Governor Pritzker is Building a New Youth Prison

Governor JB Pritzker’s administration recently announced that the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) is developing a new “Illinois Youth Center” in Lincoln, Illinois. In the press release announcing the construction of the facility, the administration claims to be “moving forward with its new community-based, restorative, and rehabilitative model” infused with “love, careful consideration, and improved practices” for juvenile justice.

If we were to take their word at face value, we should celebrate. Who wouldn’t support a “a bright, life affirming, trauma-informed, and restorative place for some of Illinois’ most vulnerable youth”? But if we examine the plan to build a new facility more closely, it becomes clear that it is anything but beneficial for vulnerable Illinois youth and their families.

Do not let the language of the press release fool you. In the middle of a pandemic which has claimed the lives of over 20,000 people in Illinois, the Pritzker administration is building a new youth prison to incarcerate children. We believe that this announcement is carceral and punitive and does not live up to the promise of a “21st Century Transformation Model,” the administration’s name for their plan to change IDJJ. To show this, let’s walk through the language used by the administration and test that language with reality.

“Illinois Youth Centers”

Let’s first look at the language used to describe the facility itself. “Illinois Youth Center (IYC)” is the name given by the administration to youth prisons. These IYCs are notorious for inhumane conditions and violence perpetrated by staff who are supposed to protect and care for vulnerable youth. In a report published by the Children and Family Justice Center, an incarcerated young person describes the conditions at IYC-St. Charles, a facility which still has not been closed by the Pritzker administration: “People get beat up everyday… We can’t ever get clean because there’s mold dropping on us and mice crawling in your bed. … We wake up in the morning and have bad food, but at least we don’t have lice anymore.” 

In addition to these overtly inhumane conditions, these IYCs also lock children in their cells, police and surveil their every movement, and subject youth to a whole host of punishments for behavioral infractions. There is nothing “youthful” about these “youth centers”; they are prisons through and through.

“Community-Based”

Next, if we look closer at the location of this “community-based” facility, we see that the plan does very little to keep youth who are committed to IDJJ closer to their families. Lincoln, IL has a population of roughly 14,000 people with a demographic that is 91% white. The town lies 60 miles west of Urbana-Champaign, and 45 miles southeast of Peoria, the two cities in Central IL that send the most youth to IDJJ. 

We must also keep in mind that over 70% of youth who are incarcerated at IDJJ are Black youth. Thus, what the Governor’s plan tells us is that separating (mostly) Black youth from their families and sending them to overwhelmingly white, prison towns which are 50 miles away from their homes is a “community-based” solution to harm. We adamantly reject this framing by the state as it relies on a distorted notion of community which prioritizes the community of white towns profiting from incarceration over the lives of vulnerable Black youth who are targeted for criminalization. 

“Restorative, Rehabilitative, and Life-Affirming”

But even if it’s not community-based, the Lincoln facility will at least be rehabilitative and restorative, right? They might be separated from their families, but at least the space will be “bright” and “life-affirming”? 

Let’s examine closely the facility which is being renovated. The Governor’s plan names the Lincoln Developmental Center as the site which will become a new Illinois youth prison. Well, what is the Lincoln Developmental Center?

The Lincoln Developmental Center (LDC) was founded in 1875 as the Illinois Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children. Renamed the Lincoln State School in 1954 and then the Lincoln Developmental Center in 1975, the facility housed “mentally ill children” and families. According to historian David Bakke, "conditions at the Lincoln State School were horrible; overcrowded and understaffed. It was a community unto itself. The deaths of residents were not investigated, and their bodies were buried on the grounds."

In 1978, the farm-annex of LDC became Logan Correctional Center, an adult female medium-security state prison. Later, Lincoln Correctional Center, a male medium-security state prison, was built adjacent to Logan. In 2002, Governor George Ryan closed LDC after reports of abuse, neglect, and preventable deaths. It has remained out of use since 2002. Now, IDJJ wants to renovate this facility, which is just down the street from two adult state prisons, as a home for youth in state custody. 

The fact that the facility lies so close to two state prisons also raises another question about how “restorative” the facility will actually be. Who will IDJJ hire to look after youth at the Lincoln facility? How many IDOC prison guards with a history of abusing incarcerated adults will apply for transfer to the Lincoln facility? Will Lincoln really separate itself from the rest of the IYCs with a “trauma-informed” staff, or will it just replicate abuse in brutal fashion by hiring IDOC guards to police, surveil, and punish vulnerable young people?

If we are vigilant and don’t delude ourselves about the language of the Governor’s plan, we should be able to clearly see that the Lincoln facility is connected to the carceral surroundings of Logan County. You cannot extricate “IYC Lincoln” from the history of LDC or the two surrounding state prisons. So, please ask yourself: does this really seem like a “bright” and “life affirming” location for vulnerable youth to be housed? 

“Economic Benefits”

The last concern lies with the monetary aspects of the plan. First, it is deeply disturbing that a reason given by the administration for placement of the facility in Lincoln is the “economic benefits” it will bring to the surrounding communities. What does this mean? It means that a reason for this plan is to profit off the vulnerability of Illinois youth - to provide jobs and money to an overwhelming white community for separating (mostly) Black youth from their families and communities.

Illinois is spending over $21 million to renovate LDC and build the facility which will operate as IYC Lincoln. The press release claims that the facility will incarcerate no more than 30 youth, which is about identical to the number of youth who are currently incarcerated at the abusive youth prison in St. Charles, Illinois. That means that roughly $700,000 per incarcerated youth will be spent on the construction of a new prison miles away from home.

It should be easy to imagine better ways in which the state of Illinois could spend $21 million, especially during a pandemic which has ravaged communities targeted by police and prisons. 

Imagine if Governor Pritzker divided up this $21 million to provide comprehensive mental health resources for Illinois youth who have suffered the loss of a family member due to gun violence. Imagine if he decided to build shelters for youth without houses in the winter throughout the state. Imagine if he invested this money in organizations already doing the work of restorative justice, harm reduction, and reentry support such as GoodKidsMadCity, Circles & Ciphers, or FreeWrite, or invested in high school student groups doing similar work within their schools such as PEACE Group at Urbana High School. Imagine if he gave vulnerable youth direct cash payments to help provide for basic essentials. Imagine if he invested that money in public schools in low-income neighborhoods to ensure that youth in these communities have access to comprehensive extracurricular programs. 

The possibilities are truly endless as to how Governor Pritzker could better allocate $21 million. Instead of investing in the power of Illinois young people, he opted to build more cages and separate more youth from their families. 

As we fight to stop the opening of a new youth prison in Lincoln and continue to struggle for the freedom of the youth currently incarcerated in IYCs around the state, we must not be deceived by efforts to co-opt the language of transformative justice. As Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law instruct us in their book, Prison By Any Other Name, If we say no to prisons, we cannot say yes to prison by any other name.