HR0859 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0859 LRB094 18477 RLC 53801 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Cook County Temporary Juvenile Detention Center is under the control of the Cook County Board President; and

WHEREAS, The Cook County Temporary Juvenile Detention Center ("Detention Center") provides temporary secure housing for youth from the age of 10 through 16 years, who are awaiting adjudication of their cases by the Juvenile Division of the Cook County Courts; and

WHEREAS, The Detention Center also provides care for youths who have been transferred from Juvenile Court jurisdiction to Criminal Court; and

WHEREAS, The Detention Center is supposed to provides the children with a safe, secure, and caring environment; and

WHEREAS, There have been numerous newspaper articles alleging problems at the Detention Center; and

WHEREAS, The newspaper articles allege the existence of "fight rooms" at the Detention Center, where the juveniles are placed in the rooms by Detention Center guards to fight out their differences; and

WHEREAS, The newspaper articles document the appointment of administrators with little or no experience or professional qualifications in running a juvenile detention center; and

WHEREAS, The newspaper articles allege the hiring of unqualified and inexperienced juvenile counselors; and

WHEREAS, The newspaper articles allege that the juveniles are not provided adequate health care while present at the Detention Center; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that an immediate hearing be conducted by the Judiciary II-Criminal Law Committee, in order to hear testimony about these allegations.