out there!
- Pawn - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 12:43 pm:
This is indeed good news, very good news. But it points us once again to the fact that Governor Rauner’s administration is divorced from reality here. He NEEDS to “partner with proven, effective nonprofits” — the very same ones he is holding hostage — for this strategy to be successful. Again, this is good policy and there is good science to back it up. But providers who are on life support will be challenged to participate.
- Here we go again!!! - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 1:26 pm:
They closed Joliet. It was a Max facility for Juvie’s. No one seemed to care. They sent all the bad ones to Kewannee, now it’s Kewannee’s turn. Wherever they send them to from Kewannee, you need to keep your head up because your next. They will keep it up until there are no more Juvenile facilities in the state. It’s not over yet.
- Grass Bowl - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 1:26 pm:
Not a Rauner voter but this is a necessary budget cutting step. In the words of Rich, “More like this, please.”
- Oe - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 1:31 pm:
What some of you don’t realize is that some these “juveniles ” are 6′4″ 300lbs 20 year olds and they’re more violent than the adult inmates
- Joe Cannon - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 1:37 pm:
Good for Candice! Echoing the need to still have quality community based programs in light of the fiscal dismantling caused by the budget impasse. Also, If the facility is repurposable, what say we restart one of those quality drug treatment based programs to address the thousands of addicted inmates who are the target of the Governor’s taskforce. Why wait for the report? Reboot the Sheridan model NOW and reduce the prison population safely. Use that Constitutionally granted clemency power to commute sentences of those who successfully complete the program, to time served. Governor, you have the power, USE IT!
- Mr. E - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 1:42 pm:
What you have are people making policy who never worked a day in the fieId.
- Anonymous - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 1:44 pm:
===This closure will also allow IDJJ to reinvest a portion of the cost-savings into community-based programming and reduce overall costs to the State.===
The googles is providing me little info. Does anyone have hard numbers (or even soft ones) on the savings?
- Juice - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 1:58 pm:
Anonymous, the total cost of the facility in 2015 was estimated to be around 20 million. Won’t save that much on just this closure because the juveniles will need to be transferred and depending in the plans, staff could be moved to another facility, but that is probably a fair ballpark number.
- @MisterJayEm - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 2:04 pm:
“What some of you don’t realize is that some these ‘juveniles’ are 6′4″ 300lbs 20 year olds and they’re more violent than the adult inmates”
And these kinds of reforms will allow DJJ to focus their efforts on the small number of truly high-risk juvenile offenders.
– MrJM
- Realist - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 3:10 pm:
Yes, They closed down juvenile facilities before, and changed the laws so less juvenile get incarcerated or stay on parole. Am I the only person who noticed the record murders in Chicago and Rockford. What do you think these young criminals will do? Come on people!
- Concern Citizen - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 3:41 pm:
If ONLY IDJJ, ACLU and other Non profit organizations Keeps Record of Repeated youth offenders (17-21 years 0ld) who are released back to their own communities to commit HENOUS CRIMES over & over AGAIN while they are being CUDDLE in IDJJ. And while in IDJJ they disrupt and GO AGAINST ANY REFORM programs and engage in MULTIPLE STAFf & YOUTH ASSAULT WITH NO CONSEQUENCE.
- Juv Co - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 3:47 pm:
I wonder if places like the adult male work camp in Clayton will make it through the cuts. Clayton houses 150 but has been less than half full for at least a year.
- Anonymous - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 4:12 pm:
I understand why they are closing the facility, but you you can’t safely concentrate more violent youth in the still open facilities with the current way IDJJ operates.
At St. Charles, the youth planned out multiple simultaneous assaults in the school that resulted in multiple people having to go to the hospital about a month ago. Last week at Chicago a youth hit a female teacher in the back of the head with a hardcover textbook with her backed turned to him. His punishment was he had his radio taken away.
Security staff can’t even handcuff a kid anymore after a fight or assault without permission and filing out a report justifying the action.
- IL17 - Friday, Feb 12, 16 @ 5:13 pm:
Need the ‘new programs’ with known positive results in place first!
- Anonymous - Thursday, Mar 3, 16 @ 10:05 am:
As the parent of a non-violent youth offender with mental health issues that was recently released from a DJJ facility (7 hours from our home) after serving 4 months for the theft of $40 and 6 slurpees from his employer, I have a unique perspective. Due to his size 6′4, he was housed in a facility with armed robbers, murders and rapists!
I believe reform has to be at the local level with proven effective programs I.E. drug and mental health courts. Until we address the underlying mental health and substance abuse issues that bring many of these young people into the system to begin with, we are going to continue to have more than a 90 % recidivism rate among these offenders.
In my county, we have PROVEN INEFFECTIVE PROGRAMS THAT DON’T WORK WE CONTINUE TO UTILIZE (for decades) and when they continue to fail, as a VERY CONCERNED parent you object, the system blames it on you and then threatens to incarcerate you too!! TRUE STORY! When does the INSANITY END?