Cook County Plans To Replace Juvenile Detention Center With Smaller ‘Centers Of Care’ – Block Club Chicago

The plans, which have the backing of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy Evans, call for semi-secure facilities to house youths who judges deem can’t be released to their homes, according to a proposal submitted for a federal grant to support the effort. Officials plan to repurpose the JTDC, which currently houses nearly 200 teenagers in single-occupancy cells, into “less traumatizing dormitory-style conditions” for the fewer than 50 youths expected to require secure detention.