Suicide, critical reviews highlight problems at St. Charles detention center

In the past three months, the St. Charles youth prison has come under scrutiny.

A teen's suicide, a scathing review from a prison reform group and a state audit showing a lack of staff training have not put the medium security juvenile prison in a good public light.

But Kurt Friedenauer, director of the state's department of juvenile justice, said the youth home – and the department in general – is making great strides to improve upon how the state deals with its juvenile offenders.

The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice was created in July 2006 when it was separated out from under the Illinois Department of Corrections.

The new department was created when legislators, officials and corrections experts at the time saw that juvenile corrections in the state had become a "mirror image" of adult corrections, Friedenauer said.

While some prison reform groups say juvenile corrections hasn't made much of a shift – other than a name change – Friedenauer said the system cannot be completely overhauled overnight.

"It was not intended just to change the name," he said. "We've created a foundation and we're still building a foundation. It will be an ongoing challenge.

Friedenauer said the system now tries to house detained youth closer to their families, have skill-based treatment and create smaller, modernized facilities, among other efforts.

Specifically, at the 105-year-old St. Charles facility – which serves as one of the three receiving centers for all youth detained in Illinois – Friedenauer points out opportunities such as activities with outside volunteers among positive changes.

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Betsy Clarke sits on the Department of Juvenile Justice's advisory board and heads up a nonprofit group called the Juvenile Justice Initiative.

She says the department has yet to live up to its goal of shifting the focus from adult-like corrections to reforming the state's troubled youth.

"They're trying to shift the focus to treatment," she said. "It hasn't shifted yet."

She points out correction systems in Missouri and Washington D.C., which have a more treatment- and less security-based model for juvenile corrections. Detained youth spend much less time in those systems, and the youth homes are smaller and more like dormitories than prisons.

"We just haven't gotten there yet in Illinois," Clarke said. "As a result, the facilities are very 'adultified.' There's not adequate programming. It's not appropriate for adolescents."

Clarke said that during a tour this year of the St. Charles home, she came upon a 15-year-old that had been locked in a cell alone for a week. Although a tour for a Chronicle reporter was initially approved by Friedenauer, department spokeswoman Januari Smith later denied the reporter access. Friedenauer has failed to return phone calls since that denial.

Clarke worries that isolation treatment could lead to tragedy, especially in light of the Sept. 1 suicide of a 16-year-old at the St. Charles home – which Friedenauer said was one of two suicide deaths since the department was created.

Friedenauer is adamant that youth are never completely isolated in the youth homes. Instead, they are confined and visited by counselors every day and receive recreational breaks. He also said that since the department was created, they've reduced the amount of time youth are confined from nine days to less than three.

"Essentially they're in time out, not confinement," he said.

While any such isolation might seem cruel, Friedenauer pointed out that sometimes youth homes have violent adolescents.

"There always has to be a way to control these kids," he said. "But confinement becomes a response of a last resort, not a first resort."

Friedenauer also commented on the teen that took his life in September. He said the 16-year-old boy was detained at IYC – St. Charles for "fairly serious offenses," including aggravated assault.

He also said the teen had a history of mental illness. While a lot of teens with significant mental illness issues are housed in a different, downstate facility, this teen was housed in St. Charles.

Friedenauer said an investigation of the death revealed no violations of department policy, nor negligence.

"It's just an extremely terrible, unfortunate situation," he said.

As for other states' models, and if they would prevent such tragedies, Friedenauer said Illinois cannot be treated the same as Missouri or any other state.

"There are distinct differences in the population," he said. "You have to design a system around your youth."

In St. Charles, Friedenauer said, there's been an emphasis on maintaining active time for youth and educational improvements.

But the main concern for this facility is staffing and the physical condition of the campus.

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The reform group, the John Howard Association, released a report earlier this year pointing out the severe deterioration of buildings on the campus on Route 38, just west of Peck Road.

The report claimed the conditions actually created a "dangerous" environment.

Friedenauer agrees the facilities are aging and need attention.

"The facility is not nearly as close to being furnished or designed to minimize the ability to hurt one's self," he said, "but I don't know if that equates to being a dangerous facility.

"It's not a dangerous facility. It's not going to collapse. But, it's in need of significant renovation. There's simply been no revenue or resources to fund the kind of renovations needed."

Friedenauer said the department has addressed Gov. Pat Quinn and will try to secure funding this legislative session. Some money from last year's capital bill will go toward "immediate issues" at the facility, he said.

Friedenauer also blames funding for training criticisms at the facility.

A state audit released earlier this year showed IYC – St. Charles hasn't completed staff training that was ordered at the time the department split from IDOC.

"It's misleading to say training is not occurring, but it's not meeting levels, absolutely," Friedenauer said.

He said resources just aren't available to completely train every staff member that comes into contact with youth.

Hanke Gratteau, executive director of the John Howard Association, also criticized staffing levels.

She said there aren't enough staff members to adequately deal with the more than 300 boys at IYC – St. Charles.

While its proximity to good mental health care is a positive for the facility, Gratteau said, department officials need to look at the cost of bringing the facility up to standards – in terms of structure and personnel – and see if it's worth it.

"It's like having an old house," she said. "How much do you continue to sink into an aging facility? Or, do you make some hard choices? There's been some significant progress, but there's still a long way to go."

Part two:

Read more tomorrow about possible solutions for improvement at the Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles and the reality of what is possible, funding-wise.

Illinois Youth Center - St. Charles:

• Opened in 1904

• Houses about 320 boys and is considered medium-level security

• One of eight youth prisons in Illinois

• One of three (and one of two male) receiving centers in the state (where youth first go when
detained).