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| Youth Detention Centers for the Right Reasons |
| By jjie.org - John Lash |
| Published: 03/02/2012 |
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Several times during my incarceration I was housed at prisons under threat of closure. As in any work place that is in danger of being shut down there was a great deal of fear on the part of staff. Often prisons are located in areas that do not have many other local jobs. Employees face not just loss of their jobs, but also forced relocation to other parts of the state. Each time this happened the genesis of the issue was a proposed budget cut to the state agency. Employee morale and professionalism were usually eroded, and there was a concurrent rise in stress and danger for the inmates. The option of closing juvenile detention facilities is increasingly being put forth as a solution for increasing efficiency and helping rein in budgets. Today, when times are tough all over, there is a tension between the government’s desire to cut costs, employees need to work, politicians mixed obligations to effective governance and their constituencies, and what is best for the kids and adults in these prisons. The answers are seldom simple. As recently reported in JJIE, California Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to close the three remaining state run juvenile facilities has begun to be met with some strong opposition from several camps. Counties are afraid of taking on another financial burden, prosecutors claim that public safety is jeopardized (and threaten to try more kids as adults) and correctional officers cry out that this is a disservice to kids. Most advocates for reform favor the closures, and many see it as trend setting for the rest of the country. There are legitimate worries about some counties’ ability to meet standards of care, and there is the problem of mixing serious violent offenders with other kids. Other states are grappling with similar issues, though none have gone as far as Brown’s proposal of complete elimination of the prisons. In Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn has proposed to close two youth prisons. As reported by WBEZ, opposition to the closures is strong amongst correctional officers and local leaders in the affected communities. The governor’s office estimates that there would be 91 layoffs in Murphysboro and over 200 in Joliet. Read More. |
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