Juvenile Temporary Detention Center
The Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center is a residential facility for juveniles who have been arrested and are awaiting trial. There are approximately 400 young people between the ages of 10 and 17, 95% of whom are young men. The average stay is 28 days.
Our office has two areas of concern and action at the JTDC: the CPS-run school inside the JTDC (Nancy B. Jefferson School) and the temporary status of the JTDC Administrator. NBJ School is inadequate when it comes to meeting the needs of the students.
I would like to bring together industry experts and advocates of juvenile justice and children's issues to run the JTDC in much the same way the Independent Board oversees the Cook County Hospital System.
The JTDC is currently run by a court appointed temporary administrator. The Temporary Administrator is working to change the culture at the JTDC to incorporate the necessary support that these children need by addressing that many of the children housed at the JTDC have no where else to go.
My office is also working on modifying the NBJ School within the JTDC. Although reading, writing and arithmetic are critical skills, many of the children at this school also crave alternative creative outlets for stress and anger management. Moreover, by incorporating basic life skills training that would include budgeting, sex education, and parenting classes, we can provide a solid foundation of life skills that translate directly into the real-world.
As with the Independent Board of the Cook County Hospitals, I strongly and vocally advocate for an independent board to run and monitor the specialized needs of the 400 children at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center. I will submit a budget amendment for 2011 in that effort.
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