A Response to IDJJ’s Transformation Plan
The first Quarterly Transformation Report from the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) details a list of changes in progress and changes to come as IDJJ moves forward with its new 21st Century Illinois Transformation Model. The transformation plan was announced by Governor Pritzker on July 31, 2020. This report clarifies some details of how the department intends to deliver on the promise of a new “culturally-responsive,” “restorative,” and “empowering” juvenile justice system, and those details leave much to be desired. Two points, in particular, stand out as particularly disappointing developments: the construction of a new youth prison in Lincoln, IL and renovations to be completed at Illinois Youth Center (IYC) at Warrenville.
The report mentions the development of a “new residential center” in Lincoln, IL, and the Capital Development Board’s July 2020 bulletin shows that the facility will be placed at the Lincoln Developmental Center. The project request seeks funds for renovations that include “security fencing” and “security electronics systems.” A locked-door youth prison constructed in Lincoln cannot meet the transformative and loving vision that the 21st Century Illinois Transformation Model promises. This facility would neither be community-based nor its workforce demographically reflective of the current IDJJ population. Lincoln, IL is 90% White, and over 70% of youth in DJJ facilities are Black, and while the facility would likely primarily detain youth from the region, the location is still not located in any of the Central Illinois counties that send the most youth to DJJ. To claim that this prison would be community-based is misleading and appropriative of real community-based solutions.
In addition to the demographic differences, Lincoln Development Center - formerly the Illinois Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children (est. 1877) - has a shameful history of poor conditions, and abuse and neglect of patients in its care. The facility was closed in 2002.
The quarterly report also mentions renovations being planned for IYC-Warrenville. As our name indicates, The Final 5 Campaign believes all five existing youth prisons in Illinois can and should be closed. The state’s decision to waste more money on a prison contradicts its public commitment to reimagining a system of youth rehabilitation and care. The maintenance of an existing youth prison and the construction of a high-security youth facility, in a city with two existing adult prisons, is not transformative, and Illinois’ young people deserve better.
As these capital development projects move forward, it is unclear how formerly incarcerated youth and their families contributed to the development of this plan. As IDJJ hosts roundtable discussions to share their plan with various constituencies, it seems there is little room for those constituencies to ensure that the plan is truly transformative, and not merely a resized replication of the youth prison model.
Young people and families in Illinois deserve resources in their own communities and an investment in non-carceral approaches to harm rooted in healing and restoration. IDJJ’s expansion of a Community Services Division is promising, but even the best community-based services can be undermined by a culture of carcerality. Young people need space to make mistakes and grow without the threat of carceral violence, and resources we invest in should be grounded in that understanding. We will continue to hold the state of Illinois to a higher standard of care for young people and we will continue to push for the closure of all five youth prisons in Illinois.
