Tribune readers should have been shocked to learn that more than 10 percent of the youths in state prisons have served their sentences but remain locked up because the state agency responsible for transitioning them back into community life has failed them.
The article ("Freed from prison, some juveniles have no place to go," April 1, 2010) highlights the appalling inefficiency and lack of direction in the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice. Four years ago, concern about the high recidivism of juveniles sent repeatedly to the Department of Corrections led to the creation of a new Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), which was separated from the adult Department of Corrections and given a mission to turn the juvenile prisons into juvenile treatment programs and facilities focused on rehabilitating and returns these youths to society.
Resistance to change has been strong, and the new DJJ has fallen far short of its intended mission. Reports and media investigations document an increased rate of suicide attempts and an unacceptably high rate of sexual assaults on the youth in the juvenile facilities most of which still retain the adult prison culture.
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