Officials: Expansion needed at Winnebago County Juvenile Detention Center
From hiring therapists skilled at de-escalation to a $93,000 body scanner that replaced strip searches, changes to operations at the Winnebago County Juvenile Detention Center are already improving conditions for juvenile detainees.
That's what 17th Circuit Court Services Director Debbie Jarvis told Winnebago County Board members Thursday night.
But what she said is truly needed is an expansion of the facility and additional staff.
Jarvis said the detention center is understaffed, that the cafeteria doubles as a classroom, a quiet room is used for virtual court and there isn't enough space for visitors or evening programming.
More space would help keep rival gang members and co-defendants separated, Jarvis said.
More: Winnebago County Juvenile Detention ends timed confinement after scathing report
The update came following news reports detailing a negative 2023 inspection of the juvenile detention center in Rockford. The June audit by personnel from the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice raised concerns about excessive confinement, found that some juveniles weren't getting enough school time and that others had access to water shut off after detained kids had stuffed clothes and sheets into toilets to flood their rooms.
Some Winnebago County Board members blasted the report and news media coverage as unfair and said officers at the facility are doing a dangerous job under difficult circumstances. They said that the state has mandated stringent standards, but refused to help when Winnebago County asked for financial assistance to either remodel the current facility or build a new detention facility.
"We have gotten very little cooperation at the state level," Winnebago County Board Chairman Joe Chiarelli said. "We deserve better."
No cost estimate for an expansion was provided.
Although there is no mechanism to force the center to address the inspection report's findings, Winnebago County Courts — which operates the juvenile facility — has already made strides to correct problems that were identified, Jarvis said.
They have ended the practice of preemptively shutting off water to prevent property damage. And they no longer use hours of confinement as a punishment. They have instituted several therapeutic and trauma-informed programs in an effort to change the behavior of the detainees.
Most are between the ages of 14 and 17. There were 402 juveniles admitted into the center last year, up from 377 the previous year. The average length of a juvenile's stay was 29 days last year and the average daily population was 37.
Built in 1992, the detention center houses youth who have been charged with serious felony offenses.
Clergy including Rockford Urban Ministries will be monitoring conditions at the Juvenile Detention Center, said the Rev. Matthew Johnson of the Unitarian Universalist Church, Rockford.
"No one's first experience with violence is as an offender and these are kids," Johnson said. "So if we're not treating them with dignity and respect in what is supposed to be a rehabilitative experience, not punishment, then we're retraumatizing them and we're just making it so much more likely that they'll continue to do violence."
Jeff Kolkey writes about government, economic development and other issues for the Rockford Register Star. He can be reached at (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on Twitter @jeffkolkey.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Some Winnebago County Board members said critical report was unfair
